Driving across public ways

[Dougster]

I vaguely remember it saying "Construction" on the plate. It was a large loader backhoe that they plowed the parking lot with.

I've looked through the RMV's list of available registration & license plate types several times and it doesn't appear to include such a plate. Seems like it probably should, but it doesn't. Are you sure this took place in the PRT?

Regardless, you raise an interesting point about operation on private property to which the public has been granted free access. I always wondered if the cops could enforce traffic signs and motor vehicle laws on such property. From what you're saying, apparently they can.

I better be a little more careful next time at the Home Depot!!!

Dougster

 

[A. Lind]

I regulary drive down the road at work on a john deere, here in massachusetts. I have no worry about my tractor being unregistered.

Of course the fact that it belongs to the sheriff's dept. and I am working out of correctional facility and have a star on my shirt might give me some leeway!

 

[Dougster]

I regulary drive down the road at work on a john deere, here in massachusetts. I have no worry about my tractor being unregistered. Of course the fact that it belongs to the sheriff's dept. and I am working out of correctional facility and have a star on my shirt might give me some leeway!

It could make a slight difference... yes!

Dougster

 

[257NH]

Dougster go to the rmv again and get yourself an O R plate.
It means over the road

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Have you thought about registering it as an ATV?

“Recreation vehicle”, any motor vehicle designed or modified for use over unimproved terrain if used for recreation or pleasure off a public way as defined in chapter ninety, and all legally registered motor vehicles when used off a way, as defined under chapter ninety; provided, however, that for the purpose of vehicles used for agriculture, forestry, lumbering or construction shall be excluded from this definition when used for such purpose, provided, further, that in any complaint brought under this chapter the burden shall be upon the defendant to prove of such use.

If you claim that you use your tractor for "recreation or pleasure" -- which is defensible, you're not making money with it -- it qualifies as an ATV.

You at least are allowed to cross public ways:

After coming to a full stop a snow vehicle or a recreation vehicle may cross, as directly as possible, a public way, except a controlled access highway, provided that such crossing can be made in a safe manner and it does not interfere with the free movement of vehicular traffic. The operator of a snow vehicle or a recreation vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to all other vehicular traffic when making such crossing.

 

[Dougster]

Have you thought about registering it as an ATV? If you claim that you use your tractor for "recreation or pleasure" -- which is defensible, you're not making money with it -- it qualifies as an ATV. You at least are allowed to cross public ways:

I've got to admire your sneaky and creative suggestion... an end run around the RMV by going to Fish & Game and the Environmental Police! If nothing else, it would be good for a few laughs. I'd have to wear a helmet at all times, give up any business ambitions (the whole point of me needing to use the road in the first place) and still could not drive down a road unless a town emergency was declared!

I love the creativity, but even if this worked, it is totally self-defeating. I am likely better off trying to invoke the "industrial use" of tractors provision which gets me a whopping 900 feet of road.

Anyone here currently wear a helmet when on their tractor?

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

Dougster go to the rmv again and get yourself an O R plate.
It means over the road

Don't see such a thing here in the PRT, but thanks for trying!

Dougster

 

[257NH]

Dougster my brother has an excavation company in Mass,And I have seen his O R Plates.So they have them unless it has been fairly recently a cancelled service.

 

[Dougster]

Dougster my brother has an excavation company in Mass,And I have seen his O R Plates.So they have them unless it has been fairly recently a cancelled service.

Are you sure it's not an Owner/Contractor plate (which I had incorrectly referred to earlier as an "Owner/Operator" plate)?

Seems like this is what an excavating company with multiple pieces of equipment should have.

Dougster

 

[wvpolekat]

Seriously though... on your option "1"... It is not a game with the RMV. They have no sense of humor at all. And RMV officers are now state cops with big guns, bad attitudes and arrest powers. Trust me again, this is not a matter of semantics or me wearing overalls and a farmers hat and smelling of manure. It's the general laws of the PRT and the implementing rules of the RMV. The problem is the law... not the folks at the RMV.
Dougster

Yeah, so they are cops with no sense of humor, big deal, nothing to be afraid of. That suggestion was not intended to be the least bit humorus. It was serious as a heart attack. Just because they have a badge and a gun doesn't make them right or that you cannot go over their head. Doing so does not open you up to any kind of threat to be arrested or otherwise punished. Heck, it's not even up to them to decide what is and is not legal, thats what judges are for. Point is, don't let them intimidate you. If the first one blows you off, ask for their superior, if they blow you off, do it again. Nothing to be afraid of, you aren't going to get ticketed or arrested for this. I would say that it is 100% their job to determine the right classification for you and allow you to register in it. Or wave the registration requirement. "We don't know where you fit" is NOT an acceptable answer, and you should not accept it. If they do not know, that's fine, find someone that does and can make that judgement call. I assure you that someone, somewhere in the RMV has the ability and authority to do this. You just have to find them. Your situation is a valid one, and deserves a solution. I assure you that the grunts on the front line do not care, nor do they have the authority to make any kind of decision about this, as you have found. Thats why you have to go over their head. It isn't a slight against them, this is "above their pay grade".

I also firmly believe that if you do all of this, document it and get a ticket, you will walk away scott free once you put it in front of a judge.