Farm equipment transport in Iowa comes down to two questions: can the machine legally travel the road on its own, and if not, what does it take to haul it. Implements of husbandry get a broad exemption from Iowa’s size, weight, and permit rules, but only off the interstate and only in daylight. Load that same machine on a trailer for hire and the exemption does not follow it. You are now working against legal limits of 8 feet 6 inches wide and 13 feet 6 inches tall, with an Iowa DOT permit required above that. For most farm moves around the Des Moines metro, the whole job hinges on three things: the right trailer, an honest weight and height, and somebody checking the route before the truck rolls.

Key Takeaways

• Implements of husbandry are exempt from Iowa’s size, weight, and permit rules, but not on the interstate and not after dark.
• Iowa’s legal limits are 8 feet 6 inches wide and 13 feet 6 inches tall. Above that you need an Iowa DOT permit.
• A state permit covers state and interstate routes only. County and city roads are separate, and that is where most farm moves actually happen.
• If the machine does not run, you want a ground-loading deck and a winch.
• Measure the machine as it sits and get its real weight. Spec sheets do not know about your duals, your aftermarket tires, or the mud.

Can you drive it there, or does it need to be hauled?

Plenty of equipment moves fine under its own power. A tractor going five miles down a gravel road to the next field is an ordinary morning in Polk or Dallas County, and Iowa law is built to allow it.

Four things change that math. The machine has to touch an interstate. Road speed and tire wear start costing real money over distance. It does not run, or it runs but should not be driven. Or you are moving it as a business rather than as a farmer moving your own equipment between your own fields.

That last one catches people late, usually after they have already booked somebody. Iowa’s exemptions are written around the farmer and the implement, not around every truck that happens to have ag equipment on it.

Where does the implement of husbandry exemption stop?

It is broader than most people expect. It also has two hard edges, and both of them show up during harvest.

Iowa Code section 321.453 exempts implements of husbandry from the chapter’s size, weight, and load provisions, and from chapter 321E permit requirements. The condition is the road. The movement has to be on a highway that is not part of the interstate. Get on I-80, I-35, or I-235 and the exemption is gone.

The same section sets conditions on a vehicle carrying an implement under that exemption. Amber flashing light visible from the rear, and if the load blocks it, the implement carries one too. Warning flags on anything that sticks into oncoming traffic. And movement only from thirty minutes before sunrise to thirty minutes after sunset.

That daylight window bites in October. Days get shorter right when everybody wants one more trip, and we hear about it every fall from somebody who got stopped, or worse. The drivers coming at you on US 65 at dusk have no idea how far that header sticks out.

There is also a separate provision for a farmer hauling an implement between fields, repair locations, and storage. Read it carefully. It exempts you from the permit requirement and from absolutely nothing else. The statute lists what still applies: size, weight, load, lighting, flags, equipment, manner of operation. Iowa DOT publishes farmer guidance that covers this in more detail, and August is a better month to read it than October.

What counts as oversize on an Iowa road?

Once you are hauling rather than driving, Iowa DOT sets the baseline. Its permit requirements draw the line at 8 feet 6 inches wide and 13 feet 6 inches tall. Length limits run 45 feet for a single vehicle and 53 feet for a trailer, with a 57 foot allowance for lowboys hauling construction equipment. On weight, a permit is typically required above 80,000 pounds gross, and no single axle can carry more than 20,000 pounds under permit.

Those numbers are easy to look up. What actually trips up farm moves is jurisdictional.

An Iowa DOT permit is good for state and interstate highways only. City and county permits come from those jurisdictions separately, and farm equipment spends most of its trip on exactly those county blacktops. A permit covering only the highway leg leaves you exposed for the miles you are most likely to be running. Ask about the whole route. Your permit will also spell out any route review or escort requirements, worth reading early.

What kind of trailer does your machine need?

Two questions settle it most of the time. Does it run, and how tall is it.

A Landoll or traveling-axle trailer. The deck slides back and tilts down to the ground, so you winch the machine straight on at a shallow angle. No ramps and no drop-off at the end of the deck. This is what you want when the machine does not run, when it is tracked, or when the yard is tight. It will also load off bare ground in a field, which ramps will not do.

A lowboy or RGN. The gooseneck detaches, the front of the deck sits on the ground, and the machine drives on. Deck height is lower than almost anything else, which is the whole point when you are fighting that 13 foot 6 inch ceiling. The catch is that it wants a machine that runs and steers.

Sprayers deserve their own warning. High clearance, folding booms, a center of gravity sitting somewhere unhelpful, and plumbing you do not want a chain anywhere near. One that measures fine standing in the shed can still put you over height on a deck, because you have added the deck to a machine that was already tall.

Height problems point you toward a low deck. Dead machines point you toward a winch. Plenty of jobs are both at once, and that is worth saying out loud on the phone rather than letting a driver discover it in your yard.

How do you get a machine ready to load?

Most of the delay on a farm move has nothing to do with driving. It is the forty minutes spent standing around the yard sorting out something that could have been handled the day before.

• Get the real weight. Not “about thirty thousand.” The actual number, including whatever is still in the tank or hopper. Weight decides the trailer, the axle count, and whether a permit comes into it at all.
• Measure it as it sits. Not off the spec sheet. Spec sheets do not know about duals, aftermarket tires, a raised cab, or six inches of caked mud.
• Pull or fold the attachments. Heads, buckets, blades, markers, booms. A combine head normally rides on its own trailer, and that is easier to plan for than to figure out with a driver standing there.
• Empty the tank or hopper. Grain and liquid move around, and a load that shifts on a corner ruins everybody’s afternoon.
• Find your tie-down points. They are marked. A chain through a hydraulic line or across a sheet metal panel turns one bill into two.
• Look at the route. Low wires, posted bridges, crossings that will drag a low deck.

What happens when the truck shows up?

A good driver will walk the machine and the yard before anything moves. Expect questions, and expect the answers to change the plan.

The one that surprises people most often is room. A Landoll needs real length behind the truck to slide its deck back and tilt it down, and farmyards are full of grain bins, fences, and sheds sitting exactly where that space needs to be. Ground matters too. A trailer that has to back onto soft ground to load is a problem before the machine has moved an inch.

If you can, point the driver at firm ground with clear space behind it and nothing overhead. If you cannot, say so when you book. That is the kind of thing that decides which truck gets sent.

What if it is already down in a field or a ditch?

Then it is a recovery, and it helps enormously if you say that when you call.

A transport crew comes out expecting to load a machine that is sitting where it should be. A recovery crew comes out expecting to get one out of somewhere it should not be, which is a different truck, a different rigging plan, and usually a different amount of time.

Now some advice we will give whether or not it sends work our way. Resist letting a neighbor with a chain and a loader take a run at it first. It works often enough that everybody has a story about the time it worked. It also puts people underneath a machine that is not stable, and when it goes sideways the recovery costs more than it would have. Anything on its side, in water, or on a slope is worth a phone call before anyone touches it.

Hanifen’s recovery crews have pulled heavy farm equipment, rolled tractor-trailers, and vehicles out of the water. Tell us the ground and the position when you call. That is what determines what we send.

What to ask a hauler before you book

Search for farm equipment transport in Iowa and most of what comes back is a national broker with an 800 number who will sell your load to whoever answers. Nothing wrong with brokers as such. But know which one you have got on the phone, because a broker cannot tell you what is going to pull into your yard.

The useful questions are boring ones.

• What are you putting under it? A straight answer names the trailer.
• Who pulls the permit, and does it cover the county roads too? Not just the state highway leg.
• What is your cargo coverage limit? A late-model combine can outrun a policy written for general freight, and you want to know that now rather than after something happens.
• Have you moved this class of machine before? Somebody who hauls skid steers all week is not automatically ready for a sprayer.
• Where does it go if the shop cannot take it today? Equipment parked on a gravel shoulder overnight becomes somebody’s problem. Find out whose.

For our part, Hanifen Towing’s equipment transport runs on three Landoll trailers with ground loading and winching. That setup is built around machines that will not start and machines that have to come off soft ground, which is most of what gets called in around here. If a job turns into a recovery, the heavy wreckers and the 75-ton rotator are in the same building, so nobody has to coordinate two vendors. We also have 10 acres of secured, camera-monitored storage for when a machine needs somewhere to sit before the shop can take it. Hanifen has worked out of this yard off I-80 since 1959. Mostly what that means is we have already made the mistakes on somebody else’s schedule.

Our guide to heavy duty towing for fleets in Des Moines covers the wrecker and rotator side of this work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a permit to move my combine down a county road?

Generally no. Iowa Code 321.453 exempts implements of husbandry from size, weight, load, and permit requirements as long as the movement is off the interstate. The lighting, flag, and daylight-only conditions still apply. If any part of the trip touches I-80, I-35, or I-235, the exemption does not cover you.

What is the difference between a Landoll and a lowboy?

A Landoll tilts and slides its deck to the ground so a machine can be winched on, which is what you need when it will not start. A lowboy drops its gooseneck so a running machine can drive on, and gives you a lower deck height for tall equipment. Height problems point to a lowboy. Dead machines point to a Landoll.

Who pulls the oversize permit, me or the hauler?

On a commercial haul the carrier normally handles it. Confirm it anyway, and confirm which roads it covers, because the Iowa DOT issues permits for state and interstate highways only.

How far ahead should I schedule a move before harvest?

Earlier than most people do. Moves pile into the same handful of weeks every fall, and the machines that need hauling are usually the ones that just broke, which nobody has on a calendar. If you already know something has to reach the shop, get it booked now.

Getting a machine moved

For a scheduled equipment move anywhere in the Des Moines metro, from Ankeny and Waukee out to Adel, Indianola, and Colfax, contact Hanifen with the machine, its weight and dimensions, and where it needs to go. If something is already down in a field or a ditch and has to come out today, call 515-243-3205. Recovery runs around the clock.