Minnesota MV laws

Hi all,
I am new to this and before I really get started I was wondering what the MN laws are... I know WI just rained on I was hoping MN was better. I searched MN DMV and this awesome site and found nothing. Any help or links are greatly appreciated
APDL

Depends on what you are buying, how you are licensing it and whether you have a place to store it. A little more info will get you a better answer.

Lets say I have a M35, what are the licensing options?
For this example, I have a spot next to my garage.
I hope this is the correct place for this thread.

Thanks for the help!

I bought a m35a3 from scott in blaine he took care of titling and licensing it. I park it at my parents place outside with full coverage insurance. And the police or the neighbors have not complained about it. But this is in Isanti county.

You can put every day driver plates on the truck (yearly fee like whats on your car) and collector plates (pay once for lifetime). Each is different in use/requirements. Parking outside along your garage your city can still tell you it has to leave due to ordanances like what happened to me.

Awesome, that is what I was looking for!

Ya check with your local city ordinances, if I remember correctly you can not park a truck with "Y" plates on a city street overnight and of course stay off the parkways or anywhere else you see the "no trucks" signs. I don't know of any state laws regarding restrictions on former military vehicles. Just drive it and have fun!

Oh and as far as licensing options you can go with collector plates (some restrictions) or regular truck (Y) plates, or if you had a farm you can always go with farm plates. So do you have a deuce or still in the market? Because if you do you need to post up some pics!

testing the waters...
always wanted a Mil spec Hummer, Co worker of mine has 5 M35s i guess one is a wrecker that is a 5 ton so not sure if that is a M35. I got to play with them yesterday so it got me thinking about it again!

Thanks for all your help gents

Relatively speaking, Minnesota is fairly MV friendly compared to cheeseland to the east. It's your local laws and HOAs that can give you the biggest headache. Read up and make sure you meet all the MN DOT requirements for being on the road and the state will leave you alone. It's when you get home and park it that you have issues with the city.

Here is a good start for information from the state:

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=169

Good luck in your search for a truck!

Collector plates in MN are a mixed bag - you just license them once, but you can't use the vehicle for "transportation" - by definition, you can only go to events, trail rides, and maintenance check rides. You can be stopped if you decide to pick up groceries with an M35. You can be stopped if you have a load of lumber. You can be stopped if you decide to drive it to work on a nice day. You're better off with a "Y" plate. They will cost a bit more, but there aren't any driving problems (other than truck routes, etc). You need to park it off the road, and out of sight (which is why my garage has a door that's 10 x 12'), or the city can order it moved.

Vehicle has to be 20 years old to get collector plates in MN. I just registered my 98 M35A3, I surely tried.
I didn't get Y plates either. They registered it under 1 ton plates. Works for me.

Your options with a vehicle not eligible for collector plates is Y plates or 1 ton plates.
My local registrar in Princeton had no clue how to register the vehicle. They called down to St. Paul I presume and were told to put it on 1 ton plates, which worked out good as I wanted support our troops plates.

Well turns out the Support our troops 1 ton plates I was given aren't supposed to be on the deuce, they made me turn them in for noncommercial plain plates... Kinda ironic I can't get support our troops plates for a MV!!!!

Depends on your DMV, I've got the "support out troops" plates on mine and I just renewed them last week.

I've said it before - be careful of collector plates - they can bite 'ya with the restrictions. And its better if you have an off-street place to park it that can't be seen from the street. If all else fails, maybe you can store it in one of the RV storage sites (but it becomes kinda hard to work on).
Playing licensing games can also bite 'ya if a neighbor complains about the truck - then you are suddenly visible to city hall.

I guess those of us who live in the country are kind of spoiled, I guess no worries about where to park on a farm. As far as licensing my five ton I spoke with the DMV, and they said if I intend to use it for farm related purposes, I need to pass all regs in regard to clearance lights, and license plate lights and the works all pertaining to commercial vehicles. Which I don't really mind, it's just a little more work, but in the end she'll be street legal.
For farm, related purposes hauling my own materials, and farm/forestry products, you do not need to have a CDL up to 80,000lbs. but please keep in mind that this only applies to farmers hauling their own product, and you still need to comply with inspection regs. (liquid or hazmat excluded)
Hope this helps

tie6044 said:

Ya check with your local city ordinances, if I remember correctly you can not park a truck with "Y" plates on a city street overnight and of course stay off the parkways or anywhere else you see the "no trucks" signs. I don't know of any state laws regarding restrictions on former military vehicles. Just drive it and have fun!

Oh and as far as licensing options you can go with collector plates (some restrictions) or regular truck (Y) plates, or if you had a farm you can always go with farm plates. So do you have a deuce or still in the market? Because if you do you need to post up some pics!

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Hi, I saw this about the Reg and "Y" plate on a M35, but, what about a 1984 M928 5 ton?, My GF lives in Mankato MN and we're looking at a few acre place a little north, so will the "Y" plate work for me?, wouldn't be for daily use, few times a month more like! Thanks! ;o)

Y plate is any vehicle that is 10k lbs or higher. They can be registered as non-commerical. Since a 5-ton is 10k lbs (I assume that is Max GVW?) then it would get a Y plate. (Ford F350, Chevvy 3500, etc all get Y plates for the same reason.)

As mentioned definitely check local ordinances, some cities have size and weight limits for vehicles that are parked outside. Since Mankato is a college town, I wouldn't be surprised if they have some sort of limits, especially for on-street parking.

Out of town in the rural area, usually the counties rules are simply that you can't have more then a certain number of un-licensed vehicles.. so as long as they're licensed it's not an issue.

mgFray said:

Y plate is any vehicle that is 10k lbs or higher. They can be registered as non-commerical. Since a 5-ton is 10k lbs (I assume that is Max GVW?) then it would get a Y plate. (Ford F350, Chevvy 3500, etc all get Y plates for the same reason.)

As mentioned definitely check local ordinances, some cities have size and weight limits for vehicles that are parked outside. Since Mankato is a college town, I wouldn't be surprised if they have some sort of limits, especially for on-street parking.

Out of town in the rural area, usually the counties rules are simply that you can't have more then a certain number of un-licensed vehicles.. so as long as they're licensed it's not an issue.

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Hi, yes its 10K, the Y plate is it then!, and we would be in a Ural area a few miles out, I'll check the Ordinances as you mentioned, thanks a bunch!, I'll update the status when we're settled! CHEERS! Have a fun, safe weekend!

Troyboy666 said:

Hi, yes its 10K, the Y plate is it then!, and we would be in a Ural area a few miles out, I'll check the Ordinances as you mentioned, thanks a bunch!, I'll update the status when we're settled! CHEERS! Have a fun, safe weekend!

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Something else occurred me to. The current MN Military Vehicle laws state that if a vehicle has a civilian equivalent it can be registered. Otherwise they have a system where (former) MV are supposed to be owned by a non-profit with a special registration. I don't know anything about the M35 and if there was any sort of civilian equivalent or if it's old enough it's not an issue or... There is a local group that might know more. Red Bull Historic Military Vehicle Association. (I'm not a member, but I've talked with people at car shows and they all seemed relatively knowledgable.)