red diesel the law.

[jase8519]

A couple of weeks ago me and my mate were doing some dead wooding at a school. A car pulled up and asked who the unimog belonged to . The mog is taxed as agriculture spec and is displayed on the tax disc . It is also fitted with a crane and timber grab. The gentlemen were from HRMC and dipped the tank... yes it was running on red .

 

Two hours later and a lot of phone calls they said they were unsure if we are legal or not and they would be in touch. Yesterday they came to the owners address and told him that if he did not pay a fine the vehicle would be impounded. They stated in a letter that although it was a grey area they believed that the vehicle should run on normal diesel because we do not work in forestry. We are both certificated tree surgeons and some times do do forestry work but on this occasion as stated were doing arboriculture work. We where told that we should have changed the diesel and the filters ie red for forestry white for arboriculture.

 

My question is how many of you think we have done nothing wrong and are doing the same.... your thoughts please.

[JLA Arborists]

Do you do more arb than forestry?

 

I read many threads looking for loopholes and grey areas etc.

Is it worth the hassle and fines if 'they' decide the grey is black and white

[Kenty]

I don't think you'll find many owning up to using red when they should be running on white. 😉

[DJP Arb]

Just did a little bit of reading. It is infact illegal to use red diesel on a public highway. There are exemptions for farmers who have to use parts of a public highway to access their fields but officially they are not supposed to it is just wavered.

[Tom D]

On the VOSA site it says that if the trees are road side then red is ok, but for anything domestic then its not. But also it depends what is on your mog, if its just a crane then its mobile plant, and again red is fine, if it has a chip bin then it hauls for hire or reward and it needs to be on white. So my tractor and heizo is ok to travel to and from site on red, but if I haul chip or timber then it has to be on white. We run on both, but we don't change filters....

[Hodge]

God they must be desperate for a collar if they go round hassling the working man. The rules are so confusing it's a joke. No wonder this country is in such a sad state.

[skyhuck]

How much is the fine??

[peatff]

It's all in here. It doesn't look good according to this document if the work you were doing at the time was not forestry related. Sections 8.21 and 10.

[AardvarkTreeServices]

Complex or confusing they might be but your taking a big chance using cherry on the road if you dont know the rules and have the correct answers ready if the customs guys come knocking. Lots of stories about of big fines, assessed back duty and vehicle seizures!!

[jase8519]

The fine was only £350 could have been a lot more... the trees were roadside and we don't have a chipbox on the mog. The owner does honestly as do i believe he has done no wrong.

 

I wasn't asking other owners to say yes I am using red when I shouldn't I am just curios who believes they are legal when they might not be.

The irony of it is that the two gents were looking for a farm when they saw us and decided to have a closer look but both of them didn't know the law on this vehicle.