ASABE Releases Vote on Five-Part Braking Standard

Several members have requested an update on the status of the proposed five-part braking standard known as X648.

The Association learned this week that while all sections received enough votes to be approved, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) must now respond to comments submitted during the process.

The project lead will pursue resolutions to the comments and determine if another vote is necessary.

It is believed that the ballot will be available for the summer ASABE meeting in Boston, which is July 8-11. The earliest the society would publish the revised standards would be August 2019.

Here are the results for each section.

• X648-1, Agricultural Field Equipment Braking—Part 1: General Requirements: Twenty voting member approval votes; no disapproval votes or abstentions. Seven voting members did not vote.
   
• X648-2, Part 2: Requirements for Agricultural Tractors: Twenty-one voting member approval votes; no disapproval votes or abstentions. Six voting members did not vote.
   
• X648-3, Part 3: Requirements for Self-Propelled and Special Self-Propelled Equipment. Fourteen voting member approval votes; three disapproval votes and one abstention. Nine voting members did not vote. (This section is the most likely to require an additional ballot.)
   
• X648-4, Part 4: Requirements for Towed Equipment: Eighteen voting member approval votes; no disapproval votes and one abstention. Eight voting members did not vote.
   
• X648-5, Part 5: Requirements for the Interface between Towing Vehicle and Towed Vehicle(s): Nineteen voting member approval votes; no disapproval votes or abstentions. Eight voting members did not vote.

Members wishing for additional information on this and other proposed standards can find that information as it becomes available at FarmEquip.org/Standards.