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I know there's another rather long thread on this topic, but I'm posting new because I want folks considering this to avoid the small mistake I made. I'll post pics later, as I'm tending to Mother's Day. Like many people, I put four LED floods on my ROPS, two forward, two backwards. I used...

To answer questions, in order. FEL will be off when mowing. Tires aren't loaded. Don't want to, have a lot of backhoe work to do and they don't recommend BH and loaded tires. Not widened. Outer BX23 width is already 48". It's not like any of these slopes are 45 degrees. Maybe 30 at the...

Haven't done any mowing yet to speak of with my 23, and I have a few mild banks in my yard. Prior to buying this, I had (still have) a 46" Craftsman rider, and pretty much navigated everywhere in any direction. There's a bit of security with the Craftsman, however, in that if you get near...

Thanks for the tips. I guess I still have a bit to learn about all these things. I looked at the quick hitch, and I guess if I had a few things for the back I'd consider getting one, but for now it's just the box. Give it time, huh? Looked up the telescoping bars and those do look nice...

The Kubota attachments are nice and well built, but I think they get way too much for them. Their ballast box, for example, is over-built. 1/4" plate throughout, the taper in the sides, unnecessary. They could have made it a simple square box, ask about $150 for it, and it would probably sell...

Looking at that break, it looks like there's almost zero penetration on one side of that weld joint. Me thinks you got a unit built by a rookie they just hired.

When planning it, I was walking around the tractor ( while eating a bag of the chips ) looking for a small orange piece I could remove and bring to Menards for the match. Couldn't find anything, then noticed the bag. Held it up against the tractor and thought, "I'll be damned". Anyway, I also...

Using some scrap angle iron and some 3/4" ply, whipped this up in the last few days. Not as good looking at the one Kubota sells, but it was cheap to build and works well. 2' square x 1' deep. Filled with sand it comes in at about 340 lbs, counting the box itself. For anyone wondering what...

Probably right. The 14ga I used I'm sure gives it a bit more strength, but not really needed and just adds extra weight. 16ga would be more than adequate and is what I'd use doing it over.

Yep, mention of that belt rubber again. I can picture it, about 1/2" thick, I can see the inner cords at the edge, I can feel how rigid it is ... but for the life of me I can't remember where I saw it, and I believe it was some scrap from something and I didn't give it a 2nd thought. Where to...

So, let me see if I can recall the bill of materials: 4 or 5 1/8x1.5x6' angle iron ( Menards ) 1 3/8 x 1.25"x66" steel bar. 1 1/4 x 1.25"x65-3/4" steel bar. 1 19.5" x 66" 16ga steel plate ( I used 14ga ... overkill ) Some 1/8x1" strip for the rib patches. ( Menards )...

And last, a bottom viewing showing the strap hooks. The main 3/8" bar welded to the bottom technically gives the 1/4" hooks a bit of clearance from drag, but it could be better. Again, a bolt on sacrificial edge ( steel or rubber ) that hangs down 1/2" would solve any potential strap wear...

This shows the strut spanner in place. I used a piece of angle iron. If you look at the first diagram, you'll see there's a hole where the strut meets the blade frame. This is for a 1/4" pin, so when storing you can pull the pins and the upper strut assembly comes off so it's not so clunky to...

A good ol' bowline knot in the right place on the cinch strap is all that's require to tie it to the lower hook.

Here's a close-up of one of the upper struts. The length and angled cuts on each end more or less had to be fit ( cut, try, repeat ). The yoke that clutches the top lip of the bucket were a bitch to make, and I screwed them up. My goal was to make them large enough to line with some 1/4" felt...

This next one shows the first trial fit. Pay close attention to the upper angle iron lateral. It's cut to 65-3/4" and with one flat cut away on each end to accept a flush weld to the side ribs. You not looking at a lap joint, which would make a step that would be difficult to fit the sheet...

This is the frame welded up, and the plate is cinched on. Sorry, didn't take any pics of the cinching process, but you can figure it out. Now, you'll notice that my center ribs have a wider notch cut for what looks like another piece of angle iron. They are, and I found it to be completely...

The first step is to cut out all the ribs, then bend them all to the same radius using one of the 2x4 formers. Stacking them helps to make sure they're all the same, and this is pretty important. Next, you'll want to weld the 1/8" x 1"sq patches on all the (now spread open) cuts. Now you see...

OK, as requested, here's some pics. The design was done using Corel Draw. This one says the most. Shows the general plan and curve dimension. The rib to the left is the end rib, and is move out of the way to show the inner construction. This is a detail of the end ribs. You need two...

I did resize them, and will try to get more uploaded. Understand that I didn't take pictures of every step, so I'm sure there'll be questions. I'm currently at work, but will try to get to this later tonight.