Interpretation ID: 18617-5

Mr. David R. Button
Wegman, Hessler, Vanderburg & O'Toole
Suite 200
6055 Rockside Woods Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44131

Dear Mr. Button:

This responds to your request that we reevaluate a February 2, 1988, interpretation from this office that log splitters are motor vehicles subject to Federal motor vehicle safety standards. We apologize for the delay in responding. Based on the new information you have given us, we conclude that the log splitters are not motor vehicles.

Our 1988 interpretation letter had responded to an inquiry from Mr. John V. McFadden, former President of MTD Products, Inc. (MTD), which manufactures a line of log splitters. He had described the log splitter as "mounted on a frame carriage equipped with highway high speed wheels and a trailer towing hitch." We concluded from the product literature, and from the provision of highway speed tires with the product, that the log splitters were motor vehicles, in that they would likely make frequent use of the highway and would likely stay at one particular "job site" for a limited amount of time. We also concluded that the log splitters were "trailers," a type of motor vehicle defined in our regulations and subject to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

Your new letter gives substantially more background on the log splitters than was provided us in 1988, and asks us to reconsider. You state that the MTD's log splitters are manufactured and sold to consumers through retail establishments such as Sears and Home Depot, in their power tools departments. The log splitter is sold in a box, and the trailer hitch and wheels must be assembled by the consumer. You state that the product is unsuitable for commercial use. You also state that consumer would likely use the log splitter only incidentally, if at all, on the public roadways, and that the MTD's owner's guide indicates that the product is not designed to be used frequently on the public roads. You further state that the product would spend most of its life in storage in a barn or shed, and that the use of the product is seasonal, amounting to only a few weekends a year.

Our statute, at 49 USC 30102(a)(6), defines "motor vehicle" as "a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways, but does not include a vehicle operated only on a rail line." "Trailer"is defined in 49 CFR 571.3 as "a motor vehicle with or without motive power, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by another motor vehicle."

Based on the new information you provided, we have reconsidered our 1988 interpretation. We conclude that MTD's line of log splitters are normally purchased for use by an individual consumer, since the product is sold in the power tools section of department stores and other retail stores, requires final assembly by the purchasing consumer, and appears to be unsuitable for high-volume commercial use. Assuming you are correct that these log splitters, sold to individual consumers, are likely used on the public roads infrequently, if at all, we conclude that the log splitters are not manufactured primarily for use on the public roads and are thus not motor vehicles under our statute. If we discover that these vehicles are being used on the road more frequently than you have represented to us, then we might reach a different conclusion.

Since the log splitters are not motor vehicles under our statute, they do not have to meet Federal motor vehicle safety standards. This means that the Federal government in the United States does not regulate them. Our conclusion has no effect on the status of these vehicles in other countries. Moreover, we encourage you to check State regulations, because they may require MTD's product to have certain equipment (e.g., lights and tires) to maximize the safe operation of the product on the highways.

If you have further questions, please contact Paul Atelsek of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
cc: Consumer Product Safety Commission
ref:VSA#571.3#591
d.6/1/99