Manufacturing Technology 2026, 26(1):26-33 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2026.006

Conceptual Design with Strength Analysis Based on the FOPS Test for a Tubular Cover Dedicated to the Kubota M135GX-IV Tractor

£ukasz Gierz ORCID..., Miko³aj Spad³o ORCID..., Antoni Kuchta
Institute of Machine Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Poznañ University of Technology, Piotrowo 3, 60-965 Poznañ, Poland

An agricultural tractor equipped with appropriately rated guards can often replace specialized forestry machinery. Currently, few authorized dealers on the Polish market offer tractors adapted to harsh forest conditions, so this work involved designing a tubular guard for the Kubota M135GX-VI agricul-tural tractor. The aim of this work was to develop a conceptual design for a tubular guard, together with a strength analysis based on FOPS procedures, dedicated to the KUBOTA M135GX-IV agricul-tural tractor. To properly design the tubular guard, applicable standards and regulations regarding the construction of cabs and tubular guards for agricultural and forestry machinery were first analyzed. Subsequently, the available solutions were analyzed and two original concepts were developed. These concepts were evaluated based on the adopted criteria, selecting the variant with the highest score. Furthermore, the most advantageous variant was subjected to a strength analysis using the finite el-ement method (FEM) in accordance with the FOPS procedure. The test results showed that all nodes included in the developed concept met the strength requirements.

Keywords: Forestry machinery, tubular cover, FOPS, strength analysis, FEM

Received: September 11, 2025; Revised: January 8, 2026; Accepted: February 16, 2026; Prepublished online: March 20, 2026; Published: March 21, 2026  Show citation

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Gierz £, Spad³o M, Kuchta A. Conceptual Design with Strength Analysis Based on the FOPS Test for a Tubular Cover Dedicated to the Kubota M135GX-IV Tractor. Manufacturing Technology. 2026;26(1):26-33. doi: 10.21062/mft.2026.006.
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