what is it with people?

Yesterday I ess going to the field to cut hay. I had our 1014+2 hooked on quick is a 14'cut machine. Having to go down the road instead of the lane because it's too wide to go between the barn and shed,I gag to wait for a truck to go by before I could make my left turn into the field. As soon as the truck passes (mind you, I'm at a full stop while waiting for the truck) I started my turn. As I'm turning,I look over my left shoulder and here's a little old lady, handicap placard on the mirror, and who was behind me when I was stopped, starting to pass me on my left.

What gives? I know while I didn't signal my turn with my arm (most people don't know what that means anyway) there was a field driveway right there, and I was at a complete, full stop. Why on earth would anyone think it's a good idea to try to pass?

Donovan from Wisconsin

EVERYBODY is in a great big damn hurry!

Un-diagnosed 'brain fog' ......... maybe? :roll:

One problem with that arm signal is you think they are waving you around. IIRC I had that happen once to me.

Don, I would look at it from a legal perspective. You admitted you made no effort to signal your turn. The burden is not on the driver to know what piece of equipment is going to what driveway. You are right that most people do not recognize hand signals but if there was a fatality out of it at least you would stand a chance in court if you used the hand signal. I know money has not been easy to come by for your family but maybe a transferrable signal system that can move from implement to implement is in order. I purchased a signal kit from Shoup for 185 dollars to put in the tractor as the factory wiring is too light for the electrical load today's lights can draw. From there it was a matter of me working both the tractor system and the auxilary system going to and from the elevator with my wagons. I never had an issue with people doing what they should not be doing because they were guessing my moves. I hope it does not sound like I am against you. I just want to point out that as is you will have a problem at some point. State law here says all farm tractors and towed implements have to be lit but I don't see it vigorously enforced. My view is I worked hard to have what little I have and I'll be darned if I am going to lose it in court to some @#%&*# lawyer!

(quoted from post at 09:24:51 07/30/15) Yesterday I ess going to the field to cut hay. I had our 1014+2 hooked on quick is a 14'cut machine. Having to go down the road instead of the lane because it's too wide to go between the barn and shed,I gag to wait for a truck to go by before I could make my left turn into the field. As soon as the truck passes (mind you, I'm at a full stop while waiting for the truck) I started my turn. As I'm turning,I look over my left shoulder and here's a little old lady, handicap placard on the mirror, and who was behind me when I was stopped, starting to pass me on my left.

What gives? I know while I didn't signal my turn with my arm (most people don't know what that means anyway) there was a field driveway right there, and I was at a complete, full stop. Why on earth would anyone think it's a good idea to try to pass?

Donovan from Wisconsin

Click to expand...

Try moving that down MN HWY 210 in the "heart of the lakes area" in tourist season! And that's with flashers on and a SMV sign. Forcing oncoming traffic onto the shoulder. I have a 1014 Hesston.

Rick

That's why I go ahead and wave them around me. I come to a complete stop, stand up on the platform, look for on-coming traffic and if clear, wave them on around me. They're happy and I'm happy to not get hit. Win/Win.

A side note. Hand signals were on my written driver's test way back about 1980 here in New York State.

I am guilty of being in a big hurry myself BUT. I to have big combines and discbines and other farm stuff that I haul along the highway from time to time. What I find is that turning right can be done quite easily the left turns are somewhat dangerous. If I stop and wait for some traffic that is behind me some will wait and then when I start to turn it seem as if someone sees that as a clue to pass and there they are, between me and the ditch.
Some of my tractors have turn signals and flashing lights but they are ignored by the following motorist who [not unlike myself] seem to be in too big of a hurry. A self contained turn and light kit may be the answer at least to help defend me in an accident and lawsuit. It's worth looking into..

I had composed a long reply with my opinion of the way little old ladies, teenaged girls and soccer moms drive but I deleted most of it so your post wouldn't be made to disappear.

Sounds like a catch 22. You where stopped so she did not know what was going on and you did not signal which ya may or may not have told her any thing if she was even looking.

If you want to stay safe with farm equipment, get into the habit of waving traffic around you before making left hand turns. It's much easier than trying to second guess what the driver behind you will do. With motorcycles, farm equipment and bicycles it has always been necessary to drive defensively. Today's increasing traffic volume makes things worse.

Drivers education classes have only been mandatory since the mid-1960's. Many folks older than 65 never took drivers ed. The rest of us, unless we have a CDL most of us haven't read a drivers manual or taken a driving test since we got our license many decades ago. The AARP "55 and Alive" refresher classes are helpful and easy to take. In Minnesota taking the class knocks 10 percent off car insurance premiums (by law).

Well , what would you do ? You had no signal . Did you expect her to wait to make a move since it looked like you were just blocking traffic.

From my point of view you can add "most people pulling a trailer" to that list.

I would agree with what NY 986 said about a signal system, at minimum you need something or an escort, the latter of which may sound ridiculous to you I am sure LOL !

I will no longer operate any ag equipment on the local roads here anymore without either or both, its way too dangerous now. Safer to trailer it. The farmer I used to help, is across a now very busy 2 lane state road, he farmed quite a bit of land on our side, as well as his, for 50 years or more. When I was a kid, ag equipment on this road and most rural or similar places, was no issue at all, people knew better, because either they were farmers, or had some connection to one. Thats not to say there were not problems, like a motorist who tossed a lit cigarette into a fully loaded tandem set of hay wagons he was hauling one afternoon, they just rolled em off the road to burn, it was a total loss, the hay, just running gear left with burnt tires. He had land 10 miles north of here, that's where it was coming from, it was nothing to run these 2 lane roads in those days. I used certain areas to pull over and let cars pass, but I would pull of the road, not on the shoulder, or they'd have to live with it until I go to the destination.

In recent times, accessing the 2 lane state road, briefly from the county/town road is a dangerous affair, his newer equipment had lights and signals, but if it was anything significant or older, we escorted it with the 3/4 ton p/u with a flashing light. Its just too dangerous without lighting, and even then it may not make a difference given how people are.

In '88, same situation as you, but in the nearby city, while turning onto a 2 lane state road, with a tractor trailer, hooked to a dump d matic truss trailer made in Texas, with a small load of wood roof trusses on the left side, lower bolster arm kit installed, that has low heavy angle iron chained to the trailer to carry certain types of trusses. Some elderly man, tried to pass me on the left, after I had looked back, started to proceed forward into the turn. I was up-shifting and it felt a little odd, as if the trailer brakes were hanging up. I keep going until I see this 80 something year old man in a car that the angle iron hooked onto and was now dragging the car into granite curbing. I wrenched the car enough to break about all the windows in it, it broke off the driver side wheels too! The car was totaled. Also shows you how much torque a tandem long wheel base R model Mack truck with 300+ mack engine and 9 speed fuller transmission creates. I could have kept going and might have if I did not see this happening eventually. I was in the right lane to make the wide turn, 2 working signals on the left, flashing on the trailer and the tractor which you can see because of this pole type trailer. I turned them on well in advance of this wide left turn. This motorist came out of nowhere with no regard to a delivery truck with every right to be on the road and making a turn as needed to clear the curb, proceeding to do so when I saw it was clear. He got wedged in, city police issued me some rotten ticket and I got 2 points, a moving violation for it! My first and only commercial driving infraction! I was livid, and that old man got the brunt of it, but he could care less, he said "well I'm 80 something years old, looks like I am getting a new car now".......

I do not see how I was in the wrong to this day, show up to work, to do my job and that's what you get sometimes. At least no one was injured, never saw a car twist up and pop windows like that before.

Hand signals were part of my first drivers test too, not many know the meaning of the 3 simple signals today and they should, nothing has changed, I still see bikers using them on occasion though.

I live on county pavement and deal with this all the time, I always signal, but believe more than half do not understand them. I would think you are at fault if not signalling, even though they do not seem to do much.

Good reply and I will add that people do speed so somebody can be right up behind you between your last look in back of you and your starting your left turn. Don needs to do something about lights and he can do it in a way as to not cost a lot of money. He may find what he needs at an auto parts store and since he is a machinist and mechanic he can fabricate brackets for the system to mount on.

Might pay to install lights and signals on the tractors and machinery,along with a good or new SMV sign. That way you have a leg to stand on when you have to go to court. You have made a reasonable effort to be seen, and were signaling your turn or stop. The days of going down the road with no lights and a worn out, bent up SMV emblem held on with baling wire are long gone. If someone hits you and has a good lawyer and a city slicker jury hears the case and you didn't make a reasonable effort to signal, or had no or non functioning lights,or SMV emblem,guess who is going to own your farm.
With traffic the way it is now a days,I wouldn't even consider going the road without being lit up like a christmas tree

I'm in no way siding with you or against you on this. I live in the Center of KS where everything is still rural, big time. I have driven small to very large eqt down the 2 lane highways and gravel roads for years, and for the most part the people here still have rural roots and drive with that in mind.

Having said that, I never assume anything when it comes to driving down the road and trying to anticipate someones move. You don't know what the older lady was perceiving the situation was, or that maybe your old tractor had quit and was stuck in the middle of the road.

I have said this before on here, but when I do have to go on a higher traffic road, I want to try to know what every car in the state of Kansas is doing at that moment and not let someone get me into trouble. Even to the point that if I was going down the road getting ready to turn and noticed a car coming from behind, and one coming at me from the front, I may pull off the road to the right and wait until all traffic is clear. There is no room for error on big eqt because someone is liable to loose their life, and on small eqt, it could be even worse.

The fact that you admitted you glanced back over your shoulder lets it be known that you are still a cautious person, which is why you are able to be on here today complaining.

My thinking is that the roads were made for higher speed traffic. If I am on it with machinery, then I am the liability, not the high speed traffic, regardless if they are even competent to be driving or not. However, that is just my 2 cents. Different areas require different thinking I am sure. Lucky you are still here to tell us about it. Bob

Thanks!

I see a lot of bright LED tail lights and marker lights on newer semi trucks and some new boat trailers. Would LED lights drawn low enough currents that they could be powered by a 10 Amp generator on an older tractor without drawing down the battery too much?

I would add that in addition he may want to place a set on the front of the tractor just as a car or pickup would have on both the front and back. It is not just the guy in back or you but also the person coming from the other direction while your attention is on the guy in back of you. Like I said before you can do it in a way that you can remove them if you so choose once you are in the field or just piddling around the farm stead or taking the tractor to a show.

I don't know but LED is supposed to draw less. Unless the tractor is meant to appear original maybe a higher power alternator is in order for your purpose.

I don't think all that would do much good. I drive an F450 with a tank and pump unit on it for liquid feed. Full signal system top and bottom. SMV sign on it. I still have people do stupid things around me. Making a left turn this morning when some idiot decided to pass me. He ended up going through the ditch.I have had people behind me on a two mile stretch of open road. Will not pass. But as soon as I start up the hill on the blind side they will pass me.People are stupid.

Little old lady at a 4-way stop started up the same time as FIL started to make a left turn; she ran right into him. When he got out of the car, he asked her if she had seen his turn signal (he was first at the intersection). Her reply was: "I saw it, but you never turned that way before so I thought you were going straight like you always do". It was a rural area.

I doubt people know much about SMV signs......no wonder- drove a couple hours in Western AR or MO last Feb, and couldn"t believe how many idiots were using them for driveway markers. What part of SLOW MOVING don"t they understand. I thought maybe the local FFA should do an awareness project in the area. Also, in MN, DOT uses an upside-down version as a marker for round-abouts! No wonder people are confused.

Are you going over 25mph with a SMV-marked vehicle? Then you"re part of the awareness problem.

OK, my humble opinion.....
I think that the little old lady made an honest mistake. A big piece of equipment is stopped in the road. She has NO IDEA of how long it will be there or where it is going - driveway notwithstanding. After all, how well marked is the driveway, and is it readily visible from behind a large piece of equipment? Given the circumstances, I might have done the same thing. Even you might have given an unfamiliar location and unknown intentions of the equipment operator. You should have just moved to the right a bit and waved her around since you knew that she was there. After all, she is not a mind reader.
I did grow up way out in the country, and I am familiar with the moving of large equipment on rural roads.

OH, and by the way, to the poster that suggested trailering it - how would that help? Seems to me it would make the profile even larger than it already was. One thing that I learned a long time ago - the roads are for EVERYBODY, and we do need to share. Whether we like it or not.

a few commented on proper lights on their tractor
my road tractor owned by the boss has a cab with two rotating yellow flashing lights
SMV sign in new condtion on tractor that can be seen from behind with the trailer we pull behind and a
SMV sign on the trailer fully visable along with front and back signal lights that are higher than the
trailer and its wired for lights and working and people still can't see them and I live in an area full
of farms and Amish and the Amish refuse to use SMV's on their buggies
only thing you can do is watch every thing like a hawk and be ready to take evasive action at any moment
people just don't care what you are doing its all about what or where they need to get to
I hate having to go down the roads anymore with a tractor and I'm only on gravel roads 1/2 mile no
highways

Because a lot of people are just plain stupid.

I agree with jeffcat. I now since retiring in April work a couple days a week for a few hours. I go in later so I see a whole different crop of drivers going to town. Everyone rushed , if a tractor on the road some will pass several vehicles to pass. Everybody's on your as no matter your speed. When I worked early shift seems everyone just cruised along sipping coffee enjoying the morning.

Handicap sticker hanging off the mirror. Pet Peeve most drivers with those also have impaired vision to some degree and the sticker take up about 30% of their field of vision.

When in Florida one year I was helping my bro in law deliver (he's a florist). We went thru an intersection when this "little old" lady? crashed right into the left front wheel like she was laser guided. She jumped out of her car and tore us a new one on Why didn't we stop and how dare we..... Until I took her over and showed her the stop sign she just ran and that we had none. I have a really high opinion of little old lady's after that.

New round-a-bout in Burnett Co.. Florida Cad. Escalade stops at the Yield sign. No one in sight.

I've started changing things lately. The tractors are
all dualed and when I run on the blacktop I run so
that my tractor and implement are in my lane. If they
need to take up more I periodically drop a couple of
gears and take enough ditch that I am in my lane so
I don't get a back log of vehicles. Flashers on.
When I get a quarter mile from a turn I take the
whole blacktop with the signal on. Today I actually
opened the mower conditioner a bump just so no
one had room to do something stupid.

Much of the dirt road around here isn't wide
enough. In that case I raise the loader up as high as
it will go when climbing the hill so I have a better
chance of being seen. I farm the whole hill, so I
either take one way or the other, both just as blind.

Yes Mike M. I've had that happen to me more then once.

The Chinese tool store has magnetic based tail light kit for less than 10$ with coupon/on sale the other day. Check web site if no Chinese tool store close by. I feel your pain.

A 4 inch round LED stop-turn/tail light draws under a quarter amp. Your flasher unit probably pulls as much power as a pair of lights.
If I were starting from scratch on lights I would put the 4 ways and signals on separate lights and get strobes for the signals.

They are supposed to hang the sticker or sign from the mirror AFTER they are parked and remove it again before motoring the car. Just to dumb, ignorant or lazy to do it.

I try to wave people by when it's safe for the to pass as it's hard for them to know when following me. Like you when I approach a left turn I often move over to take both lanes for a bit to ensure nobody pulls out to pass me in my turn.