More specifically, a tank in Florida. I’m not talking about an armored one with weapons, I just want a tank. Are they street legal? Can they be street legal? Is there some kind of sunday only/parade day only license you can get for them? Why wouldn’t they be legal if not?
Just to let you know, the Florida DMV page was no help, and they don’t seem to reply to emails (even after months)…
punk snot dead,
broccoli!
Try looking under “bulldozer”. Because that’s what you’re talking about.
No - see, a bulldozer has wheels more often than not, and the cab is on the top of the vehicle, not in it. I know what i’m talking about, I mean a tank
(look - it’s even in italics 
)
What I mean, is that there’s probably a licence for “treaded vehicles” - intended mainly for bulldozers, but possibly applicable to tanks.
And BTW - trust me, I know what a tank is.
(I also know that a tank without armor and weaponry is a joke, but that’s another story).
yeah, a joke, but a tank none the less…
See I know a tank with weapons and armor is illegal. Hell, you can’t even legally tint you windows here, so I know armor is illegal… I just want to drive around in a tank. Or a hover car, but those don’t exist yet.
Your “tank” probably doesn’t have any rear-view or side mirrors, so your state’s DMV will frown on it for that.
It might have trouble passing an emissions test also.
Does it have headlights? Brake lights? Some sort of signal when you’re in reverse?
Does it have seat belts?
I read a story of a guy in California who bought an old armored car, and drove it on the highways. Obviously, he got pulled over, but he was prepared to fight it in court. Turns out, it was street legal. The only issue was the thickness of the armor, ISTR that as long as it had less than 5 inches of armor it was legal, and this had a bit less. So he was granted permission to drive the vehicle under the same provisions that an armored courier for a bank would get.
I suspect that it will be impossible to license a tracked vehicle for street use, you can’t drive a bulldozer on the streets either. But get yourself a nice armored car and you won’t go wrong. I particularly like the Lamborghini armored car, Tina Turner owns one. Only $175,000, last time I looked (machine guns are extra).
broccoli, a tank is armored by definition. Sitting on the right side of a foot of cast iron is part of the entire Tao of tanking, OK ? Anyhow, the armor is an integral part of the tank body and can’t be “taken out”, so unless you want to build your own tank replica…
Oookay - this is how tanks are dealt with in Europe, YMMV:
Generally speaking, tanks are illegal under the vehicle code - not because they don’t have lights, rear view mirrors etc. (they do), but because of noise, weight, width & the damage they tend to do to roads. These same arguments can be levelled at a lot of other vehicles (construction vehicles come to mind), but sometimes you have to move these on the roads. A special permit is issued, in effect saying that it is legal to move the vehicle on public roads if it’s clearly marked, insured, if the driver is trained to ride it competently and if it’s necessary to do so. IOW, you can move your bulldozer 500 yards down the road to another part of the construction site, but you can’t drive it on public roads for the hell of it.
Likewise for tanks: They are to be transported on trucks when it’s feasible - i.e., on maneuvers they move on their own, if they have to use public roads to move 5 miles, it’s OK, but if they are to be moved across a country from one training ground to another, it’s by truck or train. (With the cost of driving these beasts, truck or train is the way to go anyway).
So your chances of getting a general permit to destroy the public roads for the heck of it are probably zero. But if you own a restored and disarmed tank - a WWII Sherman, for instance - your local police department could probably issue a permit to take part in a parade.
S. Norman
A couple of years ago, a bunch of soldiers (American or German?) took a tank from their compound and parked it in the middle of Berlin (if memory serves me right). They left it there and went out for a few beers.
Needless to say, the matter was not taken lightly. I can’t seem to find a link to the story though, but I remember the pictures of the tank standing on a square.
Such a pleasing image, somehow…
“Halt! You can’t park that thing here, verstehen ?”
“So what are you going to do, have it towed ?”
It would be cool if someone rear-ended it with a Fiat Uno, and then the driver would come out grunting and holding his neck.
I was mainly thinking of building a little replica tank. Not a heavy, asphalt ripping, gunfire resistant, armored instrument of destruction. Something like a two-seater. I don’t see why tracked vehicles are illegal, you wouldn’t need to worry about a tire blowing out and losing control of the vehicle, you wouldn’t need to worry about snapping an axle, they’re slower and have more control than a wheeled vehicle. I can see why one with a foot thick hull and a huge cannon plus 35mm guns wouldn’t be allowed out on the street, but a little light commuter tank I think would be o.k… I’ve just about exhausted the 'net looking for information so I have came to you, the SDMB, for help.
How about a nice LAV-25? Okay, so maybe it’s not technically a tank, but it can be driven on public roads without a special permit[sup]1[/sup]. It’s got lights, turn signals, and even a place to mount a license plate; and it’s tyres won’t tear up the road surface like metal treads would.
[sup]1 [sub]Well, maybe you may need a special license or something to drive it, the vehicle itself doesn’t require a special waiver.[/sub][/sup]
Sorry about my first post, didn’t see this one when I wrote it. Anyhow, I don’t think tracks are illegal per se, as long as they aren’t metal. Solid wheels and metal treads aren’t allowed (they tear up the road surface), but you may be able to use rubber tracks on the road.
If you build one, you are going to have some good engineering challenges. How are you going to steer it? All of the armor I’ve been on uses some type of braking mechanism to stop or slow one track or the other to get the vehicle to turn - If you’ve ever seen one of those little bobcats, it’s pretty much the same thing. You might start with one of those, actually. Then you’ll have to come up with a track design for it, with accompanying road wheels, drive sprockets, etc. You would probably be best off with a Christie suspension, instead of trying to go with a torsion bar setup. Tracks don’t last very long, so make your design easy to replace, and inexpensive too. Oh, design a way to adjust the track tension while you’re designing the suspension, so the track doesn’t just come off when you are driving the vehicle. Trust me, you don’t want THAT to happen. Are you planning on putting a turret on it? It will block much of the drivers rear vision if you do, but the really fun part of being a Tanker is riding the turret.
Sounds like an interesting project - keep us posted on its progress!
How about one of those mini Tank/Plow things some large cities use to clear their sidewalks? I have herd them called Bombidear (sp?), but don’t know what the real name is.
Bombadier is a Canadian manufacturer of snowmobiles, jet skis and boats, and a few other interesting vehicles. Check their website.
Ok, this website gave me pause 
It’s the Florida Driver’s Handbook http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/handbooks/englishfull/
Of course, they’re talking about tanker trucks, carrying milk and gasoline and such
In any case, as far as state DMVs are concerned, license requirements are waived in some situations. From the Wyoming DMV, http://legisweb.state.wy.us/titles/98titles/title31/t31chp7.htm (view the cached copy at google)
The gist is that you need to be an active member of a branch of the military operating a military vehicle in accordance with the regulations of the Department of Defense.
As for homemade tanks… I dunno, but it seems to be at the discretion of local authorities, perhaps under some sort of experimental vehicle classification. I would think that your homemade tank would have to be very light for it to be allowed on the road.
"Military equipment operated by the department of
defense, including the national guard, when operated by
noncivilian personnel. "
This isn’t military equipment, it’s a no weapon, no armor alternative to a wheeled vehicle
film @ 11
broccoli!
OK heres the one by Bombadier http://www.recreation.bombardier.com/htmen/B4.htm the SW-48 with rubber tracks, but the top speed is only 19 MPH. I remember seeing different style sidewalk snowplows that seemed to go a lot faster than that.