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Laws concerning Wheelhouses?


smeese

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I am building a wheelhouse this summer and want to know of anything I should know about in advance. I plan on making a 6.5X10. obviously a trailer license is required. Anything specific on lighting and such? Thanks I just want to avoid trouble as my wife complains enough of the cost of fishing, can't imagine what she would say on account of a fine from the DNR

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I built the same size house as your talking about. If I had two things to do over it would be to make it a v-nose and go the 8 foot wide. It is a good lightweight shack that can be pulled onto less ice than the cozy models. If u put a wheeler in the back then it is now a trailer and must be licensed as a trailer. So u will need a lifetime trailer license, fish hose license, and proper tail and marker lights. good luck

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At the DMV they may ask you some questions when you register it, and depending on your answers will determine if they make you register it as a RV. If registered as an RV you will get a license plate and will have to re-new the registartion annually.

I was asked if I intended on using it for camping during the summer or for hunting. If I would have answered yes then it would have been RV registration. The way the gal asked it was pretty straight forward and I didn't feel it was deceiving. I have heard that they will sometimes just ask if it has bunks or any appliances and if the answer is yes they will give you the RV registration.

One of the definitions for an RV in MN is a temporary human living quarters that is used while engaged in recreational or vacation activites, so you can see it is a fine line we are walking.

Also, if your gross trailer weight exceeds 3,000 pounds you are also required to have trailer brakes. They can be surge brakes. Remember gross trailer weight is the total weight including all equipment and cargo.

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Any trailer with cargo doors, and being used for sleeping quarters can't be licensed with a lifetime tag. You will have to have a plate. The D.M.V won't tell you what lighting you will need. You will have to get that information from the D.O.T HSOforum or contacting them. I found out that if your house is not 8 foot wide, you are not suppose to put the three in line clearance lights in the center back of the house. DOT uses this only on the 8 foot wide trailers. Have fun getting all the info together..

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  Big Buck Buster said:
Any trailer with cargo doors, and being used for sleeping quarters can't be licensed with a lifetime tag. You will have to have a plate. The D.M.V won't tell you what lighting you will need. You will have to get that information from the D.O.T HSOforum or contacting them. I found out that if your house is not 8 foot wide, you are not suppose to put the three in line clearance lights in the center back of the house. DOT uses this only on the 8 foot wide trailers. Have fun getting all the info together..

It can get really confusing keeping all of this straight, and you will get a different answer from just about every DMV employee behind the counter. The only way to know for certain is to look up the statutes yourself. I don't know why they don't put these common questions down on paper and give you a copy when you are in there paying registration fees.

Cargo doors don't have anything to do with trailer registration, this has become a common myth in MN. DMV employees might assume a trailer weight is greater than 3000 lbs if you tell them they have cargo doors, since most utility trailers with cargo doors are pretty heavy. A fish house may or may not exceed the weight.

Clearence lamps are required if the trailer is 80 inches wide or greater.

I deal with statutes on a daily basis, so I figured I would post them since I had them available.

168.013 Vehicle registration

subd 1d© Effective on and after July 1, 2001, trailers registered at a gross vehicle weight of 3,000 pounds or less must display a distinctive plate. The registration on the license plate is valid for the life of the trailer only if it remains registered at the same gross vehicle weight. The onetime registration tax for trailers registered for the first time in Minnesota is $55.

169.79 Display of registration

Subd. 3. Rear display of single plate. If the vehicle is a motorcycle, motor scooter, motorized bicycle, motorcycle sidecar, trailer registered at greater than 3,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (GVW), semitrailer, or vehicle displaying a dealer plate, then one license plate must be displayed horizontally with the identifying numbers and letters facing outward from the vehicle and must be mounted in the upright position on the rear of the vehicle.

Subd. 3a. Small trailer. If the vehicle is a trailer with 3,000 pounds or less GVW with lifetime registration, the numbered plate or sticker must be adhered to the side of the trailer frame tongue near the hitch.

169.51 CLEARANCE AND MARKER LAMPS.

(a) Every motor vehicle or motor-drawn vehicle designed or used for the transportation of property, or for the transportation of passengers for compensation, shall display lighted lamps, as required in this section.

(B) Every such vehicle having a width, including load thereon, at any part in excess of 80 inches shall be equipped with four clearance lamps, two located on the front at opposite sides and not more than six inches from the extreme outer edge of the vehicle or load, displaying a white or amber light visible from a distance of 500 feet to the front of the vehicle, and two located on the rear on opposite sides not more than six inches from the extreme outer edge of the vehicle or load, displaying a red light visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear of the vehicle. The front clearance lamps shall be located at a height of not less than 24 inches above the headlamp centers. The rear clearance lamps shall be in addition to the red rear lamp hereinbefore required.

169.67 Brakes

Subd. 3.Trailer, semitrailer.(a) No trailer or semitrailer with a gross vehicle weight of 3,000 or more pounds, or a gross weight that exceeds the empty weight of the towing vehicle, may be drawn on a highway unless it is equipped with brakes that are adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold the trailer or semitrailer. A surge brake on a trailer or semitrailer meets the requirement of this paragraph for brakes adequate to stop and hold the trailer or semitrailer.

Hope this helps.

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(Quote)

Cargo doors don't have anything to do with trailer registration, this has become a common myth in MN. DMV employees might assume a trailer weight is greater than 3000 lbs if you tell them they have cargo doors, since most utility trailers with cargo doors are pretty heavy. A fish house may or may not exceed the weight.

Clearance lamps are required if the trailer is 80 inches wide or greater.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Can you please post more info on the clearance light requirements,(how many needed for longer trailer lengths, where they need to be placed with the 8 foot wide houses, etc.

I was told at the DMV that if you use it as sleeping quarters, and have cargo doors, it will need to be registered as recreational/commercial, which would need a plate.

I am not done with my house yet. I hope that the local DMV offices figure out exactly what my house is to be registered as by the time I get done with it.

I don't think that they have a clue what is going on!!

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BBB, I moved an old thread TTT. It's called "Road Legal light requirements". That thread has a link to NHTSA, They have a detailed diagram of what's required for trailers. Hope it answers your questions. As for weight and licensing, Load your house like you're heading out for the lake, but stop at a truck scale and have it weighed. The weight they want at the license office is with the max load you could haul. IF you license for 3000#, and are checked and found to be, say at 3600#, You could be required to leave your house set until it is properly licensed and has correct lighting AND brakes. There are several past threads covering these topics and they can be accessed through the 'search' tab on top of the page. Phred52

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Big Buck Buster -

Here are some of the statutes that will hopefully answer your questions.

168.002 Subd. 27. Recreational vehicle.(a) "Recreational vehicle" means travel trailers including those that telescope or fold down, chassis-mounted campers, motor homes, tent trailers, and converted buses that provide temporary human living quarters.

(B) "Recreational vehicle" is a vehicle that:

(1) is not used as the residence of the owner or occupant;

(2) is used while engaged in recreational or vacation activities; and

(3) is either self-propelled or towed on the highways incidental to the recreational or vacation activities.

Subd. 36. Travel trailer. "Travel trailer" means a trailer, mounted on wheels, that:

(1) is designed to provide temporary living quarters during recreation, camping, or travel;

169.51 CLEARANCE AND MARKER LAMPS.

© Every such vehicle or combination of such vehicles which exceeds 30 feet in overall length shall be equipped with at least four side marker lamps, one on each side near the front and one on each side near the rear. Such lamps shall be at a height of not less than 24 inches above the surface upon which the vehicle stands. The lamps near the front shall display a white or amber light and lamps near the rear shall display a red light, each visible from a distance of 500 feet to the side of the vehicle on which it is located. If the clearance lamps on the right and left sides of the vehicle, as hereinbefore required, display lights visible from a distance of 500 feet at right angles to the right and left side, respectively, of the vehicle, they shall be deemed to meet the requirements as to marker lamps, provided an additional marker lamp, white or amber, is displayed approximately midway between the above specified marker lamps.

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