Bloody boy racers!!!!

Victor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6984038.stm

Teen tractor drivers face court

Teenagers who use tractors for meeting up with their friends for nights out in a County Antrim village have been threatened with prosecution.
Police have warned them that using the vehicles for non-agricultural use is illegal.

The PSNI said parents of the teenagers could end up in court for allowing them to drive the tractors into Portglenone to socialise.

Tractors have been used by 16-year-olds to drive into many towns in Antrim.

Some are driven without licences or insurance. The teenagers are only allowed to drive them on farms.

"If drivers breach the conditions of their driving licence or breach the law they should expect to face prosecution," said Constable Lesley White.

"I appreciate that using agricultural vehicles is seen by some young people as an easy way to get mobile, however, there are restrictions both in terms of driving licence and the road traffic law that defines when these vehicles can be used and in what circumstances.

"As breaches of the regulations may also impact on parents, I would urge everyone to make sure that they know the rules and don't fall foul of the law."

Last year, police threatened to start issuing ASBOs as they said they would clampdown on the tractor drivers after there were complaints about engines being revved loudly, music blasting from the cabs and spotlights being shone in Ballycastle, County Antrim.

mike65

Why the little rascals!

Mike.

radiospan

Esel

Might seem funny, but think about the damage a tractor can do to a car and its passengers in a crash, especially when the tractor is being driven at night by an inexperienced child.

afatbollix

its even funnier when they show up to school in them!!!!!!!

Captain Slow IRL

I'm surprised something like this wasn't shown on Killinascully yet:rolleyes:
All the youngsters with their modded tractors - big alloys, led's, etc - and the posh kids can turn up in lamborghini's........:D

testicle

esel wrote:

Might seem funny, but think about the damage a tractor can do to a car and its passengers in a crash, especially when the tractor is being driven at night by an inexperienced child.

Be careful up there.

NeMiSiS

My cousin used to do this years back.. you would see the tractor parked outside clubs etc.. put a **** hot stereo into it etc..
TK

Max_Damage

Massey Ferguson 20 + Ford V6 Engine =

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=DapHhgnm6CQ

Volvoboy

testicle wrote:

Be careful up there.

HAHA!:D



-VB-

gyppo

I know of a case where a John deere + bale wrapper went through the Mc Donalds drive through at the N6 centre:D

Our man in Havana

The one on the Athlone bypass?

Chef1976

lol u don't even see this happen in Navan anymore

vengeance52

i was in cavan one evening, and there was about 9 lads about 16yrs old in the filling station shop on the dublin road. and when i left the shop, i saw them hopping into 6 tractors and tearing (at 35mph) down the road. I just started laughin my ass off.

maidhc

gyppo wrote:

I know of a case where a John deere + bale wrapper went through the Mc Donalds drive through at the N6 centre:D

Whats wrong with that? A hungry tractor driver?

I'm surprised it fitted though.

wet-paint

Unless it was actually... well, through the drive through.

layke

As I go past the 25 year mark this month, I'd like to moan about the noise they produce while I try to sleep.

siralfalot

I see nothing wrong with that at all, used to do it myself when I was 16 all those years ago

as for the damage a tractor will do to a car? its nothing compared to the damage a car will do to a tractor and especially its driver


off topic, but last saturday I spent the day driving a tractor and trailor, and its absolutly shocking to see the levels of intolerance shown to you by car and van drivers. basically the machine I was driving was 7 tonnes weight with a 10 tonne trailor behind, like an artic there are vast blind spots and the only way to see whats behind is the mirrors. the problem starts when cars drive so fecking close to the back of the trailor that I can't see them, if you can't see my mirrors than I can't see you, and therefore let you past.
the stupid risks that people take in trying to make up a few minutes are unbelievable, passing on blind bends, passing where there just isn't room, twice I was run off the road, because people had not the patience to a. stay back enough in order for me to know they are there and b. to wait for me to pull over to let them past.
on a main road coming down a steep hill and turning right at the foot of the hill I indicated well in time, and started to make my turn, only to be overtaken by some numb nuts in a van who missed my front wheel by millimeters.
while bring the next load, at the same junction I could see a landcruiser behind me, I indicated and started to slow down, I moved and drove with one wheel on the white line to discourage any idiot from overtaking and killing me while i was making the turn. low and behold the landcouiser overtakes me on the grass verge...... a couple of seconds later, as I'm half way through the turn I hear the screaming of brakes, I look over my shoulder and there is a car overtaking, trying to stop before he hits me.......
I get stopped, blocking the entire road (its a mile long straight) and get down to see the car just stopped short of hitting the rear wheel of the tractor, I tell the pr1ck to get out of his car and bring him around to show him the lights on the back, he said that he had seen the lights and indicators but though that he had lots of time to make the overtake..... it took every ounce of restraint i had not to hit the fcuker.

Esel

siralfalot wrote:

as for the damage a tractor will do to a car? its nothing compared to the damage a car will do to a tractor and especially its driver

Care to explain?

maidhc

esel wrote:

Care to explain?

Indeed. I would have though 7 tonnes of cast iron would always have the upper hand on a tin can.

Bogger77

maidhc wrote:

Indeed. I would have though 7 tonnes of cast iron would always have the upper hand on a tin can.

on a car, usually the car driver will come out worse. but if a van or anything larger hits a tractor, it's usually bye bye tractor driver.
For all the size, there's feck all safety devices that you'd find in a car. Seat belts, airbags etc.
Older tractors have a habit of gearbox and engine splitting when struck, and given that the driver is sitting within inches of the gearbox, it's not good.

Anan1

I don't think tractors have either crumple zones or airbags.

barryfitz

Anan1 wrote:

I don't think tractors have either crumple zones or airbags.

On the contrary, there are crumple zones on tractors. They are usually located in the drivers Seat!

maidhc

Bogger77 wrote:

on a car, usually the car driver will come out worse. but if a van or anything larger hits a tractor, it's usually bye bye tractor driver.
For all the size, there's feck all safety devices that you'd find in a car. Seat belts, airbags etc.
Older tractors have a habit of gearbox and engine splitting when struck, and given that the driver is sitting within inches of the gearbox, it's not good.

Fair enough. Although I saw a NH TS110 that got driven through a house, and apart from the cab being strained, and the front axle gone, it was inherently repairable. I also have a Ford 4600 that was written off by the insurance co after falling off a cliff. One cab, 4 wheels, and new body panels later it looks immaculate!

Fey!

Several years ago a friend of mine, who was driving a tractor, was rear ended by a car, and ended upgoing through the front windscreen of the car and breaking his back.

That said, a lot of the tractors I meet on the road, especially with trailers, are unlit, or the lights are covered with so much dirt that you can't see them. I've had a few near misses at night recently near my parents house with guys who seem to think that rear lights aren't necessary at all.

maidhc wrote:

I also have a Ford 4600 that was written off by the insurance co after falling off a cliff. One cab, 4 wheels, and new body panels later it looks immaculate!

I'd love to have seen that insurance report!!! How did you manage to make it fall off a cliff???

maidhc

Fey! wrote:

I'd love to have seen that insurance report!!! How did you manage to make it fall off a cliff???

I didn't! Bought it as a write off, fixed it, and kept it. They guy who had it before us forgot to pull the handbrake!

siralfalot

esel wrote:

Care to explain?

maidhc wrote:

Indeed. I would have though 7 tonnes of cast iron would always have the upper hand on a tin can.

not when the centre of gravity of a tractor is a lot higher than the actual car, it only takes a tiny impact to flip a tractor over, and as has been mentioned there are feck all safety devices in them, and the only crumple zone is the soft organic stuff behind the drivers wheel

generally the machine itself can take huge punishment and can be rebuilt, drivers are a different story

last year my neighbour was killed in his brand new tractor on a wide open main road, a van struck the rear of the trailor as he was trying to overtake, this caused the tractor to jacknife out in front of the van, on impact the tractor was split in three, gearbox and engine seperated and the cab unit that sits atop the gearbox came away, and the accident happened at very low speed

maidhc

siralfalot wrote:

not when the centre of gravity of a tractor is a lot higher than the actual car, it only takes a tiny impact to flip a tractor over, and as has been mentioned there are feck all safety devices in them, and the only crumple zone is the soft organic stuff behind the drivers wheel

generally the machine itself can take huge punishment and can be rebuilt, drivers are a different story

last year my neighbour was killed in his brand new tractor on a wide open main road, a van struck the rear of the trailor as he was trying to overtake, this caused the tractor to jacknife out in front of the van, on impact the tractor was split in three, gearbox and engine seperated and the cab unit that sits atop the gearbox came away, and the accident happened at very low speed

Interesting. Definately on higher speed tractors seatbelts (and not just lap belts) should be compulsory... the cab nealy always remains intact even in the most horrendous of accidents, so it stands to reason if you can keep the person in the seat you are grand. (as the sign says:, in the event of an overturn, hold tightly to the steering wheel!!!!). I can see why a tractor would split, cast iron doesn't take shocks very well.

peasant

But the cab is usually just a bolt-on job, isn't it.

The seat is fixed to the tractor, the cab is just a bolted on cage ... in most cases not even made by the tractor manufacturer but some outside company

siralfalot

yeah on older tractors the cab was basically a bolt on frame with windows in it, and a seat mounted on top of the gearbox
newer models are a different story, the cab is basically a pod, that houses all the controlls, drivers seat steering wheel etc etc, in some cases it is mounted on shock absorbers to reduce vibration and noise.

eg, this is the same as ours:



its a Lamborghini Champion 180, to give you some sence of scale, those rear wheels are over 6 feet tall, the cabin is a totally seperate unit to the rest of the machine