Influence of European and German Road Legislation on the Design of Farm Machinery

The European and German road legislation differs widely from the US-American road legislation. As there is no specific European type approval for farm machinery other than tractors, this paper will focus on the German road legislation, which, being among the toughest in Europe, will be accepted in most European states. The paper will cover the relevant design issues, known by us to cause problems when US-American farm machinery is to be exported into Germany. Among them are dimensions and weights, steering and brakes, noise, lights and emissions.