I'd Like To Know

10:30 A.M. Today, Fulton County, Pa. Rt. 522, Pennsylvania State Police had their Weigh-Wagon at a wide spot, all the scales were on the ground, they were weighing a FARM TRACTOR and MANURE SPREADER!!!!!!What were they up to now?

Maybe the farmer just wanted to know how heavy his equipment was and they were being nice.
John

Near us, some municipalities have a weight limit on roads, regardless of traffic, like farm equipment. If they think you over weight, they Pull you over, weigh, and if your over, you get a ticket!!!! I say build better road cause the limit is like 10 ton..REDICULOUS!!!!

Yes there are new laws restricting the weights on axles.

Big manure wagons and grain carts are busting up the 12 thick concret highways.

Gary

Never heard of such a thing. I know every state has a different idea on the total weight of a vehicle, or combination of vehicle and trailer, along with the weight that can be placed on each axel. Even with the differences in allowed weights I can"t see any way that a farm tractor and any kind of trailer or impliment could possibly come even close to any kind of weight restriction. Sounds to me like the officer doing the weighing was just plain full of it and was just trying to make his self feel better seeing if the spreader was even more full of it than he was.....

Hello CCer
If they were weighing the a manure spreader, then they were up to their arm pits in do do?
I was stopped one time bobtailing in PA. and they were doing safety check.
The wore guns and they were STATE AUTOMOTIVE COMPLIANCE OFFICERS.or something close to that.
The tractor i was driving had disk brakes, they had never seen them.
So i had to show them how to check for wear, and after that i went on my way.
Guido.

Over thirty years ago I was helping a friend by baling a little patch of wheat straw with a 1070 Case a New Holland kick baler and two 16' bale wagons it was pretty sweet because I could fill the back wagon with those light bales first then the front to finish I got done swung the baler hitch to transport pulled out on to the highway which was an Ohio state two lane highway went about a tenth of a mile only had to go less than a mile then a trooper pulls up along side with his lights on and waves me over in a bad curve and said you're over length you'll have to drop a wagon and come back for it so even though we could see the driveway which was on the same side of the road I had to drop the back wagon go to the farm drop the baler because my friend was gone with no pickup and all the other tractors were at his other farm so when I got back he was still there with his lights flashing got the other wagon and dropped it off. I guess he could of gave me a ticket so it depends on their mood.

I was going down the road one day with a tractor,baler and two wagons. Got stopped by a state trooper(NY). He give me a ticket for being 11 ft. over length. Went to court,even though I was 11ft. over length, it was thrown out. Ag equipment don't fall under DOT regulations.

Oh, Believe me I was primed if he would have given me a ticket especially on a hot 90 degree July day with a no cab tractor I'm guessing he came over a crest of the hill and I was there which made him lock up his brakes sort of a road rage I guess.

Years ago I used to hook three loaded wagons behind the baler or forage chopper on a rented farm three miles away when I was finishing the field. Too bad the cops weren't there when I was hooking them up by myself! Just made sure I had heavy hitch pins and keepers in every one. Got to be a challenge doing that, but I'm too (bull-headed) German not to try it.

If something like that happened in NC, a weigh man would be in trouble. I'm glad we're in an ag-friendly state.

I got stopped by a Nebraska scale officer once for towing a stock car on a trailer with a pickup with farm plates on it. I found out the hard way they consider a stock car a revenue producing piece of equipment, and to tow it down a public road you need a tow vehicle with commercial plates. The officer wrote me a ticket.

It was my buddy's pickup, and he had to sign a statement that he would get commercial plates on the pickup within 10 days or they were going to make us park the trailer and go 70 miles home to get something with commercial plates to tow it.

All the while, we were getting more late for a race.

The officer then got out his portable scales and weighed the trailer. I knew we were over weight on the trailer, but the pickup was carrying enough weight through the trailer tongue that the trailer checked out right on the money for what it was licensed for.

I mentioned it a few weeks later to a State Trooper I knew. He said, "That's the law, no getting around it, but I personally think a verbal warning is appropriate the first time".

If it was me driving that tractor I'd want the bear to quote chapter and verse EXACTLY what Statute gave him the authority to weigh a farm tractor.
Around here it's considered an 'impliment of husbandry' and they are NOT to go near it with scales. It's that simple. Technically speaking, 'here', we could have a farm plated truck (a semi tractor) towing a 30' dump trailer and the trailer is NOT required to be licensed since farm trucks are allowed to tow 'farm wagons'... and that 30' trailer falls into the category of farm wagon. To top that off, that 'farm wagon' could be loaded down with a net of 50 tonne and there isn't a damn thing that they can do to you. Farm licence does have it's special quirks here. Ofcourse if you were a boyscout and had commercial plates on that trailer liek you really should, and that kind of weight... you'd be headed straight to jail.
Dunno why they'd be weighing a manure tank though. They aren't than heavy anyway, aside from the fact that they have no business doing so.
Are you sure it wasn't a matter of them trying to get at the operator somehow due to odor complaints? That they WOULD try here.

Rod

Thats what farm plates are for and not pulling a stock car what did you expect.

There are lots of different cops,and in different states they do things that are strange in other places.For the most part they leave farmers alone.I never saw a tractor and manure spreader on portable scales,but I guess the DOT has authority to weigh what they want to.Cops range from good to insane,so thats more likely whats wrong.Maybe a guy with a tractor and munure spreader ran off with the cops wife?I dont know what school some cops go to,but just because they give them a badge and gun,does not excuse them to just be ridiculous to the public.Seems to be a lot of those"power trip"cops today.Most usually they are just doing what some official tells them to do,and these officials are on a power trip as bad as the cops.I have to say the ones that are in a scale house sometimes are going to get money out of you any way they can.Scales generate revenue.They must get part of the fine money or something to weigh a farm tractor.With that kind of stuff going on its most likely going to get worse.DOT chasing farm equipment,he must be hungry.Maybe if the farmers pass the hat around and give him a couple of dollars he will leave them alone?

When he pulled off the scale he should have "tickled" the pto a bit and left a pile of manure on the scale.

Ah, the great American pass time! Second guessing, going with no information, Monday morning quarterbacking. We have no information beyond just what the first poster reported, but we're gonna jump into it with both feet. If you REALLY wanted to know what was going on, why didn't you just stop and ask? That would be too much trouble, better to make assumptions and go off half cocked.

For those who really are interested, each State has different laws regarding farm vehicles, implements of husbandry, trucks used to same, etc. Some Counties and Towns have their own more stringent rules too. If you want the straight scoop I'd suggest contacting your Farm Bureau, Co-Operative Extension or Dept of Motor Vehicles . For instance- NYS has specific rules regarding farm vehicles and implements, farm trucks, agricultural trucks, horse drawn vehicles, lighting, weights and sizes, etc. In NYS the best place to get information is the sources I mentioned above and your local NYSP CVEU DOT Trooper. Trooper. If you really want to get the best info for your local area those are the guys to talk to.

As for the first post and the scales wagon and the farmer- who knows? Since a farm tractor and spreader hardly fall under the heading of a Commercial Motor Vehicle it's entirely possible there was a local ordinance regarding weights on that road, or the guy could have been a friend of theirs wanting to get an idea of his loaded weight.. who knows? But instead of admitting we have no idea we see the typical attacks and idiotic replies that tell us to bribe them! How sad that so many of us are so superior to the rest of the world that we can pass judgment on so little information.

Ive seen a lot of them.You probably havent.You are right,he could have asked.I really dont care what they were doing enough to stop and ask,most people wouldnt.Still,you arent going to get any answer thats going to satisfy you out of me,I can tell that.Get all superior yourself.Maybe you are a DOT cop.Ill say this,Ive given the DOT lots of money and most of it was for nothing other than generating revenue for the whatever state it was.Lots of them are out there for the revenue,and a power trip.Then there are good ones that are out there doing a real good job.I deserved tickets I got from them,and it was for everybodys safety.Many times they let me go to a shop,or let it pass,I appreciate that.For every good one there are 2 bad ones.Yes power trip.Yes they deserve it.Good as you are going to get from me,but if you want to argue,go ahead.Trucks are big and dangerous,farm equipment swerving into the other lane can cause a wreck,its hard to say just what happened,but the DOT can take you off of the road,even if you are a farmer,they just dont usually.That would be everywhere.The DOT has a tough job for sure.I wouldnt want it.They cant be good guys all the time or there would be chaos.Some do take it to the extreme they think its possible to get away with,just because they can.There was a scale house of a particular state on the east side,that if you didnt have a certain sticker on your door you put a 50 dollar bill in with your paperwork and slid on through.I couldnt believe it either until I had to do it one time to get off of the scales.A few months later I was out that way and heard on the news that they put that DOT man in jail for it.Back in the 90s.DOT are human beings,human beings will be all different varieties.Im no better than anybody else,but you arent either.Just be thankful it wasnt you that fell into temptation and wound up in prison yourself.The point I was making is this,if the guy is so hungry he has to ticket farm equipment,then maybe by helping him out a little he would stop being that way.I didnt say bribe him.Sort of the same but different,I said give him charity.Maybe it would embarras him enough to quit it.Bribe is what you give a criminal,a little different.That was the only example of a "bribe"that I personally have in 15 years of OTR driving.Others may be different.There are signs that say"dont feed the bears"and a bribe could be a minor thing as to what the alternative is,but not always the first thing you want to do.It could get you in lots of trouble.Charity is different.

Trucker- I am a DOT Inspector, and I've been a NYS Trooper for over 21 years. A DOT cop can NOT remove a farm vehicle from the road based on the FMCSA-PERIOD. If a cop does pull a farm vehicle he darn well better have probable cause and be right when he does it. Nothing I hate worse than guys knowing half of what they need to and acting on their mistaken belief.

As for the rest I have no way of knowing if what you say is true or not. If you had to bribe someone to get past a truck stop then you should have reported that ASAP to the proper authority.

Power trip? I ran out of power about about 20 years ago!