ATV Tresspassers: Any issues at your place? (livestock, land, snow)

[sirron]

And, we pay higher insurance rates because of them.

[karmal64]

[FONT=Verdana]Here in Minnesota some counties have banned ATV's outright, and they are not allowed in most towns without a standard license plate. Most or all county and regional parks ban them too, as do national wildlife refuges. My former boss caught ATV trespassers responsible for gouging up his land in the process of pulling out the no-trespassing sign he'd put up. He was fairly affluent and had the entire ridge planted with evergreens. They've not been back since. I've noticed that some ATV riders illegally ride the paved state bicycle trails like the Munger, gouging up the shoulders and creating an eyesore. In an era of dwindling petroleum and increasing fuel prices, it seems self-evident to anyone but these slack-jawed hillbillies, that maybe they should take up a greener people-power sport like walking or biking and lose those fat rear ends that so many of them seem to have. The less oil we use the cheaper gas would be and the less troops will die overseas. Sounds reasonable except to these ATV drivers who seem entirely too self-absorbed to be willing to give up their beloved pastime for either the love of the planet or the troops, not to mention Jenny Craig. My personal experience of them has been that even with no-trespassing signs and written denial of permission, the moment they think you're out of town, they'll blatantly trespass. Indeed, the last straw for me was when they started using a miniature Toyota pickup on a Sunday morning I'd hoped to sleep in on in lieu of an ATV, something I'd never once given permission for. As far as I'm concerned those ATV's should be re-designated WTUV's--white-trash utility vehicles. Those who ride them seem to think them a free ticket to go anywhere they please.[/FONT]

[Giesela]

Minnesota is way ahead of the game in smarts. Michigan is so both so desperate to keep people going north for tourism and so overrun with ATV "slack jaw" types that the counties are changing laws that give ATV's the run of the place, everywhere all the time.
Not smart in my opinion. ATV'ers don't bring in money and just tear things down so no one else wants to come - so Michigan is shooting itself in the foot.

[Giesela]

Originally Posted by NVplumber

Booby trapping your property is highly illegal, and will get you put up on 1st degree murder charges with the special circumstance of laying in wait. It is NOT a viable solution at all. Much as people trashing your place with an ATV angers you, it's not grounds for murder. Some clown put spike strips buried in the sand across a BLM access road here a few years back. He bought the property and didn't want anyone using the road anymore. The spikes crippled a good horse and the Sherriff BBQed the property owner. No signs, no fence..nothing. Just a spike trap. He needed to fry.

I don't advocate no signage etc. but I wonder whats the answer? You pay a fortune for your little bit of country dream and then watch someone else destroy it day after day with no recourse? That's BS. I bought it I pay taxes, I should be able to protect it.

[Peggy Anne]

It is annoying. I hate the noise, and fumes, not to mention the speeding. When I see some moron careening in a reckless manner, I just don't CARE if they wipe out, and kill themselves. The bad part is that they often endanger a passenger who has no say. The bouncing 3 wheelers are the most disgusting, especially if they are carrying a 350 pound driver. God spare me the spectacle. I don't even like jet skis for the same reason. Idiot drivers. Fumes. Noise.

[todd00]

from what ive seen, sensible mature pple dont ride atv's. i kinda like the idea of quick sand better than evergreen trees. arent i a mean one!

[fxtrader]

Originally Posted by Giesela

Minnesota is way ahead of the game in smarts. Michigan is so both so desperate to keep people going north for tourism and so overrun with ATV "slack jaw" types that the counties are changing laws that give ATV's the run of the place, everywhere all the time.
Not smart in my opinion. ATV'ers don't bring in money and just tear things down so no one else wants to come - so Michigan is shooting itself in the foot.

So ATV's don't bring in money?
Here is a direct quote " Recent impact studies by the Maine Department of Conservation show that the ATV industry brings in more than $200 million, and the snowmobile industry brings in more than $260 million to the state each year. In addition, another DOC study estimated that more than 2 million bicycle tourists spent $36.3 million dollars in Maine in one year."

[BrokenTap]

I'm a snowmobiler but not a an ATVer and luckily we have a much better reputation. It helps since we can cross lakes, ponds and crop fields without hurting a darn thing. Its not that way with ATV's though and at one time, snowmobilers had a pretty bad reputation themselves (1978 or so)

I got some neighbors that have a combined intelligence level of 50, and they have 6 ATV's, a 1/2 acre of land and I surround them on all four sides. I told them a long time ago, FARMING COMES FIRST.

Ride around the edges of the field
Stay in a single track
Never crush down the hay

What do they do...mash 50 acres of 2nd crop 3 days before we were to harvest it. After a year I extended the olive and branch and said they could use my land again, at which they said, "we wouldn't go on your land if it was the last place to ride." That is fine with me. Have fun trailering every where you go, or riding around on your 1/2 acre.

(For the record I have 1634 acres of land (21/2 square miles) so these people were really silly to crush my crops and not take a peace offering when I extended it as it severely limits where they can ride.)

[Towhee]

Originally Posted by BrokenTap

Another simple question...anyone on here ever had issues or horror stories with ATV's? We use ours all the time but, in the wrong hands they can be a real pain to deal with.

My biggest complaint was with my neighbors last year. They are not so smart to say the least, like to party and own a ½ acre of land surrounded on all four sides by me. When they asked if they could ride ATV's on me I was fine with it (one has to share you know), but I told them, farming comes first.

3 days before we were going to chop 2nd crop, I hear the sound of ATV's and lights on top of the hill, and one of my finest fields. In the end they had crushed 28 acres of prime high protein alfalfa and timothy grass down. It was not right but I just lost it and told them using way too many swear words what I thought of their actions. Now I could understand a 10 year old not knowing any better, but his parents sat on the porch drinking beer and smoking cigarettes as they boys did it...and he drives grain truck so he is around agriculture and knows better.

The other day I told them they could park his grain truck on me as they live on a dangerous curve and I really would hate to see someone get hurt as he is backing into his dangerous driveway. Their reply was typical I guess...

"I would never even think of parking on you...."

That is fine with me...you can only hand out the olive branch it is yet another to grasp it. Have fun enjoying your ½ acre. I will say next time I will just call the attorneys and let them pay for the prime feed they destroyed. One thing is for sure, they won't hate me any worse then they do now.

4 tons to the acre at 30 per ton for 28 acres=$3300

So anyone else have ATV Trespassing issues?

Is it too late to send them a bill? What creeps!

[fxtrader]

Yeah, those are the types that make it hard for the rest of us. There are a lot of ATV clubs in Maine that work hard to keep the trails open and keep idiots from doing stupid things, but it is hard to stop everyone.