Flatbed dump chip truck question.

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treecare

ArboristSite Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
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Location
Colorado
Hello,

I have been looking for a solid 14 to 16 ft flatbed dump I can put 8ft sides on for my wood chips.Has to have Allison Transmission auto.

I have looked at the topkicks, Internationals dt 4700, F650, f550, gmc c7500 f800 and the list goes on. Does anyone have some thoughts on a solid model for this purpose.

I have also told that no lower than 250 hp and double frame is important.

Thank you,

Tree care
 
Keep your eyes out for other models too. Old is ok too as long as it is solid. Mine is a 1988 Ford L9000 which had a 16' flat bed. 270hp. Single frame. 752,000 miles but runs like a top with little rust. Are you looking for a CDL truck? I looked for 2 years before I found what I was looking for.

Good Luck,

Mike
 
Hello,

I have been looking for a solid 14 to 16 ft flatbed dump I can put 8ft sides on for my wood chips.Has to have Allison Transmission auto.

I have looked at the topkicks, Internationals dt 4700, F650, f550, gmc c7500 f800 and the list goes on. Does anyone have some thoughts on a solid model for this purpose.

I have also told that no lower than 250 hp and double frame is important.

Thank you,

Tree care

its going to be hard to find what your looking for unless you spec one out new, heres a for instance what asplundh or any other major tree company uses for a 30 yard chip truck, a international 4700, single frame, dt466, 195 or 215 horse power and defiantly not automatic. same if it was a F750. i personally would just go buy a truck thats already togather rather then put something togather from scratch, that always ends up to be more expensive
 
My truck has a 16 foot long 6.5 foot high chip box. All smooth inside. 270 hp. 34,700 lb GVW. Pindle hitch. Total cost after building the body $10,000. If you wanna spec out a similar new truck you will spend $60,000+. The choice is yours. Its going to take a long long time to pay off that new truck. Its every company owners choice though. Here is a picture of mine.

View attachment 279805
 
A double frame would mean most probably a tandem rear axle. That means big bucks for registration, insurance, fuel, and lawn damage. You only need a double frame if you're putting together either a log truck, crane, or knuckleboom.
 
Mike, that's a sweet truck you put together. I look at upgrading my dump truck often and seem to be looking at Internationals or Ford L8000 series trucks the most. I would assume you have steep grades to deal with in Colorado so air brakes would be way more important there than in a flat state like South Jersey. I found that when you get to the 26,000-33,000GVW class trucks, its really hard to find a 16' flat bed dump, you almost have to custom make the truck you are looking for. The automatic may be a stumbling block as well, standards are much more common. One thing to remember, the older 5.9 Cummins, DT360 and DT466 Internationals can be tweaked very easily to get you into the 300hp range so don't count one out just because its at 165hp in its current trim.
 
Mike,

Thank you it has to be under cdl.

I have been looking for 5 months now.

Thank you for your help.

Treecare










Keep your eyes out for other models too. Old is ok too as long as it is solid. Mine is a 1988 Ford L9000 which had a 16' flat bed. 270hp. Single frame. 752,000 miles but runs like a top with little rust. Are you looking for a CDL truck? I looked for 2 years before I found what I was looking for.

Good Luck,

Mike
 
Very nice truck sir.

Thank You


My truck has a 16 foot long 6.5 foot high chip box. All smooth inside. 270 hp. 34,700 lb GVW. Pindle hitch. Total cost after building the body $10,000. If you wanna spec out a similar new truck you will spend $60,000+. The choice is yours. Its going to take a long long time to pay off that new truck. Its every company owners choice though. Here is a picture of mine.

View attachment 279805
 
Goose,

I did not know you could upgrade the hp.

Thank you for your help sir. Yes for sure air brakes.


Mike, that's a sweet truck you put together. I look at upgrading my dump truck often and seem to be looking at Internationals or Ford L8000 series trucks the most. I would assume you have steep grades to deal with in Colorado so air brakes would be way more important there than in a flat state like South Jersey. I found that when you get to the 26,000-33,000GVW class trucks, its really hard to find a 16' flat bed dump, you almost have to custom make the truck you are looking for. The automatic may be a stumbling block as well, standards are much more common. One thing to remember, the older 5.9 Cummins, DT360 and DT466 Internationals can be tweaked very easily to get you into the 300hp range so don't count one out just because its at 165hp in its current trim.
 
On our farm, for hauling forages (and grain), we have 4 home made haul trucks/dump trucks:

F750 - 16ft x 6ft x 8ft box w/6.5L Diesel (~140-160hp), 6 speed manual. This truck is old reliable. It doesn't do anything fast, but it always starts, always makes the turn and runs all day just sipping fuel, back and forth from field to farm. It'll run 55mph, wide open empty, and maybe 45-50 with 8-10 ton of silage in it. Also gets used as our own portable dumpster for hauling construction waste to the local dump once or twice a year.

(2) L8000's w/ 18ft x 6ft x 8ft box w/7.8L Diesel (~200-250hp), Allison Automatics. Both of these trucks are tandem axle's, one has a double frame for hauling grain, the other is just a single frame and only a forage hauler. Both trucks are quick, plenty powerful and have no issues running highway speeds, plus anyone can jump in and drive them because of the automatic trans.

L9000 w/22ft by 6 ft x 8ft box w/6v92 Detroit Diesel (350hp), Eaton 9-Speed, Tandem axle w/tag axle. This is a serious truck that requires an experienced truck driver to operate. It's long, has a horrible turning radius and the DD engine/Eaton 9 speed is not an easy combination to master. It does, however, allow us to haul 750-800 bushel of corn/beans/wheat to market at normal highway speeds. 350 hp makes this truck get up and boogy down the road, even with a full load on.

The F750 and both of the L8000's started out as delivery box trucks that we converted to haul trucks. The F750 is still a single axle truck, and we put tandem axle's under both L8000's to increase payload capacity. The L9000 was a straight body, milk hauler that we converted to our large grain truck.

I just wanted to share what some of the pros/cons were of the models I'm familiar with. The 6.5L and the 7.8L Ford Diesel's are amazingly reliable engines that start very well all year long and haven't given us any issues. The Allison Automatics have been just as reliable for us, even though they were old to begin with and are run in dry, dusty fields all year long. The 6 speed in the old F-750 has been kind of PITA the last few years as it has a lot of wear now and needs to be shifted very precisely or else the shift mechanism comes apart. We rebuilt it, but only parts available for this trans are used parts so it'll only last so long. We're kicking around the option of converting that truck to an Allison as well, though we'll have to change the Ring/Pinion gears in the read end if/when we go that route.

Converting a truck can be done and for quite the savings over buying one pre-built, but there are a lot of small things that come up when designing the hoist system, hydraulics system, re-routing exhaust, etc that rack the cost up quickly. We've also had our issues along the way, but most of those come from running loaded trucks through rough fields (broken springs, snagged lines, etc). We're also currently overhauling the 6V92 in the L9000 due to a spun main bearing ($$$).
 
If you wanna stay under CDL I wouldn't get a truck over 18,000 lbs as a chip truck. The reason is you will need to pull a chipper. Average decent sized chipper is 5K. I would look for a F-550 or Mitsubishi Fuso FH or FE180 which are basically the same truck, just the FH is the older model. Better useful load with the Mitsubishi but no 4WD. Depends on what you will use it for. The fuso has a phenomenal turning radius. You don't have to pay road tax under 18K too which saves a little money and some headaches. Getting your CDL isn't that hard either. Chips weigh about 500 lbs per yard. Do the math on a "under CDL" truck. Most of the time they will be over weight.

Mike
 
the ONLY way you can get away with a chip truck and stay under cdl is a typical 11 foot or 16 yard body. theres NO way you could be under cdl with a body that large, let alone put a chipper behind it.
 
its going to be hard to find what your looking for unless you spec one out new, heres a for instance what asplundh or any other major tree company uses for a 30 yard chip truck, a international 4700, single frame, dt466, 195 or 215 horse power and defiantly not automatic. same if it was a F750. i personally would just go buy a truck thats already togather rather then put something togather from scratch, that always ends up to be more expensive

Whatever you do, DONT BUY A TRUCK FROM TRI STATE FORESTRY EQUIPMENT (jo6wo), unless you like to pay for a over priced pile of crap with a new paint job.
 
You got ripped too?

luckly no, but i have had my dealings with him. He had the nerve to tell me "not to piss him off because he is the only forestry equipment dealer in the tri state area". I drove to Georgia to buy a used grinder so i didnt have to deal with wing nuts like him.
 
luckly no, but i have had my dealings with him. He had the nerve to tell me "not to piss him off because he is the only forestry equipment dealer in the tri state area". I drove to Georgia to buy a used grinder so i didnt have to deal with wing nuts like him.

What do you know about forestry equipment of Virginia? They build new aerial lifts I was thinking about a Ford F750 2012 with a Cummins and Hi ranger 55 ?
 
I have never heard anything bad about them. There is a couple guys in the comercial threads that live down that way and may have more info about them.
 

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