What size of truck makes a good chip truck?

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ForTheArborist

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I want to pull a big load of chips and a 5k lb chipper. What kind of hp and GVW should I be looking for?

I've seen a descent buy - CAT 3126 + GVW 25,500 for the truck. The plate for the engine says this exactly:
ADV 210 HP 156.5

I'm assuming that the engine is set for 156.5 hp now, but it could be advanced to 210 hp. Is that right?

How big of a load of chips could I haul along with a bigger sized chipper on that truck?
 
Chips are about 500 lb. per yard.

So if the truck is let's say 15,000lb an the chiper is 5,000lb = 20,000lb

So on a 25,500 cgvw it would hold about 5,500 lb's of chips or about 11 yards
 
Chips are about 500 lb. per yard.

So if the truck is let's say 15,000lb an the chiper is 5,000lb = 20,000lb

So on a 25,500 cgvw it would hold about 5,500 lb's of chips or about 11 yards

I was way off. I assumed a yard was closer to 1,000lb, but now that I think of it, that is more like cement than wood.

It looks like I'm going to have to get a 33k GVW truck then based on everything I've read on the forums so far. 14k (weight of truck) + 5k (weight of chipper) + 10k (weight of chips) well that's 29,000lb. I'm getting the 8x8x12' box for 10k lb of chips based on your 500lb per yard estimate.

It looks like you have a lot of experience with rigs. What kind advice would you have about getting a 33k GVW truck? What kind of insurance fees, registration fees, CDL fees etc are involved in a guy like this???
 

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