County Council worry about Big Kit!

Barleycorn

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Hampshire
All your tractors under 100Hp? 😉
No, most 130 / 150 HP, but we have an 85 HP Kubota that my daughter uses for trimming and on a sawdust dispenser for the cubicles. To be honest we used it this summer on the 6 row tedder, rake, and silage trailer. Obviously you have to use the gearbox with a 12 ton trailer, but it is perfectly adequate, comfortable and A/C, and hardly used a squirt of diesel. Just get's you thinking how the dealers always tell you to increase HP every time you change. We have tractors locally with 260 HP on hedgecutters!
My father and uncle used to farm the place with grey fergies, OK with a bit more staff but not really that many.
I really think that there is a place for a comfortable lowish HP tractor for many jobs, as obviously a lot of the time blokes insist on using 'their' tractor on the tedder / hedgecutter even if its 250HP.
 

PSQ

Member
Arable Farmer
Do 24t Dustcarts or Bitumen wagons on Council Contracts not damage the verges, then?

That maybe explains why they've stopped tarmacing the roads, to save the planet and prevent damaging the ragwort beds.

And cynical me thought it was because they'd spent most of the annual roads and education budgets on their massive pension black hole, on the first day of their annual accounting period. Silly me...
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
We have to recognise there are huge issues with some tractors and equipment behind, being usedd on roads which were designed for a couple of carts to pass.
it is not farmings fault where we are with the roads, but some people should question whether it is correct to treat the countryside as they do.
To upgrade the thousands of miles of country lanes would not just costs billions, it could also mean Compulsory purchasing the land to do it, not everyone would be happy about that!
upgrading back roads would also mean a sharp increase in traffic volumes as drivers started taking short cuts along these new highways.
Tractors are being increasingly used for transport, instead of HGVs, farm amalgamation, increased use of contractors mean more, longer road trips.
I regularly meet on my perambulations round the countryside vehicles far wider than the lane they are travelling over. Thankfully 99% of the drivers are good, but every time they pull over damages the road edge.
i have also witnessed a Quadtrack rip up a large area of tarmac on a junction as he turned , just by the action of the tracks.
I am cerrtainly not advocating a return to horse and cart, or even the fergie 20 and 3 tonne trailer, but we have reduce the pressure on these little country lanes, by restricting access to large vehicles to only absolutely essential traffic. I am not sure how though :scratchhead:
 

primmiemoo

Member
Location
Devon
Tractors and trailers would be on a lot larger rubber footprint too, thus spreading the weight.

The rubber footprint making them much wider. I know a road that now looks as though somebody regularly drags a Blue Whale along it. What it is is Farmer Matey's minions hauling slurry to rented off-ground day in, day out with his most recently bought, biggest kit on little back roads - when there are better roads to the same destination that they should be using.
 

Tubbylew

Member
Location
Herefordshire
A tax on tractors in too difficult to enforce IMO, maybe a tax on trailers over a certain weight would work, a bit, I can't see an easy answer tbh. Also taxes rarely get spent where they're supposed to go.
 
This is the result of 'Big kit'. 2 contractors lugging sh!t on a single track road and ripping up the road and verges for about 2 miles. Mud and manure all the way..I'm absolutely furious. Powys CC will do SFA about it and I'll be cleaning it up as bloody usual. The cracks in the road are right above a culvert that drains my farm. Come the frost and it will go.
 

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This is the result of 'Big kit'. 2 contractors lugging sh!t on a single track road and ripping up the road and verges for about 2 miles. Mud and manure all the way..I'm absolutely furious. Powys CC will do SFA about it and I'll be cleaning it up as bloody usual. The cracks in the road are right above a culvert that drains my farm. Come the frost and it will go.
Where's the "mud and manure all the way" that looks like they've been quite responsible to me.
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news...problem-of-huge-farm-vehicles-on-small-lanes/


Can they actually do anything if they wanted to do? Weight/Width restrictions, but they are only for through traffic I believe in many cases?

Worm is stirring on the island now Highways have cottoned on to section 53 of the Highways Act.
We were threatened with an 18t weight limit on all our access lanes. In the end, we contributed to repair works without prejudice
It is likely to be common to any planning application involving dairy that a full traffic management plan with before and after road surface assessment with be mandatory
They are, allegedly, also asking for full TMPs from Ag contractors doing regular work such as hauling waste out of food processing facilities
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Nearest big dairy has out laying ground... the last slurry tanker they bought was fecking huge! Running it on the roads most of the year. It was actually the best thing that happened, it ripped hell out of all the hedges and the roadside verge - both had grown in an awful lot. Result is the road is actually much wider now and the hedges were cut back properly to tidy them up.


The farm switched to umbilical now. Wonder how long before the roads close up again...
 
Location
southwest
This is the result of 'Big kit'. 2 contractors lugging sh!t on a single track road and ripping up the road and verges for about 2 miles. Mud and manure all the way..I'm absolutely furious. Powys CC will do SFA about it and I'll be cleaning it up as bloody usual. The cracks in the road are right above a culvert that drains my farm. Come the frost and it will go.

Don't blame anyone but the council-both those pictures are of damage due to poor maintenance. In Picture 1 the edge of the road is not defined with a kerb or any sort of hard edge, even the weight of a small car would cause the edge to crumble. In Picture 2 the road surface looks like it has never been sealed properly.


People moaning about farm traffic damaging roads should remember that it was farm traffic that created the roads in the first place!

As for telling farmers to use smaller kit, imagine the uproar from other road users if instead of one tractor and 2000g slurry tanker the farmer used 6 tractors each pulling a "nice little" 350g tanker.
 
If i can find them l'll post pictures i've taken of the verges and vilage green in our "farming" village, all ruined by delivery drivers of vans, lorries and the yummy mummies on the school run none by farmers of which all contribute to keeping hedges and verges well maintained.
 

Flat 10

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Fen Edge
We have land through a dead end village with no alternative route. The road is 2 lane and therefore plenty wide enough for any machinery we want to take down there but the issue we have is inconsiderate parking at all times of day. Our machinery isn’t that large by modern standards and we aren’t the only farm business affected. I have tried to engage with the parish council before the situation gets any worse and they just say that if our vehicle is over 2.55m wide it’s our problem and that it’s illegal for us to go in the pavement. This is the same parish council that ignored any of our objections to new pubs, nurseries and other businesses opening in the village due to lack of parking and now won’t help us. Anybody have any experience of a situation like this and any useful advice to offer? Oh and yes we have had the local lunatic maize contractors souring relations which hasn’t helped at all. I’m tempted to take the combine down there and get stuck, take the keys out and leave it there but that is likely to make things worse.
 
Watching county council filling potholes is laughable they don’t even clean the hole oven if it’s got water in, roads round our way are a disgrace , the forest walks near by have a 2 mile stretch of z road leading to them and having had half the nation wanting to go for wolfs during lockdown the road in most places Is fudged ......
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
Are they correct though, we have a dispensation from the Police for moving vehicles up to 4.3m.
If those inconsiderately parked vehicles are preventing you going about your lawful business, then they are causing an obstruction.
Park up and call local Bobby.
Most Parish Councils are populated by people who have the time on their hands to do it, and who are full of their own gas. Common sense is not part of the job description.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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