Steering gear

A tractor must be equipped with a steering device with which the tractor can be steered easily, safely and quickly.

Easy means easy:

- That you can turn the steering wheel from one extreme position to the other with one hand while driving slowly. No uneven resistance should be felt and no creaking or scraping noises should be heard.

By safely understood:

- That all moving parts move freely and that all nuts and bolts are double secured against disassembly.

Fast means fast:

- Steering wheels react instantly to any steering wheel movement.

- The steering system must be designed and maintained so that there is no significant play at all due to wear or similar.

- A tractor's steering system can be designed so that the steering movement from the steering wheel to the turning wheels is transmitted by hydraulics (fluid pressure), and on certain models the tractor can steer on both front and rear wheels.

- Some power tools can be electrically controlled.

- For tractors with hydraulic steering, it must be possible to steer the tractor even if the engine-driven oil pump fails.

- A modern tractor with a hydraulic steering system would normally be illegal to tow on the road when the engine is not running, as the steering system would be very heavy to operate.

- A hydraulic steering gear is a complicated mechanism and the safest method for proper maintenance can be found in the tractor owner's manual.

- A vehicle must be designed and maintained in such a condition that it can be used without danger and inconvenience to others and without damage to the roads.

- The owner or the person (user) who has permanent disposal of the vehicle is responsible for ensuring that the vehicle is in legal condition.

- The driver of a vehicle must at all times ensure that the vehicle and any trailer are in proper condition, in particular that the steering, braking, signaling and signaling devices and lights are working properly and that the connection to any trailer is in order.

Measurement of steering wheel slack:

Steering wheel travel is the distance the steering wheel can be turned without moving the front wheels.

Wheel slip is measured with the front wheels in the straight-ahead position and on tractors with hydraulic steering, the engine must be running.

1) Turn the steering wheel to the left until the front wheels just move.

2) Hold a finger still next to a steering wheel spoke or other measuring point on the steering wheel.

3) Then turn the steering wheel to the right until the front wheels move again.

4) The steering wheel travel can then be measured as the distance between the finger and the measuring point. The permissible steering wheel travel depends on the size of the steering wheel and the design of the steering system and must be between 0 and 5 cm.

On a modern tractor with hydraulic steering, significant wheel play is not acceptable.

Brakeman

A tractor must be equipped with a service brake, parking brake and emergency brake.

The service brake must be able to brake the tractor safely, quickly and effectively at all speeds and load conditions, and the braking distance must not exceed 11.5 meters at 30 km/h.

The parking brake must be able to remain in the applied position.

The emergency brake (which can be the handbrake or one circuit in a two-circuit braking system) must be able to brake the tractor safely if the service brake fails.

Service brakes are usually hydraulic, which means that the force from the brake pedal is transferred to the wheels using oil pressure.

The service brake can also be "mechanical acting", which means that the force from the brake pedal is transferred to the wheels through a system of push or pull rods, rocker arms and cables.

The parking brake is always mechanical.

The tractor is usually equipped with two brake pedals. These are used when driving off-road for sharp turns.

When driving on the road, the brake pedals must always be locked together, and an oversight will result in a "cut" in your license when checked by the police.

A hydraulic brake on a modern tractor may be equipped with a brake fluid reservoir where the fluid level must be between the minimum and maximum mark. Most modern tractors receive auxiliary pressure from the tractor's hydraulic system and are supplied with fluid from there. See the tractor's instruction manual. The parking brake is usually a handbrake like on a car. It can also be designed as a simple locking device for the brake pedals as well as a lock in the gearbox or transmission.

The parking brake must be able to remain in the applied position.

The parking brake must be able to keep the tractor stopped on a slope with a slope of 12%, i.e. with 12 cm drop per 100 cm horizontal length.

Safe is understood to mean:

- That the tractor's brake tracks are of equal length, that hose and pipe connections are not kinked and leaking, that the brake pedals are securely suspended and have a sufficiently grooved surface to prevent the foot from slipping during braking.

- That the pedals have an appropriate clearance of about 1-4 cm to prevent the brakes from dragging while driving and thus becoming ineffective.

Fast is understood to mean:

- That the brake pedals can only be depressed a maximum of 2/3 down individually. They should feel hard, not springy and slack, and they should not sink downwards with sustained pressure.

Sufficiently effective means:

- That the tractor must be able to brake within 11.5 meters at a speed of 30 km/h. If the parking brake is a handbrake, it must be able to remain in the applied position. To check this, pull it up and test whether the tensioning mechanism can withstand a blow, for example with a fist. Full braking performance must be achieved before the handbrake lever reaches its top position.

The tractor may sometimes be equipped with air brakes that require special maintenance. You can find information about this in the tractor's instruction manual.

Stopping distance, reaction time and braking distance

A stopping distance is the distance the tractor travels from where the driver perceives an obstacle to where the tractor stops.

The stopping distance can be divided into two other lengths called the reaction distance and the braking distance.

Reaction distance is the distance the tractor travels from where the driver perceives an obstacle to where braking begins.

Braking distance is the distance the tractor travels from the point where braking begins to the point where the tractor stops.

The reaction time will usually be around 1 second.

Reaction time is increased by fatigue, illness, lack of sleep, alcohol, drugs of various kinds, narcotics and specific psychological conditions such as depression, rage or even binge drinking. These conditions should not be an issue for the responsible tractor driver.

During normal attentive driving, you should expect to be able to perceive and react in about 1 second.

However, if you are focused on driving and have the imagination to anticipate dangerous situations, you can begin to avert danger by putting your foot on the brake pedal (emergency position).

This gives you a shorter reaction time and allows you to apply the brakes quickly if the situation actually develops as you anticipated.

After you've been driving a tractor for a while, you'll have some good experiences that can be called "risk knowledge", and one of the purposes of this book and driving lessons is to give you good risk knowledge before you roll out into traffic on your own.

10 km/h corresponds to approximately 3 meters per second
20 km/h corresponds to approximately 6 m per second
30 km/h (full tractor speed) corresponds to approximately 9 m per second.

The reaction length with a 1 second reaction time will therefore be approximately 9 meters.

The maximum braking distance for a tractor is 11.5 m at 30 km/h, but under normal circumstances it will be shorter.

Stop lights.

A tractor must be equipped with two stop lamps that show a bright red light to the rear and which come on immediately when the service brake is applied.

On a modern 4-wheel drive tractor, the 4-wheel drive will often be activated electrically when braking so that it brakes on all 4 wheels, which is why the 4-wheel drive indicator light will illuminate.

Permitted lights

The tractor may be equipped with two additional dipped beam headlights (which cannot be switched on at the same time as the mandatory dipped beam headlights), 4 main beam headlights, 2 front fog lights, 1 or 2 work lights, 1 searchlight, 1 or 2 rear fog lights, 1 or 2 reversing lights and, if certain width and length requirements are met, parking lights and marker lights.

Signaling device (horn)

The tractor must be equipped with a clear, constant tone horn.

Visibility

A tractor must be designed so that the driver's seat provides the necessary direct view forward and to the sides. If the cab is fitted with glazing, the windshield must be tempered or laminated glass. The other windows, including any small windows in the front wall of the cab at floor level, must be made of tempered or laminated glass or of shatterproof plastic material.

- Tractors with windshields must be equipped with windshield wipers.

- A tractor must be equipped with an exterior rearview mirror on the left side. In addition, a tractor must be fitted with an exterior rearview mirror on the right-hand side when an implement or trailer is attached that obstructs the driver's direct view to the rear. Rearview mirrors must be adjusted so that the driver has the necessary rearward visibility.

Remember to adjust the mirrors before driving.

- Defective/misaligned mirrors are the cause of many accidents.

Transport box

For transportation purposes, depending on the tractor registration, a specially designed transport box can be used if:

1) The maximum permissible weight guaranteed for the tractor with full load and maximum axle load is not exceeded.

2) The pressure on the steering wheels does not fall below 20% of the tractor's actual total weight.