Should Farm Equipment be Allowed on Highways

       This time of year there are several pieces of farm equipment traveling from farm to farm on highways. This is necessary for farmers to get their equipment where they need it, but some people claim that farm equipment should not be allowed on highways. 

 

       There are several reasons that highways are essential for farmers to move their equipment on. Highways are crucial for some farmers to move their equipment because some fields are only accessible by highway. It is also difficult for farmers to move their equipment through small areas, and the highway offers a large, and visible area to move the machine along. It can also be dangerous for farmers to move their equipment on gravel due to bad road conditions and little space for other drivers to get by. 

 

       On the contrary, some people claim that farm equipment should not be able to travel on highways. Some believe the equipment travels too slowly compared to the average speed of other vehicles. However, all vehicles traveling below thirty five miles per hour are required to have the reflective, slow moving vehicle sign, and flashing lights visible on the equipment. 

 

I believe, as long as the farmer is following those laws, it is reasonable for other vehicles to safely slow down, and wait for a good time to carefully pass the machine.

 

       I believe that farm equipment should be able to travel on highways, if their equipment meets the laws. It is vital for farmers to be able to use highways to get to their farms. It is safe for farm equipment to travel on highways if other drivers are cautious of the equipment, and farmers are aware of the machine's size and speed. All in all, both the drivers of the equipment, and drivers of other vehicles, should be safe, aware, and follow the law.

 

Do you think farm equipment should be allowed on highways, explain?

Have you ever driven farm equipment on a highway?

 

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies

  • You made the top five. Congrats! You did a great job overall and your topic is one that hasn't been done before. I wouild like to see you include information like how many deaths and accidents happen each year due to this. .

  • I think farm equipment should be allowed on highways. It is the quickest way a farmer can move machinery to a field that can't be reached on gravel roads. As long as the farmer is doing everything legally. It should be allowed. Other drivers on the road also need to be more cautious when approaching farm equipment. I have no drive farm equipment on a highway

  • At first I am on the negative side of this saying farm equipment should be faster or stay off the roads. Then I remembered something from my Aviation class. For the engine to cool down they either need a super large coolant system and that takes liquid, the more liquid you have the heavier the plane is which means you need more liquid, which means you need a bigger engine and it turns into a vicious cycle.  Same would be held true to combines, they would get heavier which would put strain on the tires which would make the engine have to work harder with the same amount of coolant.  So you'd have to add more coolant so it wouldn't over heat and that turns into a vicious cycle as well.  So my opinion, is slow pokes need to get off the road, but my logic says that they can't go any faster.   Therefore, they should be allowed on the road.

     

    • The engines in these pieces of equipment also play a huge role in their speed and size. Another reason these machines cannot go faster is because of their gear ratios. Lower gears amount to more power, and because these tractors are made for power, they are geared lower. However, one problem with that is that lower gears cannot go as fast. Cars are have higher gears that allow them to go faster with lower RPM's, but tractors do not have high gears, so they cannot travel at highway speed. I am glad you also looked at the engine aspect of this.

  • I think that farm equipment should be allowed to go on the highways. Afterall, they do have to get from place to places, and where else can they drive? There are laws in place so that they can drive on there, and farmers follow them, so they should obviously be fine, People nowadays just want to get to their desinations faster, and having a slower vehicle infront of them is delaying them by what, like 2 - 5 minutes. 

    • I agree, everybody is always in a rush, and a piece of equipment infront of them can make them make dangerous choices. Most of the time getting stuck behind equipment does not take very long anyways.

  • I believe that farm equipment should be allowed on highways due to them have to move very big and heavy things to fundimentally feed the world, although I think that laws should be in place to make them as safe as possible. 

  • I think that farm equiptment should be allowed on highways. I think highways are the best option if you need to drive your equiptment somewhere. Especially during this season, drivers should give themselves extra time to get to their destination because it is more likely that they will meet farm equiptment on the road

    • I agree, people should definitely give themselves more time to get to their destination. Ecspecially around this time of year it is very likely you will come across a piece of farm equipment. 

  • I think they should be allowed on the highways if they meet highway laws. There are time were this can cause problems like impatient people trying to pass them. Impatient people are a big cause of why people think that farm equipment should not be allowed on highways.

This reply was deleted.
eXTReMe Tracker