Slow Moving Vehicle Sign SMV is an accessory or comes with a new tractor?

[sixdogs]

By now you know that new tractors come with an SMV and used ones may or may not. Let me add that if you ever tow that tractor on a trailer, you need to remove the SMV or will likely get a ticket. The SMV is only for operating at slow speeds on public roads and most cops take a dim view when towing.

Oh come ON! Not that I doubt you, Mate, but come ON! The tractor (or implement with a SMV sign) is obviously on a trailer/float being transported to a destination.

How 'money grubbing' is that?

It certainly doesn't apply to Tassie... although, now that my 'outrage' has dissipated, I do recall that (bloody) Queensland Cops will fine you for having your amber 'whoop-whoop' light flashing if you are not within a "working area".

It's not money grubbing at all. A farmer here can do anything on the roads because ag is such a big part of the economy and very powerful. It is fairly common to see a 12 year old boy driving a 450HP tractor on the roads at harvest. Huge tractors with duals and often wider than the paved width of the road are a daily event. You can way overload round bales and never be stopped--straps or not--and do almost anything you can think of regarding ag that would be prohibited elsewhere. I was once driving the Main road in a tractor and there was a line of cars stopped for a bad accident. The cop waived me around so I could drive in the ditch --past the accident--and avoid the detour.

It's all good except that SMV on a trailed vehicle. For that you get stopped. I only know one person that was, and he got a warning, but talk among guys is legendary.

Wagtail--I would think that you could get away with anything where you live.

 

[diesel85]

When I was a kid at 12-13 years old I was operating huge farm machinery on the road way before I even had a drivers license. Heck, the old man farmer told me to figure it out.

Boy, do I have some stories of "learning experiences"... luckily it wasn't anything tragic, but now that I look back at it, now it's friggin hilarious.

Yes, AG is very important... There are two jobs that the US needs more of -- Farmers and Tradesmen, and less service workers/paper pushers.

I firmly believe that farmers should have to pay no taxes on their land if they provide for the economy. (Dairy/Feed/General Human Food Products).

 

[oosik]

I was raised in apple country. Big cattle ranching was south of us - about seventy five miles. However - just up the river about six mile was a sheep farmer. He always had 2K to 3K head. I remember several times going NE up the river road and meeting up with him moving his flock from one grazing area to another. Now he had a state of the art ATV - a reconditioned WW ll Jeep.

He never had a SMV sign on the Jeep but - Lordy - those sheep could take their own sweet time moving up the road.

 

[sixdogs]

When I was a kid at 12-13 years old I was operating huge farm machinery on the road way before I even had a drivers license. Heck, the old man farmer told me to figure it out.

Boy, do I have some stories of "learning experiences"... luckily it wasn't anything tragic, but now that I look back at it, now it's friggin hilarious.

Yes, AG is very important... There are two jobs that the US needs more of -- Farmers and Tradesmen, and less service workers/paper pushers.

I firmly believe that farmers should have to pay no taxes on their land if they provide for the economy. (Dairy/Feed/General Human Food Products).

I like that no taxes idea. It could happen next time food gets a little scarce. People do like to eat.

My neighbor used to have a Deere 9000 series with 4ft wide floater duals on it. That's 16ft of just tires plus the radial bulge, rim spacers and the tractor itself. He was wider than every road except the main US route and he needed part of the opposing land for clearance. I had a photo but lost it in a computer crash of the old days.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I mentioned before that I think the SMV is pretty much useless. When you see a tractor up ahead, do you see the tractor or the SMV? That's during the day. At night, tractors "nowadays" probably have lights. You would see the lights, not the SMV. So what's the point?

I have an old Booklet pertaining to Implements of Husbandry on Onarios Roads from the sixties. A red lantern on the back of a tractor would suffice for illumination. So I can see, a reflective SMV would be a huge improvement.

So the fact that most sold machines have an SMV is because of regulation, not as some "great" safety feature.

 

[Streetcar]

I mentioned before that I think the SMV is pretty much useless. When you see a tractor up ahead, do you see the tractor or the SMV? That's during the day. At night, tractors "nowadays" probably have lights. You would see the lights, not the SMV. So what's the point?

I have an old Booklet pertaining to Implements of Husbandry on Onarios Roads from the sixties. A red lantern on the back of a tractor would suffice for illumination. So I can see, a reflective SMV would be a huge improvement.

So the fact that most sold machines have an SMV is because of regulation, not as some "great" safety feature.

A vehicle that is moving slower than normal traffic is deceptive if the driver is not paying close attention. SMV sign is additional warning for drivers. Working on striping truck on highway, it is amazing the amount of close calls

 

[RickB]

I mentioned before that I think the SMV is pretty much useless. When you see a tractor up ahead, do you see the tractor or the SMV? That's during the day. At night, tractors "nowadays" probably have lights. You would see the lights, not the SMV. So what's the point?

I have an old Booklet pertaining to Implements of Husbandry on Onarios Roads from the sixties. A red lantern on the back of a tractor would suffice for illumination. So I can see, a reflective SMV would be a huge improvement.

So the fact that most sold machines have an SMV is because of regulation, not as some "great" safety feature.

I disagree. A properly maintained SMV will be highly visible with a distinctive shape in daylight or darkness. My biggest gripe about SMV emblems lies with the morons that use them as driveway delineators. They are the ones that should be cited.

 

[LouNY]

I disagree. A properly maintained SMV will be highly visible with a distinctive shape in daylight or darkness. My biggest gripe about SMV emblems lies with the morons that use them as driveway delineators. They are the ones that should be cited.

:drink: definitely

 

[Wagtail]

It's not money grubbing at all. A farmer here can do anything on the roads because ag is such a big part of the economy and very powerful. It is fairly common to see a 12 year old boy driving a 450HP tractor on the roads at harvest. Huge tractors with duals and often wider than the paved width of the road are a daily event. You can way overload round bales and never be stopped--straps or not--and do almost anything you can think of regarding ag that would be prohibited elsewhere. I was once driving the Main road in a tractor and there was a line of cars stopped for a bad accident. The cop waived me around so I could drive in the ditch --past the accident--and avoid the detour.

It's all good except that SMV on a trailed vehicle. For that you get stopped. I only know one person that was, and he got a warning, but talk among guys is legendary.

Wagtail--I would think that you could get away with anything where you live.

When I said "money grubbing" I was referring to a law that would fine you for transporting (trailer/float/lorry) a vehicle that displays a SMV sign for not removing the SMV sign from that transported vehicle. Perhaps it's a local State law or even County law. :confused3: I've seen (here, of course) a flat-bed transporting 3 new tractors to a dealership in Longford. All of the tractors were facing forward and all of them had SMV signs mounted.

When I help out bringing in the hay crop in Pyengana, my tractor gets transported to the area on the back of a lorry... because it would take me half a day to drive the tractor there = no citation because the SMV signed vehicle is, obviously, the load. Yet, I can drive my tractor from Pyengana to another haying area, 10km away, via the 100kph highway... just like you described in your first paragraph. Actually, everything you describe in your first paragraph applies here in Tassie.
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I do seem to get away with anything... I put it down to charm and my boyish good looks. :cheerful:

 

[sixdogs]

Wagtail...What is your area like regarding agriculture and equipment on roads; that kind of thing? Do the local police involve themselves or just leave it alone? Is it big equipment or small utility tractors? Big grain farms or small lots for grazing? I've looked where you live and it sure looks like a beautiful area.