Sawmill license plate in Michigan

[ruren]

Wondering if anybody knows whether a sawmill needs a license plate to be towed in Michigan? A week after I picked up my new LT-35 I received a "Certificate of Origin for a Vehicle" in the mail from Woodmizer. Realizing for the first time it actually has a VIN number and having this official looking paper in my hand I looked at the state website to see if I needed to bring the certificate in and get a title. Not finding any usefull information I e-mailed the Secretary of State's office, made it clear it was a trailer mounted piece of equiment that could not carry anything, and was informed that, yes I need to apply for a title and a license plate. I had assumed it was in the same category as my log splitter and mortar mixer, which I have been told don't need plates because they can't carry anything and therefore are "towed equipment" not "trailers". Anybody from Michigan have any first hand experience or knowledge on this?

[beenthere]

Maybe just refer to the sawmill as a "wood splitter".   :

Might be a better name for it, regardless.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

If you ask the State of Michigan, they will probably say what ever it takes to get your hard earned money.
That's the way S.C. works. So if you've already asked....yes, it's a trailer. 

[VictorH]

Here in Ne.  My sawmill has to have a tag but I don't have to pay personal property taxes on it because it's already taxed as a trailer.

[Jeff]

As far as I ever heard, as long as you are not hauling something On the sawmill, like some lumber or a sofa or a fridge or anything that could turn it into the law saying you are using it for trailer, you do not need a plate. I don't have one, Don't know any body in Michigan that does. If it's a primary processing machine, you don't need tags to take it from job to job, however you do need appropriate lights.

[okmulch]

My old grinder I never had to tag it. However, Oklahoma passed a new law last fall that required I pay an excise tax fee and tag my new grinder before they would issue the permits to get it delivered. That was a huge cost that we were not expecting! We did get it paid of course and now every year I have to purchase a tag for it. The grinder is strictly used for manufacturing and hauls nothing but itself from place to place but the state calls it a specialized mobile unit.  :-\

[Chuck White]

Here in NY there is no license plate required on a portable sawmill.

However, like Jeff mentioned, if you for whatever reason travel down the road with a log or some lumber or anything else on the mill, the law enforcement could ticket you and possibly require you to plate the mill.

[T Welsh]

In PA. it does not require a tag. it is not a trailer until you haul something on it like Jeff said, so don,t haul your yard sale sofa home on it :D. Tim

[kfs2840]

I have a portable livestock chute and it does not require a plate in Michigan.  So I would assume that sawmill falls in the category  and is dedicated for only one purpose.

[Magicman]

My conversation with a local highway patrolman was that hay balers do not have tags, so I hammered the tag holder up against the sawmill frame.   ;D

I guess that if/when I carry a bundle of stickers on the sawmill it technically becomes a trailer. 

[barbender]

Here I opened this expecting to see a custom license plate that said WDMZR or something like that :

[Magicman]

The best that I can do is not on the sawmill, but on my truck.


 
Mississippi Forestry Association tag.

[Al_Smith]

Things like an air compresser ,portable welder,brush chippers and the like do not require tags in Ohio .

I'm not certain but I believe if it's for farm use and sporting slow moving vehicle sign you can haul just about anything behind a pick up truck .Just don't boogie down the road at 65 plus with a slow moving sign .

Here amidst the corn and soy beans and hogs they are pretty lax on country roads which around more metro areas they might not be .Keep in mind though if you ever drive country roads in north western Ohio most farmers have a problem with a red sign that says STOP .They must presume it means step toe on pedal not neccessarily the brake pedal either .--mumble grumble ---

[jdonovan]

Anybody from Michigan have any first hand experience or knowledge on this?

It looks like from a quick search of your states DMV they require all trailers to be registered.  There is exemptions for farm equipment, but most states classify forestry separately from 'farming'.

Is there a down side to getting a title and registering it?

"Certificate of Origin for a Vehicle" in the mail from Woodmizer.

If you find a way to not title/register it HOLD ON TO THE COA!!! That is the only legal proof of ownership. Without it you will find your mill has very low resale value if it is being sold into a state that requires registration of sawmills. When you go to title it, you either produce a COA or a title...without those documents DMV assumes you stole it.

[Al_Smith]

Some states get real fussy about tags .I'm not certain how things are now but in the 60's Pa required tags on a farm tractor if you ran it down the road which I thought was rediculous .

In Ohio something like a machinery trailor you just need a weight slip .A bill of sale is pretty easy to come by . ;)Actually a motor vehicle isn't that hard .Put in for a lost title.They run the serial numbers and if it's clear you get one .If it's stolen get an attorney .

[okmulch]

Is there a down side to getting a title and registering it?

The down side is the extra money it cost every year for tagging it and any excise tax that might be applicable.

[redbeard]

In Washington not only do you have to license the mill you have to pay the sales tax, say you bought the mill out of state and did not pay tax on it.

[Al_Smith]

Well there you go,personal property tax which some states have .Those that don't have other ways of seperating a person from their wallets .

Did you every look at how income tax and nincomepoop kind of ryme with one another ? What next ,tags on a lawnmower .I'd say get a goat but they'd figure out how to tag it too .Then again I wouldn't want to be the one that screwed a tag into the behind of a Billy goat .Might annoy him somewhat .

[Jeff]

It looks like from a quick search of your states DMV they require all trailers to be registered.  There is exemptions for farm equipment, but most states classify forestry separately from 'farming'.

A sawmill is not a trailer.

[jdonovan]

A sawmill is not a trailer.

you know that, I know that... but it took me 5 hours across, 3 trips, on 2 different days, working with 5 customer service reps, 2 supervisors, 1 fax machine and 2 supervisors calling state DMV headquarters before the DMV would agree with me on it not being a trailer.

[okmulch]

A sawmill is not a trailer.
[/quote]

Is a grinder a trailer that uses a dolly? I did not think so but when the Oklahoma DMV looked at the picture they said it was. I even tried to admit the dolly option needed a tag but not the entire grinder. I could load my grinder on a drop deck trailer and move it around without a tag but using the dolly it requires one.

They put this law in because of all the specialty oil equipment moved around the state. It is what it is and I am following the rules.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Is there a down side to getting a title and registering it?

The down side is the extra money it cost every year for tagging it and any excise tax that might be applicable.

Michigan has permanent trailer plates. So you pay a fee once up front based on the empty weight of the "trailer" and you get a plate without an expiration date. 

According to Woodmizer an LT-35 is around 3000 lbs so it would be 200 bucks for a lifetime plate.

Unless you already paid Michigan Sales tax though the SOS is going to hit you up for that.

[ruren]

As far as I ever heard, as long as you are not hauling something On the sawmill, like some lumber or a sofa or a fridge or anything that could turn it into the law saying you are using it for trailer, you do not need a plate. I don't have one, Don't know any body in Michigan that does. If it's a primary processing machine, you don't need tags to take it from job to job, however you do need appropriate lights.

Thanks, that was exactly the thought I started with. I wanted to find out what other people in the state have done to see if I was off base or not. As POSTONLT40HD said, I think if you ask the state whether to pay them money or not the answer is going to be yes. I don't have a problem with getting a title for it if thats the proper thing to do, but I don't want to pay $200 for a license plate I don't need to be legal.

[barbender]

If it's $200, I'd run it without plates and worry about it if I got pulled over. That's just me, though. Actually, I need to deal with this issue too. I was just going to go get plates and tabs, I never gave it a second thought. I'll have to do some research on MN rules.

[chevytaHOE5674]

If it's $200, I'd run it without plates and worry about it if I got pulled over. That's just me, though.

IF the guy writing the ticket and the judge in the area deem the mill needs to plated then the fine for hauling a trailer without a plate is around 200 bucks and is a Misdemeanor... Ask me how I know.... haha

I have plates for just about everything I haul behind a truck on the highway because it is cheaper than paying a fine and spending time getting hassled on the side of the road when you have someplace to be.

[barbender]

Good point- not to mention getting your name in the local newspaper court convictions

[Chuck White]

Is there a down side to getting a title and registering it?

The down side is the extra money it cost every year for tagging it and any excise tax that might be applicable.

Michigan has permanent trailer plates. So you pay a fee once up front based on the empty weight of the "trailer" and you get a plate without an expiration date. 

According to Woodmizer an LT-35 is around 3000 lbs so it would be 200 bucks for a lifetime plate.

Unless you already paid Michigan Sales tax though the SOS is going to hit you up for that.

If that's the case, why don't you get a weight slip from Wood-Mizer with just the weight of the basic "trailer part" of the mill, that is, without the sawhead mounted?

Just plate the "trailer part", I,m sure it would be cheaper than the entire mill due to the weight difference!

Just sayin'

[Jeff]

I've hauled my mill back and forth to the U.P. several times without a plate. It came to me from Utah without a plate. I've seen dozens of portable mills from central Michigan to the western U.P. and I've never seen a plate on any of them.
We never had to put a Log plate on a slasher truck, or a total tree chipper or tool trailer when we were moving from job to job. IF the machine carried something else, for example a log truck that could haul logs, it had a plate, If it was a woods loader, that did not carry logs, only load them, it didn't. Low boys had to have plates if it was used to haul a skidder, but if you drove the skidder, which sometimes we would if it was less them 5 miles, the skidder never had a plate.

If we were not legal, we never knew it, because we never had an issue.

[Al_Smith]

My bud Tom the tree trimmer bought a Morebark chipper in Iowa and never had one problem hauling it across several states bringing it back with no tags .Lawsy talk about a heavy rascal though .Wow about 6 - 7,000 pounds on a single axle .

[MapleNut]

When I bought my WM last fall, used from a guy also in MI, I asked him about a plate. He said he talked to the DOT -didn't need one-fell into the implement category. He did have to add red/white reflective tape to it, per DOT. That is how I  am pull it now.

[Cedarman]

If I had a portable mill and got stopped, I would plead ignorance and just say that I didn't think it needed a license plate because there is no license plate holder and license plate lights.
I would make sure I had all things needed for safety in good working order.

[Nomad]

     Y'all are lucky if you don't need tags.  My LT50 does have a place for a tag and tag lights too.  And here in Florida, DOT tells me that if it it's towed behind a vehicle, it has to have a tag.  Don't matter WHAT it is, if it's towed it needs to be registered and tagged.

[snowshoveler]

Here in Nova Scotia, if it has tires that touch the road it needs a plate.
A whole lot of folks don't go by this rule however.
Woodsplitters are seldom tagged but if the right guy sees you there will be an issue.
Chris 

[Al_Smith]

Tags on a wood splitter ? Now that kinda sucks canal water . :(    Geeze I just hauled mine home yesterday after having it loaned out nearly all winter .

[T Welsh]

It all depends on which state your from. I went to the State police  and asked kindly would I need  plate for this when I bought my mill. 45 minutes later the commander came out and said NO its not a trailer because it carries no load. It would be considered an Implement of animal husbandry. I got him to quote it on his business card and have used it 3 times so far with a smile on my face when pulled over ;D. Tim

[sperry]

Here  in Indiana you have to use a Special Machinery Plate. It runs somewhere less than $20 a year. I keep remembering that when I hook up to my LT40 still sporting the 2008 plate. It probably won't be a priority until I get stopped.