Where to drive?

[Anonymous-0]

Tractor pulling wagons. 2-lane state hyway. blacktop shoulder not quite wide enough for wagons. Is it better to drive completely in driving lane or stay as much on shoulder as possible? When I stay on shoulder as far as I can cars can get by me if I don't weave at all but that is pretty hard to do pulling 2 loaded wagons. So they come up on me top speed and think they can get by me. About that time I weave a little and they swerve over into oncoming traffic. Oncoming taffic than swerves off onto their shoulder, lays on the horn and gives everybody the finger. Then car passing me looks back and gives me the finger. If I drive fully in the driving lane traffic backs up sometimes 10 deep. then when there is a break in oncoming traffic they pass me and half of them give me the finger for taking up the driving lane when I should be on the shoulder. Back wagon is painted bright orange with cospicuity tape, 2 smv's and flashing lites so I have as much right to be on hyway as autos and trucks. Had a close call yesterday that is why it is on my mind today.

 

[dbear]

As long as you"re following all established rules, regulations, and laws, you have as much a right to be there as the idiots giving the one-finger waves. Screw "em!

That said, I always tried to accomodate others by driving as far to the right as possible, without endangering my own safety.

 

[Mike (WA)]

Drive completely in the traffic lane, and pull off as far as you can when there is no oncoming traffic and it is safe for cars behind to pass.

 

[Anonymous-0]

This world is full of inconsiderate people, and getting worse. Its all about "ME". Just consider the source because to them "ignorance is bliss". LE

 

[Ford 312]

I have heard if you pull out on the shoulder and are hit by another vehicle while pulling back on the roadway you are liable for the accident. Maybe someone else can either confirm this.

 

[old]

Well if the amish can run up and down the road with a horse and buggy then you should be able to do the same thing with your tractor. People now days are in to much of a hurry and don't care that a farmer has the right to pull a wagon etc. on the road. Put a sign on the back that say be nice to a famr we feed the world and maybe they will think, ya right they poeple don't care any more
Hobby farm

 

[onefarmer]

I drive in the right-a-way, but to the right side of the lane so they can see around me.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I know I have the right to be there. I just don't want to get killed trying to prove a point.

 

[Mike M]

Get a JCB fastrac and then you can go 40 mph and be much safer.

Ohio is the first state to address this issue. They are going to make it legal to run these fast tractors as long as you have a drivers liscence. Otherwise I guess you were to use an SMV sign and go slower. They are claiming if you are going faster then not as many will be trying to pass. Plus these have better brakes and so can your implements.

 

[TripleRange]

Yep...best thing to do while someones giving you the finger is wave and smile! PS...I drive in the lane till no ones coming the other way and then pull off as much as I can to let folks by.

 

[Anonymous-0]

This must happen everywhere, a few miles down the road, I used to draw hay from a local farmer, 200 bales stacked in a wagon, same problem, yet ever since the first time I drove a tractor on the road, I'd always find a place to let em pass, just seems the right thing to do, people wave and are thankful, but on the flip side eery time, other people would curse you out, it never fails.

I put an end to the practice, it was going to end up a disaster one day, the way it was going, much safer to run the old F-600 for hay.

 

[Brian in MO]

I really don't think there is a safe way anymore, but I drive in the driving lane against the shoulder so cars can see around me easily, then when no traffic is coming and is UNQUESTIONABLY SAFE for them to pass I get over on the shoulder. Sometimes a idiot in a hurry just can't wait a few minutes and has to pass but most of the time people are pretty understanding.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Mn law says to drive in the traffic lanes provided proper smv ect. is displayed. I am not against wagons having turn/marker lights, to drive on the shoulder is making yourself liable for a lawsuit. small car vs 300bu wagon full of corn- car loses! It is up to them to avoid hazards by controlling speed ect.I pay taxes for the use of our roads the same as they do.

 

[Anonymous-0]

From a near miss from the other end...use caution pulling to the shoulder sometimes.

Last year I was following a farm tractor with a trailer behind wide enough I couldn't see the operator or any lights on the tractor.

I'm pretty patient, but when he pulled to the right shoulder I started to pass.

He was actually making a wide swing for a left turn which caused a pucker factor for me!

If people are used to farm tractors pulling to the right in your area to let people by...people are going to pass 'em when the pull to the right to make a wide turn to the left.

 

[Brian in MO]

I really don't think there is a safe way anymore, but I drive in the driving lane against the shoulder so cars can see around me easily, then when no traffic is coming and is UNQUESTIONABLY SAFE for them to pass I get over on the shoulder. Sometimes a idiot in a hurry just can't wait a few minutes and has to pass but most of the time people are pretty understanding.

 

[buickanddeere]

Stay fully in the live lane up against the center line.
If they want to pass, they can go by on the dotted lines when clear.
Playing shoulder to road, shoulder to road back and forth just confuses them.
The 1/2 shoulder & 1/2 live lane straddle is even worse. The drivers approach from the rear at 55mph and 300ft from you they start deciding to pass, maybe by straddling the dotted line. Doesn't work when on comming traffic doesn't run 1/2 on the shoulder themselves.

 

[Anonymous-0]

DANG YOUR CRAZY MAN- go in the lane so these blockheads dont try to pass, and cause an accident, because if they do, you can be sued.

I would, if I were you, put a 4x8 sheet of plywood on the back, paint it yellow, and in BIG black letters, write

" SLOWLY PASS WHEN SAFE "

This could prevent an accident and if there is one, that would probally clear you in court-people get sued for millions for what you are doing. In Ohio, it aint even legal to take a tractor on the highway.

 

[Carl NY]

If it is not legal to drive your tractor om the road in Ohio, I have seen alot of farmers around Wauseon and Archbold towing 2 & 3 wagons at a time and have never seen any police talking to them.

 

[rustyfarmall]

If you check your state laws, I am sure you will find that actually driving on the shoulder is illegal and prohibited. The shoulder is for disabled vehicles only. Keep your tractor and wagons on the traveled portion of the road and when there are several vehicles behind you, then it is time for you to pull over onto the shoulder and stop. Wait for everyone to get around, and then resume.

 

[Vito]

The other day I was pulling a wagon across the street to the unloading area.The corner is about 300 feet away it's blind from where I was.One car passes and sure enough here comes a young woman doing around 40 mph. Thank god I had a feeling someone else was coming otherwise that would have been ugly.Aside from that on our little country road I just centerline it.People can learn patience again

Vito

 

[DRL]

Stay in the traffic lane. If you can find a safe place to pull off the road and let them pass, then do so, otherwise, let them wait. That being said, people are going to do what they are going to do. Have a implement truck that I haul my tractors on. Takes quite a while to get up to speed, and I don't travel 65-75mph, especially when I'm loaded. One time had a small car riding my tail for quite a while. All of a sudden, the car disappears. There is oncomming traffic, and the car was not passing me on the left. Where did that car go??? I looked in my right hand mirror, and there was the car, passing me on the extremely narrow shoulder, half on the shoulder, half in the ditch. I was going 55mph, so the car was at least going 65. I slowed way down and allowed the car to get out from beside me. Half mile on down the road, the car turns off into town. They risked their life, my life, and the lives of oncomming traffic to shave a couple of minutes off their commute. I had to stop and clean out my shorts.

 

[NCWayne]

Like the others have said drive in the your lane or as close to in your lane as possible or your not legal. If someone doesn't have the patience to wait before passing then let them be the ones in the wrong should something happen. As far as getting the finger make you a sign to go on the trailer saying something to the effect of "I'm one of the farmers that help feed you and I'm missing a finger...Can I have one of yours? If they don't kill theirself from their own stupidity they just might die laughing.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Another thing,shoulder is not built to the same specs as the road.They break up easier.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Get in the traffic lane, and take every square inch of it. You have rights too. And I swear to everything that every person should have their damm middle finger CUT OFF AND P*SSED ON.

 

[Walt Davies]

The other day I was bringing the equipment home from a field a few miles away, we on the state highway if one can call it that. I was going to stop an let the traffic by a short ways up the road but ran out of gas on a turn, the next thing I saw was a State truck with flashing lights pull along side he said" that's not a very good place to pull off" I told I ran out of gas so he pulled in front of me with truck load of flashing lights and directed traffic till i went back to our sevice truck and got some gas. was back on the road in few minutes and he went on his way. It was a short way as a tree had fallen in the road not 100 ft. from me. I passed him and then pull into a place where I could let the traffic go by.
We make this same trip several times a week during hay season and for the most part people are real curtious to us here in the Great Northwest.

In Oregon its drive on the pavement or nothing the road edges are no place to drive if Wet you sink in out of site and you never know when that small edge will just disappear all together leaving you no option but to pull back on the pavement.

Walt

 

[Don-Wi]

When I went through the county tractor safety program when I was 12 (10 years ago), they said the best thing to do is hog the lane. In the spring shoulders are soft and you can and will go into the ditch, often rolling a tractor. If you are closer to the shoulder but still in the lane, they still feel like they can pass, even if it's not safe and they don't have room. By hogging the lane they have to check to be sure it's safe before they try to pass.

I will pull off to the side if I'm pulling something I can see behind, like a disk or manure spreader or something, but if I can't see around a wagon I'm pulling, I just stay in the lane and expect 20 cars to pass. It's not a problem until I'm ready to pull into the farm drive, then my best shot is to have some on comming traffic where I have to stop or slow down, so they know I have to turn. If the oncoming lane is clear who knows what will happen. That's another reason I prefer to pull wagons at night- I can see the lights behind me if there are any, so I can safely know if I can turn or not.

The intersection we always have to go through just got safer. they made it a round-a-bout, so all traffic has to yeild and it akes getting on the main drag (a sate highway) much easier.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Anonymous-0]

No, just on high ways