Tractors On Public Roads

[Harv]

Thanks, Bird.

I was hoping somebody with actual law enforcement experience would say something.

I think we've established what the basic laws are concerning our little tractors. I think we have also observed that at least some of these laws are treated more as guidelines by the local police.

For my part, I will make sure my SMV emblem is clearly visible and my lights are flashing, and I will makes sure I obey the "normal" driving laws. Beyond that, my main concern is to simply not take any unnecessary chances or do anything too stupid. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[gerard]

Harv,
Don't know if you want the real LEGAL answer but i've been in law enforcement for more than a few years. While I don't write tickets anymore I used to and I can tell you there would have to be some really strange circumstances that would have caused me to pull anyone over on a tractor on a rural road. Drive it out on the interstate and you'd get stopped. Drive on the shoulder on the back roads and in all practicality you'll probably never have a problem. (Unless someone hits you and the laywers get involved, then all bets are off!!)

 

[richh]

goatman? what a story!!

 

[Billc]

Mark,
Great web sight! Got to love the internet!

Mark found the web sight detailing the life of the Goatman, and the sight has some pictures of him...the Goatman, not Mark. Really interesting.

When I was a kid we would take a few beers and our girlfriends and park by some old train tracks. One of the scary stories we told was about the Goatman. He had been raised by goats and traveled the back roads with them. He was half goat himself. The story doesn't sound too scary now, but back then, in the dark, after some yarn spinning, one of the guys in the group who had slipped away during the story telling, would come screaming out of the bushes.(This was before Jesse Jackson told us to "Stay out da Bushes") It was a sure bet to get your girlfriend to grab on to you.

I wonder if the real Goatman inspired these stories, I know they had been around long before we told them. If he did, then I owe him a big thank you.

Bill Cook

 

[cowboydoc]

Harv,
I treat alot of the state police officers here and had one in last night and asked him about this. He said that as long as the tractor was being used for "ag use" all you had to have was an SMV sign during the day and at night you needed front headlights and rear reflectors. The SMV HAS to be on the last piece on machinery used. So if you're pulling a wagon there has to an SMV sign on the wagon. No other requirements for "ag use". For commercial use he said it's a whole different ballgame. You have to haul the equipment, have to have the right licenses, trailer, truck, etc, etc. He said you really don't even want to know what the commercial guys have to go through. I asked him well what about the weekend farmer or guy clearing his ground or something. He said as long as you are going from one property to another with the purpose of working the ground or livestock no problem. Also said that if you are hindering the flow of three or more vehicles you are supposed to pull over and let the cars pass. Now here is what kinda surprised me. You CANNOT use a tractor as transportation unless it conforms to the rules of the road, ie the tractor would have to be made road legal. Tires, lights, turn signals, etc. If you use a tractor for transportation you have to go within 10 miles of the speed limit either above or below. I never knew you could get a ticket for going too slow. Or you have to drive in such a way as that it does not hinder the normal flow of traffic, lot of ambiguity there. He has been on the force for 24 years now and told me has even given a couple drunk driving tickets for guys that had their license taken away and drove their tractors into the tavern! In Iowa anyway then you are just fine with an SMV emblem during the day and lights at night. No other restrictions.
Richard

 

[dullpain]

Harv I just bet your road ain't got no class!! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

For those worried about tire wear on asphalt - Don't - unless you are making 25 mile round trips 3 times a week. That goes for R-1, R-4, and them fake tractor tires TURF.

I live in a rural farming community. Folks around here are aware there can be a Tractor around any corner or curve. We transport Hay, Tobacco, Implements, and such all the time.

I have a Vet 4 miles from the house. He cleaned out his barn and the wife wanted the rhino, & tiger manure for the garden. Took 2 hay wagons on the road to load it up. She followed me in the car (chase vehicle?) with Emergency flashers going just for safety. Of course I had all my lites going but was worried on the return trip with a load of dung someone from behind may not see my lites. I plan to add a rotating beacon to top of my canopy for just such occasions.

It's just a way of life out here and most people accept it. You do however get the non-local (city cat) on the road that is impatient somtimes. Those dudes scare me.

 

[heehaw]

i have told this story several times in the last couple years, no one has believed me yet, but here goes; in 98 my wife an i made a little trip to England; rented a car at the airport and hit the M??? heading north east from London; not being use to driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the vehicle, i stayed in the "slow"(left) lane of the 4 lanes in one direction super-highway; folks were going well above 70; i was staying in the 55-60 range; we passed several very large fields that all appeared to have just been plowed, my wife an i even discussed so many fields freshly plowed; well, i looked in my rear view mirror, an told my wife "your not gonna believe this, but there is the biggest JD tractor i've ever seen gaining on us; i'm gonna have to speed up or pull over to let him by" about that time we came to an exit and the tractor took it; during the 2 weeks we were there, i pulled over twice and let biggg tractors pass while i was on 2 lane roads..
on the back home side; i tried trailing a friend on his tractor a couple weeks ago, i was buying some hay from him, and he was moving his tractor over to the field to load it, @5 miles on a 2 lane road; i was pulling a 16ft trailer to haul the hay on, with flashers etc etc..i think it caused more trouble than just letting him go on his own; some folks are gonna pass, no matter what, and its easier to pass a single tractor than a vehicle and a tractor..
heehaw