Dump Truck

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No way you're getting two real cord on a 350 series truck legally.

550 maybe, depending on the weight of bed and cab and that would still be pushing it.
 
If delivering local do a cord on the truck if delivering out of town pull the trailer.

Beats dealing with the Dot or a tow truck.
 
I have be en looking for years for a dump truck reasonably priced. I've destroyed my heavy half ton truck trying to haul wood. It's not been an easy road. Almost had a 6.5 1 ton but they were priced too high with a bad clutch and some rust issues. I need some advice,I'll run anything as long as it dumps and has 4wd.
 
I have a Ford C60 same as a F600, but with a tilting cab. I really need the short wheel base here. At the present time it has a steel 12' bed which weighs about 4,000 lbs. I have considered making a stake bed to lower the weight and make more room for more cords. With both gas tanks full and tool box full of tools truck weighs about 11,000 lbs. The factory recommended gross weight as manufactured was 20,000, but since ownership truck has been updated. At the time of manufacture the combination weight was not stated so how much can it pull legally depends mostly on the braking system. The manual implies that it depends upon engine option as to ccgw. Dot has allowed me a little grace since I haul agriculture products. However they have warned me not to push the envelope. My biggest load with the truck has been 45,000 lbs and crossed the scales with no problem. I think a more agreed up weight would be 40,000 lbs or less. 3 cords on the truck 3 or 4 cords on the trailer. To have that truck 4wd would be a night mare to operate. It would be easy to get a 4wd running gear for the truck, but pricey. So I have two F250 4wd and a skid steer loader which seems to make every thing work. Thanks
 
I have a Ford C60 same as a F600, but with a tilting cab. I really need the short wheel base here. At the present time it has a steel 12' bed which weighs about 4,000 lbs. I have considered making a stake bed to lower the weight and make more room for more cords. With both gas tanks full and tool box full of tools truck weighs about 11,000 lbs. The factory recommended gross weight as manufactured was 20,000, but since ownership truck has been updated. At the time of manufacture the combination weight was not stated so how much can it pull legally depends mostly on the braking system. The manual implies that it depends upon engine option as to ccgw. Dot has allowed me a little grace since I haul agriculture products. However they have warned me not to push the envelope. My biggest load with the truck has been 45,000 lbs and crossed the scales with no problem. I think a more agreed up weight would be 40,000 lbs or less. 3 cords on the truck 3 or 4 cords on the trailer. To have that truck 4wd would be a night mare to operate. It would be easy to get a 4wd running gear for the truck, but pricey. So I have two F250 4wd and a skid steer loader which seems to make every thing work. Thanks

Interesting Truck.

Please share pictures when you get time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
hsell I had this picture stored some where. This is what my truck looked liked many years ago. I extended the sides to over 4' tall. She is much more faded and has several scratches now. I have been through four engines since I have had her. Getting ready to freshen up the heads and see if we can make another go around with her. She was a county DOT truck before I got her. Thanks
 

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I've wanted to build a or buy a dump truck for years.

I acquired a C3500HD with no title, and a bad transmission for inexpensively for the engine, but got bitten by the bug of the beef of these machines compared to anything else I'd seen in that weight class and for that price point.

How important is it to have 4wd in a dump?
 
I've wanted to build a or buy a dump truck for years.

I acquired a C3500HD with no title, and a bad transmission for inexpensively for the engine, but got bitten by the bug of the beef of these machines compared to anything else I'd seen in that weight class and for that price point.

How important is it to have 4wd in a dump?
In my opinion it is very good to have with my wood in a yard that has mud.
 
I only delivered one winter. I got stuck so many times when empty. I carried a bucket of ashes and some old tire chains. The chains did not fit the truck but I could lay them out on the ground to get rolling.
There we other issues too. The tarps covering the firewood were difficult to deal with, the forklift has industrial tread tires that packed down the snow to a glaze. I was going sideways as much as forward much of the time. Pallets balled up with snow on the bottom. Driveways were often narrow for a larger truck and any slope when empty I was spinning tires and stuck. Backing in driveways was often the case. The truck, an older 5500 Top Kick, has a 3126 Cat and transmission that accounts for half the weight of the truck when empty. I'm glad to sell out before the snow flies. Hard on the truck to sit all winter though. Plates and insurance is due this month, $590. plates and $700.+ insurance. Thinking about a dump trailer instead with no insurance and a permanent plate.IMG_0311.jpg IMG_0324.jpg IMG_0330.jpg IMG_0327.jpg IMG_0328.jpg IMG_0318.jpg
 
I'm not commercial, but my 5000 pound dump trailer with permanent plates, the insurance is only like $12 per month extra and that is full replacement, and it's 14 years old.

When we had dumps they were F600's , two wheel drive, 12' chipper boxes with 6' steel sides. I don't remember them being a problem. Got stuck in the yard and just pulled them out with a loader. Four wheel drive would be better

I can tell you that my new F150 4X4 with electronic axle lock is a night and day difference over 2 wheel drive.

Before we got the F600, we had a 68 C50. It would hold 2 cord no sweat. But, one day I left with 2 cord on it. It had been wet and was sunk in the mud up to the hubs, had to take a 4X4 to help get out. I delivered the wood, met the men on a job and got another load of wood and headed home. A cold front had moved in that morning and the mud had frozen up pretty good during the day. I pulled into the yard and the tires hit those frozen ruts and ripped the steering wheel out of my grip. That wheel spun around so fast it hit the bones on the back of my hand about 20 times. Thought every bone was broke. After a while the feeling came back and I survived, but I sure liked the power steering in all of our new trucks. Our brand new 72 C30 12' stake body pulled a chipper or Vermeer model 15 stump grinder. The stump grinder was heavy enough to push the truck. The chipper was an Asplundh 16" with Ford 300 six, it was heavy too. The GVW on the C30 was 17,000. When Dad retired I kept the C30 for my firewood truck and retitled it to 10,000 pounds, saved me a lot on tags.
 
I've wanted to build a or buy a dump truck for years.

I acquired a C3500HD with no title, and a bad transmission for inexpensively for the engine, but got bitten by the bug of the beef of these machines compared to anything else I'd seen in that weight class and for that price point.

How important is it to have 4wd in a dump?
I thought the 4x4 would be a big deal when I bought this truck. But since it’s a small block gas engine and the bed is super heavy (it’s 7k empty) and it has an axle with limited slip. It goes really well. I’ve honestly been shocked how it gets around. It will go anywhere my 17 Chevy 2500 4x4 diesel will. It just spins 2 tires in 4x4 and has junky all terrain tires on it. I’ve not had it on ice though, we have had a really mild winter. Sand is no issue, shallow mud no problem (doesn’t steer well in it though) wet grass is all good.

I think If it was a diesel I’d be having trouble in a lot of places I’ve been. It also probably helps in sand that it doesn’t have enough power to spin a tire.

I haven’t modded my bed to stack wood In it. I’ve been just throwing it in. You can get 1.5 cords on if you heap it. Here is a cord or so of green wood in it. It won’t go much faster than 65 loaded, the 5.8 is a dog. I need to get some tires on my dual wheels before I explode these “super singles” .

if your going to abuse the thing get a PTO truck not electric. I can dump anything I load and super fast. Blowing out the tires is the only limits this thing has.

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For my use having another 4x6 is not an option. For some having a all wheel drive might be the best ticket for them. For going across scales having the lightest truck possible only makes sense. Having front wheel drive with transfer case and all eliminates one cord of wood capacity. I also built a sixteen foot wood lined stake bed that dumps which is much lighter than the all steel bed. All I have to do most of the time is have a snow shovel handy for loading up the back of the bed with a few yards of snow and ice and away I go. I do not try to move the trailer around until the truck is maxed out. Any time there is more than two or three inches of snow the chains go on. I use the large cleated type. Same when it gets muddy. My largest legal load has been 45,000 lbs. The cab over is essential for tight turning areas. Thanks
 
I only delivered one winter. I got stuck so many times when empty. I carried a bucket of ashes and some old tire chains. The chains did not fit the truck but I could lay them out on the ground to get rolling.
There we other issues too. The tarps covering the firewood were difficult to deal with, the forklift has industrial tread tires that packed down the snow to a glaze. I was going sideways as much as forward much of the time. Pallets balled up with snow on the bottom. Driveways were often narrow for a larger truck and any slope when empty I was spinning tires and stuck. Backing in driveways was often the case. The truck, an older 5500 Top Kick, has a 3126 Cat and transmission that accounts for half the weight of the truck when empty. I'm glad to sell out before the snow flies. Hard on the truck to sit all winter though. Plates and insurance is due this month, $590. plates and $700.+ insurance. Thinking about a dump trailer instead with no insurance and a permanent plate.View attachment 787219 View attachment 787220 View attachment 787221 View attachment 787222 View attachment 787223 View attachment 787224

I work along the same lines myself. Once the white stuff is on the ground, I am happily out of the delivery business. I still cut and haul wood to my own place, but at least I know where I am going and what I am getting into.
 
First photo, I was stuck, got out going in reverse (tear drop circle drive off to right), only to slide off when I was trying to keep it going but didn't make the curve.
The next one was slippery forks.
Seventh photo is ice that pooled in the tarp and I moved it with the forklift.
Last one was a flat tire.
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Sandhill The kind of day your having is the reason when I did sell wood I was out when the weather got like your having. We were always busy at my full time job in the winter and I had cows to feed and snow to plow when I got home in the morning after working 12 hours at work. Hope things get to going better.
 
Hope things get to going better.
These are seven year old photos. When I first started doing firewood for customers I did not have a pickup or truck. Didn't sell much the first year because of that. Had lots of wood the following winter, and that is when these pictures are from. Have sold out each fall since. Today we have less than an inch of snow, but it is mixed with ice. More snow and rain this week. The truck is parked till spring.
In the background of one of the photos is a bunch of empty wood racks, all dumped around the edge of the driveway for lack of a place to put them due to the snow. We got clobbered that winter.
 
Interesting point about the cost of registration of a heavier truck. Technicality some of the things I do with my half ton truck are probably illegal as hell when it comes to gvwr. It's well as equipped as a 3/4 ton truck, but still plated as notso.

It will cost around double normal to register a heavy duty truck like a dump (around 300 a year), no idea what insurance would be. Almost the entire time I need a dump truck, it's off-road or in snow. Even with a tiny 2 wheel trailer it's been enough to get my truck stuck where I have to go rescue the trailer with farm equipment.

I'm not actually in business so my situation is not as dire as what sandhill crane posted. But the amount of work saved by carelessly heaping and dumping multiple different commodities is insane.
 
Sure love my farm plates here in WI. $45 for 2 years for anything up to 12,000#. Have to use it "primarily" for farm use, but you can use it for personal use as long as it's under 38k#. Only thing you can't do is drive it to an off farm job. You could drive it to an independent contractor job, just not a regular employee kinda job.
 
You talk about farm plates. A couple of years ago we got stopped in one of those road side checks during the holidays looking for DUI drivers. {Safety Checks} had the wife's jeep that has farm plates on it as it is belongs to our farm corp. Cop wrote me a ticket and said you can't have farm plates on a personal vehicle I said this is not a personal vehicle look at the pink slip its not in my name. He said see you in court. Had to mess around and call the county attorney and get the ticket dropped. A bunch of time spent for nothing we have had a farm plate on different Jeeps for well over 30 years.
 
That's why I got a ticket in the first place.
Secretary of State handing out commercial plates and not knowing what they're talking about when it comes to DOT rules/regulations/requirements.
At the time there was a six or eight question check list on the Sec. of State web site to see if DOT registration was required.
I did it and the answer was also no.
Of course I did not print it out, and can no longer find it on line for Michigan.
Most local police do not know the DOT regulations either.
 
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