Taking the H category driving test .

[snowtracdave]

As I still haven't managed to get my self sufficiently organised to go and get my H licence I would be interested to hear everybody's experience of taking the test - the whole process - how easy or otherwise it was to get the thing organised , what happened on the day , what was actually involved , what you had to do / not do . Did you pass first time ? Any and all thoughts on the whole subject . I'm sure there are quite a number of non H holding members who'd be interested to hear your experiences .

[Adrian Barrell]

I did mine in 1993. Having prepared a vehicle for road use, the examiner said ''no need to go on the road, we'll do it in your yard''. In the end we did the test in my field! He did admit he knew nothing of tracked vehicles and so asked what it was capable of doing to avoid him asking the impossible of me.

 

The test was a doddle and frankly bore no relationship to driving tracked vehicles on the road. He did ask a few questions, the interesting one was along the lines of ''what do you need to be careful of when descending a hill?'' You can get into problems with a clutch/brake steering vehicle going down hill under engine braking as when you de-clutch the left side to turn left for example, the vehicle can turn right as it overuns on the left side. Whether he was aware of this or not I don't know but he seemed happy with my answer.

 

I don't think you will get a test like this anymore.

[snowtracdave]

A acquaintance had a similar experience - his vehicle was stored in a shed at the back of a farm yard & getting it out required intricate and complicated manouvres . When the examiner arrived he admitted to never in his life having seen anything like it before and had an extensive guided tour of the vehicle & how to operate it . Eventually , realising that time was getting on , the examiner asked the owner to get the vehicle out but having watched the twists & turns involved in removal from the shed once out in the yard he said - we won't bother to go out on the road - if you can get it out into this yard without demolishing that shed I know you can drive it & handed him his pass certificate .

[Grasshopper]

We had a female examiner come to our place. She was ex forces and had driven CVRT and on one occasion a Chieftain. She stood in the commanders cuppola of our Spartan and we did nearly the equivalent of a full car drivers test. We had taken the liberty of disconnecting the Clansman, so we could only do a couple of things before having to stop and receive the next set of instructions.

 

Best to revise on your highway code, as whether you go out on the road or not, you will more than likely be tested on this.

[agripper]

:cry:I have still do do mine, but one of my friends did his he got one of these mini diggers that was road registered ,from memory about a 4 and a half ton rubber tracked one. simple manovers, reversing, pulling away from the curb , was done on A and B roads, took him about 40 minutes plus the questions. They wanted the vehicle pulled out of the yard ready to go when they arrived and walked at the side of the whole time.This still cost about £300 for the hire plus the cost of teh test. Same also happened for the group G test which is for road rollers, but this was done with a Steam roller. I have descided to go with Tery Brooks for mine, Bit of a treck from Sheffield though but in the long run get to have a full day in a Scorpion and his price is £500.00 all in which when you compare it to Tanks a lot is cheap. Have looked at a lot of different company who do this for teh tracked diggers and his price is still the best. Will keep you up dated , Unless there is someone in the Sheffield are who will lend me theres for the test for a small fee. I cant use my BARV for the test just cant see anything:cry:. But have had it on the road with L plates being moved short distances. Burning around 5 Gallons of juice a mile gets expensive. No road rage at all when you drive a BARV on the road ! He he.:-D