Towing a Log Splitter (NY)
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JJT
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No, but I don't tow more than a few miles. I could see getting a ticket, no lights, plates, registration.....
nisaacs
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I would guess it is classified as Farm & Ranch, nothing special required.
seville009
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WinterDeere
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If you're talking about any modern box store log splitter with little Mickey Mouse wheels and tires labled "45 mph maximum speed", I would just set the stupid thing on a real landscape or utility trailer, and tow that. These things are made to be towed home from the store, once, and then towed around your own property thereafter. They're not built for highway use, and damn near impossible to back up in a jam.
That would be great if i owned a trailer, but i don`t. So that`s why i asked the question.
WinterDeere
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I used to rent a trailer, before I owned one. $30 - $70 per day, based on size and weight. For a log splitter, something toward the cheaper end of the range would be fine, if available.
That said, I've never heard of anyone getting ticketed for towing a log splitter anywhere in the USA. There's also this old post citing NY state vehicle code:
WinterDeere
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Most box store log splitters are approved for local road towing only, not highway use. Most are limited to 40 or 45 mph maximum speed, which in many states with minimum required speed for limited access roads, precludes them from highway use.
But as to the issue of no lights or license, that's no issue in NY, for small items like log splitters and cement mixers, where the tow vehicle's brake and signaling lights remain visible.
My 06 Silverado 2WD has a basic OEM rear bumper. I have no trailer light hook-up`s on this truck. So even renting a trailer wouldn`t have done me any good either. The rear bumper has a hole in it for a ball, but thats all it has. I had to buy eye bolts and install them in the bumper just so i had something to hook the safety chains to it.
I took the chance with towing the log splitter home because that was the only way i was going to get it home. Had i latched a trailer to the back of my truck, no way to plug in the trailer lights, that would have gotten me in far more trouble with the cops than just towing the log splitter on my bumper, in my own opinion.
How old is the log splitter? Right after I got mine I towed it twice. Once to get it home and once to a canvas shop to get a cover made. Now after many years I would not consider towing it unless I repacked the wheel bearings and put on new tires (the original ones are weather checked).
I have no clue as to what laws, New York or Iowa apply to log splitters.
Doug in SW IA
I have no clue as to what laws, New York or Iowa apply to log splitters.
Doug in SW IA
FriendwithTractor
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Mine makes an annual trip to the mountain (About forty miles round trip) down mostly country roads, top speed is never more than 45 miles an hour. I've never been stopped (So far).
I wouldn't be trying to get on the highway with it, but short trips are fine. +1 for putting on a larger trailer for extended trips.
(Manufacturer recommended as well.)
I wouldn't be trying to get on the highway with it, but short trips are fine. +1 for putting on a larger trailer for extended trips.
(Manufacturer recommended as well.)
ROUSTABOUT
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If it's under a certain length, narrower than your vehicle, it shouldn't need license plates or lights. Show me a brick mason that has the mortar mixer licensed. And I'm not from Missouri.
Hi Doug,
i just bought the log splitter brand new a week or so ago. I`ve never known about any licensing of a log splitter, i just wondered if others around upstate NY had gotten into any law problems with towing theirs or not. I spoke to locals around my area, nobody could tell me anything. I`ve seen tons of them being towed over the years, don`t recall seeing anyone getting into trouble on the road with police. This is the first time i`ve ever bought a brand new log splitter, first time towing one home behind my truck. An old log splitter i had, was small enough to throw in the back of my truck years ago. But this 40-ton splitter is way to big and to heavy for one guy to put in the bed of a truck, much less getting it out of the truck when i got home with it, so i towed it home, never went over 40mph the whole trip home (12 mile trip one way), took back roads. I stopped twice to make sure everything was ok, and it was fine. I felt the wheel hubs with my hand, warm, but not hot at all. I`ll be pulling the hubs and re-packing the wheel bearings real soon though just to make sure there`s plenty of grease in the bearings. This log splitter will never see the road again so long as i own it. One day i suppose i will sell it, then its the new owners problem to find a way to take it home. The way it is in NY now, it wont be long before they make you register, everything, including your pens & pencils.
I was a NYS (automotive) inspector for 20+yrs, turned wrenches in many dealerships many years ago, never heard of having to register or inspect any of those you mentioned back in my day either. But being i`ve been away from that kind of work for the last 30yrs, i wasn`t sure if anything had changed. You never know about NY and their evil ways to collect fine & taxation money`s.
dodge man
Super Star Member
Pretty careless of you towing it home. If your truck doesn’t have a trailer brake and wiring setup you need a new truck, a 1 ton dually would work, diesel optional. 
I joke, I’d do what you did and tow it home if you can keep the speed down.
I joke, I’d do what you did and tow it home if you can keep the speed down.
CalG
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An aside.....
If you do tow a splitter, Turn off the fuel cock!
else the contents of the fuel tank will end up in the crank case.
Float bowl jitters......
If you do tow a splitter, Turn off the fuel cock!
else the contents of the fuel tank will end up in the crank case.
Float bowl jitters......
LOLPretty careless of you towing it home. If your truck doesn’t have a trailer brake and wiring setup you need a new truck, a 1 ton dually would work, diesel optional.
I joke, I’d do what you did and tow it home if you can keep the speed down.
I`m A RAM (HEMI or CUMMINS) man myself. But i came across this ole 06 chubby rot`arado truck pretty cheap to do all the dirty work. I don`t care if it gets all banged up. I let my new RAM go because i`m retired and i got tired of the brakes rusting & freezing up on it when it would sit in my driveway for weeks on end. So far, the chubby has yet to rust & freeze the pads to the brake rotors, even when it sits around for 2 or 3 months.
What i care-less about, is having truck payments, and a truck not getting used enough anymore for what i was paying out on it every month.
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