The legal responsibilities of agricultural tyres

Whether they know it or not, farmers are under a legal obligation to ensure that the tyres fitted to the agricultural equipment they own and operate are fit for purpose. That means fitting the correct type for a given situation/application and ensuring that they are properly adjusted and maintained. Ron Wood of Mitas Tyres UK Ltd, Matthew Knight of Knights Solicitors and Nigel Bush of tyre distributor B. A. Bush recently shared their insights on the relevant legislative requirements with Tyres & Accessories.

Farmers and operators are often insufficiently aware of the regulations which relate to the operation of farm equipment on the road and under-estimate the potentially-severe consequences of being on the wrong side of the law. That’s the view of Matthew Knight of Knights Solicitors, a Tunbridge-Wells-based firm which specialises in legal issues relating to the rural community, who emphasises that it is critical for those ‘at the sharp end’ to be familiar with current legislation and appreciate what it requires of them.

“A plethora of complex regulations govern the operation of tractors and equipment on the road,” Knight explains. “Contravening any of them, whether knowingly or accidentally, will have consequences, be it in the form of a relatively minor inconvenience such as a fine, penalty points on the driver’s licence, or more serious and expensive legal action. One also has to remember that the law applies not only to the prime mover but also any equipment used with it.”

Within the EU the main provision in law for the approval of pneumatic tyres for agricultural vehicles and their trailers is Regulation 106, E/ECE/324, E/ECE/TRANS/505, Rev.2/Add.105/Rev.1. It contains uniform provisions concerning the approval of pneumatic tyres for agricultural vehicles/trailers and provides guidance for markings, application for approval, requirements, modification of tyre types and extension of approval, conformity of production. Essentially, it can be used as a reference point.

The annex to Regulation 106 serves as a practical guide to many aspects of agricultural tyres. It contains a wealth of information, such as arrangements of approval marks, tyre markings for drive wheel tires, steering wheel tyres for tractors, implement tyres, load capacity indices and maximum loadings. It also includes theoretical rim, outer diameter and nominal section width of tyres of certain size, plus designators for low-section, normal section and high flotation tyres.”

Agricultural tyres could be the next to be e-marked

But the existence of guidelines is not enough. Ron Wood, automotive engineering manager for Mitas Tyres (UK) Limited, underlines the importance of staying on the right side of the law: 

“The adoption of UNECR Regulation 106 into an EC Directive, which would make it mandatory, is currently under discussion. This will eventually require all tractor drive-axle tyres, as well as implement and forestry tyres, to be Type Approved and show an ‘e’ number on the sidewall. This would have the effect of ensuring that all tyres sold into the UK would have to comply with specific regulations, which would ultimately help to ensure that customers received the product they expected, together with better performance and value for money. Nevertheless, a range of other rules and regulations currently apply.

“Although agricultural vehicles are exempt from many of the regulations which apply to other types of vehicle, that is only the case if they do not exceed 32kmh (20mph), even if they are capable of more. This figure may seem low in relation to potential of modern tractors, many of which are capable of 40kmh (25mph), 50kmh (32mph) or even 64kmh (40mph), but 20mph (32kmh) it is still the maximum speed at which most agricultural vehicle can be operated on the road without contravening this long-established maximum. 

“Operating beyond 20mph not only has huge implications in terms of the additional demands on tyres from a performance, durability and safety point of view but you enter another world in terms of the legislation which applies. If you don’t stay below that figure the police could ‘throw the book at you’, particularly in the case of an accident. Though the situation in respect of the roadworthiness of agricultural tractors and equipment has improved a great deal in recent years, there are undoubtedly tractors and equipment in service which are unsuitable for operation at above 20mph.”

When it comes to pneumatic tyres, the law requires that they must be designed and manufactured adequately to support the maximum permitted axle weight for the axle when the vehicle is driven at a specific speed. It also stipulates that no re-grooved tyres are fitted to an agricultural vehicle if the tyres of a certain size (Regulation 24.1/ item6 and Regulation 25Ag tyre (5) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986/1078. 

Beyond that, tyres must be maintained in such a condition as to be fit for the use to which the vehicle or trailer is put. According to wood, “this means that they must not have a defect which might damage the road surface, or the person in or on the vehicle, or other persons using the road.

“The maximum gross train weight (GTW) of a tractor, a trailer and its load must not exceed 24,390kg, but, again, this figure is historic and there is an argument that raising it would better reflect the capabilities and safety of modern tractors and trailers. As it is, current legislation encourages farmers to pull larger, heavier trailers using a lightweight tractor to ensure that they stay within the letter of the law, even though this is not the best solution in terms of safety.

“Surprisingly, there is no minimum tread depth limit for agricultural tyres which have contact patch widths of at least 60mm on steered tyres and 150mm on driven tyres, where the weight carried exceeds 3050kg, or 76mm in any other case. Although no minimum tread depth applies in the case of agricultural tyres, those relating to all other tyre standards, such as bulges, cuts and inflation pressure, most certainly do. 

“Agricultural tyres are not included in the scope of BS AU 159F which covers repairs to car, commercial vehicle and motorcycle tyres. However, if a temporary repair is used on an agricultural tyre then the tyre manufacturer’s warranty may be withdrawn. For this reason it is advisable to repair an agricultural tyre to BSAU159F, the standard which relates to commercial vehicle tyres. 

Wood continued: “The other important point to consider in relation to tyres is that exceeding the 3m width limit for vehicles on the public highway could be a problem in terms of the law. This particularly important in the case of combines where extra-wide tyre such as the Mitas 900/60R32 or 1050/50R32 which are offered as a factory fit option by some machine manufacturers to enhance performance. If the width exceeds 3m the police should be informed of every journey unless a special dispensation scheme is in operation in your area where one notification would cover several movements during a certain time period.”

The importance of specialist knowledge

According to the panel that contacted T&A, the general downgrading of the technical knowledge base within the agricultural tyre sector means that very few distributors now have the expertise to offer farmers the increasingly specialist advice and service that they need. Consequently they often come across examples of “incorrect tyres having been fitted as replacements, whether in terms of type, size, suitability or safety,” says Nigel Bush who represents the third-generation to manage B. A. Bush, a long-established family business which, with 17 branches and more than 150 staff in the East of England, stating:

“ISO 9000 and Health & Safety regulations place a heavy responsibility on us as a supplier and because we take our Duty of Care responsibilities very seriously we will only ever fit the correct type of tyre for a given application. For example, if a tractor is capable of 50kmh or 60kmh then the tyres which are used on it, as well as those on any implement that goes behind it, should carry a rating which equates to the vehicle’s maximum potential speed. The other critical aspect when operating at these extremes is that the tyre must be correctly pressured to prevent it from destroying itself, to maximise its operational life and to get the best performance from it during that time.”

“Highly-seasonal demand from the farming industry means that most dstributors are unable to justify the investment required to service this sector and less of them are selling agricultural tyres. Of those that do, most will order on an ‘as needed’ basis from a third party, often purely on the basis of low price. The result is that a lot of customers are supplied with lower-quality, non-premium tyres and invoiced for a particular size rather than a specific brand.

In the panel’s view there is something of a dearth of specialist knowledge in the field, so to speak. And what’s more there is a need for greater legal clarity moving forward. The fact that there isn’t an EU Directive regulating the specifications for agricultural tyres means that there are said to be “many unsuitable tyres on the market.” As a result, although the law requires tyres to be ‘fit for purpose’ the legislation effectively only applies post failure. Whatever else they plough up, both points raise another question: what happens if and when further legislation is introduced in this sector? And what will happen to the tyres currently stocked then?