daf 4x4 with timer crane

[skyhuck]

So if some are "getting away with it" does that make it right?

 

 

So are they not allowed to do that???

[treequip]

So are they not allowed to do that???

 

 

Well HMCE says you shouldn’t be using red for moving goods on the road however under certain circumstances the farmer is entitled to use red for that so contractors ride that exemption wherever they can. A farm contractor is just that, a contractor. It is an independent business and as such is not covered by the exemption that the farmer enjoys. the powers that be crack down on it where it becomes excessive. they stopped farmers hauling stone out of the quarries around Buxton, they came down on the dozens of fastracks towing artic trailers on dollies up and down the A1 around York

 

The problem was with the list of exemptions in the law, it was written back in the seventies and developments in ag vehicles had left it obsolete, the government saw a haemorrhage of millions in tax and revised the legislation closing a lot of loopholes, they have also made sure that the people out in the world of enforcement are up to speed. Gone are the days when you could snot a chipper on the back of a Bedford or bolt a winch to a RB44 and run it on red. (you know who I am talking about)

 

There is a general assumption that if a vehicle is registered ag it can use red, this is a misconception, the registration is less relevant than the use, hauling conny chip back from Mrs Migins garden is not agricultural and most tree surgeons are anything but agricultural.

 

To get back to the timber hauling question, there is a huge difference between a contractor hauling fert for a genuine farmer and a tree contractor winging it on the shirt tails of an exemption for farmers picking timber up and taking it back to his yard

 

Staying under the radar is key but be ready for problems if they catch you

[john p]

few years back got a tug by vosa/ministry,in a mog,towing grain trailer,we had chipper loaded on bed of mog,many miles from base,.got impounded for red and not havin hgv liscence (was ag reg),but as it turns out no charges,no fines,very grey area.

i run my bedford on red,but i dont haul timber as a rule,and im very confident of driving away from aHMRC check (not so confident about vosa!)

[treedweller]

Forestry and horticulture are two sub sections of Ag regestering. So the vehicle can be ag registered and never see a farm or anything agricultural!!! If you have a bedford that hauls tools and fuel up into the woods it can be Ag registered as a foretry vehicle. If you have a kabota tractor that cuts hedges and grass around a plant nursery then it can be Ag registered. VOSA's line on Tree surgery is that it's NOT forestry so using a Ag reg mog for tree work is running the risk of testing the grey area. As for Cherry B nothing can run any distance on the road using it apart from specialist vehicles ie gritters, cherry pickers etc etc. Ag contractors run on the road on white then fill up with red in the fields then back on white for the road. If you do get stopped by HMRC running red your best argument is that you have been working off road up in the woods or what ever running it on red on site. Show them a recent white diesel receipt and explain that you plan on filling out a declaration online of the miles you have done on the road using red and plan to pay the tax on it at the end of the quarter. You can do this and many do but it depends on how funny they are when you get dipped. I'm not condoning running on red but i do know a farmer that bought a 10 plate defender 90 and it's never run on white since it was delivered. He is Irish and is also convinced that engines run better on red?? how does dye make an engine run better lol

[treequip]

Forestry and horticulture are two sub sections of Ag regestering. So the vehicle can be ag registered and never see a farm or anything agricultural!!! If you have a bedford that hauls tools and fuel up into the woods it can be Ag registered as a foretry vehicle. If you have a kabota tractor that cuts hedges and grass around a plant nursery then it can be Ag registered. VOSA's line on Tree surgery is that it's NOT forestry so using a Ag reg mog for tree work is running the risk of testing the grey area. As for Cherry B nothing can run any distance on the road using it apart from specialist vehicles ie gritters, cherry pickers etc etc. Ag contractors run on the road on white then fill up with red in the fields then back on white for the road. If you do get stopped by HMRC running red your best argument is that you have been working off road up in the woods or what ever running it on red on site. Show them a recent white diesel receipt and explain that you plan on filling out a declaration online of the miles you have done on the road using red and plan to pay the tax on it at the end of the quarter. You can do this and many do but it depends on how funny they are when you get dipped. I'm not condoning running on red but i do know a farmer that bought a 10 plate defender 90 and it's never run on white since it was delivered. He is Irish and is also convinced that engines run better on red?? how does dye make an engine run better lol

 

 

The snag with that is that in order to use that system you must first be registered with HMRC to do so, if you aren’t registered you are likely to be prosecuted.

Its always worth a try but these people hear this kind of thing all day long, you can be pretty sure that they have already heard whatever new and novel reason you have.

[treedweller]

The snag with that is that in order to use that system you must first be registered with HMRC to do so, if you aren’t registered you are likely to be prosecuted.

Its always worth a try but these people hear this kind of thing all day long, you can be pretty sure that they have already heard whatever new and novel reason you have.

 

Point taken Still worth a try :biggrin:

[Gray git]

ok lets try this one,

Ag reg vehical Rb44, mog, bedford sort of thing, so no road tax to pay, no mot, no O licence to drive but doing a mix of arb and forestry.

 

always Fill the tank with white derv am I legal and would i walk away with a finger in the air from a VOSA stop?

[treequip]

While its off road you are fine but when you are doing arb work you are dodging the tax, driver licencing and everything else the powers that be hold dear, walk away is appropriate, you can’t drive it if it gets a GV9, pissing them off will just make them keener to find something

[tommytopsoil]

At risk of dragging this vaguely back towards topic, not sure bout the ex-army ones but a friend has a Leyland Roadrunner 4x4 winch truck and it is a very very capable little wagon. On ag-type tread mog tyres there are few places she won't go. Puts rings around the moggy.

[john p]

ok lets try this one,

Ag reg vehical Rb44, mog, bedford sort of thing, so no road tax to pay, no mot, no O licence to drive but doing a mix of arb and forestry.

 

always Fill the tank with white derv am I legal and would i walk away with a finger in the air from a VOSA stop?[/quote

 

depeneds how roadworthy ya motor is, IMO not all vosa types are nazi s, if you dont treat em like morons and its obvious you take pride/care of your vehicle they can be ok. Sometimes.