Large farm vehicle

[seders]

On my way in to work this morning I passed a large farm vehicle with 2 fork lift truck style prongs sticking out from the front.

The prongs were about 4 feet off the floor and had no covering on them.

Is this legal to be driven like this or would they need to be raised or removed before being on the road?

[Willy Nilly]

seders said:

On my way in to work this morning I passed a large farm vehicle with 2 fork lift truck style prongs sticking out from the front.

The prongs were about 4 feet off the floor and had no covering on them.

Is this legal to be driven like this or would they need to be raised or removed before being on the road?

It will be a telehandler or a loader of some sort.

The forks should be covered really, but I'm not sure why, the slowest vehicle on the road is hardly likely to run into the back of anyone, not only that, the machine is not designed with collisions in mind, so in any crash it's going to hurt.

I was told the boom should be raised, ball cocks was my response, the modern machines have been designed such that when the boom is down it virtually disappears into the bodywork, out of sight which improves the viability hugely. Once you lift the boom up, the back of the headstock, where the forks would be attached to the machine comes into view in the windscreen, which is great for using the machine, not so great for driving down the road, also, more importantly, once you lift the boom up the right hand window become totally obscured.

The only time I lift the boom up is when I'm pulling out of a junction, otherwise it's down where I can see it. If an oncoming vehicle hit the front of the loader with the boom down it's going to be bad for the other vehicle, if it hits the loader with the boom up, the oncoming vehicle will quite literally be at the loader drivers feet. I'd rather you hit the boom. Obviously, lifting the boom up raises the CoG which would increase the likelihood of a roll over in the event of any collision.

I was also told to use 2 wheel steer on the road, but when you operate a machine in 4 wheel steer the rest of the time it makes driving it very difficult. I would expect the number of KSI's involving loaders front attachments which got hit are very low and would involve some sort of driver error.

I hope this helps.

[Willy Nilly]

Nanook said:

Willy Nilly said:

It will be a telehandler or a loader of some sort.

The forks should be covered really, but I'm not sure why, the slowest vehicle on the road is hardly likely to run into the back of anyone, not only that, the machine is not designed with collisions in mind, so in any crash it's going to hurt.

If a car comes round a corner too fast and runs into you, either he gets hurt a bit by colliding with a large piece of machinery, or he gets a fork through the head, and dies.

It may have been his fault, but it's avoidable, which is why you're supposed to drive with them raised. Simple, straightforward.

I have them low that they will go under a car.

If I lift them up, how high do you want me to lift them? High enough to clear a Golf? What about the van driver? What about the 7.5 tonner driver? What about the 44 tonner driver? Coach? It really isn't that simple. As I said, down and I can see, start lifting them up and I can see less and am more likely to get them machine tipped on its side in the event of a collision.

[Willy Nilly]

Besides, there are plenty of other implements that one could run into that would make hitting a pallet fork look like a walk in the park. It's not unknown for people to run into the back of a mounted plough, that would act like a tin opener on a car. If you run into pretty much any piece of cultivation equipment you will have a multitude of very hard, often spring loaded legs or tines in the car with you.

[Willy Nilly]

Nanook said:

Willy Nilly said:

It will be a telehandler or a loader of some sort.

The forks should be covered really, but I'm not sure why, the slowest vehicle on the road is hardly likely to run into the back of anyone, not only that, the machine is not designed with collisions in mind, so in any crash it's going to hurt.

If a car comes round a corner too fast and runs into you, either he gets hurt a bit by colliding with a large piece of machinery, or he gets a fork through the head, and dies.

It may have been his fault, but it's avoidable, which is why you're supposed to drive with them raised. Simple, straightforward.

And what about my feet? With the boom raised it's quite likely my feet will get cut off if a vehicle hits the front of the loader, with the boom low enough, the forks go under the car and the car hits the boom. My head will hit the windscreen, but my feet will be ok.

[Fort Jefferson]

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

So you can kill lorry drivers instead, makes so much sense.

[Chester draws]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/machinery...

Says


When travelling on the public highway, the forks (or other front-mounted handling attachment) should be:

O..........removed and carried elsewhere (e.g. on a trailer) or
O.....,.....folded back and secured or
O............covered/protected by an appropriate guard.

If this advice is not followed, the attachment may be regarded as a dangerous projection, other road users may be deemed to be at risk, and the driver may be prosecuted for dangerous driving. Keep the centre of gravity of the loader as low as possible to improve stability. Positioning the loader in the lowered position will also improve visibility and aid driver observation from the cab. Driving, waiting to pull out from a gateway or field or manoeuvring with the loader raised and projecting beyond the machine could create a risk to other road users such as lorry drivers.

[gazza285]

When I worked on building the DLR the telehandler had to travel between the various stations south of the river on the road, so it was fitted with a set of fold up forks. These folded from the bottom of the fork, so they would sit vertical instead of horizontal.

[Nickyboy]

Meanwhile in America

[bigmowley]

I regularly use my telehandlers on the road and our forks simply flip over the fork carriage so they point back towards the machine, it takes about 30secs and a good heave to do, simples.
Concur with comments about driving with the boom raised, it's a non starter, much worse visibility, makes the machine more unstable and how high do you want it? Mine goes up 14M so it's a bit dodgy under power lines
FYI the handler weighs 8000Kgs and the crumple zone is made out of 10MM thick steel plate and lots off it. Try not to run into one it will hurt wherever the forks are!

[V8A*ndy]

OP like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Vkx2U7ULQ

[Willy Nilly]

Nickyboy said:

Meanwhile in America

That looks like a 1688. When I was there we'd hardly ever take the heads off, 62 miles with a 30ft head on was the longest trip I did.

[caelite]

Willy Nilly said:

Besides, there are plenty of other implements that one could run into that would make hitting a pallet fork look like a walk in the park. It's not unknown for people to run into the back of a mounted plough, that would act like a tin opener on a car. If you run into pretty much any piece of cultivation equipment you will have a multitude of very hard, often spring loaded legs or tines in the car with you.

Let me go fetch my bail spikes!