Most farms and agricultural businesses use a wide variety of different types of vehicles, ranging from tractors to combine harvesters, ATVs, and different types of construction equipment.
In addition, many farm vehicles use different types of trailers to carry and transport loads both within farm and farm boundaries, which may also intersect public highways.
It is also quite common for people on farms to use different types of normal motor vehicles and trailers to transport other pieces of farm machinery across their own land and public roads.
This area of the use of agricultural machinery on public roads is of great importance, since there are usually specific statutes and regulations regarding the use of agricultural machinery and its loads on public roads, as well as specific requirements regarding the age of who can drive what vehicles on such roads.
It is quite possible that the laws and regulations relating to public roads differ slightly from those relating to the use of these vehicles on a farm or agricultural business.
All regulations will differ slightly depending on where the farm or farming business is located, but there are a number of important areas that can be highlighted and where specific information should be obtained.
It is important to understand how the following is what the local authority understands by a public road. While it may seem obvious to anyone who uses a normal motor vehicle, saying that the road can mean different things in terms of what types of vehicles they can use.
While most public roads will be open for use by any member of the public, there will likely be restrictions on what types of vehicles can use them and conditions on the age of the person who can drive any vehicle on them.
A specific area that needs to be clarified is the age at which an operator can use any agricultural machinery on public roads.
For the use of a motor vehicle on public roads, the local authority will delegate a certain age. Someone younger, often teenagers, is likely to use farm machinery on farmland and may want to use that machinery on public roads as well.
A local authority is likely to recognize this as a potential problem, I have some kind of statute that specifies what kind of vehicle people of specific ages can drive. There is likely to be a distinction between a normal public road and a public road that crosses agricultural or commercial land, which may simply involve a much shorter journey.
Tractors and farm machinery often carry large loads, which can pose a real danger to other road users. These hazards can be due to the size of the load itself, or often because the size of the load and the vehicle must travel at a very slow speed, often leading to congestion and frustration with other road users, which can create potential hazards.
Agricultural equipment may have specific requirements under statute regarding braking systems, bumpers, mirrors, horns, and lights. A vehicle transporting any type of cargo must ensure that any trailer that has been used as electrical and mechanical equipment is fully operational as specified by local law.
The use of security chains is not only a good practice, it is also probably a legal requirement. All loads are potentially a risk to other road users, either because they can tip over and fall onto other users, or alter the power and drivability of the vehicle towing them. As such, loads must be safely secured and controlled, not only at the beginning of the journey, but at intermittent intervals throughout the journey, when it is safe to do so.