Drive it or trailer it?

[GeoHorn]

Ditto. We have never had a problem while using a chase vehicle and Walkie-Talkies. Our MO when a vehicle approaches from the rear is to pull over more, and slow way down. If the chase vehicle feels its safe they will wave the approaching vehicle around us.
However, more and more we are having idiots from town coming out to hot rod down the "country" roads. Same mentality as the people who dump dogs and cats out here thinking they are doing the animals a favor.
Hey! I totally got off subject and have begun to rant.... Sorry, back to driving or towing.

Bark,… you are RIGHT ON TARGET!
ESPECIALLY those COWARDS who dump confused cats and dogs out here in the country to a sad and cruel end-of-life either victims of cars, coyotes, or dehydration/starvation.
If YOU don’t want an animal take it to a shelter or a vet for euthanasia. It’s the ”kinder” method in every way.

 

[bunchgrass]

Bark,… you are RIGHT ON TARGET!
ESPECIALLY those COWARDS who dump confused cats and dogs out here in the country to a sad and cruel end-of-life either victims of cars, coyotes, or dehydration/starvation.
If YOU don’t want an animal take it to a shelter or a vet for euthanasia. It’s the ”kinder” method in every way.

Those cats end up at our house. Same with all the cats coming from neighbors who don't spay their cats.

 

[EverUpward]

For the same reason that in FOg…. stopping on the shoulder of the road with your taillights ON will get you involved in a potentially fatal rear-end-accident. If you must pull over in FOg…. park such that you are well CLEAR of the road OR are 90-degrees/perpendicular to the road, so that following-traffic will not ”steer” toward what is thought to be the vehicle ahead.

If you place a SMV sign on a mailbox or other stationary object… in times of low-visibility it may confuse traffic as to the location of the travelling-lane.

Its actually against the law (at least in NY state) to put the SMV sign on any fixed object (like a mailbox or post).

 

[Geezer3d]

Its actually against the law (at least in NY state) to put the SMV sign on any fixed object (like a mailbox or post).

I live in NY and I was not aware of that. It makes sense. However, I have seen a SMV stuck on a post to mark a driveway a couple of miles from my place. I assume that even the police are not aware that it is illegal or just don't think it's worth their time to notify the homeowner.

 

[GeoHorn]

I don’t see how they could enforce it.… you can put any shape reflective sign on any thing you wish ..especially on private property….and claim it’s a “freedom of speech/expression” issue.

Placing a SMV on a vehicle that is NOT SMV might be enforceable.

 

[torch]

I don’t see how they could enforce it.… you can put any shape reflective sign on any thing you wish ..especially on private property….and claim it’s a “freedom of speech/expression” issue.

Is it actually on private property on the mailbox or end of the driveway? Or is it on the road right-of-way? Around here the right of way is generally a minimum of 66' wide (1 survey chain length) even when the pavement is not.

 

[GeoHorn]

Is it actually on private property on the mailbox or end of the driveway? Or is it on the road right-of-way? Around here the right of way is generally a minimum of 66' wide (1 survey chain length) even when the pavement is not.

Correct…. I was only addressing the supposed rule that prohibited placement “. …on any fixed object……”

If they weren’t so over-priced I’d place them at each end of my turf runway for nighttime operations. (TSC and HD get almost $20 ea for them…. ACE HDWR had them LAST year for $10…but this year have jumped them up to match TSC.)

 

[torch]

If you mount it upside down, is it still an SMV sign?

 

[torch]

Answered my own question. In Ontario, anyway. The regulation stipulates that the triangle is mounted base-down.

Also (again in Ontario) the law stipulates that:

Prohibition

(4) No person shall place a slow moving vehicle sign on or near a fixed object where it is readily visible from a highway. 1994, c. 28, s. 1.

Exception

(5) Subsection (4) does not apply to a facsimile of a slow moving vehicle sign that is displayed for the information of highway users. 1994, c. 28, s. 1.

So it can be mounted to a fixed object if not "readily" visible from the road.

 

[torch]

I just answered another question. According to the official transcript of the debate over the prohibition in Parliament, the reason is so that car drivers from the city don't get used to seeing slow moving vehicle signs on other objects and learn to ignore them. The thought is that by reserving use to genuine slow moving equipment, the citiots will take notice and realize there really is a danger ahead on the road.

That makes sense.

 

[bucktail]

I suppose that's as good an explanation as any. Although considering a slow moving vehicle is supposed to travel as far to the right as practicable in any weather and considering that drivers are not supposed to hit any sort of sign, moving or not, I still think the back story would be entertaining.

And now, thanks to you, I have this mental image of a string of cars following a tractor round and round as a farmer plows his field in the fog... <lol>

Or spreads manure

 

[GeoHorn]

Sooo… bein’ a Texas boy….. if i mount a SMV sign anywhere but on the back of my tractor…. I have to mount it in Ontario!

(Not sure that’s gonna work for me…..).

 

[torch]

Sooo… bein’ a Texas boy….. if i mount a SMV sign anywhere but on the back of my tractor…. I have to mount it in Ontario!

(Not sure that’s gonna work for me…..).

Actually, I think it's the other way 'round. Just tell the Sheriff or Trooper he can't readily see the SMV on your mailbox from a road in Ontario so you're good to go!

Further down the rabbit hole: apparently some Amish groups object to even putting an SMV on their buggies. The orange is too colourful and draws attention to oneself. A bit ironic: I think that ship has sailed for anyone wearing period costume riding in a horse-drawn carriage down a public road, but it has been the subject of various court cases.

On a more serious note, there is some debate whether it does any good. The orange is hard to see at dusk and dawn and offers no visual clue to the width of the vehicle, so citiots who don't recognize it can suffer from target fixation, slamming into the back of the slow moving vehicle while trying to figure out what the sign means. Four-way flashers (or red battery-powered LED lights in the case of the hay wagon) are more visible, universally recognized, and indicate the width of the vehicle to be passed, so they may be more effective.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: runway markers. use solar powered walkway lights, but replace batteries with GOOD (name brand) batteries. ther's a zillion choices, just find the style that lights best for you.

re: SMV sign. I have one on my 6by10 dump trailer,mtd on left door(squarely in the driver's view).,though code says in the center. Great thing is no license plate needed, no fines, nada as long as I go under 40KMh. With 7000# of ponypoop onboard that's fine by me....

 

[NCL4701]

Actually, I think it's the other way 'round. Just tell the Sheriff or Trooper he can't readily see the SMV on your mailbox from a road in Ontario so you're good to go!

Further down the rabbit hole: apparently some Amish groups object to even putting an SMV on their buggies. The orange is too colourful and draws attention to oneself. A bit ironic: I think that ship has sailed for anyone wearing period costume riding in a horse-drawn carriage down a public road, but it has been the subject of various court cases.

On a more serious note, there is some debate whether it does any good. The orange is hard to see at dusk and dawn and offers no visual clue to the width of the vehicle, so citiots who don't recognize it can suffer from target fixation, slamming into the back of the slow moving vehicle while trying to figure out what the sign means. Four-way flashers (or red battery-powered LED lights in the case of the hay wagon) are more visible, universally recognized, and indicate the width of the vehicle to be passed, so they may be more effective.

That made me think a bit about SMV’s in low/no light. I’ve lived and worked in rural agricultural areas all my life except for a short stint in college. Seen no telling how many thousands of tractors, combines, etc. At night, I’ve seen rear work lights, flashing light, no lights. And I have seen equipment with SMV triangles but I don’t believe I’ve ever had a circumstance where the SMV was the first thing that notified me there was some sort of slow equipment in front of me. On the rare occasion my tractor is on the road, I do put the SMV on it but personally, based on zero research other than my own 35 years of driving in rural areas, I’m not confident it does much good.

 

[jimh406]

I agree. I bet most people have no idea what a SMV sign means. I display one any way.

 

[NHSleddog]

I agree. I bet most people have no idea what a SMV sign means. I display one any way.

I think in the old days when common sense was a lot more common, a lot of these things were self evident/obvious.

There are people running around today being taught in school that they can be a man or a woman. They get confused over a simple bathroom sign, I don't have much hope for them figuring out ANY kind of signs today.

 

[Lencho]

Glad to hear you made the drive with no problems. That is no guarantee for the next. I would use a trailer. I run 5 miles from my home to my rental property regularly and the truck and trailer can move at the speed of the other traffic. Being much faster or slower than the average on a road is a high risk. I wish you all the best and a long life as well.

 

[GeoHorn]

.

They get confused over a simple bathroom sign, I don't have much hope for them figuring out ANY kind of signs today.

I landed at Dallas Love Field one day and was desperate for a bathroom…. dashed inside the FBO (a private facility known as Jet East)…and barely got to a stall in-time… was standing there facing the toilet relieving myself ….and glancing under the stall-wall…. next stall-over was a pair of hi-heels and panty-hose rolled down to dainty ankles.…
….Yep…apparently I was too desperate to bother reading the sign..….

 

[johnjk]

I would trailer it. My road is a 2 lane county road, straight as an arrow but during shift change at Honda it is a freakin speedway with people regularly going over 70 and side by side. I’ve come up to the RR tracks and going north you cannot see the other side, only to have some idiot passing in the double yellow and getting pissed at me for being in my lane. Do they notice an orange tractor with lights mowing or plowing and slow down? nope. I’ve added strobes to my B3200 to get more visibility. Will add them to the B1700 as well. I don’t have enough mass on my tractors to not get killed and I seriously doubt I wouldn’t get messed up if they hit my truck