how much does H licence test cost ?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by George McKenzie

I have done alot of hiway trucking with construction equiptment and have never heard of having a licence to operate a track machine on the road .The only thing we were concerned with was damage to the road caused by the tracks, the speed limit minimum and top speed and lights .For this reason most things are hauld . For parades most things have nothing ,insurance or licence but you have to trailer it to and from the paraded if you do this .

Basically the same here in Holland: one needs a licence for mopeds, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses and trailers, but not for tracked vehicles or farm tractors. The latter will be fixed shortly, since the legislator now finally sees that driving today's huge farm tractors with multiple trailers by 16 year olds without a licence is a huge liability.

A friend of mine once drove a Sherman recovery tank on the public road, and he was stopped by the police as "he could not drive it on the road". He showed the policeman all of the above drivers licences and insurance for the tank. He had no registration papers as one cannot get a registration for a tracked vehicle here. The poor policeman did not have an answer to what else was needed to drive it legally, so he had to leave him drive off. Talk about a "grey area" when standing in a huge cloud of tank exhaust smoke!

H.

[Phil Waterman]

Hanno's comment about some one meeting the police while driving a tank reminded me of a similar happening locally.

Each year at our summer rally we take a trail ride with many of the vehicles attending the show including the armor. To be sure we have no problems we always check in with the police and the Army Corps of Engineers to get approvals ahead of time. Pictures of Rally http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.c...lly%202010.htm

One year there was a new officer on the force who did get the memo about the show and came rolling into the rally site to ask what was going one. He pulled on to the field with a very surprised look on his face when he saw 75-100 military vehicles and 6 or so pieces of armor including two tanks with the with their main guns trained down the road he had just driven in. (Guns elevated to be over the roofs of vehicles.)

Any way we explained what the show was all about gave him copies of all the permits, including a copy of the memo from his own department. He went from looking concerned to a smile as he finally got out of his cruiser. He explained he had been flagged down by a citizen about tanks on the road, then with a grin said he was a little conflicted as to checking it out or heading in the other direction.

If your curious about why permits from the Corps Engineers most of our off roading is on a flood control project that they are in charge of.

We have had some big armor drive over the road to the show, most is hauled in but the Army Reserve drove a tank retriever 23 miles over the road one year to the show.

Cheers Phil

[RichardT10829]

Thank you for your email dated 1 June.

I can confirm that your category H, tracked vehicle test will consist of the following:
Note: All the requirements of the test must be carried out.
1. Read in good daylight (with the aid of corrective lenses if worn) a registration mark fixed to a motor vehicle and containing letters and figures 79.4 millimetres high at a distance of 20.5 metres (or 20 metres for new style number plates) for Categories F, G & H.
2. Answer Vehicle Safety Check Questions.
3. Start the engine of the vehicle.
4. Move away straight ahead and at an angle.
5. Overtake, meet and cross the path of other vehicles and take an appropriate course.
6. Turn right-hand and left-hand corners correctly.
7. Stop the vehicle in an emergency and normally, and in the latter case bring it to rest at an appropriate part of the road.
8. Answer Highway Code questions.
This test will be conducted on public roads.
The Official DSA Guide to Tractor and Specialist Vehicle Driving Tests is available to buy using the following link:

http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.a...trackid=002305

jeez didnt know i would have to read hahahha

[RichardT10829]

Well 04/11/11...... a date that will live in infamy ! i took my test and passed with zero faults (minors).

before i begin i really must stress my gratitude to Shaun Hindle of the Battlefront Museum for his time and tuition...and vehicle for my test.

I arrived on the Thursday evening and we went out to meet some wonderful people, one was his father, and the other was an inspirational character called Richard.... Richard unfortunately has a matter of months left to live, being in the final stages of lung cancer... however to see him, his zest for life and fun you would never know he was on limited time.....and what an engineer he is too !

0930 on the friday Shaun and I met up at the museum and after a number of cups of tea and talks about our grandparents (who served together in the same platoon during WW2.. Shauns grandad was the REME mech for the section and my grandad was one of the carrier drivers)..... Shaun introduced me to the vehicle i would sit my test in.

Upon walking up to the Scorpion it just hits home how perfect a vehicle it is...it looks good, it sounds good..its British ! Shaun lifted the engine deck and there sat a brand new power pack which he had put in earlier in the week for me.... he showed me how to check fluids, adjust tracks, and do pre fire checks before turning the key...so to speak.

after an hour or so steady tuition on how to drive use the gears and practice pivot points, and being commanded by non on-board personnel Shaun let me have a play.

The examiner turned up and was a cracking bloke, and after another cup of tea we cracked on with the test.... so for those in the Norwich test area you can expect the following from a test)

1) read a number plate from a minimum of 20 meters.
2) show knowlege of how to perform safety checks ie components loose fittings tracks, lights, indicators, fluids and service

3) pull away safely demonstrating awareness of surroundings
4) complete a circuit in one direction using indicators mirrors etc
5) complete a circuit in the opposite direction using indicators mirrors etc
(our circuit included a T junction and Shaun placed items in the road which had to be negotiated including a bottle neck (to represent two parked cars opposite each other)
6) turn in the road using the vehicles tracks (Neutral turn)
7) emergency stop
8) complex sequence... pull forward turn left....reverse into gap...pull forward turn left....reverse into parking spot. (simple hard standing)

after this you get a number of signs to identify and a number of theory questions including speed limits for tracked vehicle (20mph with resiliant material on the tracks and wheels and with suspension...5mph without).... what to do if a queue of traffic forms behind you....use of amber beacons.

and that was pretty much the test. it does NOT have to take place on a road however if you dont do it on the road and make up a basic mickey mouse circuit they will make it hard for you.... this is why Shaun made our circuit technical as we could (to a degree)

my test lasted around 20 - 30 mins

i would add pics but my laptop is playing up.

[gordon]

Business opportunity there Shaun, methinks.

I did once toy with the idea of this license, but one of the many endearing features of my Sno-Cat is that it has no footbrake at all, just a simple transmission handbrake, so I don't see that I'd want to drive it on the road even if I had a license. I should probably note that the rolling resistance of the four tracks is such that you stop almost instantly you take your foot off the loud pedal, and even faster than that in deep snow I should think.

My Iron Fireman T-36 has two steering brakes which double as handbrakes and would be marginally more amenable to to road use, but that's 15mph flat out so I think a transporter would still be the preferred option.

Both types have suspension of a sort, but the running surface that contacts the road is steel or aluminium in each case.

[Ben]

Well done Richie

I've spoken with Shaun about taking mine in the future, sounds like the perfect place at the museum.

All the best

Ben

[shaun]

Hi Richie,
Good to spend some time with you and talk tank (well carrier etc) although the Mini bit did go over my head, it was a good test well driven.

Sounds like Ben is next ( Ben get it booked !!!!!!)

Thanks for the parts you made for the MK1, they fit a treat.

Bet you had a fun drive home on a wet Friday night as well.

Sorry about the quality of the photo, my phone camera is getting past it best.