In NYS, the maximum width allowed on most highways is 96". On certain highways, they allow up 102". I know this because when I sold RV’s, one of my companies was in fact 96" vs. the competitor who was only 92" and we pitched more floor space inside the camper. It was silly, but you people buy that kind of stuff…lol
Basically, if you could build a deck that was 96" wide, it would be legal, but you won’t get 2 sleds on there.
This is for commercial vehicles, but I would imagine it’s the same for Passenger vehicles too:
Today as i was pulling into my yard, a town cop here in Newport followed me in. he proceeded to inform me the deck was illegal. The laws states that you can not have anything hanging over the bedside more than 6" on the drivers side. I told him it did not exceed the 102" width, but that doesn’t matter, no more than 6".Now this is my 2nd season with this and i have been to the Burg and back plenty of times. I leave my sleds up there all season. I called a deputy sheriff i know and he confirm it,but said only a dink would write a ticket for it. I asked what about a overhead camper because they stick out. All he would say is i’m just letting you know. He didn’t write me. Just spreading the word.
That was NH but a lot of states have something similar. They don’t care that you can legally pull a 102" trailer, you’re still not allowed to put a 102" wide deck on a pickup bed because it sticks out too far from the truck. More brilliant government laws in action.
Interesting, I did not know this. I have seen a few trucks up around Tug with two-wide decks. Some of them slide in on the sides to match the width of the bed. I wonder what the fine is.
Seeing as my buddy was just in NH snowmobiling, he said that the sled decks were literally everywhere there. With how much time I’ve spent in that state, I would be willing to bet that no one has ever received a ticket for a sled deck despite the law. Especially with how popular any kind of OHRV is there. Here in the nanny state of NY, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit for someone to get a ticket because of it. It has probably already happened.
You can argue the fact that the mirrors are the widest point of the vehicles overall width, or its not 6" past the add on fender flares, or that its permanent since its bolted down, or that it is still under the 102" width, but here in NY you will still have some ahole cop hassle you for it.
I think the only vehicle you can legally get away with using a 2 place sled deck and confine with that width would be a dually.
Pretty sure the verbage specifically excludes all mirrors, handles, lights, etc…from the actual law. I know I read it somewhere…
Edit: 102" on a 10 ft. wide road to be legal. 96" on anything under 10 ft. I would venture to guess that you could get a permit to haul one of those carriers. From my research it would cost you $320 per year to have that ability. Welcome to NYS, where money will allow you do what you want.
(a) (i) The width of a vehicle, inclusive of load, shall be not
more than ninety-six inches plus safety devices, except that the maximum
width of a vehicle, inclusive of load, shall be one hundred two inches,
plus safety devices, on any qualifying or access highway. Except in a
city not wholly included within one county, the maximum width of a
vehicle, inclusive of load shall not be more than one hundred two inches
plus safety devices on any other highway with traffic lanes designed to
be a width of ten feet or more.
when sled decks first came out, a lot of guys in the tug hill area bought them, and the troopers were writing tickets left and right…
out here in Washington, there is no such law, and 80% of sledders run the double wide decks… perfect for out here when a lot of riding areas are reached by Forrest Service roads.
This is a pretty depressing season. I’ve had the parts to fix mine for a week but no ambition to do it with the weather forecast. Just a few local clubs open with pretty crappy conditions and no significant snow in the 10 day outlook. Even Tug Hill is really thin right now. I just drove 81 from Syracuse to Watertown last weekend and was shocked at how little snow I saw.
Now with Lake Erie mostly iced over the lake effect snow machine if effectively turned off.
Did 140 miles today around Wyoming/Cattaraugus/Erie counties today. Everything was flat and fast! Only a little snirt. Heading back down tomorrow for more before it melts down more.
Did 125 miles again down there today with @burnsmoney and @Shockwave179. Were on the trails before 8 and back on the truck by 1:30. Trails were dead in the morning then around 11-12 things got busy and the snow went to piss. Early bird gets the worm!
Folton / North Java are shot. Everythign south & west was good. Southern erie county was good.
What’s going on with this? Sounds like the club has plenty of snow but isn’t opening? Looks like he has his own groomer. We were in southern Erie today and there was tons of snow.
Marilla has always seemed like it was run by a clicky little group of assholes who were only interested in keeping the trail to Kodiak Jacks open while not giving a shit about the rest of the trail system. From the looks of it that’s finally coming to the surface. Hopefully there will be an “Alden Snowmobile Club” next year and Marilla will have half the trails they have now.
