Code Section Group

Vehicle Code - VEH

DIVISION 16. IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY [36000 - 36800]

  ( Division 16 added by Stats. 1963, Ch. 2149. )

CHAPTER 1. Definitions [36000 - 36017]
  ( Chapter 1 added by Stats. 1963, Ch. 2149. )

36000.
  

An “implement of husbandry” is a vehicle which is used exclusively in the conduct of agricultural operations.

An implement of husbandry does not include a vehicle if its existing design is primarily for the transportation of persons or property on a highway, unless specifically designated as such by some other provision of this code.

(Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 973, Sec. 4.)

36005.
  

An implement of husbandry includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(a) A lift carrier or other vehicle designed and used exclusively for the lifting and carrying of implements of husbandry or tools used exclusively for the production or harvesting of agricultural products, when operated or moved upon a highway.

(b) A trailer of the tip-bed type when used exclusively in the transportation of other implements of husbandry or tools used exclusively for the production or harvesting of agricultural products.

(c) A trailer or semitrailer having no bed, and designed and used solely for transporting a hay loader or swather.

(d) A spray or fertilizer applicator rig used exclusively for spraying or fertilizing in the conduct of agricultural operations. This subdivision does not apply to anhydrous ammonia fertilizer applicator rigs which have a transportation capacity in excess of 500 gallons.

(e) (1) A trailer or semitrailer that has a maximum transportation capacity in excess of 500 gallons, but not more than 1,000 gallons, used exclusively for the transportation and application of anhydrous ammonia, if the vehicle is either equipped with operating brakes or is towed upon a highway by a motortruck that is assigned a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of 3/4 ton or more.

(2) These vehicles are subject to Section 24603 if the stoplamps of the towing vehicle are not clearly visible.

(3) For purposes of this subdivision, a combination of vehicles is limited to two vehicles in tandem.

(f) A nurse rig or equipment auxiliary to the use of and designed or modified for the fueling, repairing, or loading of an applicator rig or an airplane used for the dusting, spraying, fertilizing, or seeding of crops.

(g) A row duster.

(h) A wagon or van used exclusively for carrying products of farming from one part of a farm to another part thereof, or from one farm to another farm, and used solely for agricultural purposes, including any van used in harvesting alfalfa or cotton, which is only incidentally operated or moved on a highway as a trailer.

(i) A wagon or portable house on wheels used solely by shepherds as a permanent residence in connection with sheep raising operations and moved from one part of a ranch to another part thereof or from one ranch to another ranch, which is only incidentally operated or moved on a highway as a trailer.

(j) Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 36101, a trap wagon, as defined in Section 36016, moved from one part of a ranch to another part of the same ranch or from one ranch to another, which is only operated or moved on a highway incidental to agricultural operations. The fuel tank or tanks of the trap wagon shall not exceed 1,000 gallons total capacity.

(k) Any vehicle that is operated upon a highway only for the purpose of transporting agricultural products and is in no event operated along a highway for a total distance greater than one mile from the point of origin of the trip.

(l) A portable honey-extracting trailer or semitrailer.

(m) A fertilizer nurse tank or trailer that is not self-propelled and which is moved unladen on the highway and auxiliary to the use of a spray or fertilizer applicator rig.

(n) Any cotton trailer when used on the highways for the exclusive purpose of transporting cotton from a farm to a cotton gin, and returning the empty trailer to such farm, except that Section 5014 shall apply to such trailers.

(o) A truck tractor or truck tractor and semitrailer combination specified in this subdivision which is owned by a farmer and operated on the highways, (1) only incidental to a farming operation, (2) not for compensation, and (3) for a distance of not more than two miles (on the highway) each way. This subdivision applies only to truck tractors with a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds that are equipped with all-wheel drive and off-highway traction tires on all wheels, and only to semitrailers used in combination with such a truck tractor and exclusively in production or harvesting of tomatoes. The vehicles specified in this subdivision shall not be operated in excess of 25 miles per hour on the highways.

(p) An all-terrain or utility-terrain vehicle used exclusively in agricultural operations.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 168, Sec. 3. (AB 2111) Effective January 1, 2013.)

36010.
  

A “farm trailer” is either of the following:

(a) A trailer or semitrailer owned and operated by a farmer in the conduct of agricultural operations, and used exclusively to transport agricultural products upon the highway to the point of first handling and return.

(b) A trailer or semitrailer equipped with rollers on the bed, with a frame not taller than 10 inches high, and with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, that is owned, rented, or leased by a farmer and operated by that farmer in the conduct of agricultural operations, used exclusively to transport fruit and vegetables upon the highway to the point of first handling and return, and that was manufactured and in use prior to January 1, 1997. These vehicles may also be operated on the highways without a load for the purposes of delivering a rented or leased vehicle to the renting or leasing farmer’s farm, or returning empty to the owner’s premises.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 861, Sec. 56. Effective September 29, 2000. Operative December 31, 2001, pursuant to Sec. 67 of Ch. 861.)

36011.
  

An “automatic bale wagon” is a motor vehicle capable of transporting property on a highway and equipped with apparatus specifically designed to pick up single bales of hay or straw from a field and to load and unload baled hay or straw.

(Added by Stats. 1977, Ch. 627.)

36012.
  

A “cotton module mover” is a motortruck, semitrailer, or a truck tractor, in combination with a semitrailer, that is equipped with a self-loading bed and is designed and used exclusively to transport field manufactured cotton modules to a cotton gin.

(Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 641, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1998.)

36015.
  

“Implement of husbandry” includes any farm tractor, otherwise an implement of husbandry used upon a highway to draw a farm trailer carrying farm produce, or to draw any trailer or semitrailer carrying other implements of husbandry, between farms, or from a farm to a processing or handling point and returning with or without the trailer.

(Added by Stats. 1963, Ch. 2149.)

36016.
  

A “trap wagon” is a trailer or semitrailer used exclusively in the conduct of agricultural operations to fuel, service, or repair implements of husbandry. A trap wagon may be equipped with tools, spare parts, lubricating supplies, or fuel tanks.

(Added by Stats. 1986, Ch. 973, Sec. 7.)

36017.
  

For the exclusive purpose of this division, empty bins, pallets, and tiedown straps shall not be considered a load when transported within the parameters of agricultural operations. Any farm trailer or other vehicle transporting these items shall continue to be regulated pursuant to this division. The total outside width of any of the transported items shall not exceed 102 inches.

(Added by Stats. 1986, Ch. 973, Sec. 8.)

VEHVehicle Code - VEH