Be careful out there!

[Bob Bancroft]

Terrible situation all around. Daylight. But was it foggy, or on a blind curve? What I often wonder is, if someone sees a large
object in their way, why not avoid it?

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 15:56:33 11/15/23) Terrible situation all around. Daylight. But was it foggy, or on a blind curve? What I often wonder is, if someone sees a large
object in their way, why not avoid it?

So you are saying suicide by combine?

 

[moresmoke]

(quoted from post at 22:27:59 11/15/23) A folding header would have been much cheaper than that lawsuit will cost.

If it were a corn head yes, but that was a grain head involved. They are not supposed to fold.

 

[flying belgian]

I thought it was universal throughout country. You can only take up shoulder and one driving lane.

 

[caterpillar guy]

It is a sad situation for sure. Our combine is 18 feet without a head on it and is only about a foot less than an 8 row corn head on it. It takes both lanes on a county road. It was this wide when he bought it. There are 18 inch or something like that added to the axle inside the final drives so not something you are going to put in and take off. We take the head off except for his one farm that has a ditch through it and to get there We block the intersection with a vehicle while we drive down the less than 1/4 mile to the drive by the ditch then duck into the field there. Only takes a minute for both the trip and an accident to happen. I just had a guy tonight coming to the drive at the house run out in front of me because I turn on my turn signal my drive is about 50-100 yards east past the intersection of the road by the west side of the house. I usually don't even use it for that reason. Tonight I thought being close to the intersection by less than a hundred yards It would be safe to turn it on. I guess not. He sure did stomp the throttle though.

 

[PJH]

I remember meeting a big tractor pulling a big fold-up disk after dark in the Mississippi bottoms on Illinois Route 3 in Jackson County, Illinois. The disk was unlit and was hanging over in my lane. I don't know what made me suspect its presence in front of me, but I am always cautious about farm machinery. I had slowed down and was ready to pull onto the shoulder so a quick swerve to the right at the last second allowed me to miss it. I guess that sometimes we are so important and in such a hurry that we don't feel like we need to be considerate to others.

We had a distant relative, college kid, motorcycle rider, who was passing a big fold-up disk behind a tractor when the tractor driver turned left in front of him. It was a closed casket funeral.

My biggest fear is hurting one of my good neighbors when I'm moving equipment on the neighborhood roads.

 

[john in la]

First the farmer was at fault not for having a wide load that
took up both lanes but for not having a escort to warn the
public.

Second the driver of the Ford was at fault because he was
clearly driving faster than his line of sight or distracted driving.
You can not just run into something because it is in your lane
even if it surprises you because you just came over a hill or
another a curve.

Sad situation either way because it will change many lives
forever.

 

[rustred]

For the ones wondering , these wide headers are to be
removed and pulled behind the combine on a transport
wagon when moving locations. Least thats the way I see
it done.

 

[dhermesc]

Beling left of center is already against the law - everywhere.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

(quoted from post at 11:43:18 11/15/23) most combines are 12-16ft wide from tire to tire

Not sure where you are but there are sure a lot of 40 foot MacDons around me.

 

[ss55]

Maybe future equipment will evolve to be more like what Nexat is developing to fit wide modern farm equipment down narrow European roads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4lqEosiZ-o

https://www.nexat.de/en/the-system/

In the USA if that combine operator had been employed in any other industry besides farming he would have been required to have escort warning vehicles or a police escort to be over the center line of a highway. Effectively he was shutting down the road to other traffic in both directions so he could move his combine. Construction companies, house movers, mining companies, and manufacturers of large industrial equipment all have much higher restrictions and requirements to move similar sized equipment, to reduce the danger to other motorists.

A combine that large is probably working together with other equipment and operators like: grain cart; semi trailers, tillage equipment; etc. Why not use one of those smaller vehicles as an escort?

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 08:08:14 11/16/23)

(quoted from post at 11:43:18 11/15/23) most combines are 12-16ft wide from tire to tire

Not sure where you are but there are sure a lot of 40 foot MacDons around me.

Are the combines that those MacDons are mounted on 40ft wide?