Farmers about

[DRM]

We are obliged to keep roadside hedges trimmed for visibility, and general safety of road users, that is done at our expense.
Whether by ourselves or a contractor.

So we are also expected to to be sweep the road too.?.

If it were any other industry you would be expected to clear up after the job is completed as part of the RAMS, with no excuses, look at this way, how would you feel if someone came to your farm to service your tractor and just dumped the waste oil (in a container) and filters, along with any other sundries used to complete the job on the floor for you to clear up, I don’t think you’d be happy.

 

[freiston]

I didn't expect anyone to make their point by claiming some sort of parity between waste oil being left in a farmyard, and little bits of a plant that grows next to the road being on the road. Of all the things that we can mess up our world with, a smattering of hedge trimmings making their way onto the lanes is not one that I have an issue with.

Most of my riding is on tiny lanes (plenty of hedges, trimmed or otherwise) and I have only had one puncture in over a decade from a thorn picked up from a trimmed hedge (precisely the same number that I've had from glass in the same period - I have tubes and puncture resistant tyres).

I've suffered a few scratches from overgrown hedges though, sometimes because the lane is so narrow and the road surface so bad that I can't avoid the hedge brushing my arm, other times when I've had to pull in well to the side when a vehicle has been coming the other way - but I'd rather have that and hedgerows than no hedgerows. Back in the 70s in my home county of Holland, Lincolnshire, hedges were just about non-existent because the farmers had ripped them all out (more land for farming and less maintenance).

 

[mudsticks]

If it were any other industry you would be expected to clear up after the job is completed as part of the RAMS, with no excuses, look at this way, how would you feel if someone came to your farm to service your tractor and just dumped the waste oil (in a container) and filters, along with any other sundries used to complete the job on the floor for you to clear up, I don’t think you’d be happy.

Err, I quite happily clear up after my mechanic, as I know he's busy, he needs to get onto the next urgent fixing job, and it helps keep my costs down, if I do the tidying up..

(I do my own servicing for reasons of economy too)


Any other industry wouldn't be expected to carry on at such low, or in some years, no margin.

Whilst feeding the population.

Whilst maintaining a landscape in which we as cyclists enjoy riding our bicycles.

I certainly don't take this attitude, but for many years farmers saw hedgerows as nothing but liability.

In the past, thousands of miles of hedgerows were grubbed up for the sake of 'efficiency' to accommodate bigger machinery, and save maintenance work, with resulting damage to landscape and ecology.

This approach was encouraged by advisors, who were all about business, and productivity at any cost to the environment.

Thankfully nowadays, most people see the multiple values of hedgerows, and understand there are going to be some trade offs .

Such as a few clippings on the road.

 

[tyred]

I cycle in an area with an abundance of hawthorn hedges and rarely have punctures. I use puncture resistant tyres on the majority of my bikes.

 

[Brandane]

Years a go a Farmer who also had two butchers shops ,his sheep was taken 5miles to the Slaughter house he was claiming sheep subsidy doing very nicely thank you complained about NZ lamb being to cheap .

Years ago, a farmer who also had two butchers shops, his sheep was taken 5 miles to the slaughter house. He was claiming sheep subsidy. Doing very nicely thank you. Complained about NZ lamb being too cheap .

I've taken the liberty of adding some punctuation to your post, and forming it into things called sentences.
Anyway, this farmer wouldn't make much money from sheep subsidy, given that he only had one!

 

[Brandane]

All you people moaning about thorns on the roads. All you need to do is move up here to the west of Scotland. The pesky feckers get softened up then washed away by the rain long before they have had a chance to embed themselves in your tyre.
Having said that, it is dry this morning and I am heading out for a pedal. Watch this space!

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just buy some decent tyres.

 

[Brandane]

Just buy some decent tyres.

These are fitted to today's choice of bike...



But even these have been known to succumb to the most determined of thorns or broken Buckfast bottle.

 

[Brandane]

Do you also cut them a little slack for all the spilled diesel on the roads?

ALL?? Diesel spills are a pet hate of mine, being a motorcyclist. But as an ex/possible future lorry driver, I have to take issue with the claim that ALL spilled diesel on the roads comes from lorries.
Some of it no doubt does, caused by over filling of tanks, or drivers forgetting to replace fuel caps after filling up. But there are plenty of badly maintained diesel CARS on the road with leaking fuel tanks, not to mention the beat up old diesel vans polluting our roads.

 

[Pale Rider]

But as an ex/possible future lorry driver

Don't do it.

To put it nicely, Branders, your many and various posts on lorry driving lead me to conclude it's not the job for you.

 

[Brandane]

Don't do it.

To put it nicely, Branders, your many and various posts on lorry driving lead me to conclude it's not the job for you.

You are no doubt correct! But never say never. If the haulage industry was ever to get it's act together, and wages were as advertised, and it didn't involve 70 hour weeks, middle of the night start times, and there was less congestion on our road network, and car drivers weren't so aggressive and ignorant, and there were suitable parking facilities, and reasonably priced good quality eating options, and there weren't thieving scrotes slashing your curtains while you slept, and VOSA dishing out big fines for trivial breaches of the rules, and, and, and....

No, you are quite right after all @Pale Rider .
They can shove it. Every time it crosses my mind to go back to it, 10 minutes reading posts on TruckNet UK soon gets me seeing sense.

 

[simongt]

Maybe I'm lucky. On the long length of shared cylepath that I use daily, the local council sent a wee sweeper vehicle along there on a regular basis; often enough to make the difference.

 

[GilesM]

A good hard yard brush would do it

I really hope this thread was started as wind up, if not, this post is really up there as a bit too close to pure nonsense, although the thought of it did make me smile.

 

[freiston]

Maybe I'm lucky. On the long length of shared cylepath that I use daily, the local council sent a wee sweeper vehicle along there on a regular basis; often enough to make the difference.

There is a proper good cycleway being built in Coventry, that isn't open yet but it is still possible to use parts of it. I gave it a go the other day and had to stop three times to empty my front mudguard of autumn leaves. Admittedly, my mudguard is an SKS Longboard and acts like a scoop for leaves.

I have to admit that I am very excited about the route being fully functional and open to cyclists. It has cyclist priority at junctions and motion sensor controlled traffic lights where the two-way cycle lane crosses diagonally from one side of the road to the other. I expect that several drivers will presume their priority and not give way to cyclists at some of the junctions though

 

[Biker man]

Just buy some decent tyres.

I really hope this thread was started as wind up, if not, this post is really up there as a bit too close to pure nonsense, although the thought of it did make me smile.

Try asking dog walkers and punctured cyclist if it makes them smile