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formerly ny bill

formerly ny bill

Well-known Member
Neighbor Paul brought his 966 and discbine over yesterday mid-morning, to cut some of my extra hay for his cows. Toyota pickup following him. Double yellow line. Paul sticks his arm out to make a left turn into the driveway to the field. Starts to turn and guy is right beside him. Caught the side of the truck with the front tractor tire, truck's bumper or something damaged 966 front rim, back axle on truck tore loose. Paul thought the truck was going to roll, but it just ended up going the opposite direction of travel in the other lane. I was taking sweet corn to vegetable stand across from driveway, missed the excitement by about a minute.

We put one of my spares on the 966, but it was really pigeon toed. Probably twisted the spindle. Paul mowed the hay with my 1086.

Nobody hurt. Toyota left on a rollback.
 
some tractor drivers when making a left turn move over in the left lane careful that way no last minute passing stupid cars just do not pay attention when passing a tractor
 
Had that happen to me several times. Not many understand signals, usually young kids. One kid who hit me, left rear wheel and no damage, actually said he thought I was waving him around. I was told if you wave someone on and there's an accident you could be held liable.
 
I was behind a tractor and the driver used a left turn hand signal that looked like he was waving me around. I am glad I had a feeling that somthing was wrong and did not pass. He turned. I thought about going back and explain that he should be more clear with his hand signals.
 
I do the opposite on a left turn. I crowd the yellow line and even slightly cross the line as I signal - seems to get their attention and keep the impatient people from passing.

Unless you can pull completely off the road to the right I won't pass. Learned my lesson years ago - an old man driving his pickup practically drove off the right side of the road and slowed to 1 MPH - I thought he was pulling off the road for some reason. Just as I was about to pass he turned hard left and took my front bumper off. He said he was swinging wide to make his left turn into his driveway.
 
They barely mentioned hand signals in the driver's course I had to take 32 years ago to get my license. Paying attention isn't a priority for a 16 year old being forced to sit through a boring class after school...

I remember hand signals mostly from seeing someone driving an old Model T when I was little. The hand signals fascinated me for some reason.
 
My niece took drivers ed 5 years ago and hand signals were never mentioned. She wouldn't know what they were if I hadn't showed her.
 
Odds are the Toyota driver did not know hand signals which is no excuse as it is covered in the driver's course book for receiving a license here in NY. I tense up anymore when I have to move equipment and in the next day or two I need to move my offset disk over to the other farm which needs some shoulder to stay on its side of the median. Don't wave people by other than an emergency situation. I've been told this by law enforcement and lawyers. You assume liability when you do so. Even when you do everything right in terms of lighting and signals there is going to be a vehicle operator to foul everything up and when he/she does they will involve a lawyer. It's gotten pretty tough for a farmer to prevail in court even when he is in the right. For a lot of non-farm people a farmer is nothing more than a defendant with deeper pockets than they have.
 
I guess I'm about x5 on the turn method you use. My cab tractors got more than one blinker on the back along with my motorcycle but people still don't seem to know I'm going to turn at times.

I will also move my hand and arm back and forth pointing where I going to turn, on a open station, as nobody seems to know what the hand signal's mean. I use the same signal on my motorcycle and bicycle. As others say never signal anybody around or to pull out.
 
Starts to turn and guy is right beside him.

Sounds like Paul didn't look before he turned if the guy was beside him when he started his turn. Still wasn't right that the Toyota was passing but you have to still look before you turn.
 
Sorry, but it is a sign of the times. I see people passing Amish buggies and it appears they try to see how close they can come to the buggy and how fast they can cut it off. Same with tractors or any slow-moving vehicle. We are raising a generation of knuckle heads who are only concerned about themselves. Sounds like one of the political parties.
 
WI passed a law that you could pass anyone, anywhere if they were traveling less than half the posted speed limit. The next year they rescinded the part that pertained to farm equipment. The first law was head line news in a small weekly paper, but the revision didn't seem to make it into print.
 
That is only to oncomming traffic, not to trafficv following you. And a yellow line on your side means that NOBODY passed you even if you are only driving 5 MPH
 
That truck was breaking the law by passing in a no passing zone so not the tractor drivers responsibility to have watched for any body trying to pass even if he did not signal.
 
My dad and grandfather always insisted that we move into the center of the road when making a left turn into the farm driveway. At the time I learned to road a tractor we had all tricycle two cylinders. The idea was, better to have the wagon hit then the tractor. They citied accidents where when the high center of gravity two cylinders where hit in a left turn situation they would roll on their side. Since I had rolled a JD B on its side at the ripe old age of 6 I heeded their advice, at the age of 6 I had not quite mastered the art of steering a tricycle tractor with one hand while engaging the clutch.
 
When we road tractors I typically follow with the pickup with the flashers on. When we are getting ready to make a left hand turn, assuming there is no oncoming traffic, I pull my pickup all the way into the left hand land lane to discourage anybody from going around. I'd rather take my chances getting rear ended in the truck than have a friend or family member get side swiped on a tractor. We have had a few close calls over the years, but luckily nobody has been hurt.
 
He also did not seem to have any idea what a NO PASSING zone was. So passing in a no passing zone was his first infraction in breaking the law. And a lot of things have no trun signals and NO WAY to be able to use a hand signal. Have not heard of a low that required using even hand signals to make a left hand turn. Example older combines that driver sat in middle lould not even reach out with arm to be seen past the body of the combine. And I started driving 63 years ago when most cars and trucks did not even have signal lights.
 
They are worse then a knucklehead who usually do what they do because they know no better. People today are downright arrogant.
 
I use to work for a large outfit that would road equipment, near every day. Mostly on good rock roads. I did alot of this, while working with them.
Anyways, I use to signal traffic behind me to go around, if I knew I was going to be making a left hand turn up ahead. That way, when I did make the left hand turn, I knew there wasn't anybody behind me and there would be no confusion by them as to what I was going to do. Of course I would do this, when I thought it was safe for them to go around. This of course being on rock roads where there was no signs or passing lines on the road center.
I signaled a guy to go around one day, and almost caused an accident by doing so. I can't remember if someone pulled out in front of the guy, or popped over a hill at a high rate of speed. But it ended up being a close call, and an accident barely averted.
After that, I never signaled for anybody to go around me ever again. That way if they do, whatever happens is on the person at fault. Whether that be driving to fast, or passing when they shouldn't, or whatever the case.

I know this doesn't relate to what happened in your accident story. But it's not a good alternative driving habit to get into, to prevent it from happening. If so, someday you could be signaling a guy to go around and cause the accident by doing so.
 
Leroy, technically you are right but my gosh why wouldn't the tractor look beside or behind him before left turn. Could have saved a lot of grief and made it a good day instead of a bad day.
 
I never pass a slow moving vehicle at an intersection, field road or any place they can make a left turn. I also don't make a left turn without checking to make sure no one is trying to pass.
 
Almost all other businesses are required to haul equipment that large on trailers along busy roads, so far farming is still the exception. Farmers need continue to go out of their way to avoid being a traffic hazard if we hope to retain that exception. Remember, just like any driving any other vehicle on public roads, it is a PRIVILAGE to drive farm machinery on public roads it is not a right.
 
it is getting bad. seems like alot (NOT all) of the millennials and gen z kids just point the car where they want to go. not paying any attention to anything going on around them or thinking ahead at all. plus they were all given participation awards and have no sense of not always getting their way so when the don't, like you're in front of them in their way, they cannot handle it so the road rage is getting worse and worse. if they can't win they'll try to do you in

around here the ones (some even ex-amish) that grew up with the amish do as you describe, they don't give them an inch when passing. I can always tell a tourist ahead of me as they will pull clear over in the left lane when passing a buggy that is fully on the berm on the right. yeah horses are unpredictable (amish should not be on the roads for many many reasons) but the buggy is off the driving lane, no need to cause an even worse head on accident.

in Indiana there is (was anyway) a law stating if you are going under the speed limit (driving anything) and there are more than 3 vehicles directly behind you you are obligated to pull off the road (when safe) and let them pass. I always do when running a tractor down the road. most drivers appreciate it and wave as they go by.
 
In my opinion no farm equipment should be allowed on paved roads. I dont care who you are or what you think when it comes to that. As a farmer and a trucker I have found farmers are the worst hazard on the road. You get a semi at 60 mph and make a turn in the road or crest a hill just to have a farmer pull his wagon on the highway, you have head on traffic thick and now you lock up all your wheels just to not rear end the cultivator. Has happened to me once where I had to replace all my tires.
Farmers think because the are farmers they can cut any semi off they want. I see it in certain areas of the country all the time. The next area farmers sit and wait for you to go by and then pull on. In my area there are enough gravel roads that not one farmer needs to be on black top. But they dont like gravel for some reason.
 
I have had that happen too, both as the person following and as the person trying to turn left. Hand signals look a lot like waving traffic to pass.
 
Drivers manual says drivers are suppose to drive so they can stop for hazards at all times,that tractor you're talking about could be a kid walking down the road.You OK running over people too?
 
Around here, if no one is oncoming, they crowd over the centerline into the oncoming lane before turning left to stop passers
 
I have to wonder how a person would get to the field that has paved roads all the way around it for a few miles so no gravel road. Also most of the roads around here are paved. As for all of out fields I would never leave the farm to get to the other ones since they are all on paved roads. Closed gravel is a mile east and would not get me to a gravel road going west for 3 miles then some of the west road has paved sections in it. the none to get back north to the rest of the fields. It is 10 miles from the far east farm to the far west one. the rest of the ground on the other farms are in between them inline.
 
I'm still convinced that some,not all, the drivers here on major roads place a concrete block on the accelerator once the vehicle has been put into gear. Very few are actually paying attention to the task at hand...which is driving. I've seen some stupid stuff while moving equipment. Anything from putting on makeup to reading a newspaper. No one has patience or time anymore either. I try my best to pull over at a good place and let any vehicles behind me to pass, as all of the roads here are paved other than 2 dirt roads. Common courtesy on the farmer AND public drivers end would be a blessing to me.
 
It is very convenient right now to be able to run oversized farm equipment on public roads. Alternatives are field drives, waterways, stream buffer zones, in-field bridges and culverts, and larger field sizes. I see a lot of 160 acre single-crop fields anymore. It would take some planning, but if we had to we could do it. If there was demand for it manufacturers would invest the extra money into engineering equipment to fit within a ten or twelve foot road lane, I imagine that would be the toughest part.
 
Im talking of farmers pulling in front when you are 100 yds away. And not all roads can you see 1/4 mile in front of you because of hills. I have had people do all kinds of things. I even followed a tractor 1/2 hour because he was to stupid to move off the highway. When I got the chance I pulled in front of him and moved over and pushed him on the gravel shoulder. Then I past all the way. If you drove 1/2 hour with no chance to pass you was have road rage as well. Of all the idiots out there farmers have been the worse.
 
Germany all equipment must fold under 12 ft to drive pavement. Speed also must be no less than 20 under speed limit except where there are more than one lane in both directions. As for farms that have pavement everywhere, I am amazed. Herd paved reds are 20 -50 moles apart in places. Where I live go south 35 miles to next pavement. North 23 miles. West 21. East 14.
 
Common sense would tell you to look before you made a turn into another lane. I bet if it went to court, the farmer would end up paying for damages. There's right and then there's dead right. He's lucky all survived.
 
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