Silly (IMO) law

[turnkey4099]

Here in Washington state if you tow your logsplitter it has to have a trailer license. I wondered about it and asked a State Trooper. He confirmed it but said it was unlikely he would stop me for not having one. I consider it tending toward the asisnine category as you can't haul anything on one.

Harry K

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

The explanation can be given in one word:

Revenue.

 

[clearance]

It is seperate from your tow vehicle, if it comes loose from the hitch and kills someone, where is the license plate? Who gets the blame for improperly connecting it (this came up here before, chipper kills three)? Who gets named in the lawsuit? The fee is probably small, you can't haul anything on a towable concrete mixer either.

 

[bassman]

I have one trailer plate and it says homebuilt trailer and it jumps around alot from trailler to trailer .
I was told by the highway traffic police that I should't do that but if i get pulled over all they want to see is if it has lights , proper ball and chains, and a valid plate.
I can get away with no lights as long as it dosent block the view of the tow vehicle.
my grandpa had 2 chevy trucks both of them red and and he used to use one for farm use and the other was in alot better shape so that was his good truck.
one plate 2 trucks .
did it for 20 plus years .

 

[Hired Gun]

I have one trailer plate and it says homebuilt trailer and it jumps around alot from trailler to trailer .
I was told by the highway traffic police that I should't do that but if i get pulled over all they want to see is if it has lights , proper ball and chains, and a valid plate.
I can get away with no lights as long as it dosent block the view of the tow vehicle.
my grandpa had 2 chevy trucks both of them red and and he used to use one for farm use and the other was in alot better shape so that was his good truck.
one plate 2 trucks .
did it for 20 plus years .

Risky business attaching plates, it is arrestable. Hey if he got away with it for 20 yrs more power to him. Pretty easy to get away on similar vehicles unless someone checks the VIN, or inspection sticker. My bet is your grandpa was a smooth operator like my pop. About 10 mph under the speed limit everywhere and smooth as silk. In my 29 years I have never seen him get pulled over.

 

[turnkey4099]

The Jail Commander when I first started working there used a 5th wheel travel trailer. Didn't buy plates for it but purchased trip permits. Many times he would get on not dated thus carried it undated and if stopped quickly added the current date. Ran on one for somewhere around 5 years IIRC per his story.

Harry K

 

[redprospector]

Here in Washington state if you tow your logsplitter it has to have a trailer license. I wondered about it and asked a State Trooper. He confirmed it but said it was unlikely he would stop me for not having one. I consider it tending toward the asisnine category as you can't haul anything on one.

Harry K

Here in New Mexico they want you to register anything you tow. However they require that you have a valid NM title to register anything. I didn't get a title with my wood splitter, or my chipper, or several other towable pieces of equipment. The girls at the MVD went nut's when I tried to get a title for my splitter so I could tag it. They said there was no catagory for it, and the computer wouldn't let them title it.
What's a guy to do? The state say's you have to register it, but the state say's that it can't be registered. Simply amazing.

Andy

 

[livewire]

The explanation can be given in one word:

Revenue.

That's it right there!


I wonder if/when you get it licensed you have to equip it with trailer lights and harness...

 

[hornett22]

same here in Corrupticut.

it's all about the money.it was amazing last week when i went to tennessee and saw people doing all kinds of things that are illegal in New England but no one was dying or complaining.kinda like the stupid gun laws here but not down there.gee,we have way more crime here though.

 

[straight6jeff]

Hi All, I just moved to NH two weeks ago and got the chance to register my homebuilt trailer. Now, in MA a homebuilt trailer does not need a VIN#, but in NH it does. I was dredding going through this process as I had an old motorcycle that had a 9-digit vin, and the state of MA did not believe it was valid. It took a year to get the bike registered in MA (it was an 84 Yamaha xt550). Well, in contrast, yesterday it took an hour from start to finish to get the vin# and tag in NH. THis included stopping by the Salem PD, then over to the Registry. That also included a half hour detour around flooded roads. NH definitely makes it easy to do the right thing and register with a Vin and tag.

 

[Dave]

A few months ago I registered the splitter I built last year, when it gets to the VIN part the girl says make up a number and write it in this box. You can bet it wasn't 17 digits. In and out in a few minutes (highly irregular for RI), 10 bucks for 2 years.

 

[bama]

I had to stamp an assigned VIN number on my homeade pickup trailer(51 Dodge 1/2 ton) when I licensed it. The nice people at the DMV in South Dakota told me I needed it, but not how to do it. I asked around and no one had a clue. Finally, I took a center punch and punched it out into the frame. The next year, I moved to MN and they gave me a lifetime trailer license and looked at me funny when I mentioned my trailer VIN number.

I remember the first time I went to get a car license in SD. I brought my proof of insurance and everything(which is what you had to do in the 1980's in MN). She said it wasn't required. No wonder the insurance rates were a little high! I was paying for all the idiots who decided to save a little $$$ at my expense! I guess MN has moved to the "honor" system as well. Too bad I can't count my higher premiums for underinsured and uninsured vehicles as a charitable deduction. I am sure helping somebody out!

All right.... I will get off the soap box.:notrolls2: