Do I need a license for a mini tractor and walk-behind tractor with a trailer?

Rights to a walk-behind tractor: at what age can you drive a walk-behind tractor?

Before purchasing a walk-behind tractor, many novice farmers ask whether they need a license and whether it is possible to regularly drive it on public roads? We invite you to study the answers to these and other common questions in more detail.

Is it possible to drive a walk-behind tractor on public roads?

Many farmers still receive fines for driving their farm vehicles without a license on public roads.

This is especially often faced by owners of several plots of land, which are essentially impossible to get to without traveling on roads.

How to deal with such a situation and how to protect yourself in front of traffic police inspectors?

Unfortunately, not many people are still aware of the fact that today there is no approved category of driver’s license that would give the right to legally drive on public transport routes. But, at the same time, when driving out onto the road on his walk-behind tractor, each farmer automatically becomes a participant in the road traffic. This gives any traffic police inspector the right to stop the owner of a walk-behind tractor in order to make sure that the latter has a document confirming his knowledge of the rules of the road. Moreover, when driving a walk-behind tractor with a passenger, which is not so rare, inspectors have every right to issue a fine to the owner of the unit, because people can only be transported in a specially equipped vehicle.

To protect yourself and not get a fine for driving on the road on a walk-behind tractor without a license,

its owner must adhere to the following rules:

if the owner of the walk-behind tractor does not have a license to drive any vehicle, then you will need to open category “A”, which allows you to drive a motorcycle. This will serve as direct evidence that the driver of the agricultural machine is familiar with the traffic rules of his country and has a full understanding of the need to comply with them;
in addition to obtaining a license to directly drive a walk-behind tractor, it is mandatory to install low-beam headlights or standard daytime running lights;
Red light reflectors will need to be installed at the rear of the trailer.

If you strictly adhere to the above rules, the owner of the walk-behind tractor will be considered a full participant in the road traffic, which will help avoid a fine from the traffic police inspector.

At what age can you ride a walk-behind tractor?

None of the operating manuals for the walk-behind tractor indicate the minimum age at which it is permitted to drive an agricultural machine on public roads. If it comes to using the unit in the local area or garden, then it is quite enough for the owner to have physical effort to operate the equipment. Of course, a young man aged 11–12 years will not be able to use a walk-behind tractor, because it requires a lot of effort, and besides, working with an agricultural machine is by no means safe.

In cases where you have to cross a certain section of a public road on a walk-behind tractor, then, as mentioned earlier, you will need to have a license with category “A” or “A1”. They, in turn, can only be received by a person who has reached the age of majority.

Summing up, we can say that to operate a walk-behind tractor exclusively within your own local area, there is no need to obtain any rights with an open category.

Do I need a license to drive a walk-behind tractor?

Motoblocks are used in agriculture, in vegetable gardens and personal plots. This is a compact, reliable, durable technique that can be used to mechanize most manual tillage operations. In addition to agricultural work, the walk-behind tractor can be used as a vehicle. When combined with a trailer, the equipment allows you to transport cargo weighing up to 500 kg:

Bulk materials: peat, sand, sawdust, crushed stone, soil.
Construction materials: wood, brick, wall panels.
Gardening tools: shovels, rakes, buckets, watering cans.
Harvest: boxes with vegetables, fruits, seedlings, jars with preparations.
Garbage: trimmed branches, mowed grass, remains of building materials.
Auxiliary devices and materials.

Let's try to find out whether the unit can be used to move on public roads, and whether a license to drive a walk-behind tractor is required?

Can a walk-behind tractor be considered a vehicle?

There are a number of laws that determine the status of road users. They all say that a walk-behind tractor with a trailer is not a vehicle. The traffic rules document also does not contain separate references to this type of equipment. Accordingly, there are no regulations for driving the car. It can be used exclusively in the country house, in the garden, in the field and in other areas not related to public roads. But what if, along the route of travel, the owner of the walk-behind tractor is forced to occupy the roadway?

From the point of view of the traffic police, all road users are required to comply with the Traffic Rules. Riding a walk-behind tractor in Belarus does not exempt you from liability. The driver of the equipment must know and follow traffic rules. Therefore, in order to travel on public roads, you must undergo training at a driving school and obtain a driver's license.

An exception to the general rule is equipment complete with a car trailer, subject to registration with Gostekhnadzor. Such models are used as a regular vehicle.

What rights are suitable for a walk-behind tractor?

The category of the driver's license in the territory of the SGBV countries (in particular, in Russia and Ukraine) does not matter. To drive mini-equipment with a trailer, a license for a motorcycle or tractor is suitable. It is impossible to unambiguously identify a walk-behind tractor and attribute it to a specific group of vehicles.

In Belarus, the type of driver's license is regulated by the Law “On Road Traffic”. To operate the equipment, you will need a license of category D (self-propelled agricultural machines) or category E (self-propelled machines).

Having a license indicates that the driver knows the rules of the road. If you do not have this document, it is better not to go on public roads - by doing this you will endanger not only yourself, but also other road users. Consider a route that avoids such roads.

Additional requirements

To drive a walk-behind tractor on a public road, the owner must prepare the vehicle to make it visible and not interfere with other vehicles.

Primary requirements:

the presence of front running lights, especially for driving in the dark;
reflective elements on the rear side and sides of the trailer;
no passengers in the back – even if you have a driver’s license, you will not be able to avoid the inspector’s questions.

At what age can you drive a walk-behind tractor?

There are no strict age restrictions, since a walk-behind tractor is one of the types of garden equipment. To work with it on the site, it is enough to have physical strength to control it. The unit is heavy, so women rarely perform such work, and young men begin to help their fathers from adolescence. With a good level of physical development, you can operate equipment at the age of 12, but under the full responsibility of an adult. This kind of work is unsafe for a child.

If you plan to travel on the road, you will need a license to drive a walk-behind tractor, which you can only obtain if you are 18 years old. This age is required to obtain category E and D licenses.

Homemade walk-behind tractor: how to ride?

All homemade devices with suspension and engine are clearly identified by the Code of Administrative Offences. This type of equipment is not a vehicle.

A homemade machine cannot always be confidently called a walk-behind tractor. The name of the product is determined by its manufacturer, who has the appropriate legal rights. Accordingly, the master who assembled the unit in his garage or country house cannot present any supporting documents.

Driving a homemade device on public roads is prohibited in Belarus. It is better to drive such a car only within your own dacha or within the boundaries of the village, along small paths and driveways (where there is no heavy traffic). For transportation over long distances, it is necessary to use special cargo equipment.

What to do if a driver is stopped by a traffic police officer?

An inspector from the State Traffic Inspectorate has the right to stop a walk-behind tractor moving on public roads and ask the driver to present the following documents:

vehicle registration certificate;
driver's license;
pass to the place of work (in cases where the walk-behind tractor is transported to a road repair site or for public works).

In the absence of an appropriate document, an administrative violation report will be drawn up against the driver. Reason: the unit creates an obstacle for other road users.

Is a walk-behind tractor a vehicle?

Is a bicycle a vehicle? Does the traffic police have the right to detain me for riding a bicycle while intoxicated?

It is difficult to figure out whether a walk-behind tractor is a vehicle or not, even on the basis of legal documents. A transport walk-behind tractor is classified as a universal mobile device; to be more precise, it is a type of small-sized tractor. But is it considered an independent mode of transport? More likely no than yes. A walk-behind tractor as a vehicle can be classified into several categories, depending on its dimensions.

This can be a small walk-behind tractor with a small engine, the working tool is mounted on an axis, and the operator simply walks behind, controlling it. But there are also more massive devices to which additional accessories are attached using a bracket (trailer, seeder, cutter, etc.), then they are equated to the categories of self-propelled machines. In the first case, you are unlikely to have problems with the law, but in the second there are some nuances.

What is a walk-behind tractor from the point of view of traffic rules?

The first question to which we will try to find an answer is as follows: is a walk-behind tractor a vehicle or not?

If you look at the factory instructions for the walk-behind tractor, then with a high degree of probability we will see a warning there that this equipment cannot be used for travel on public roads and is not intended for this.

In addition, walk-behind tractors are not subject to registration with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, and to use them for their intended purpose, it is not necessary to obtain a driver’s license to operate a vehicle.

In turn, the traffic rules indicate that a vehicle is a device intended for transporting people, goods or equipment installed on it along the roads.

If we take a strictly formal approach, it turns out that a walk-behind tractor with a trailer quite fits the specified definition, since, at a minimum, it falls under one of the vehicle criteria - transportation of goods.

In this regard, we believe that it would be most correct to determine the status of a walk-behind tractor depending on the specific situation. If we are talking about its use for plowing land in your own garden, then this equipment cannot be considered as a vehicle, since it does not take part in road traffic.

But in the case when a walk-behind tractor drives out onto a public road, it automatically becomes a participant in traffic and should be considered precisely as a vehicle with all the ensuing consequences, including holding the person driving the walk-behind tractor liable.

In our opinion, this approach is the most reasonable and allows taking into account the interests of both agricultural producers and road users.

By the way, at present, practice basically follows exactly this path and traffic police officers, for the most part, make decisions on walk-behind tractors based on the specific situation.

At the same time, the official position of the traffic police authorities is based on the Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 25 of February 12, 2019 “On the classification of a walk-behind tractor (motor-cultivator) in accordance with the unified Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity of the Eurasian Economic Union.”

The experts of this body considered that a walk-behind tractor with a trailer corresponds to a single-axle tractor with all the ensuing consequences

This document is also actively referred to by courts when considering complaints.

What needs to be done if the mini-tractor is homemade

Communities Trailers Blog Car insurance with a trailer

The algorithm of actions within the framework of obtaining the rights to drive factory mini-tractors is clear. But what needs to be done if it is homemade? An all-wheel drive MT, which was not designed at the factory, must be registered with the state technical supervision. Owners of homemade mini-tractors must submit the following documents to this body:

Application for registration of a homemade or converted tractor.
Passport (with a note indicating registration at your place of residence).
Sales receipt (original or copy) for all kinds of purchased parts that were used in the process of assembling the MT.

It is also required to provide state technical supervision employees with the opportunity to inspect the mini-tractor. Based on the maintenance performed, this service draws up an expert opinion on the compliance of homemade equipment with all established standards:

Technical standard.
Environmental standard.
Equipping with lighting and signaling devices.
Other parameters related to road safety.

Based on the report regarding the technical condition of the mini-tractor, owners are issued a technical passport with a license plate with a registration certificate.

Registration of a walk-behind tractor or mini-tractor with Gostekhnadzor

Whatever technical device you purchase for your farm, in order to avoid unpleasant incidents with law enforcement agencies, it makes sense to immediately contact Gostekhnadzor so that, if necessary, a walk-behind tractor or mini-tractor receives registration.

Read also: How to pay a traffic police fine with a 50% discount in 2019

Gostekhnadzor carries out registration of all types of special equipment, and this procedure takes very little time. In addition to registration, this institution also issues a permit that allows you to operate your walk-behind tractor or mini-tractor.

At the same time, even if you purchased a mini-tractor to work on your personal plot and do not intend to drive the tractor outside of it, the equipment must still be registered. After all, if a tractor is stolen without registration, it is unlikely that anyone will want to look for it.

If we talk about mini-tractors, then before you start using them, it is very important to undergo a full technical inspection in advance and obtain a certificate that the device is suitable for use. By the way, a mini-tractor must be registered at your place of registration.

So, at what age can you ride a walk-behind tractor?

Which country produces Chevrolet cars?

So, we found out that traveling on roads on a walk-behind tractor is either prohibited or regulated by strict rules. But is it necessary or not to have a right to a walk-behind tractor if you plow on it at your own dacha, and at what age can you start doing this? If you do not get to your workplace by highway (that is, the garden is located near your yard), then no one has the right to make any claims against you.

There are virtually no age restrictions when working with a walk-behind tractor. There are safety requirements. It should be remembered that considerable physical strength is required to operate a walk-behind tractor, so it is not recommended to trust children under 14-15 years of age to operate the unit. Well, if you need to drive it on the side of the road, which comes down to having a license, then the age limit rises to 18 years.

conclusions

If a walk-behind tractor with or without a trailer is purchased for agricultural work in a garden, field, or vegetable garden and will not be involved in work in other, distant territories, then the owner of the vehicle has nothing to worry about. If it is necessary to transport a small-sized vehicle based on a mini-tractor, you must use a trailer trailer. This will allow you to safely transport the unit and protect the owner from possible inspections and fines carried out by representatives of the road transport inspection.

If you still can get to the required area only along the roadway, you must have a package of documents with you:

open category “A” or another (see above) - this is confirmation that the driver is familiar with the rules of the road;
driver's license - you must always have it with you (while driving);
pass from the place of work.

To avoid unnecessary questions and problems, low beam headlights or running lights must be installed on the walk-behind tractor. Vehicles with trailers should be equipped with crane-colored reflective elements.

Be careful, because, in addition to the fine under Art. 12.1 (when driving without documents), traffic inspectors may impose a fine under paragraph 22 of the traffic rules for transporting people in a non-vehicle (if there is more than one driver), since transporting people is only allowed in cars.

Taking into account all aspects when driving a walk-behind tractor, you can become a full-fledged participant in road traffic.

What to do for mini tractor owners

To carry out fairly large-scale work, large farms, in addition to walk-behind tractors, have mini-tractors. For this type of vehicle, a license is required. A driver who has completed specialized courses and received a tractor driver's license can sit behind the wheel of a mini-tractor when driving on the highway. Like a walk-behind tractor, a mini-tractor is typical for rural areas. When purchasing such equipment, a farmer must know the basic rules.

Each mini-tractor leaving the factory assembly line must be registered.
An employee operating such a machine must obtain a tractor driver's license.
Just like on a homemade walk-behind tractor, it is prohibited to drive on a mini-tractor assembled with your own hands on the highway.

The peculiarity of registering a mini-tractor is that this procedure takes place at Gostekhnadzor, and not at the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. In this institution, all types of special equipment are registered and technical inspection is carried out. This is where it is registered. This should be done at the place of registration of the owner. Based on the results of the procedure, a license to drive a tractor is issued.

For several years now, a new type of tractor driver’s license has been issued. The document is brought into compliance with European standards. It looks like a plastic card with smoothed corners. Such licenses are convenient for tractor drivers; they do not wrinkle, do not lose their appearance after getting wet, and are easy to clean.

The front side contains a photo of the driver printed using digital technology. To the right of the photo is personal information about the owner of the document. On the back are the categories, driving experience, medical information and restrictions for the owner of the driving license, the number and series of the document. For the traffic police inspector, there is a barcode that encrypts information about tractor registration, fines, and others. This information is available to every traffic inspector when read by a special scanner.

Is a walk-behind tractor on a public road a vehicle?

It’s good when the area being processed is located near housing, but what if you need to go onto the highway to get to it? Or do you need to transport the harvested crop, firewood, or any cargo to a neighboring village? How to avoid trouble and not get a fine from a traffic police inspector?

As mentioned earlier, there is no special category in the license for driving a walk-behind tractor. However, when leaving the highway, its owner begins to involuntarily participate in traffic and is obliged to follow the traffic rules.

The traffic police inspector has the right to require a document confirming the right to drive a motor vehicle from the driver of the walk-behind tractor. Perhaps, besides you, there is also a passenger in the trailer, then without the appropriate documents, you will not be able to avoid a fine.

Do I need a license for a walk-behind tractor?

Plowing the land by hand these days is unprofitable - even a small garden of ten acres takes a lot of effort.

Thanks to technological progress, many auxiliary machines have appeared.

The walk-behind tractor has long been used not only by farmers, but by ordinary citizens in their personal agricultural activities.

There are plenty of advantages in operating this mechanism, but sometimes owners start having problems when they encounter law enforcement officers.

Questions arise that are difficult to answer immediately if you are only superficially familiar with the legislation.

Let's try to look at the most relevant aspects:

documents for unimpeded movement on a walk-behind tractor;
rules for driving a walk-behind tractor;
a walk-behind tractor with a trailer as an independent vehicle;
Does the law provide for a fine for driving a walk-behind tractor on a public road?

Adding to the confusion is the fact that legislation changes periodically, so owners have to closely monitor the latest news in this area.

Do you need a license for a walk-behind tractor with a trailer in Belarus and other CIS countries?

A walk-behind tractor with a trailer is a more complex device, and it is often necessary to move along common paths when carrying out transportation.

To answer the question “do I need a license to drive a walk-behind tractor with a trailer,” you will have to look into the Law “On Road Traffic”.

Having studied it, we can come to the conclusion that it is necessary to have a license of category “D” (the right to drive self-propelled agricultural machines) or “E” (other self-propelled machines).

In other CIS countries (in particular in Russia and Ukraine), category “A” or “A1” will be sufficient, because in principle, a walk-behind tractor with a trailer resembles a motorcycle with a sidecar.

Does this actually mean that you need to be an adult? Well, not necessarily.

So at what age can you ride a walk-behind tractor?

So, we found out that traveling on roads on a walk-behind tractor is either prohibited or regulated by strict rules.

But is it necessary or not to have a right to a walk-behind tractor if you plow on it at your own dacha, and at what age can you start doing this? If you do not get to your workplace by highway (that is, the garden is located near your yard), then no one has the right to make any claims against you.

There are virtually no age restrictions when working with a walk-behind tractor. There are safety requirements.

It should be remembered that considerable physical strength is required to operate a walk-behind tractor, so it is not recommended to trust children under 14-15 years of age to operate the unit.

Well, if you need to drive it on the side of the road, which comes down to having a license, then the age limit rises to 18 years.

If the walk-behind tractor is made by hand

The situation with equipment that was designed and assembled with one’s own hands is much more complicated. In this case, driving walk-behind tractors on the roads is unacceptable, even if you have a license with all open categories. Responsibility for this offense is defined in Art. 12.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and is expressed in driving an unregistered vehicle. The fine varies from 500 to 800 rubles, but in case of a secondary violation, its amount will be increased to 5,000 rubles or possible deprivation of rights for a period of one to three months.

It is acceptable to carry out a lengthy procedure for registering such equipment, but this is accompanied by passing a number of examinations and the presence of certain requirements for the design of the walk-behind tractor itself.

Thus, if the walk-behind tractor is assembled manually, it is permissible to use it only within one’s own plot of land without fear that road safety officers will pay attention to it. And if it is necessary to travel through public roads, moving such a walk-behind tractor requires the use of special equipment designed for transporting large-sized cargo.

Therefore, answering the question of whether you need a license to drive a walk-behind tractor with a trailer, you can explain the following: to move along rural, forest, and country roads, you do not need to have any papers. But if you plan to drive on the highway, then you need a driver’s license of any category, indicating knowledge of traffic rules. It is completely prohibited to drive homemade agricultural machinery onto the road.

Age after which you are allowed to drive a walk-behind tractor

There is no information about this in the instruction manual. However, it is definitely clear that operating a walk-behind tractor is quite difficult for an unprepared teenager, because it requires not only certain skills, but also strength to hold it during cultivation or other work.

Using a walk-behind tractor as a means of transportation on public roads requires knowledge of traffic rules and an understanding of safety precautions.

In order to freely move on a walk-behind tractor along the highway, you must have a license, which is issued, in accordance with current legislation, to persons who have reached the age of majority and have received a passport. Those. in accordance with clause 21.4 of the Russian Traffic Regulations “A person who wishes to learn to ride a moped or motorcycle must be 16 years old.”

But you can only transport passengers if you are 18 years old or older.

Driving on public roads

If a decision is made to obtain a license, then what category of driving license is required for the owner of a walk-behind tractor and are tractor licenses suitable for a walk-behind tractor? The driver of a walk-behind tractor will not have any problems when meeting with a traffic inspector if he has a category A license with him. This type of driver's license gives the right to drive a motorcycle. A standard walk-behind tractor is difficult to identify otherwise. The presence of rights in this category for the owner of a walk-behind tractor is confirmed by the fact that he knows the traffic rules.

When moving along the highway, the owner must equip the walk-behind tractor with front running lights, and on the sides and side of the trailer with reflective elements. If a farmer does not have a driver's license, in order not to break the law, he should not go onto the highway on the way to the place where the walk-behind tractor is used. Having a driving license is guaranteed insurance when meeting with a traffic police officer. If the walk-behind tractor is reconstructed into a mini-tractor, you cannot do without a tractor license to operate it.

How to avoid getting a fine

Despite the fact that there is no information in the legislation about the need to have a certain category in the driving license to drive a walk-behind tractor on the highway, a traffic police officer may require a citizen to present such a document upon meeting. In its absence, the driver of the walk-behind tractor will be forced to pay a fine. When drawing up a protocol, the traffic inspector will refer to Art. 12.11 Code of Administrative Offences. The provisions of this article allow you to be fined for creating an obstacle to the movement of other cars along the highway.

To avoid this, the owner of the walk-behind tractor must have a driver’s license. Having a license indicates that the driver of such equipment knows the traffic rules and has passed the driving test. It turns out that the legislation does not require a license to own a walk-behind tractor; however, you need a document confirming that the citizen driving it knows the traffic rules and has driving skills. Such a document is a driver's license.

Is it possible to drive on the roads?

And again we return to the definition of a walk-behind tractor in the Admission Rules - paragraph 2 speaks specifically about those self-propelled vehicles that are not intended for additional special equipment. You will also probably find in the instruction manual for your model that such equipment is not allowed on the roads.

Please also note that roads according to traffic regulations also include shoulders and sidewalks, and not just the roadway, and therefore you can expect a fine for driving a walk-behind tractor not only directly on the asphalt part of the road, and also not only on the asphalt road in principle. According to the same Rules, a road can be not only a developed one, but also a strip of land or other surface adapted for traffic. That is, a dirt track where at least someone has already passed before you is already a road.

So, in fact, where does the fine come from if you don’t need a license to ride a walk-behind tractor?! Below we will explain this situation in more detail.

Engine and trailer

It is worth mentioning separately about such components as the engine and trailer. Motors for walk-behind tractors vary significantly. And it’s worth knowing about these differences in order to choose the best option for yourself. Trailers can be installed even on medium-power walk-behind tractors. They should be selected based on the capabilities of the engine. A trailer that is too large and a weak engine simply won’t pull it.

household;
semi-professional;
professional.

Units differ in power and service life (limit service life, which is indicated in hours of operation). The weakest units are equipped with 2-stroke gasoline engines. 4-stroke engines are considered the best option. There are diesel and gasoline versions of the power unit. 4-stroke engines are more efficient and less noisy. They are superior to two-stroke options in all respects. Their only disadvantage is their higher price.

It is better to buy a trailer for a walk-behind tractor from the same manufacturer. Of course, this possibility is not always available. In this case, it is worth considering in advance which analogues can be used with a specific model.