# Which chip truck should I get?



## chhonos (Mar 27, 2015)

Hey guys, so I am new to the business as of last year and I am starting my own company this summer. So far I have purchased a Bandit 250xp chipper (6800lbs). I am looking to get a chip truck as well. I have narrowed down my choices to a few based on what I found to be the best deals I could find on the used market. Here is my dilemma. A manual Ford f550, year 2002 (payload 11,000lbs). Or a larger truck: either an F600,700,800. 
Now, I have noticed that the engine in the 550 is a 7.3L diesel ford engine, which seems to be good according to most people. I also noticed that in the 600,700,800...you can get the same engines. Through research, most people say the 5.9L diesel cummins engine is best on gas. I also found one with a 6.6L diesel cummins. The forum said that the automatic will give 200 more torque and thus should be slightly better on fuel. 

This is basically what I have narrowed it down to....

The questions that I need answered are as follows.

Between an f550 and the other larger trucks: will there be a large difference in the cost of labour and parts to fix them? 

Gas: with an average payload of say 7000lbs in the bed and pulling 6800lbs. Will an f550 use more or less gas than the other larger options? I noticed that the f550 is a lighter truck but has a bigger engine...while the larger trucks weigh more and have a smaller engine. My guess would be that they would be comparable on fuel consumption with a similar large load? The bigger truck would have a much easier time with braking because of the heavier mass and larger brakes?

Finally...I noticed that you can have the same engines in the f600,700 and 800. So what is the difference between these trucks? My guess is just a slight difference in payload? Does that mean that the hydrolic cylinder can take more weight on the larger models? I read that an f550 can take 11,000lbs. Does that mean that it can also dump 11,000lbs? Or is the lift cylinder rated for a different amount?

So basically what it comes down to is what I find for what price....my decision as to which model I get will be based on gas consumption with a full load and how much the different size trucks will cost for maintenance.
Hope you guys can help me make a decision!
Thanks
Chris


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## no tree to big (Mar 27, 2015)

If u go bigger then f550 I'd look at international we have more problems with the big fords our ford truck dealer also sucks... dt466! 20-25 yard box 9k pound chipper and we average 45 gallons a week or less and that's making a lunch chip run every day. 2.5 hours drive time a day.


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## chhonos (Mar 27, 2015)

I have been looking at everything....and international is quite a bit more expensive up here in Canada. I can pick up any of the trucks that I mentioned for a similar price. Anything international is quite a bit more expensive than the trucks I mentioned above. I know the Ford trucks can have problems....but they are so much cheaper...it leaves of a lot of lee way cash to fix them "if" something happens. 
Do you have any idea about the questions I asked above? Anyone else have any info on this subject for me?


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## no tree to big (Mar 28, 2015)

The real question is do you NEED a big truck or a little one do you have a close dump spot to dump small loads daily? Do you need a big chip box? A 7.3l is gonna get better mileage in a 550 vs 800 empty or loaded there's just less weight to move around the 800 will have more weight on it when it's loaded so u will use a lot more pedal to get where you are going. Imo a 7.3l is not enough motor in a big truck you have hills? I've known a 7.3l in a bucket with forestry package fully loaded with chips and chipper that couldn't get over 5 mph (auto) with a manual it would be different but would still be slow as crap. 
Do u do big jobs or little ones? Having A Small truck and making multiple runs a day is counter productive to a slightly more expensive truck to operate that moves more material.
If it can't dump what's in the bed there's a problem bigger the truck bigger the hoist


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## Griff93 (Mar 28, 2015)

I have an F550 chip truck. I has the same size box (11'6") as some of the larger chip trucks. You can get the F550s in a 19,500 GVWR configuration. They are easier/nicer to drive than some of the older larger trucks. Mine is 7.3 6 speed. It shouldn't have any problem doing what you are asking of it. My box is 5'6" tall. My lift cylinder doesn't have any problem dumping as much chips as I can stuff in it. I like that the F550 is fairly easy to maneuver into tight spots. I can get it to optimal places where I would have to leave a larger truck at the street. I'm averaging around 11 mpg towing and with a chip load. 19.5 tires are really expensive so do some looking before you get sticker shock. A full set of new tires for this truck is $2K. I'd buy mine again in a heartbeat.


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## treebilly (Mar 29, 2015)

Another nice thing about the 550 is it appears much smaller to customers. Big trucks tend to make people nervous about driveways and yards. It's also more common to find a 550 with 4 wheel drive than a bigger truck. As stated earlier it depends on your targeted work. Doing mostly trimming and small removals a small truck works great. Large removals on a regular basis a bigger capacity truck is much ore efficient. We have both so I'm spoiled at work


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## BC WetCoast (Mar 29, 2015)

Make sure the GVW of that 550 can handle that 250. Ours doesn't have a high enough GVW and we can't tow a 250 with it.


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## no tree to big (Mar 29, 2015)

Gvw or gvcw?


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## BC WetCoast (Mar 29, 2015)

Not sure. Just being an employee, I don't get into those details. We were just told not to tow the 250's because the 550 wasn't rated for it.


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## treebilly (Mar 29, 2015)

Huh? I can tow my 250xp with my Tahoe if I wanted to. They're advertising F-250's with 12000 towing capacity.


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## chhonos (Mar 30, 2015)

Good points guys!
So the only dump I have been able to find that doesn't cost a fortune to dump at is about a 30 min drive away. So about an hour of driving total to go to the dump. That is why I would like a larger truck so I will only have to go to the dump ever 2nd or 3rd day!
And "BC Wet Coast" I am pretty sure you are mistaken about towing....maybe you mean that if you MAX out the payload of the truck in the bed...that you cant tow a 250xp? The thing is...I am pretty sure that being a chip truck....even if you have a 7 foot tall box on an F550...that filling it to the max with chips won't come that close to the max payload. I guess it depends how wet the wood u are chipping is...but you should still be able to tow a 250xp with a completely full load on a 550.

My question isn't whether either a 550, 600, 700, or 800 can support my needs. I know any of them can. My question is "what is more expensive to fix" a 550 or any of the bigger trucks? 
And with a full payload, will a 550 still be better on gas than the others?


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## no tree to big (Mar 30, 2015)

Yes bigger truck means bigger repair bills sometimes but generally the production of the truck is more then enough and then some to cover that. As long as you have a decent work load get the biggest truck u can buy. In my area all the Mexicans have 1 tons all the reputable guys are rolling in international, kenworth or Pete! Very few 450 or 550 guys


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## cedar (Apr 1, 2015)

I have a 2001 F550 with a 12 foot forestry body. The GVW is 19,500 and the GCWR is 26,000. When fully loaded with wood chips the truck weighs around 18,000 lbs. My chipper weighs 5,000 and while the truck may be able to pull a larger chipper, I prefer not to max the truck out.


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## chhonos (Apr 3, 2015)

cedar said:


> I have a 2001 F550 with a 12 foot forestry body. The GVW is 19,500 and the GCWR is 26,000. When fully loaded with wood chips the truck weighs around 18,000 lbs. My chipper weighs 5,000 and while the truck may be able to pull a larger chipper, I prefer not to max the truck out.


So you would think that with an f550 with a full load and a bandit 250xp trailing behind....would be close to maxing out the truck?


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## greg storms (Apr 3, 2015)

I have both a ford 550 with gvw of 17500 and a Chevy 5500 with gvw of 19500. Ford has 7.3 turbo diesel and can pull over 26000. But, if your gcvw is > 26000#, you need a CDL A license. Otherwise, you need a CDL B licence. (Unless you title/register the truck in your personal name). The DOT to truck drivers is like OSHA to company owners: they're looking for regulations being broken to fine you! Be informed and work safely!


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## lone wolf (Apr 3, 2015)

chhonos said:


> So you would think that with an f550 with a full load and a bandit 250xp trailing behind....would be close to maxing out the truck?


No way.


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## treecutterjr (Apr 3, 2015)

I pulled 250xp with an '86 f350. 10 ft bed with roughly 6ft sides for a couple years. It Pulled and stopped fully loaded. So a modern 550 should have zero issues.


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## no tree to big (Apr 3, 2015)

greg storms said:


> I have both a ford 550 with gvw of 17500 and a Chevy 5500 with gvw of 19500. Ford has 7.3 turbo diesel and can pull over 26000. But, if your gcvw is > 26000#, you need a CDL A license. Otherwise, you need a CDL B licence. (Unless you title/register the truck in your personal name). The DOT to truck drivers is like OSHA to company owners: they're looking for regulations being broken to fine you! Be informed and work safely!


There is great debate over gvw and trailer weights in regards to liscence class.. in my state you can pull a 10k lb trailer on any license 10001 you need an A regardless of your trucks gvw half ton to semi the trailer weight controls if you need an A I drive a 60k pound truck and pull a chipper every now and then that puts me at about 69k and I'm still only on a class B


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## greg storms (Apr 3, 2015)

treecutterjr said:


> I pulled 250xp with an '86 f350. 10 ft bed with roughly 6ft sides for a couple years. It Pulled and stopped fully loaded. So a modern 550 should have zero issues.


A strict DOT guy is the issue that might cost you in fines. But, if stay away from the interstate scales, you may be lucky. Just don't get in any accident. The lawyers love to run up lawsuits on truckers!


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## treecutterjr (Apr 3, 2015)

no tree to big said:


> There is great debate over gvw and trailer weights in regards to liscence class.. in my state you can pull a 10k lb trailer on any license 10001 you need an A regardless of your trucks gvw half ton to semi the trailer weight controls if you need an A I drive a 60k pound truck and pull a chipper every now and then that puts me at about 69k and I'm still only on a class B


That is the way I understand it also. 

TRAILER over 10K gvwr =class a
GVWR over 26k= class b


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## Griff93 (Apr 4, 2015)

I fit 4 sweet gum trees and 1 oak tree's worth of limbs/brush in my F550 Wednesday. It had no problem pulling that and a BC1000XL around on hills. Filled up the tank Friday-$87. It will go about 300 miles on that towing.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Apr 4, 2015)

Commercial vs not is screwy because it varies by state.

Here if the truck is over 14k GVWR it's considered commercial. If the GVWR is over 26k you need a class B. If you have that truck and are towing a trailer over 10k, you need a class A.

Now the license on it's own isn't a big deal, aside from having to get a physical every 2 years for the med card it's no different than a regular license. 

To register the truck is where it gets expensive. It goes by weight, so it can be $600+ vs $200 for a regular truck.


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## lone wolf (Apr 4, 2015)

Griff93 said:


> I fit 4 sweet gum trees and 1 oak tree's worth of limbs/brush in my F550 Wednesday. It had no problem pulling that and a BC1000XL around on hills. Filled up the tank Friday-$87. It will go about 300 miles on that towing.


What does the 550 weigh? What does the chipper weigh? Are you under CDL with both?


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## Griff93 (Apr 4, 2015)

The 550 weighs just under 10,000 lbs. It can hold 14 yards of chips at 550 lbs per yard for 7,700 lbs. The chipper weighs 4700 lbs per listed spec. That gives me a combined full weigh of 22,400. Very rarely do I fill the bed completely full.


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## lone wolf (Apr 4, 2015)

Griff93 said:


> The 550 weighs just under 10,000 lbs. It can hold 14 yards of chips at 550 lbs per yard for 7,700 lbs. The chipper weighs 4700 lbs per listed spec. That gives me a combined full weigh of 22,400. Very rarely do I fill the bed completely full.


How do you think it would do pulling an 11000 lb chipper my bandit 1890?


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## Griff93 (Apr 4, 2015)

My f550 is a 7.3 6 speed truck with 4.88 gears. It would do it but I'd want more truck if I was going to do it everyday. I guess it wouldn't be to bad in a flat area. We have lots of hills here.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Apr 4, 2015)

I can tell you that every Ford diesel I have run I have no been impressed with. Maybe with a programmer and some work it wakes them up, but stock vs stock other brands... 

When I was in the Air Force we had a fleet of 96-2002 Dodges and Fords. The first time I ran a Ford (been running a Dodge for a while, as we had "assigned" trucks) I thought the park brake was stuck on... yeah.. that bad! I was pulling 2 loaded trailers with bombs up a hill and I started to smelling bad hot, burning smell. Then just about every light on the dash lit up and the truck quit. 
We had to pull about 20 loads on that hill over that week. We ended up killing 3 more F350s (burned up the engines!) until the motor pool told us we weren't allowed to use the Fords to pull, had to use Dodges. The Dodges pulled it no trouble.

Trucks looked like this:







At the shop we have a 1990 F-Super Duty (basically a 450 before there was a 450) with a 7.3L, A 2002? F350 crew cab with the 7.3L, 97 F350 with 7.3, 2005? F550 crew cab with the 6.0L and a 2007 F450 with the 6.0L (don't quote me on the years of the ? ones, I might be off a little).
I have run all of them and none have impressed me at all.

I have also run a several Duramax trucks and have owned several Cummins trucks.

The Fords... stand on it... .wait... wait... wait... wait... starts making a ton of noise... wait... wait... wait... oh... ok... starting to go. The 1990 isn't horrible being it's an old design, 185hp, but the others have no excuse. The F450 is a 6 speed, I figured that would pull real nice, but with a cord of wood (barely putting the trucks on the overloads) I could no joke win in a drag race with my 1983 Chevy C350 with a 160hp 350 and 4 speed.


Cliff Notes:
I'm not trying to badmouth any brand of truck, I truly have no preference to brand as long as it does the job. If I was shopping around, I would see about loading down whatever truck and taking it on the steepest hills you can find before buying it.


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## lone wolf (Apr 4, 2015)

Griff93 said:


> My f550 is a 7.3 6 speed truck with 4.88 gears. It would do it but I'd want more truck if I was going to do it everyday. I guess it wouldn't be to bad in a flat area. We have lots of hills here.


Its flat as a pancake here.


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## TheShanks (Apr 11, 2015)

Spent some time in an International. Slow as balls. It was geared kinda low and the worn Eaton fuller 6 speed didn't help. But it could tow a 4700lbs Vermeer without issue. That particular truck had a bigger and taller box than a trim lift and a massive locker behind the cab for gear for sure but had a really short set of tail gate doors witch ment you really could'nt fill it anymore than a trim lift box.


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## no tree to big (Apr 11, 2015)

TheShanks said:


> Spent some time in an International. Slow as balls. It was geared kinda low and the worn Eaton fuller 6 speed didn't help. But it could tow a 4700lbs Vermeer without issue. That particular truck had a bigger and taller box than a trim lift and a massive locker behind the cab for gear for sure but had a really short set of tail gate doors witch ment you really could'nt fill it anymore than a trim lift box.


What international? There are slow ones and fast ones we had an international with a crane on it 210 hp from factory 200+ thousand miles and a bazillion hours probably a lot less power... wouldn't do 55 on flat ground now we have chipper trucks that'll do 75 fully loaded and a 9k pound chipper it's all in the options homie. They make little chip boxes they make big chip boxes then they make bigger ones don't blame international cause some dillhole optioned a truck poorly. 
Make a bigger tailgate we have a converted contractors dump body with a 12 inch gate it's a pain the we have truck with a 30 inch gate it's awesome


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