Tractor rally!!!

[ester]

took me a minute to work out the floating arrows on the road pic!

 

[hollyandivy123]

https://www.derbyshire.police.uk/tu.../how-to-tell-us-about-an-event-or-procession/

From the police perspective

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

The point I am trying to make is that roads are for everybody...horse riders can be as much of a nuisance as tractors, as are cyclists, ramblers, boy racers, etc etc...

it is a little ostentatious to suggest that every event or passerby has to notify the Op because she may be out riding...

These are a group of farmers having a rare get together driving their old tractors!

ycbm , next year organise a 60 strong touring caravan rally instead of a quiet solo hack , preferably going in the opposite direction to the tractors for maximum fun . Don't notify anyone , including the local fun loving farmers , indeed it would be a little ostentatious of them to suggest that you should . If anyone gets cross/stuck/injured just remind them that " Roads are for everybody ". That should do it .

So sorry to inconvenience you....
Are you the Queen?

Fortunately for Her Majesty she doesn't have to risk life and limb on the public highway ( she has bl**dy great private estates to ride on ) but if she did have to venture out ( enthusiastic older rider that she also is ) I'm pretty sure that she would also appreciate a little forewarning of an impending 60 strong tractor rally .

 

[Sandstone1]

What would happen if a ambulance needed to get through.

 

[Kipper's Dick]

I've met all sorts of vehicles whilst out riding - tractors, motorbikes, combine harvesters (that was interesting), refuse trucks, etc., etc. Depending which horse I was riding at the time depended on how exciting the experience was. All good training opportunities, as scruffyponies says (though timing a hack to coincide with a vintage steam run might be one excitement too many for most, I suspect). And, yes, we all have a 'right' to be on the road.
But this isn't just about 'rights', is it? It's about consideration for other road users. Not just about meeting a possibly very frightened horse en route, or cheesing off local residents, but having a thought for the tailback of poor buggers who are trailing in the wake of a 60 tractor convoy. Not everyone does agree with allowing rallies of this kind to take place on public roads. They can cause severe disruption on the highways. Bear in mind the people who might be held up: doctors, district nurses, vets, carers, folk with pressing appointments. (There's the story of a chap 20 minutes late for work because of a tractor rally. Got a real rollicking when he arrived at the farm where he worked. Turned out the farmer and his son were actually taking part in the rally! Couldn't make it up....! )
These rallies can only take place because of goodwill. As soon as any 'entitlement' creeps in, you could well be saying 'bye, bye' to all of it. Again courtesy and consideration is the only way forward. Plenty of advance warning, signage, notes through doors (car rallies often do this, in fact one organises personal visits to the residents). And then more of us might feel like cheering them on from our gateways.

 

[brighteyes]

We have a tractor run every year here and it’s to raise money for charity. Participants pay £15 each, it’s well advertised locally, and is always very well supported and popular with our local community. I’m in Cheshire btw.

And spend Lord knows how much more on diesel, polluting the environment with noise and fumes. They go on round here and it's nothing more than a 'jolly out'. Like they don't spend all day in the damned things. I take a very dim view and have made my feelings quite clear to my eldest, who has joined in these nonsensical parades with their questionable basis.

 

[scruffyponies]

I think in your position OP, looking at your photo, I would have retreated up the banking to watch them go by, which he would have found less threatening than being 'trapped' in a small passing place.

 

[paddy555]

And spend Lord knows how much more on diesel, polluting the environment with noise and fumes. They go on round here and it's nothing more than a 'jolly .

bit the same as taking 60 horseboxes and trailers to a horse event. Pollution and traffic hold up for a bit of a "jolly"

 

[hollyandivy123]

bit the same as taking 60 horseboxes and trailers to a horse event. Pollution and traffic hold up for a bit of a "jolly"

True but they typically don't travel round in a line of 60 in one go.........

 

[RHM]

If I had met them on my mare I would literally be dead ? on a good day I would be able to get her past one, sixty of the bleeding things would have polished her off. If I had met them jumping a gate would have been a legitimately better option.

 

[Merry neddy man]

I think in your position OP, looking at your photo, I would have retreated up the banking to watch them go by, which he would have found less threatening than being 'trapped' in a small passing place.

Looking at ycbm #32 picture I doubt that you would be sat on top of an excited/upset horse on top of that banking watching 60 big tractors go by.

 

[Tiddlypom]

.

I think in your position OP, looking at your photo, I would have retreated up the banking to watch them go by, which he would have found less threatening than being 'trapped' in a small passing place.

I believe that ycbm was out exercising a horse, not a mountain goat .

 

[Trouper]

I've met all sorts of vehicles whilst out riding - tractors, motorbikes, combine harvesters (that was interesting), refuse trucks, etc., etc. Depending which horse I was riding at the time depended on how exciting the experience was. All good training opportunities, as scruffyponies says (though timing a hack to coincide with a vintage steam run might be one excitement too many for most, I suspect). And, yes, we all have a 'right' to be on the road.
But this isn't just about 'rights', is it? It's about consideration for other road users. Not just about meeting a possibly very frightened horse en route, or cheesing off local residents, but having a thought for the tailback of poor buggers who are trailing in the wake of a 60 tractor convoy. Not everyone does agree with allowing rallies of this kind to take place on public roads. They can cause severe disruption on the highways. Bear in mind the people who might be held up: doctors, district nurses, vets, carers, folk with pressing appointments. (There's the story of a chap 20 minutes late for work because of a tractor rally. Got a real rollicking when he arrived at the farm where he worked. Turned out the farmer and his son were actually taking part in the rally! Couldn't make it up....! )
These rallies can only take place because of goodwill. As soon as any 'entitlement' creeps in, you could well be saying 'bye, bye' to all of it. Again courtesy and consideration is the only way forward. Plenty of advance warning, signage, notes through doors (car rallies often do this, in fact one organises personal visits to the residents). And then more of us might feel like cheering them on from our gateways.

A very thoughtful and considered reply, KD. Says it all really.

 

[honetpot]

And spend Lord knows how much more on diesel, polluting the environment with noise and fumes. They go on round here and it's nothing more than a 'jolly out'. Like they don't spend all day in the damned things. I take a very dim view and have made my feelings quite clear to my eldest, who has joined in these nonsensical parades with their questionable basis.

These sorts of things hold communities together. Farming is already isolating, you are often sat in a tractor from early in the morning, and often near me they are farming in the dark under lights to get ahead of the weather. There are high rates of suicide and depression in the farming community which is often hidden, the markets where they used to meet in the cafe are now shut, or restricted due to covid, so the chances for social interaction are even less than they were. The old and the young have a common bond in tractors, the older tractors often used fifty years ago for work are being bought by farmers children.
We have an old 1960's Ford Dexter, it's insured to go on the road, we traded up from a more modern leisure tractor which was useless, but cost four times more. It has a loader, and pallet forks, so its multi purpose, for shifting heavy loads. Far more useful than a ride on lawn mower, it cuts the paddocks as well, as well as harrows. It's also easier and cheaper to fix. I can not see it being more environmentally harmful than the millions of lawnmowers that are sold and used to cut grass, which depending on your gardening style is often completely unnecessary, and are junk in a couple of years.
Lots of people are in to vintage vehicles, our local church has a hobbies and crafts Saturday where people display their cars, tractors, bikes, for no charge and it's a good fund raiser for the church. Even vintage cars have car runs.
So if I was out riding, and I met a tractor run, I would be less bothered than meeting a bike run or a lycra clad race, or even the cyclist who comes up right behind you with no warning, even on bridleways. I used to ride down main roads on a double decker bus route, often with children on ponies in the crocodile, so I guess it depends on what you and your mount are used to. You could say that riding a horse on the road is just a 'jolly out', after all for most of us it's a hobby.

 

[milliepops]

These sorts of things hold communities together. Farming is already isolating, you are often sat in a tractor from early in the morning, and often near me they are farming in the dark under lights to get ahead of the weather. There are high rates of suicide and depression in the farming community which is often hidden, the markets where they used to meet in the cafe are now shut, or restricted due to covid, so the chances for social interaction are even less than they were. The old and the young have a common bond in tractors, the older tractors often used fifty years ago for work are being bought by farmers children.
We have an old 1960's Ford Dexter, it's insured to go on the road, we traded up from a more modern leisure tractor which was useless, but cost four times more. It has a loader, and pallet forks, so its multi purpose, for shifting heavy loads. Far more useful than a ride on lawn mower, it cuts the paddocks as well, as well as harrows. It's also easier and cheaper to fix. I can not see it being more environmentally harmful than the millions of lawnmowers that are sold and used to cut grass, which depending on your gardening style is often completely unnecessary, and are junk in a couple of years.
Lots of people are in to vintage vehicles, our local church has a hobbies and crafts Saturday where people display their cars, tractors, bikes, for no charge and it's a good fund raiser for the church. Even vintage cars have car runs.
So if I was out riding, and I met a tractor run, I would be less bothered than meeting a bike run or a lycra clad race, or even the cyclist who comes up right behind you with no warning, even on bridleways. I used to ride down main roads on a double decker bus route, often with children on ponies in the crocodile, so I guess it depends on what you and your mount are used to. You could say that riding a horse on the road is just a 'jolly out', after all for most of us it's a hobby.

completely agree.
A bit of understanding & forethought on all sides is all that's needed really to rub along OK together, the hostility doesn't help anyone. after all we all need farmers from time to time, leaving aside human food etc many of us want them to roll the field, or make some hay or take the muck away etc.

 

[SJJR]

I am surprised that OP is being told to climb up banking and watch the tractors go by. Not a good learning opportunity if you are having to scramble up a steep bank to get out of the way. In my mind this would be akin to 'flooding' the horse. I would not fancy my chances holding on to an upset horse on steep banking for 20 mins whilst 60 tractors go by.
We are all road users, a little communication goes a long way in ensuring all activities can continue.

 

[brighteyes]

These sorts of things hold communities together. Farming is already isolating, you are often sat in a tractor from early in the morning, and often near me they are farming in the dark under lights to get ahead of the weather. There are high rates of suicide and depression in the farming community which is often hidden, the markets where they used to meet in the cafe are now shut, or restricted due to covid, so the chances for social interaction are even less than they were. The old and the young have a common bond in tractors, the older tractors often used fifty years ago for work are being bought by farmers children.
We have an old 1960's Ford Dexter, it's insured to go on the road, we traded up from a more modern leisure tractor which was useless, but cost four times more. It has a loader, and pallet forks, so its multi purpose, for shifting heavy loads. Far more useful than a ride on lawn mower, it cuts the paddocks as well, as well as harrows. It's also easier and cheaper to fix. I can not see it being more environmentally harmful than the millions of lawnmowers that are sold and used to cut grass, which depending on your gardening style is often completely unnecessary, and are junk in a couple of years.
Lots of people are in to vintage vehicles, our local church has a hobbies and crafts Saturday where people display their cars, tractors, bikes, for no charge and it's a good fund raiser for the church. Even vintage cars have car runs.
So if I was out riding, and I met a tractor run, I would be less bothered than meeting a bike run or a lycra clad race, or even the cyclist who comes up right behind you with no warning, even on bridleways. I used to ride down main roads on a double decker bus route, often with children on ponies in the crocodile, so I guess it depends on what you and your mount are used to. You could say that riding a horse on the road is just a 'jolly out', after all for most of us it's a hobby.

Wow - so do we - a 1962 Fordson Dexta - almost fully restored now. Son has a JD6920 for the farm It was a NHS supporting 'jolly' locally organised and he didn't attend. I stand by my feelings.

 

[scruffyponies]

.
I believe that ycbm was out exercising a horse, not a mountain goat .

Last time I checked they were 4WD
Maybe I'm too used to ponies. They love a good banking.

 

[milliepops]

as she got home i'm not sure the point is that important but it depends on the nature of your bank, doesn't it? good footing/full of holes/fenced off/under trees etc etc etc plus I agree that it's not the ideal environment to teach a horse about large machinery

 

[stormox]

Surely tractor runs etc are posted on local FB pages and in local shops/on posts? They are round here. The more people know about them the more money they get! I do agree they are dangerous to horses- I came to grief when a vintage car rally passed me on a young horse.... each one that passed he got progressively worse till in the end he took off and ended up in someones garden hedge!! I dont blame them though, apparantly it had been well advertised, I just hadnt seen the posters! I look now, they are usually held on bank holidays and they raise great amounts for charity so fair play to them and anyone who is involved in the organisation of them. Charities need our money more than they ever did.

 

[Suechoccy]

All that's needed here is a bit of courtesy and consideration ahead of time on the part of the organiser of the tractor drivers. That convoy probably took 30 mins to clear each section of road it used. If the organiser had ensured that households, village facebook groups, livery yards, etc, all were made aware ahead of time then it would be very little/no inconvenience for all the non-tractor people to stay off the road for the 30 mins or so while the tractors passed. Good will on both sides would have then prevailed.
Round here they are advertised beforehand and come with bucket-shakers so extra funds get raised for the cause and evryone has a smile and good word for them.

 

[Rowreach]

Good grief I wasn’t expecting this thread to run so far.

The OP wasn’t caught up in the tractor run, so the point is moot, but I can quite see why she absolutely wouldn’t have wanted to have been, given the geography of that laneway

Round here tractor runs are a regular thing- close farming community, love their tractors from the vintage right through to the great big modern yokes, and they love to polish them up, show them off, and raise money for charity in the process. My son being one of them.

They make a lot of noise and frequently hold up traffic, but equally they are incredibly considerate to everyone insofar as it’s possible, and they are briefed in stopping, cutting their engines and waiting in the event they meet horses.

So I’d hope that if they had met the OP, or anyone else on a horse which apparently this particular run did, there would have been a positive outcome to it all.

But I can quite see why you would choose not to go for a hack if you were aware it was happening.

They’ve every right to be on the road, just as we all have the right to ride our horses on the road or tow them round with our gas guzzling 4x4s when we go on our jollies. All anyone wants is a bit of mutual consideration surely?

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

I don’t think you need to justify yourself YCBM courtesy costs nothing. That’s the trouble these days is that everyone thinks they have a “right” to do whatever they want and sod everyone else. The world would be a much nicer place if we thought of how our actions impact on others and how we might minimise or prevent those impacts.

Personally I think large organised events have no place on a public road which is for people to travel along not for events unless they are properly organised, way marked and notified in advance.

We have had a problem locally with around 30 screaming women winding up their howling dogs with up to 3 dogs each organising Cani-cross events on the local bridleways and footpaths. Not only do they take over the small public car park so no-one else can park they block the bridle way whilst waiting to set off they’ve parked across our field gateway and in addition have refused to slow down to pass horses safely. Luckily the landowner has intervened so they’ve now calmed down and notified us on the last event.

If I rode in a way that was dangerous to them then I’m sure I’d find myself in hot water.

 

[Rowreach]

Personally I think large organised events have no place on a public road which is for people to travel along not for events unless they are properly organised, way marked and notified in advance.

These tractor runs generally are all those things, the police will have known about it, and they tend to be well advertised because they want to raise money for whatever charity it is. The problem is that nowadays most people use social media so that's where the majority of advertising is, or they may stick a poster or two up in the village shops and petrol stations, but people are using those things differently/less/more quickly than normal, and it isn't very practical to leaflet drop every single property in a thirty square mile radius.

I'm sure now that ycbm has asked specifically to be notified, she will be.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

These tractor runs generally are all those things, the police will have known about it, and they tend to be well advertised because they want to raise money for whatever charity it is. The problem is that nowadays most people use social media so that's where the majority of advertising is, or they may stick a poster or two up in the village shops and petrol stations, but people are using those things differently/less/more quickly than normal, and it isn't very practical to leaflet drop every single property in a thirty square mile radius.

I'm sure now that ycbm has asked specifically to be notified, she will be.

They don’t need to leaflet drop a few pinned notices along the way a week in advance would most likely be sufficient for locals. I’d be flipping annoyed to get stuck behind 60 tractors when going about my daily business even if not on a horse. Presumably not much chance of emergency services getting past for several miles either.

 

[paddy555]

These sorts of things hold communities together. Farming is already isolating, you are often sat in a tractor from early in the morning, and often near me they are farming in the dark under lights to get ahead of the weather. There are high rates of suicide and depression in the farming community which is often hidden, the markets where they used to meet in the cafe are now shut, or restricted due to covid, so the chances for social interaction are even less than they were. The old and the young have a common bond in tractors, the older tractors often used fifty years ago for work are being bought by farmers children.
We have an old 1960's Ford Dexter, it's insured to go on the road, we traded up from a more modern leisure tractor which was useless, but cost four times more. It has a loader, and pallet forks, so its multi purpose, for shifting heavy loads. Far more useful than a ride on lawn mower, it cuts the paddocks as well, as well as harrows. It's also easier and cheaper to fix. I can not see it being more environmentally harmful than the millions of lawnmowers that are sold and used to cut grass, which depending on your gardening style is often completely unnecessary, and are junk in a couple of years.
Lots of people are in to vintage vehicles, our local church has a hobbies and crafts Saturday where people display their cars, tractors, bikes, for no charge and it's a good fund raiser for the church. Even vintage cars have car runs.
So if I was out riding, and I met a tractor run, I would be less bothered than meeting a bike run or a lycra clad race, or even the cyclist who comes up right behind you with no warning, even on bridleways. I used to ride down main roads on a double decker bus route, often with children on ponies in the crocodile, so I guess it depends on what you and your mount are used to. You could say that riding a horse on the road is just a 'jolly out', after all for most of us it's a hobby.

re your first para. Exactly. Those young farmer's driving daddy's latest tractor are also the ones still bringing in the hay our horses eat at 10pm in the summer.

I too can join the Ford brigade. Our first 2 were Fordson majors. Then I am ashamed to say we traded upwards.


We don't get notice or posters of any rallies be it tractors, bikes, motor bikes, horses or car rallies. On modern roads it is just something one has to get used to. We also don't get notice when a farmer is driving a herd of cattle, sheep or ponies down our narrow winding roads. We just find a herd of cattle charging towards us or some ponies being driven on by a tourist's car coming from behind.



If I had been at home and they were coming past I would have grabbed the horse as a training opportunity and had him standing closer and closer to the gate until he was up close and learning.

 

[Rowreach]

They don’t need to leaflet drop a few pinned notices along the way a week in advance would most likely be sufficient for locals. I’d be flipping annoyed to get stuck behind 60 tractors when going about my daily business even if not on a horse. Presumably not much chance of emergency services getting past for several miles either.

Why would it annoy you? Do all other road users annoy you too? Do you get annoyed when you have to pass a horse and rider, or a group of cyclists, or tractors at harvest time, or when there are roadworks, tourists towing caravans, or learner drivers, or those lorries with houses on the back that take up both sides of the road?

Honestly I think people are just so impatient about everything these days.

Let's not forget that these guys and girls in their tractors are providing us with our toast/bacon/steak/eggs/hay/straw/horsefeed/and at this rate (B word) most of our fruit and veg from now on. They're allowed a bit of fun.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

Why would it annoy you? Do all other road users annoy you too? Do you get annoyed when you have to pass a horse and rider, or a group of cyclists, or tractors at harvest time, or when there are roadworks, tourists towing caravans, or learner drivers, or those lorries with houses on the back that take up both sides of the road?

Honestly I think people are just so impatient about everything these days.

Let's not forget that these guys and girls in their tractors are providing us with our toast/bacon/steak/eggs/hay/straw/horsefeed/and at this rate (B word) most of our fruit and veg from now on. They're allowed a bit of fun.

60 tractors is not quite the same as passing a couple of horses which generally you can pass safely on a narrow lane given a few hundred yards. I’m extremely courteous of all road user so don’t accuse me of of being anything else. A planned event is completely different is not essential and is not an unforeseen incident.

Your last paragraph is frankly ridiculous and irrelevant.

 

[Rowreach]

60 tractors is not quite the same as passing a couple of horses which generally you can pass safely on a narrow lane given a few hundred yards. I’m extremely courteous of all road user so don’t accuse me of of being anything else. A planned event is completely different is not essential and is not an unforeseen incident.

Your last paragraph is frankly ridiculous and irrelevant.

I’d say it’s extremely relevant.

 

[ycbm]

I think in your position OP, looking at your photo, I would have retreated up the banking to watch them go by, which he would have found less threatening than being 'trapped' in a small passing place.

You aren't listening. The banks are lethal. They have drainage ditches running in them, left over old fencing in them, walling stones in them, they are bogs, they are verticle under the grass without anywhere flat on them wider than the 6 inches next to a barbed wire topped wall.

"Retreating up a bank" is not an option, I can barely stand on them!