Chapter 1. Definitions of California Vehicle Code >> Division 16. >> Chapter 1.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.