Driving On The Road?

jtcweb · Jun 23, 2002

I have a question a driving on the road. My understanding is that if you have a slow moving vehicle you could drive on the street. I currently have my tractor at my house in town and I drove 6 blocks to a self-serve car wash. This is a 5 lane road (2 lanes each way & a left turn) with a speed limit of 35 MPH and on my way back a cop pulled me over and gave me a hard time. In a week or two I want to drive it 6 miles to my property and wonder what the law is, in Michigan that is.

Gary_in_Indiana · Jun 23, 2002

While I can't speak to MI law, here's what I've been told here in Indiana. If you're going to be on the public roadway you should be ON THE ROAD! My Kubota dealer friend told me of two separate instances where a customer of his was driving a big farm tractor down the road from field to field and was on the shoulder as far as possible. In one case the left rear tire was on the sideline of the road, in the other it was totally across the line on the road. In each instance a vehicle could easily get by without crossing over center.

Of course, in each case the tractor was hit by a passing car in spite of the tractor operator's best efforts to be a courteous operator and leave the paved road clear for traffic. In each separate instance the tractor operator was cited.

The logic here (Don't start. I know.) is that the tractor was off the road and pulling onto it in front of vehicular traffic on a public thoroughfare and not yielding the right-of-way to the vehicle that hit them.

Based on that, I'll stay on the road. You might want to contact your county or other municipality's traffic department and get their take on this. I hope this helps. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Cracker · Jun 24, 2002

Missour law is as long as the emblem is on the tractor and in the slow lane or far to the right you're ok.Don't track mud on the road though most municipalities have a law against that.Now interstates are a no no.

Soundguy · Jun 24, 2002

Get your ducks in a row, and call and find out exactly what the law is, and if you weren't breaking it, call the watch supervisor for whatever the time period in question was and find out why the cop had to run a 'shake down' on you.

Not sure about your laws, but from the responses I've seen, and from a similar question in another sub that I asked about, it seems that most states allow a tractor with a SMV emblem on it. ( sans interstates, etc )

I support law enforcement, but feel that we as citizens shoul react very vocally when are toes get stepped on by out of line LEO's. Perhaps a letter to a police chief, county / city commission, mayor, etc, etc may help. Most major law enforcements do have some kind of internal affairs system, etc.

But most important .. find out if you were in the right first..... then act on your findings.

Soundguy

Worksmart · Jun 24, 2002

Jerry - Here is a good starting place. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.michigan.gov/msp/1,1607,7-123-1593_3536_6251-17158--,00.html>http://www.michigan.gov/msp/1,1607,7-123-1593_3536_6251-17158--,00.html</A> Scroll down the whole page to find info on tractors. A visit to the MDOT web page could also yield some info. You can also get to the Michigan compiled laws (via a search) for the actual laws pertaining to your question.

I find the written word to almost always be safer to follow than a verbal response. Is the police officer going to believe "Mary" told you over the phone you could do what you're doing???

Make sure you comply with the requirements and maybe carry a copy with you. Sometimes people in the field are not up to date with current rules and regulations. C

rancar · Jun 25, 2002

Check your state's Motor Vehicle and Traffic Law. Here in New York, one can travel on the road provided one has the orange safety diamond displayed on the rear and safety warning lights operating.

Soundguy · Jun 25, 2002

I agree about having it in writing, but be careful about arguing it with an enforcement type.. they don't like it when you point out an error on their part. Disputes of that nature usually end up bad. It would be better to take the dispute to a supervisor, etc.

As an example, last year in marion county we had a burn ban for quite a while. On the day the ban was lifted, I dug a hole w/ the tractor, and piled up some shavings, and other safe burnables to burn. I had everything legally covered ( i thought ). I had heavy equipment on site ( tractor w/ boxblade ), a fire extinguisher on the tractor and two buckets of water near the burn pit... a pit to burn in, and a wire fabric material to cover the burn pit.
The rear of my acerage abuts an retirement community. The person that lives directly behind me ( beyond a tree buffer ) in the retirement community calle dthe fire department, and reported a fire in the community. The fire station shows up in force... on the other side of my fence, as it was called in in the other! community. I'm standing out in my field raking up some material when I notice emergency vehicles congregating at the far end of my fence. I head over there and am informed that there is a burn ban, yada yada yada. I point out that it ended this morning. The all get together and say that it wasn't... I retrieve the morning paper and point out the bold 2" print headline.."Burn Ban Lifted for Marion County"..
At that point they they all became very irritated, and looked for any excuse to harrass me. Every time they pointed out something I should have been doing, I had a come back... burn pit, cover for the pit, distance to other dwellings, or trees or fence... everything I did was by the book... you know what they finally got me with? The firman making the report said I was burning plastic.... and noted that I had plastic buckes set out near the fire... ( buckets of water )... I gave up at that point... they left me with a citation, and made me push the fire out w/ the tractor or they wouldn't leave. I called the fire chief the next day and argued for hours with them. Their position was that they had to go by what the person onsite saw, and that they were siding with them ( Their position was that I was burning the plastic buckets of water )..... In the end, they dropped the 50$ citation fee or whatever it was.( but let the citation stand ).. but I still lost that battle... Probably the only thing I could have done was gotten a lawyer.... but the cost just didn't seem worth the trouble..... but I should have I guess. That situation still bothers me.

Soundguy

"I find the written word to almost always be safer to follow than a verbal response. Is the police officer going to believe "Mary" told you over the phone you could do what you're doing??? "

Worksmart · Jun 25, 2002

Soundguy

That's why I suggested "maybe" having something on your person/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. It would be available if needed. There's definitely a right time and a right place for a challenge. C

Hoosier_Daddy · Jun 26, 2002

If a cop questions your right to drive your tractor on the road then question his knowledge of the laws of your area and offer him a beer. This will definately get a response.

Carl_NH · Jun 26, 2002

I have an SMV sign, flashers, as well registered and licensed with the state since I frequently go a 1/2 mile or so on local roads helping out the neighbors.

Cost for a tractor registration & plate is $25 per year in NH, well worth any hassle with the locals, though never had had any problems.

Carl

Anonymous Poster · Jul 21, 2002

Soundguy, the response by your local FD really pi$$es me off! I am a volunteer in our local FD, and have never seen anyone in our department react in a manner like this.

A couple of things to keep in mind-your taxes (or donations, depends where you are) support this department. Also, while you may not have gotten satisfaction from the chief of the fire district, why stop there. Most areas have elected commissioners that the chief reports to-you might want to talk to him/her. Also, the commissioners meetings are open to the public, and most organizations hate bad publicity-you might want to bring it up there, if you were in the right.

Too many small-minded people in positions with some authority these days.

OK, rant mode off.

Bri

Hawkflyer · Jul 21, 2002

Yea, usually a bribery citation./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

dgood1 · Jul 21, 2002

Carl,

I never heard of registering a tractor before. I guess that it won't be long before one of our nothern visitors ( read that [censored] Yankee ) tries to convince our politicos that we should do that also because that's the way they do it up North.

I think that I will just have to be guilty of having unregistered tractors.

Just like my fire arms are unregistered.

By the way, Yankees are fine, it's the [censored] ones that come stay and try to make this like home (up north ).

Don

frank_f15 · Jul 21, 2002

if there are any politicians on this board , we just gave them another way to raise money/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif never heard of registering a tractor, farm tractor that is. have seen some comercial stuff with plates tho.

tc35dforme · Jul 22, 2002

Up here in MA...your okay on the road with SMV and warning lights if the vehicle ( tractor ) has a maximum road speed of under 12.5 MPH. My TC35D is out with a max of 13.4 MPH or so. Over that your considered a motor vehicle. You need registration...that requires paying sales\tax...and you need liability insurance in case you crash into a school bus !!!

I'm in a rural area...never an issue....so long as your not being an idiot. This time of year its never a problem with all the hay cutters and faammas running around. Nobody questions anything.

Trev · Jul 22, 2002

The person that lives directly behind me ( beyond a tree buffer ) in the retirement community calle dthe fire department, and reported a fire in the community.

My solution to this is to always call the fire department before setting off any kind of fire. In fact, 2 days ago, I called 911.. immediately told them this was NOT an emergency and asked if they had time for a question. They said sure. I told them we were about to touch off a large burn pile, and they said okay, fine, if we get any calls about that address we'll just inform the caller that it's a controlled fire.

Always let them know in advance, and a repeat reminder just before touch-off is a good idea.

Just my own experience...

Bob

Trev · Jul 22, 2002

Up here in MA...your okay on the road with SMV and warning lights if the vehicle ( tractor ) has a maximum road speed of under 12.5 MPH. My TC35D is out with a max of 13.4 MPH or so.

In NYS, they never mentioned speed. My JD4300 is supposed to go about 15.6 mph, and I can't quite see how going slower is going to make things any safer. Maybe it's just me. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

I also, in addition to the SMV and normal flashers, strap a *very* bright rotating light bar to the top of the ROPS when on the road. If anyone fails to see this, it's because their eyes are closed!

Actually, a funny story about this. One day a kid came over after I'd been driving around with this light setup, and he told me his mom was sure she had seen a UFO the previous night! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Darren · Jul 23, 2002

My Case in high gear will do about 40mph. The manufacturer's certificate of origin states that it's a tractor as does the original custom's import paperwork. For fuel purposes the IRS has also ruled it a tractor.

And Massachusetts says it's a motor vehicle?