Hauling wood with Farm plates?

Anonymous-0 · Jan 28, 2009

The other post about Farm plates got me thinking. Can someone use a truck with farm plates to haul firewood to their farm? I would think that would be allowed. It is not technically a farm supply or product, but IS used on the farm.

msss3020 · Jan 28, 2009

I really dont know what the hubbub is about. I have ran farm plates on my 72 3/4 pickup for years. Mainly used for hauling hay to and from field or barn to sale barn or buyer. Ive hauled wood from here to there and back again. I drive it to work when I need the 4x4 part. Ive hauled skidloader to and from. I figure they have to prove....PROVE that Im not in the process of using it for Farm. We haul hay for use in feeding animals or sales but we cant haul wood for use in heating our buildings.??Sorry dont get it.

msss3020 · Jan 28, 2009

I might also add that I live in Nebraska. So might be talking out of line. I know I was told that If you haul a piece of equipment down the highway you should have farm plates. they ignore ya. But if you have commercial plates they'd pull you over?? I pulled a swather with my "city" truck 1/2 ton F150 from Kansas, couple hundred miles to Neb didnt have a prob but never saw cop either.

tjdub · Jan 28, 2009

In Minnesota anyway, firewood is considered a farm product (horticulture). I think logging trucks can even have Farm Truck plates.

PeterE · Jan 28, 2009

Wrong. The officer will write you the ticket and then you have to go to court and convince the judge that the officer made a mistake.

The fuss is that the states are now cracking down hard on farm plates and heavy pickups, it isn't like it used to be. And a lot of guys are getting surprised by it.

A one-ton truck with a 10,000-pound trailer is, technically, a commercial vehicle and requires a Class A CDL license to drive. Even if its your wife hauling her horses to the show. And the troopers I've talked to in the last couple of years say they will write the tickets.

M Nut · Jan 28, 2009

As far as I know, that is not a problem.

case441 · Jan 28, 2009

I used to haul firewood from my Dad's "hobby" farm to my house about 6 miles away with a 64 ford 1/2 ton with farm plates, never had a problem, but that was in the late 70's. Probably not legal then and would be ticketed today. This was in the land of taxes, NY

Brad

thurlow · Jan 28, 2009

IT ALL DEPENDS on where you live; around 'here', I can use a 'farm' truck for anything.........as long as it's not hauling for hire.

Stockdale Dave · Jan 28, 2009

Got caught towing a racecar one time with farm plates..not pretty. Here in South Texas I've had electricians and just about every trade stop by my place with farm truck tags.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 28, 2009

has a slide in wrecker unit, been in the bed for 15 years and never been stopped for dragging old cars and trucks around. Don't know if its unlawfully or not, but if I get a ticket because of it, then I won't register the truck at all.

Bill in IL · Jan 28, 2009

One would think you could argue that one cause you are hauling something you harvested from your farm to another place on your farm or to the point of sale.

Rich Griffin · Jan 28, 2009

A few years ago I was pulling a large fuel tank that was mounted on wagon gear on highway[no plates on fuel tank],highway patrol stoped me and told me that I could not pull that since I had my business name on the side of my truck. No ticket,just a warning,so I had to park it and let some farmer pull it.

Dave Sherburne NY · Jan 28, 2009

Probably no problem hauling your own fire wood BUT
Hauling fire wood

dbridgers · Jan 28, 2009

Most states will not enforce laws from other states, however when you cross a state line in some cases you may be required to follow the Federal Motor Carrier regulations (logbooks, tie downs, etc). In NC you can use Farm Plates to haul products from the farm to market or haul products back to the farm for the production of crop, livestock, forest products. NC collects a highway use tax at the time the title is applied for. Farm plates are about 1/2 the price of a private plate, and forget the "For Hire Plate"(required insurance and Fed. Regulations). Driving on a farm tag for any other reason is a violation and subject to a court citation and civil penalties. A lot of times it is the officer's discretion, I've known them to look the other way for pickups with farm plates because there are so many other violators to pick from. Also if pulling a trailer and the towed unit exceeds 10,000 lbs it will require the driver to have a Class A CDL. I hope this helps some, I spent 25 years in DMV.

Oldmax · Jan 28, 2009

I belive the GCW has to be 26,000 LBS before you are required to have a class A . But you do have to have a DOT # if over 10,000 LBS .

Wesley Stephens · Jan 28, 2009

Here in NC they don't worry too much about the farm tag restrictions. Violations are hard to prove I guess, but I've seen them on fancy Land Cruisers and Escalades a lot of times.

mazemeister · Jan 28, 2009

In NY, when you register a vehicle with farm plates, you write on the registration card the names of the roads between the fields of your farm. those are the only roads the vehicle is allowed to be driven on. In other words, if you rent another farm across town, you got to add roads to all your registrations. course we only ever had farm plates on old trucks that you wouldn"t want to drive on the road any more than the shortest distance between 2 points.

Wesley Stephens · Jan 28, 2009

I don't know about now, but farm tags used to be exempt from CDL's in NC

trucker40 · Jan 28, 2009

I dont know about everywhere,but I read that here in Missouri you can haul anything you own on your farm truck for your own use.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 28, 2009

Fire wood is considered an agricultural product in Maine.Farm plates have a 10 mile limit.

john in la · Jan 28, 2009

Oldmax you are kind of correct but not totally.

You can pull a trailer over 10,000 lbs and do not need a CDL as long as you are not over 26,000 GCW.
The problem is they do not weigh you to determine 26,000 lbs. If the truck; trailer combo is capable of weighing over 26,000 lbs; in other words if your GCWR (rating) is over 26,000 lbs you need a CDL.

A DOT# is only needed if you haul for profit; not for hire but for profit. You can be hauling for profit and not be hauling for hire but not the other way around. Someone pulling a horse trailer is questionable depending on why they are moving the horse.

john in la · Jan 28, 2009

While differant states have differant rules I will say MOST states allow you to haul anything to are from your farm with farm tags.
Some states even allow you to haul for hire as long as the product is agriculture.

Farm tags have no limit in area as long as the state you are in has a agreement with your state. The CDL exemption that goes with farm tags does have a limit though.

farmer boy · Jan 28, 2009

Here in Ontario you can do just about anything with a farm truck. They are used for hire all the time providing it's agricultural. Farm truck are used as everyday vehicles. It cost a bit more to license them each year though but your max allowed weight goes up. I think firewood would fit in there with tree farming.

PeterE · Jan 28, 2009

You"re right about the profit being a shady area. That"s where they got those boys hauling horses I mentioned in the other post. Because they"d won a little prize money at the rodeo the trooper decided it was "for profit".

Lee in Iowa · Jan 28, 2009

So if you make one trip to a new area to haul home a piece of farm eqipment you have to get permission? Lee

dbridgers · Jan 28, 2009

Farm tags are not exempt any longer in NC. The 26,000 gvwr is for the towing and towed unit. NC requires a CDL if the towed unit is over 10,000. There is a classified CDL if the total weight and gvwr is less than 26,000 and the towed weight is excess of 10,000. Confused? Don't go to the trouble to get a classified CDL when almost the same test to get a unrestricted CDL.

colekicker · Jan 29, 2009

I think in Texas the ruling was that farm plates have the exception of transportation to gainful employment. Technically, you could put them on a vehicle going to school or college as long as not to a job.

Bill in IL · Jan 29, 2009

Yes you do not need a CDL but you need a liscense to meet the classification of vehicle you are operating. So in short for a tractor trailer (semi) with farm plates you need a class A CDL and airbrake endorsement but you do not need a log book or medical card.

Wesley Stephens · Jan 29, 2009

NC is getting worse and worse as far as restrictions, fees, and taxes go. The clowns in Raleigh are a corrupt joke.

Bret4207 · Jan 29, 2009

Why do these questions get asked here?!!! For goodness sake guys, use your head would ya? I was a DOT Inspector for the last 5 years of my career, please take my advice- CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS!!!!! Asking a guy in Alabama or New Jersey what the laws are when you live in Iowa or Nevada is useless. Yet, it gets done time after time. Farm plates have certain exemptions and qualifications depending on what State you live in. In some cases you're exempt form DOT requirements, in others you aren't. In any case if you're more than 150 miles from your farm and in commerce and over 10K then you lose whatever exemption you had.

Call or find your local DOT guys or State Police or whoever does traffic enforcement. Get the straight scoop from them and get it in writing if you can. Your Farm Bureau or Cooperative Extension may have the info, whatever, just find someone local to get the information from. I don't know how many guys I ran into going on false information. I had a guy from TEXAS that I stopped on the NY/Ontario border trying to operate under a farm exception! Trust me, the work you do in finding this stuff out will save you in the long run.

1936 · Jan 29, 2009

Beware of fire wood police with soooo many wood pest now in country from China.

Hauling wood with Farm plates?

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