How to legally drive a tractor on the road?
Discussion
This is a bit obscure, and I think should be in plod & the law but I can't post there yet! Hoping that somone might be able to give me a definitive answer as I've been going round in circles for days on this....
I want to drive an agricultural tractor on the road. I have a genuine reason for this and I'm not completely mad! Trouble is, it is not being used for agricultural purposes, so cannot use red diesel, no problem there. Also as it's not being used as an agricultural purpose, cannot be registered as a tractor... or so I believe.
So how should it be registered? PLG has been suggested on other forums, but then would require an MOT which I don't believe it would pass. Or is it exempt from the MOT in some way? If anyone could give me chapter and verse on this I would be very grateful! It seems to be another grey ocean where each agency is doing it's own, sometimes contradictory, thing.
One possible explanation is to re register as an 'Off road tractor', there seems to be no requirement for an agricultural use for this, as long as I keep withing construction and use regs which is not a problem.
I just want to do this legally, within the law. In case it's relevant, I have a (clean) pre 97 C1+E restricted licence, the vehicle is registered (1982) and insured.
I want to drive an agricultural tractor on the road. I have a genuine reason for this and I'm not completely mad! Trouble is, it is not being used for agricultural purposes, so cannot use red diesel, no problem there. Also as it's not being used as an agricultural purpose, cannot be registered as a tractor... or so I believe.
So how should it be registered? PLG has been suggested on other forums, but then would require an MOT which I don't believe it would pass. Or is it exempt from the MOT in some way? If anyone could give me chapter and verse on this I would be very grateful! It seems to be another grey ocean where each agency is doing it's own, sometimes contradictory, thing.
One possible explanation is to re register as an 'Off road tractor', there seems to be no requirement for an agricultural use for this, as long as I keep withing construction and use regs which is not a problem.
I just want to do this legally, within the law. In case it's relevant, I have a (clean) pre 97 C1+E restricted licence, the vehicle is registered (1982) and insured.
surely even if you are not using it as an agricultural vehicle, this does not make it not an agricultural? vehicle?!? i have known a couple of people who (i have no idea why) used a tractor as their sole transport. Again im not 100% sure but i dont think any tractor has to have an mot. i live on a farm and have contrators come to the farm who have to drive tractors on the road for many miles and they are not mot'd but are legally insured. infact all the tractors on our farm are insured for road use and have never had mot's! They do need tax though! If you have to declare a tractors use upon registration then registering it as agricultural must allow on road use because farmers legally insure their vehicles for off and on road use.
I can't see a 30 year old tractor passing any sort of modern test!!!
Here is the relevant definition, from V355/1, repeated below. Definition of an agricultural tractor included for reference, my use won't fit into this BUT it does seem to fit into 'Off road tractor'.
So.... I'm think of re - registering as an off road tractor. Does anyone know of any reason not to, has anyone done this? Agricultural machine is of course free tax... To be honest if there was a clear cut way to do it I'd just pay the relevant tax, but it's very grey. And foggy too!
Lots of guidance saying for exampler a tractor cutting hedges in an industrial area should be PLG registered, have been through that with a quad bike and there's just as many grey areas there - any permanent 4x4 quad cannot do a brake test for iunstance! Mine passed that by proving the brakes were capable of locking the wheels on tarmac while being dragged, at my risk! But I can't see a tractor passing an MOT if examined on the same basis as a car, and my aim is to find a legal way of doing this. If possible....
Many thanks for the helpful comments, all appreciated.
Should probably point out that I can't justify or afford a new large tractor that could pass an HGV test!
11.1 Agricultural Machine
The “Agricultural Machine” tax class includes:
i) An Agricultural Tractor – a tractor used on public roads solely for the purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture, forestry or activities falling within:- a) cutting verges bordering public roads;b) cutting hedges or trees bordering public roads or
bordering verges which border public roads.
ii) An Off Road Tractor means a tractor which is not
an agricultural tractor and which is:-
a) designed and constructed primarily for use otherwise than on roads; and
b) incapable by reason of its construction of exceeding a speed of 25 miles per hour on the level under its own power.
Here is the relevant definition, from V355/1, repeated below. Definition of an agricultural tractor included for reference, my use won't fit into this BUT it does seem to fit into 'Off road tractor'.
So.... I'm think of re - registering as an off road tractor. Does anyone know of any reason not to, has anyone done this? Agricultural machine is of course free tax... To be honest if there was a clear cut way to do it I'd just pay the relevant tax, but it's very grey. And foggy too!
Lots of guidance saying for exampler a tractor cutting hedges in an industrial area should be PLG registered, have been through that with a quad bike and there's just as many grey areas there - any permanent 4x4 quad cannot do a brake test for iunstance! Mine passed that by proving the brakes were capable of locking the wheels on tarmac while being dragged, at my risk! But I can't see a tractor passing an MOT if examined on the same basis as a car, and my aim is to find a legal way of doing this. If possible....
Many thanks for the helpful comments, all appreciated.
Should probably point out that I can't justify or afford a new large tractor that could pass an HGV test!
11.1 Agricultural Machine
The “Agricultural Machine” tax class includes:
i) An Agricultural Tractor – a tractor used on public roads solely for the purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture, forestry or activities falling within:- a) cutting verges bordering public roads;b) cutting hedges or trees bordering public roads or
bordering verges which border public roads.
ii) An Off Road Tractor means a tractor which is not
an agricultural tractor and which is:-
a) designed and constructed primarily for use otherwise than on roads; and
b) incapable by reason of its construction of exceeding a speed of 25 miles per hour on the level under its own power.
Can't use red diesel for road use in any case so forget that, along with using a tractor for non-agri purpose,
does it have a V5 and plate on it somewhere?
mine does, but along with some construction vehicles (cranes etc)
it has NO MOT
this means that as I have to display a tax disc each year
it has no financial value attached.
Ever year when the reminder arrives at home, I go onto the DVLA site, declare it insured (which it is with NFU)
but at the point it asks if a valid MOT is in place,
We click YES, and a pretty new coloured disc arrives the next day without payment,
which is just as well given the engine size!
does it have a V5 and plate on it somewhere?
mine does, but along with some construction vehicles (cranes etc)
it has NO MOT
this means that as I have to display a tax disc each year
it has no financial value attached.
Ever year when the reminder arrives at home, I go onto the DVLA site, declare it insured (which it is with NFU)
but at the point it asks if a valid MOT is in place,
We click YES, and a pretty new coloured disc arrives the next day without payment,
which is just as well given the engine size!
roohairy said:
b) incapable by reason of its construction of exceeding a speed of 25 miles per hour on the level under its own power.
I guess mine and 2 of the others at work don't meet the type approval tests
What are you going to do with this tractor? Make, version, year etc....
Need something to use as a shunter in 3 yards, has to be able to drive between them (too far for a yard truck), a tractor could do so many other tasks that it would be ideal.
I guess I really need to find someone who has a classic restored tractor that is used on the road, see if they have solved the problem. I suspect that there is no solution!
Have a couple lined up ready to buy for the task, insurance etc. no problem (already have other tractor policies) white diesel I can cope with, just the taxation issue.
I guess I really need to find someone who has a classic restored tractor that is used on the road, see if they have solved the problem. I suspect that there is no solution!
Have a couple lined up ready to buy for the task, insurance etc. no problem (already have other tractor policies) white diesel I can cope with, just the taxation issue.
hello, ok you may not want to hear from a girl , but i run tractors all the time on the road and i am conversant with the road traffic law,s for agricultural vehicles and mowing machines,, first of all, NO TRACTOR that was originally built as an Agricultural tractor needs to be M O T,d,secondly you can run the tractor on Red diesel, that i will explain later,however first i need to know the age of the tractor and its make please, and i will then clarify the rules on that particular machine
robbie
robbie
roberta larcini said:
you can run the tractor on Red diesel
This is pretty limited. If using red diesel on the road, it has to be for agricultural purposes and not for direct reward. AFIK, you're restricted to a 'reasonable' traveling distance of 15 miles. However, contractors can use red diesel on the road to travel to a field where they'll carry out agricultural work.Even taking a piece of machinery to a neighbour's farm, i.e. lending him the machinery but delivering it to him, even if not for financial reward, still counts as transport and theoretically requires white diesel.
Having said that, you're not likely to attract too much attention...
under the historic rules, thats for historic agricultural tractors, they only need be insured fully comp, there is no MOT needed,, i run ferguson TEF tractors for person driving as well as agricultural work and i also do council snowploughing with them,,i checked with DVLA, and all i had to do was insure them, no mot, and stick a historic cal class tax disc upon them, but they can be run as general transport, which we do ,do and also snowploughing as well, and we do rn all the rigs on argi red diesel, this i checked with wiltshire police to make sure of, and because i have them fully comp on the insurance, even though i use them for pleasure as well, i can still run the rigs on Agri diesel
with any agricultural machine, mowing machine and or combine, they dont even have to carry plates if they are using the main road,s if they are going from your farm,yard or fields to another part of your property,o matter where that property is, as long as you are going from and to your own property,, with our insurance, whicj is fully come, we can hire out to council or private individual, and you do not need to hold a drivers license to drive an agricultural tractor, as long as you do not exceed one hour per year upon the highway going from farm to field
with any agricultural machine, mowing machine and or combine, they dont even have to carry plates if they are using the main road,s if they are going from your farm,yard or fields to another part of your property,o matter where that property is, as long as you are going from and to your own property,, with our insurance, whicj is fully come, we can hire out to council or private individual, and you do not need to hold a drivers license to drive an agricultural tractor, as long as you do not exceed one hour per year upon the highway going from farm to field
under the historic rules, thats for historic agricultural tractors, they only need be insured fully comp, there is no MOT needed,, i run ferguson TEF tractors for person driving as well as agricultural work and i also do council snowploughing with them,,i checked with DVLA, and all i had to do was insure them, no mot, and stick a historic cal class tax disc upon them, but they can be run as general transport, which we do ,do and also snowploughing as well, and we do rn all the rigs on argi red diesel, this i checked with wiltshire police to make sure of, and because i have them fully comp on the insurance, even though i use them for pleasure as well, i can still run the rigs on Agri diesel
with any agricultural machine, mowing machine and or combine, they dont even have to carry plates if they are using the main road,s if they are going from your farm,yard or fields to another part of your property,o matter where that property is, as long as you are going from and to your own property,, with our insurance, whicj is fully come, we can hire out to council or private individual, and you do not need to hold a drivers license to drive an agricultural tractor, as long as you do not exceed one hour per year upon the highway going from farm to field
with any agricultural machine, mowing machine and or combine, they dont even have to carry plates if they are using the main road,s if they are going from your farm,yard or fields to another part of your property,o matter where that property is, as long as you are going from and to your own property,, with our insurance, whicj is fully come, we can hire out to council or private individual, and you do not need to hold a drivers license to drive an agricultural tractor, as long as you do not exceed one hour per year upon the highway going from farm to field
under the historic rules, thats for historic agricultural tractors, they only need be insured fully comp, there is no MOT needed,, i run ferguson TEF tractors for person driving as well as agricultural work and i also do council snowploughing with them,,i checked with DVLA, and all i had to do was insure them, no mot, and stick a historic cal class tax disc upon them, but they can be run as general transport, which we do ,do and also snowploughing as well, and we do rn all the rigs on argi red diesel, this i checked with wiltshire police to make sure of, and because i have them fully comp on the insurance, even though i use them for pleasure as well, i can still run the rigs on Agri diesel
with any agricultural machine, mowing machine and or combine, they dont even have to carry plates if they are using the main road,s if they are going from your farm,yard or fields to another part of your property,o matter where that property is, as long as you are going from and to your own property,, with our insurance, whicj is fully come, we can hire out to council or private individual, and you do not need to hold a drivers license to drive an agricultural tractor, as long as you do not exceed one hour per year upon the highway going from farm to field
with any agricultural machine, mowing machine and or combine, they dont even have to carry plates if they are using the main road,s if they are going from your farm,yard or fields to another part of your property,o matter where that property is, as long as you are going from and to your own property,, with our insurance, whicj is fully come, we can hire out to council or private individual, and you do not need to hold a drivers license to drive an agricultural tractor, as long as you do not exceed one hour per year upon the highway going from farm to field
A tractor is NOT an HGV. A JCB digger weighing 11 tonnes is also not an HGV. AFAIK BOTH can be driven on a car licence. I did know of a bloke who used to hire JCBs then drive them to the farms that wanted lots of new drains laying. NO CITB safety certificate required because he was working on private land. On the other hand driving JCBs for the council and working on public roads needs every certificate in the book!
An agricultural tractor can operate with a Gross Train Weight of about 23 tonnes (please don't try this with the little grey Fergie!) For example the JCB Fastrac is rated to haul 18.9 tonnes. It is however NOT AN HGV and AFAIK can be driven on a car licence.
For the keen boater one needs to look into the rules for Fisherman's Tractors. Fishing is of course allied to agriculture and it used to be the case that red diesel could be used on the road provided that the launch site was no more than six miles from where the boat was kept! (The boat has to be registered as a fishing boat to pull this stunt!)
One farmer and haulier that I bought some boat parts from had got rid of his lorry as the paperwork was too much expense and hassle. He had a huge tractor and was building a trailer similar to the kind that goes onto an artic tractor unit. He also had several plots of land which he could justify travelling between!
Other loopholes are "Showmans Vehicle". Ever wondered how fairground workers paid the road tax on what are basically Scammell tank transporters? It must be thousands surely for an HGV that size? NOPE! it is NOT an HGV it is a Showman's Vehicle and the tax disc is about the same as a car. Showman's Vehicles do need MOT's however so its not all plain sailing.
Hope this has whetted your appetite for loopholes. The rules of course are changing all the time and before long the UK is likely to get dragged into line with the EU rope!
Good luck!
An agricultural tractor can operate with a Gross Train Weight of about 23 tonnes (please don't try this with the little grey Fergie!) For example the JCB Fastrac is rated to haul 18.9 tonnes. It is however NOT AN HGV and AFAIK can be driven on a car licence.
For the keen boater one needs to look into the rules for Fisherman's Tractors. Fishing is of course allied to agriculture and it used to be the case that red diesel could be used on the road provided that the launch site was no more than six miles from where the boat was kept! (The boat has to be registered as a fishing boat to pull this stunt!)
One farmer and haulier that I bought some boat parts from had got rid of his lorry as the paperwork was too much expense and hassle. He had a huge tractor and was building a trailer similar to the kind that goes onto an artic tractor unit. He also had several plots of land which he could justify travelling between!
Other loopholes are "Showmans Vehicle". Ever wondered how fairground workers paid the road tax on what are basically Scammell tank transporters? It must be thousands surely for an HGV that size? NOPE! it is NOT an HGV it is a Showman's Vehicle and the tax disc is about the same as a car. Showman's Vehicles do need MOT's however so its not all plain sailing.
Hope this has whetted your appetite for loopholes. The rules of course are changing all the time and before long the UK is likely to get dragged into line with the EU rope!
Good luck!
A tractor is NOT an HGV. A JCB digger weighing 11 tonnes is also not an HGV. AFAIK BOTH can be driven on a car licence. I did know of a bloke who used to hire JCBs then drive them to the farms that wanted lots of new drains laying. NO CITB safety certificate required because he was working on private land. On the other hand driving JCBs for the council and working on public roads needs every certificate in the book!
An agricultural tractor can operate with a Gross Train Weight of about 23 tonnes (please don't try this with the little grey Fergie!) For example the JCB Fastrac is rated to haul 18.9 tonnes. It is however NOT AN HGV and AFAIK can be driven on a car licence.
For the keen boater one needs to look into the rules for Fisherman's Tractors. Fishing is of course allied to agriculture and it used to be the case that red diesel could be used on the road provided that the launch site was no more than six miles from where the boat was kept! (The boat has to be registered as a fishing boat to pull this stunt!)
One farmer and haulier that I bought some boat parts from had got rid of his lorry as the paperwork was too much expense and hassle. He had a huge tractor and was building a trailer similar to the kind that goes onto an artic tractor unit. He also had several plots of land which he could justify travelling between!
Other loopholes are "Showmans Vehicle". Ever wondered how fairground workers paid the road tax on what are basically Scammell tank transporters? It must be thousands surely for an HGV that size? NOPE! it is NOT an HGV it is a Showman's Vehicle and the tax disc is about the same as a car. Showman's Vehicles do need MOT's however so its not all plain sailing.
Hope this has whetted your appetite for loopholes. The rules of course are changing all the time and before long the UK is likely to get dragged into line with the EU rope!
Good luck!
An agricultural tractor can operate with a Gross Train Weight of about 23 tonnes (please don't try this with the little grey Fergie!) For example the JCB Fastrac is rated to haul 18.9 tonnes. It is however NOT AN HGV and AFAIK can be driven on a car licence.
For the keen boater one needs to look into the rules for Fisherman's Tractors. Fishing is of course allied to agriculture and it used to be the case that red diesel could be used on the road provided that the launch site was no more than six miles from where the boat was kept! (The boat has to be registered as a fishing boat to pull this stunt!)
One farmer and haulier that I bought some boat parts from had got rid of his lorry as the paperwork was too much expense and hassle. He had a huge tractor and was building a trailer similar to the kind that goes onto an artic tractor unit. He also had several plots of land which he could justify travelling between!
Other loopholes are "Showmans Vehicle". Ever wondered how fairground workers paid the road tax on what are basically Scammell tank transporters? It must be thousands surely for an HGV that size? NOPE! it is NOT an HGV it is a Showman's Vehicle and the tax disc is about the same as a car. Showman's Vehicles do need MOT's however so its not all plain sailing.
Hope this has whetted your appetite for loopholes. The rules of course are changing all the time and before long the UK is likely to get dragged into line with the EU rope!
Good luck!
A tractor is NOT an HGV. A JCB digger weighing 11 tonnes is also not an HGV. AFAIK BOTH can be driven on a car licence. I did know of a bloke who used to hire JCBs then drive them to the farms that wanted lots of new drains laying. NO CITB safety certificate required because he was working on private land. On the other hand driving JCBs for the council and working on public roads needs every certificate in the book!
An agricultural tractor can operate with a Gross Train Weight of about 23 tonnes (please don't try this with the little grey Fergie!) For example the JCB Fastrac is rated to haul 18.9 tonnes. It is however NOT AN HGV and AFAIK can be driven on a car licence.
For the keen boater one needs to look into the rules for Fisherman's Tractors. Fishing is of course allied to agriculture and it used to be the case that red diesel could be used on the road provided that the launch site was no more than six miles from where the boat was kept! (The boat has to be registered as a fishing boat to pull this stunt!)
One farmer and haulier that I bought some boat parts from had got rid of his lorry as the paperwork was too much expense and hassle. He had a huge tractor and was building a trailer similar to the kind that goes onto an artic tractor unit. He also had several plots of land which he could justify travelling between!
Other loopholes are "Showmans Vehicle". Ever wondered how fairground workers paid the road tax on what are basically Scammell tank transporters? It must be thousands surely for an HGV that size? NOPE! it is NOT an HGV it is a Showman's Vehicle and the tax disc is about the same as a car. Showman's Vehicles do need MOT's however so its not all plain sailing.
Hope this has whetted your appetite for loopholes. The rules of course are changing all the time and before long the UK is likely to get dragged into line with the EU rope!
Good luck!
An agricultural tractor can operate with a Gross Train Weight of about 23 tonnes (please don't try this with the little grey Fergie!) For example the JCB Fastrac is rated to haul 18.9 tonnes. It is however NOT AN HGV and AFAIK can be driven on a car licence.
For the keen boater one needs to look into the rules for Fisherman's Tractors. Fishing is of course allied to agriculture and it used to be the case that red diesel could be used on the road provided that the launch site was no more than six miles from where the boat was kept! (The boat has to be registered as a fishing boat to pull this stunt!)
One farmer and haulier that I bought some boat parts from had got rid of his lorry as the paperwork was too much expense and hassle. He had a huge tractor and was building a trailer similar to the kind that goes onto an artic tractor unit. He also had several plots of land which he could justify travelling between!
Other loopholes are "Showmans Vehicle". Ever wondered how fairground workers paid the road tax on what are basically Scammell tank transporters? It must be thousands surely for an HGV that size? NOPE! it is NOT an HGV it is a Showman's Vehicle and the tax disc is about the same as a car. Showman's Vehicles do need MOT's however so its not all plain sailing.
Hope this has whetted your appetite for loopholes. The rules of course are changing all the time and before long the UK is likely to get dragged into line with the EU rope!
Good luck!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff