New Tractor & Trailer regs 2016

Muckit

Looking at this at the mo as need to get up to speed. Travelling the roads it seems I'm not the only one that needs to get a few things sorted.

Alot of them are v visual and therefore easy ones for any garda to pull a lad up on ie beacon, breakaway chain and trailer reflective strips and side lighting.

With bales going the road now, l hear ratchet straps is another easy one that gardas are pulling lads on. They need to be certified and load rated. Heard of a trucker stopped. He had 6 or 8 straps but garda had a problem with 3. Trucker wasn't let move off until he got another lad to bring him 3 legal straps to replace his.

Muckit

Reading through it, it seems slurry tankers, trailed sprayers, trailed fertilizer spreaders don't need to comply with trailer regs, regardless how big they are.

Can't make sense of that one at all. Some might be carrying way bigger tonnage than what would be in a lot of trailers. I'm thinking a lad bringing home his few 10x6 box loads of turf, his neighbour pulling a 2000gal slurry tanker. He needs a chain, his neighbour doesn't.

emaherx

Muckit wrote: »

Reading through it, it seems slurry tankers, trailed sprayers, trailed fertilizer spreaders don't need to comply with trailer regs, regardless how big they are.

Can't make sense of that one at all. Some might be carrying way bigger tonnage than what would be in a lot of trailers. I'm thinking a lad bringing home his few 10x6 box loads of turf, his neighbour pulling a 2000gal slurry tanker. He needs a chain, his neighbour doesn't.

I think the thinking here is that slurry tankers and other implements are factory built and already meet a certain safety standard. Where as other agricultural trailers vary vastly from factory built to converted lorry trailers to really shoddy home made monstrosities.

I think they also want people using tractor trailers for haulage to meet the same standards as trucks.

J.O. Farmer

emaherx wrote: »

I think the thinking here is that slurry tankers and other implements are factory built and already meet a certain safety standard. Where as other agricultural trailers vary vastly from factory built to converted lorry trailers to really shoddy home made monstrosities.

I think they also want people using tractor trailers for haulage to meet the same standards as trucks.

The chain is there in case the trailer becomes detached. A failure of the tractor hitch could do that even with a brand new factory tanker. Say the pick up hitch drops the tanker could come off the same as a 10×6 and maybe easier because the tanker might not have a stand to allow easy dropping when unhooking that the trailer might not.

emaherx

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

The chain is there in case the trailer becomes detached. A failure of the tractor hitch could do that even with a brand new factory tanker. Say the pick up hitch drops the tanker could come off the same as a 10×6 and maybe easier because the tanker might not have a stand to allow easy dropping when unhooking that the trailer might not.

I agree, and by all means add safety chains to all trailed implements. But really think the new regulations were brought out to prevent overloaded poorly built trailers, with little or no lighting being pulled at 40 - 60 KM up and down the country. You would have to assume tankers are designed to pull their full capacity of slurry.

The safety chain is only one of the new regulations and I think it should be fitted to a slurry tanker.

djmc

I think we have an over regulated nanny state that should have more garda to enforce the laws that we have instead of making up new laws that don't always make a lot of sense.

emaherx

djmc wrote: »

I think we have an over regulated nanny state that should have more garda to enforce the laws that we have instead of making up new laws that don't always make a lot of sense.

Given the state of some of the tractors and trailers on our roads I'd have to disagree, especially when it comes to poor lighting

djmc

That's what I mean about having garda to enforce the laws already there.
Lighting laws around since the 1970s
Trailer brakes since the 90s but lads still drive around with neither because the garda are outside major towns and roads and don't have the resources to police minor by roads and boraheens around the country.
Having stickers to say what speed you can do or how many bales you can carry isn't going to make a difference either.

Buford T. Justice XIX

djmc wrote: »

That's what I mean about having garda to enforce the laws already there.
Lighting laws around since the 1970s
Trailer brakes since the 90s but lads still drive around with neither because the garda are outside major towns and roads and don't have the resources to police minor by roads and boraheens around the country.
Having stickers to say what speed you can do or how many bales you can carry isn't going to make a difference either.

Looking at the machinery thread here and similar on other sites, I would have to disagree, dj.

I will be doing my best to comply with the laws even though I would only be on the road with a trailer maybe 12 times in the year and never more that 2 miles from home. It's not a great year to be spending money, either but I reckon 5-600 will see me sorted.

All it will take is one or two lads caught between major towns and the majority will be a lot more compliant within a week.

And as emaher said, some of the yokes on the road round here would put you off going on the road yourself, they're so dangerous.

Muckit

George Saunders in UK

Great setup but couldn't be road legal!!

https://youtu.be/NGnJ8du3lvc

Reggie.

Can't be

Waffletraktor

Muckit wrote: »

George Saunders in UK

Great setup but couldn't be road legal!!

https://youtu.be/NGnJ8du3lvc

Nah for poop and giggles on his youtube for a boring day, think its 55/60ft but theres a thing for dispensation from cops needing a front rear escort etc.. Need to have an escort to move combine/quadtracs on road with permission from police otherwise in big poop if anything happens.

The Sidewards Man

emaherx wrote: »

Given the state of some of the tractors and trailers on our roads I'd have to disagree, especially when it comes to poor lighting

I would take poor lighting over the amount of donkeys who have all their lights including work lights plus 4 or more led work lights on.

emaherx

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

I would take poor lighting over the amount of donkeys who have all their lights including work lights plus 4 or more led work lights on.

Your point is exactly why detailed regulations are required.

Driving with work lights lit on the road is just as illegal as driving with no lights and is covered in the lighting regulations. Where I agree these idiots are a hazard I can't agree that they are any better.

I don't like been blinded by work lights, but there is nothing worse than going to overtake a slow moving tractor on a straight stretch of road when the driver decides to just pull across the road into a field without so much as an indicator.

It is equally annoying when you have fully functioning lights and every moron in the country takes the flashing indicator as an invitation to overtake, but I would rather them having to explain why they overtook a vehicle that was indicating to turn, than me having to explain why I couldn't indicate.