Speeding giant tractors and huge farm machinery

Taisypops said:
We did contact the police and they went round to see him about it. I totally understand that farmers are busy espically when they are baleing. Anywhere else Ive liveried the local farmers always told yard owners when they were baleing and no one hacked out till they were finished. We had no idea he was in the field baleing at the bottom of the track till we got a mile and a half down it!! We only had about 100 yards to go till we would have been past the gate of the field he was in and rather than wait thirty seconds for us to be out the way he pulled out the gate an accelerated towards us, I actually thought he was going to run us over for a min he drove so aggressively. About half way down the track there is a gate to a field that had no animals in it, so we had thought we could nip on there and get out his way but when we went towards the gate he went mental and started shouting and swearing at us. If he had backed off us and gave us space we would have trotted the horses but he was so close that we all just managed to remain in control.....I am eternally grateful that we didnt have a young horse, a sick horse or a kid out with us!!



I agree that horses that are on the road should be traffic proof and I think the fact that all our horses are so well hacked on busy roads with tractors, buses, motor bikes and lorries is what saved us.

He deliberatly pulled out in front of us and forced us to turn back, so he caused the delay however in a rush or not he has not right to have such a disreard for others....x
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Totally sympathise, have had a very similar experience on a narrow quiet lane and agreed, when they insist on tailgating you like any other traffic from two feet behind (literally) then you can't ask dependable neddy to trot on or he'll think his missus is in a panic about the rattling, three storey building looming overhead too! Ah, rural Wiltshire sounded such a pleasant place for country folk...
 
My post above should have read

"The only traffic we saw was buses and transporters carrying tractors between the two local David Brown tractor factories".

Goodness knows what happened to that bit, the post rather lost its point without it!
 
Around here most of the farmers show consideration, allowing a rider scope to get out of the way. The contractors & boy racers are another matter, for contractors time is money, end of story, never heard of good manners & it's other road users beware. Saw a funny incident on a narrow single track road the other day, tractor hauling potatoes meets tractor hauling apples, SOMEONE has to reverse but neither was going to give ground. Nose to nose stand off, it was funny until it got boring & I went on my way. Perhaps they are still there. Boy racers think there is never anyone around the corner, be it another vehicle or road user. By the by don't horses have the right of way ?
 
Our local farmers are not arable and so their (and the contractors') tractors are much smaller than the huge combines seen in arable areas, so although our roads are quite narrow we don't have the problems some posters encounter. I am absolutely fed up though of the attitude which seems to be prevalent that if you are making money you can do as you please on the roads. My bugbear is delivery wagons parked outside our local Co-op, straddling the double yellow lines, making the village centre dangerous for pedestrians and drivers alike. Why should the co-op be exempt from following laws like every-one else? I also frequently see huge wagons delivering building materials to single house building sites, which are so wide that the road is impassable but there is no official road closure, they just do it, hindering every-one else who is trying to get to work on time Why is this acceptable? I can only assume because big business is involved!

As to the contractors not being farmers - who are they working for if not the farmers whose field they are working in?
 
jools1234 said:
the speed limit is the maximum you can drive at (within the law) when it is safe to do so, it is not safe to do 60mph if there isa horse on the said road-as a tractor driver and horse rider i would take great issue if a fellow tractor driver overtook me at 40mph whilst i was on a horse
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just a difference in opinion then, I personally as a tractor driver and horse rider would not have an issue.

Everyone has a pop at farmers, but you will all want your hay, bedding, feed, cornflakes and milk.
 
If the countryside is your factory, then the bit you can make money from is the bit you own or rent. The rest of it is publicly owned, maintained by the public purse, and you should follow the laws and the highway code, just like everyone else should. Otherwise you could/should say that all road hauliers have the right to drive on all roads, including those with weight limits smaller than the weight of their vehicle, at whatever speed the driver feels appropriate, ignoring the speed limits. The arguments about how difficult it is for farmers to make a living have no bearing on their aggression to vulnerable road users.
 
I couldn't have put it better myself YorksG. I have lived in the countryside most of my life so feel justified in the comments I make. For the last 30 years I have also been an international freelance travel, equestrian and rural writer so I do know a little of what I am talking about. My experience is that farmers have and always will moan about how hard their life is and how everyone always has a go at them, AND don't understand just how hard their lifestyle really is. I would also like to point out that some of my closest friends are in farming but I have noticed over the years they do appear to always have a 'problem' of one sort or another. These problems seem, in their minds, to give them carte blanche to behave badly towards anyone who gets in the way of their busy schedule. You only have to read some of the high-handed comments made on this post to recognise the enormous level of intolerance to other road users, especially horses; which is must be said are never going to predictable so allowances must be made.

I would also like to point out that at least they have a living and usually a home. There are literally thousands of people in this country who are currently existing just short of the terror zone. They are terrified of losing their jobs, their homes and indeed their social status and I'm quite sure that many of them would happily swap working long hours in difficult weather conditions for that dreaded P45!
 
Patchworkpony said:
I couldn't have put it better myself YorksG. I have lived in the countryside most of my life so feel justified in the comments I make. For the last 30 years I have also been an international freelance travel, equestrian and rural writer so I do know a little of what I am talking about. My experience is that farmers have and always will moan about how hard their life is and how everyone always has a go at them, AND don't understand just how hard their lifestyle really is. I would also like to point out that some of my closest friends are in farming but I have noticed over the years they do appear to always have a 'problem' of one sort or another. These problems seem, in their minds, to give them carte blanche to behave badly towards anyone who gets in the way of their busy schedule. You only have to read some of the high-handed comments made on this post to recognise the enormous level of intolerance to other road users, especially horses; which is must be said are never going to predictable so allowances must be made.

I would also like to point out that at least they have a living and usually a home. There are literally thousands of people in this country who are currently existing just short of the terror zone. They are terrified of losing their jobs, their homes and indeed their social status and I'm quite sure that many of them would happily swap working long hours in difficult weather conditions for that dreaded P45!
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It always amazes me when the ''others have it worse'' argument gets wheeled out... I mean, there are children starving to death in Africa, you know...
 
I can't quote as I'm on my phone but Patchworkpony you just made my blood boil. If you are so knowledgable about farming you would know that many farmers are tenant farmers so don't necessarily have comfort of owning their own home and depending on their contract, don't necessarily have that for life or to pass on to the next generation. As for income, many are at the mercy of supermarkets and pig farmers and the dairy industry have been facing massive losses. Many farmers rely on a very large overdraft to stop then going under. The comment of it being 'in their heads' what a supportive friend you are!
As a previous poster said everyone wants their hay, milk, bread, horse feed, land to ride on... Don't bite the hand that feeds and all that. It makes me so sad that people are so far removed from where their food comes from. Before we know it we will all be eating imported food where welfare standards are non exsistant.
Apologies for the rant.
 
BWa said:
I can't quote as I'm on my phone but Patchworkpony you just made my blood boil. If you are so knowledgable about farming you would know that many farmers are tenant farmers so don't necessarily have comfort of owning their own home and depending on their contract, don't necessarily have that for life or to pass on to the next generation. As for income, many are at the mercy of supermarkets and pig farmers and the dairy industry have been facing massive losses. Many farmers rely on a very large overdraft to stop then going under. The comment of it being 'in their heads' what a supportive friend you are!
As a previous poster said everyone wants their hay, milk, bread, horse feed, land to ride on... Don't bite the hand that feeds and all that. It makes me so sad that people are so far removed from where their food comes from. Before we know it we will all be eating imported food where welfare standards are non exsistant.
Apologies for the rant.
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i understand your rant, I was married (still am) to a farm worker for 20 odd yrs, I have helped out on and around the farm and lived on the measly wage BUT niether myself or my (exish) husband have ever felt the need to drive unsafely on the roads-I dont understand why its thought the two should go hand in hand-you dont have to be an ignorant t##t to be a farmer or farm worker not that I am saying they all (only a few)are or that all other divers are perfect but when they are in such big machines they should be more curteous of other road users (not that this means no-one should be curteous to them)

and for the record I know many contract farmer workers (my husband the majority of the time these days and myself at times included) and they dont all drive like they are on a racing track either its not compulsory
 
I will acknowledge that my rant was slightly off topic and that I don't think necessarily think that they have the right to speed and drive dangerously and although my horse isn't bothered the next one might be. I just can't stand people dragging up the farmer stereotype that they all own big houses, have lots of money and moan about nothing. I feel it is very ignorant. So I agree with you Jools1234, I just needed a rant!
 
Another rant on this subject why do these tractor drivers think they have the right to drive over our garden just because we choose not to fence it. I keep it mown & tidy & have had to resort to using large tree stumps placed on said grass to stop try to stop them.
An A**E of a tractor it one the other day it is a good foot in off the road & takes 2 people to lift it.

Might take my horse & ride over their garden, no I will not stoop to their level of inconsideration & arrogance!
 
BWa said:
I will acknowledge that my rant was slightly off topic and that I don't think necessarily think that they have the right to speed and drive dangerously and although my horse isn't bothered the next one might be. I just can't stand people dragging up the farmer stereotype that they all own big houses, have lots of money and moan about nothing. I feel it is very ignorant. So I agree with you Jools1234, I just needed a rant!
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fair do's:D
 
It is extremely bad manners and inconsiderate of drivers of large tractors and machinery NOT to slow down or stop for horses. Tractors are big and frightening. Yes, we are all working flat out to try and get the work done, but that doesn't mean that other road users can be ignored.

It tends to be the younger "wow, look at me on my big machine" who are inconsiderate. As a farmer, and horse rider, I think that if you think there has been inconsiderate driving you should try and get the number and report them. I happen to be extremely lucky with my horse, as he doesn't take any notice of tractors as he sees them every day, but I also know how some horses are truly terrified as they are so big and noisy.
 
I was defending farmers but one (not one I know, I suspect a contractor) nearly killed me and my pony last night. I am fairly sure he was looking at his phone, he certainly wasn't looking at the road when he nearly drove into us head on.

Good and bad in all walks of life.

My farmer neighbours would never have done what the ignorant pig did to me last night and I am going to mention it to them next time I see them so it gets back to him. He better hope he doesn't meet me when I have the Landrover and cattle trailer on as I will be stopping in his road and having a polite word.

As far as I am concerned had I been in a car he would have had no choice but to slow down and move across to his side of the road so the same courtesy should have been extended to me.
 
partypremier said:
Thanks again inconsiderate tractor driver for carving up my bank & taking half my lawn away under your tractor tyres.
AARRRGGGHHHHHH
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I have noticed that with the massive tractors that go a million miles an hour they have such huge squashy tyres that they can go over verges etc without it even causing a jolt to the driver in the cab, the tyres just absorb it all.

Which a) encourages them to carry on doing it (b) makes me slightly terrified that they wouldnt really notice if they take out a small child!

The biggest issue tho (and the cause of a lot of that verge munching) IS them being on handheld mobiles and driving with one hand. Incredibly dangerous. Farmers on the farming forum recognise it is a real issue and a real danger. The police need to have a drive of stopping every tractor driver they see doing this and prosecuting them, and their employers need to make it clear it is a dismissable offence too.
 
Firstly Farmers have no more or less rights as road users than the rest of us .
There is a huge farm next to us made up of several farms and they use huge tractors to move stock, food machinery etc.
Years ago I happened to be standing next to the farmer it the pub the evening after one of his drivers had kindly stopped when he saw us coming I said how kind it was and asked him to thank him .
he asked he about horses what should they do and we talked I have never had an issue with a none from that farm in fact all the tractor drivers round here are good .
As riders you must get horses used to big traffic whenI was breeding horses they were ridden away at a yard that was also an agricultural contractors it great they saw tractors and all sorts going past their stables all day.
I accept I have been lucky but if a contractor say behaved in a stupid fashion I would ring them and complain and if they where not receptive I would call the police most tractors have the contractors name painted on them.
I did once call a bus company when a bus driver nearly squashed us when he came across a single track bridge when we where half way across I rang the bus company and recieved a letter of apology saying the driver had been reprimanded and given training.
I also accosted a friends son in the pub when he overtook us going at a mad speed just after he passed his test ( I did ask him his mum first and she said he's in the pub you do it there it be more impact that mum saying it a home ).
 
Just this morning as I was leaving horse to drive on to work, I met a large farm vehicle going like stink around the blind bends and taking up a lot more than half of the width of the road. Luckily I drive quite a small car and was able to steer into the hedgerow because he didn't even slow down. I was doing under 20mph, lights on and the car is bright red, so he must have seen me - just couldn't be bothered to take his foot off the gas. A lot of very large 4x4s , transit/delivery vehicles and even a full sized bus go along that section of lane so that would have been an interesting collision.
 
Taisypops said:
Me and two of my friends were chased down a very narrow track by a farmer in a massive tractor with a trailer on the back with about ten bales big bales of hay on it. We had a good mile and a half to go before the track was wide enough to pass and he reved the engine very loudly and tooted the horn at us the whole way, he was also only a few feet behind us!! All the horses were freaked out and all usually very capable of quietly walking past a considerate farmer in a tractor....so I understand where the OP is coming from....x
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Not read the whole of this thread but here in France we have very narrow lanes with ditches each side. I too have been chased by tractors.

You might be interested to know that in Scotland a farmer who harassed and abused a dressage rider, in an attempt to drive her off the road, was taken to Stirling Sheriff Court and fined. She was fortunate in that she had a witness.

When I drive on the motorway and a motorist in front of me is overtaking at a slower speed than I would like, I do not have the right to 'pile-drive' him/her into submission. For my job I drove 1,000 miles a week for 25 years and never felt the need to 'bully' other road users.
 
I think though Rollin that they didn't trot, they walked the whole way which probably to the famer appeared to be deliberatley winding him up. (Absolutely not excusing his actions but sometimes you just have to trot to get out the way, at least it looks as though you are trying.)
 
PeterNatt said:
Anyone using the roads has a responsibility for the safety of other road users be they pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, motorcyclists or motorists.
Farmers or farming contractors are no different.
There is absolutely no excuse for them to be driving dangerously, aggresively or without thought for other road users just because they are farmers or it is harvest time.
The vehicles they use are larger than most other vehicles on the roads and are potential killers.
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TOTALLY agree with this plus I always understood that according to the highway code horses have the right of way. Hah ! On a bright note saw the Police pull over a combine with no number plate & no lights the other week.
 
I am breaking our 12.2 dartmoor hill pony to harness and he is going really sweetly, as he has complete confidence in us. However to get the 'milage under his collar' I need to drive him up hill and down dale so that he learns what the breeching is about. Could one of the delightfully helpful farmers on here please tell me in detail what I should do if I meet a fast tractor on a bend and have no where to turn round. I would rather not end up in hospital.

It's OK guys - I know exactly what they will say " You shouldn't take a young horse on the roads and more the point you shouldn't hold up our very important work for even a second, and what the hell are you doing living in the countryside anyway, using OUR roads."

As a close friend of mine said recently (who's daughters are both national driving champions) you are in fact safer driving through town centres than country lanes.
 
In terms of a young driving pony, years ago I was paid by a lady to break hers to ride & accustom them to sights & situations out hacking under saddle, before having to complicate it with a carriage. As for breeching, done out longlining. Weight of carriage, done in the field. Then when none new experiences were they taken out in public driven.
 
We all have a right to be on the roads all tax payers have invested into the infrastructure of this country and we all have a right to use them .
For leisure for work whatever, these farmers don't have any extra rights however I have not experianced this where I live.
 
littlelegs said:
In terms of a young driving pony, years ago I was paid by a lady to break hers to ride & accustom them to sights & situations out hacking under saddle, before having to complicate it with a carriage. As for breeching, done out longlining. Weight of carriage, done in the field. Then when none new experiences were they taken out in public driven.
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Not sure how you get a horse used to breaking the carriage with the breeching unless you are lucky enough to have a steep slope in you're schooling field .
You definatly can't mimic the wieght of a carriage running into the breeching long lining.
 
Patchworkpony said:
I am breaking our 12.2 dartmoor hill pony to harness and he is going really sweetly, as he has complete confidence in us. However to get the 'milage under his collar' I need to drive him up hill and down dale so that he learns what the breeching is about. Could one of the delightfully helpful farmers on here please tell me in detail what I should do if I meet a fast tractor on a bend and have no where to turn round. I would rather not end up in hospital.

It's OK guys - I know exactly what they will say " You shouldn't take a young horse on the roads and more the point you shouldn't hold up our very important work for even a second, and what the hell are you doing living in the countryside anyway, using OUR roads."

As a close friend of mine said recently (who's daughters are both national driving champions) you are in fact safer driving through town centres than country lanes.
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I wouldn't dare drive on our lanes, like you say too narrow to turn around or get out of the way. You are making it sound though as though farmers are the only people who speed in the countryside!
 
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