Trailer tongue weight regulations

[Bird]

The first time I bought farm plates for my little 5' x 10' tiltbed, single axle trailer, I thought the lady made a mistake in typing when I saw it was registered for 26,000 pounds. And that license plate cost $5. But when I registered my little 4' x 8' trailer for a ZTR mower, it was registered for 1,000 pounds and cost $42.75.

 

[Builder]

Just the way it is in farming states. A 16 year old kid can drive a 18 wheeler here if he works for the farm in a 150 mile radius of the farm. All you need is a valid drivers license. Same goes with RV plates. You can run any weight with RV plates in Indiana.

Does not make sense but that is the way the law is written.

Chris

I know. I live in a farming state among many farms. When I see some of the junk that rolls off some of the farms and know the training the driver has, I pray that the bailing wire holding the tie rods together, ot the under rated truck pulling the hay bale trailer will hold for one more trip.

 

[radman1]

I know. I live in a farming state among many farms. When I see some of the junk that rolls off some of the farms and know the training the driver has, I pray that the bailing wire holding the tie rods together, ot the under rated truck pulling the hay bale trailer will hold for one more trip.

Don't knock baling wire.

 

[FlaDon]

No, I just got my ticket and they sent me on my way. Didn't have to move the tractor or do anything else. I was hoping they would just let me move the tractor back a few feet (I offered to reposition) and I would have been fine. It was my first heavy duty pickup and I didn't even know there were different categories for liscensing. I just paid what they put in front of me at the DMV. Not smart enough at the time to know better. In my state, all pickups get 9000 lb rating. Doesn't matter if 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton. Above that, they are considered commercial and need commercial plates. Farmers get an exemption and can get total rating of truck and trailer up to 13 tons. I own farm land and couldn't even tell you what the requirements are for farm plates. I just told them I wanted farm plates and they handed them over.

When I got the ticket, I discovered the scales could read the weight of each set of tires on the truck and the trailer separtately. That how they knew the truck was over. Another lesson learned. The used kubota B7100 was my first CUT and I had just bought it that day. I had a new big truck and trailer rated way over the amount of the load. I was on top of the world. Then busted. I have gone through the same weigh station since then with other loads and they usually just wave me through and don't even weigh my truck/trailer. I assume they see the farm plates and relatively small loads and don't even bother.

I could have lightened the tongue weight but I occassionally pull much heavier loads now that are well over 20,000 lbs total with truck and trailer and some approaching 25,000 lbs. The big loads are with GN but I do have bumper pulls rated for 14,000 lbs. Heck, I can pull much heavier loads than the truck is rated for with the farm plates. I ask, where is the logic in that?

And if you get stopped on a highway by a DOT cop, they'll pull out a set of portable scales and do each wheel. If they are real close to the tire limits, they've also been known to do 2 scales for a pair of duals.

 

[FlaDon]

Don't knock baling wire.

Binder twine is cheaper.

 

[Duffster]

they've also been known to do 2 scales for a pair of duals.

Why?.

 

[jwstewar]

Why?.

To make sure each individual tire isn't overloaded.

 

[Builder]

I think the point that most guys who haven't experienced a thorough "examination" by MVCE/DOT is that when they pull you over, they are fixated on getting you for something.

They're not going to let you go scott free. They'll pull out all the measuring & testing equipment they have to write you a ticket.

Friend of mine had a truck with a clean bill of health on a stop and they wrote him a ticket for having a parking light bulb out. I heard another guy saying he got one for having a ripped seat!

 

[Groo]

I am guessing they could write you up for exceeding the rated tounge weight of the hitch in some states, but it would be lots of work to measure accurately.

too much tounge weight will just overload the rear axle. thats what you will be more likely to be written up for, and if the truck looks out of wack, they are more likely to pull you over and weigh it. I had a friend get pulled over because he brought along the hitch with the wrong drop, and it looked like it was too heavy. The axle weights were OK, so down the road he went.

 

[Ken45101]

I would think that the "farm truck exemption" is based on the assumption that the vehicle will be traveling short distances, probably on back roads most of the time. Unlike a commercially used truck that might run 500 miles a day, each and every day.

Same for oversized loads here. Farm equipment can be 15' wide (or wider?) and not need wideload permits, escorts, or marking. It's only been the last few years that Ohio required marker lights on wide farm equipment at night (after someone was killed running into a super wide tractor at night on a narrow road).