one ton dump or bigger????

[gilraine]

I'm in the market for a dump truck and am on the fence as to whether a 1 ton dump truck will be enough for me... I had a 78 C60 for a few months last year, but it was involved in a accident and totaled...I'm not looking at CDL trucks at all.. but if you had one dump truck for farm and tree service use, what would it be???the tree care would be a part time gig, but I would need the truck on the farm I'm getting willed in the near future.

 

[ropensaddle]

here is mine

I really like it one it is easy to get into back yards,two it is paid for,three it is easy to work on!

 

[ropensaddle]

I like it but also have a grapple truck for the big jobs I however loaded it down today with chips and it chipped over half the grapple load I brought home I lost some washers in the load and decided to chip and see how much of the load I could eliminate! I plan to put those air bags in my rear springs so I can stiffin it up. I ordered new king pins pivot bushings and radius bushings so it will be like new driving this week. I have been driving it daily but want the front end rebuilt.

 

[lxt]

I agree with ropes, a 1-ton is nice, Im thinking about selling the 5-ton Int. its a nice truck but......the way the economy is right now??? Im thinking low overhead & put the cash away for the rainy days ahead.

you can always sell a 1-ton if its not what you want, anything over that & selling it gets harder.

good luck!!


LXT.....................

 

[HorseShoeInFork]

Depends on how much you are going to be using it and how much you can spend. You can pick up a bigger truck (over 1ton) but under CDL for less money than a 1 ton in most cases. If the one ton dumps are worth having they usually go for good $$$.

 

[48"BAR PINCHER]

C70, F750 etc..... 7 - 8 ton payload is the only way to go. Ive had the 3500HD Chevys (15KGVW) and F550's (19K GVW). 3-3.5 tons max legal payload on them. You would be suprised how little a 3 ton load is. It hard to justify charging a customer what you need to get with those little trucks. And the payload of a bigger one offsets a good bit of that. THe other things to consider is maybe a GN dump trailer on a flatbed truck or do what I did for a few years and find a local guy with a truck and throw him all your hauling and get him to cut you a break. Dumps are expensive to insure and run if you really don't need one often

 

[gilraine]

C70, F750 etc..... 7 - 8 ton payload is the only way to go. Ive had the 3500HD Chevys (15KGVW) and F550's (19K GVW). 3-3.5 tons max legal payload on them. You would be suprised how little a 3 ton load is. It hard to justify charging a customer what you need to get with those little trucks. And the payload of a bigger one offsets a good bit of that. THe other things to consider is maybe a GN dump trailer on a flatbed truck or do what I did for a few years and find a local guy with a truck and throw him all your hauling and get him to cut you a break. Dumps are expensive to insure and run if you really don't need one often

my 78 C60 was cheaper to insure than my 94 k1500 was, maybe thats a state to state thing?

 

[flushcut]

A one ton will be okay, but at times you will wish you had a larger one. Wood weight adds up really quick. If you are pulling a chipper as well and have a full load of chips your tranny won't last long. I have a f450 and it's alright for now as I do mostly prunings and rarely have a full load of chips. It's fine for firewood.

 

[ropensaddle]

Really it matters what you do ,or expect to do. Truck craft makes a nice insert But if your expecting to chip all day without going to the dump a larger truck would be necessary. In the same token if your in many tight spots with sodded yards the appeal of a lighter yet capable truck would be a plus.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

I'm with rope...the one ton is the way to go if you only have one choice. Which is what the tread is about.

I have a 71 c60 w/tag axle, but i'm thinking about getting rid of it. It was only purchased to get me through one contract and that is over with. It has too many issues.

I have a 75 chevy, but i'm wanting to upgrade to a newer 4x4 crew with a diesel, I prefer a Ford nowadays. I'll keep the old '75, it is easy to work on and it paid for itself over and over, though I might get an older ford instead, if I can find a 4x4 in similar condition to rope's truck. I've pulled a Vermeer 1400xl with a load and the 350/sag3spd did fine. Howbeit, it is fairly flat here.

Plenty of one ton dumps on ebay this week to choose from.

 

[highpointtree]

The bigger the better.

 

[gwiley]

Although I voted heavier, I second the "lighter" paperwork required for the 1-ton trucks. My 1-ton is under the radar - keeps insurance and registration lower. Another benefit of the 1-ton trucks is that they are a lot more common than the heavier ones which translates to easier to get/cheaper parts. You will have better luck at both the parts store and the junk yard when you need it.

On the other hand, there are times when I really wish I had a bit more punch under the hood. Hauling a 16' tandem trailer loaded with logs through some of the hills around here with the 1-ton gets dicey. I am pretty sure that my F-350 is going to breathe its last gasp next year dragging logs.

If you expect to have to move logs or something like skid steers very often then you will be happier with the heavier trucks.

 

[Oldtimer]

Love my F550 4x4 PSD. Better brakes, better payload, still a pickup cab.

 

[ropensaddle]

The bigger the better.

Lol lets see it go in back yards bro?! Nice truck though if I am going heavywork load I am in old ugly

 

[Finn1]

I've got a '99 F450 4X4 with a V10. It weighs just under 10000 lbs empty with an 8' steel electric over hydraulic dump with drop down sides and has a max chassis GVW of 15500.

Unfortunately, with a load of road gravel in the 8 foot dump bed it scales at ~18500 if I'm not careful.

Mi commercial plates allow for 24000lb before the price break, so I think something like an F650 would be a better deal for any real hauling. Anything above an F350 requires commercial plates and insurance (at least through State Farm) in Michigan.

The F450 4X4 does make a relatively maneuverable plow rig with a 9' Boss plow, but a pickup with narrow tires would be a lot better for plowing. A F650 would be too large for my plowing situation.

The F450 is sort of a "one size fits all" compromise, but isn't optimum for any one given task. An F350 would be useless as far as cargo weight capacity goes, as the empty weight with a steel dump is too close to the loaded GVW specification.

Mine is a V10. Mileage sucks (10 mpg empty, 6-7 mpg loaded, and 1 1/2 mpg plowing). I only paid $4800, including the plow, a year and a half ago with 70000 mi. The V10 works out cheaper than a diesel for my use, even with the poor mpg and realizing that gas will eventually return to $5.00/gal, considering I'll probably put fewer than 3000 miles / year on the truck.

 

[crashagn]

Ive been also in the same boat.. Been using a 1/2ton Chevy and a3/4ton pickup box trailor. I was looking at 1ton dualy flatbeds and the ole father stepped in tellin me the way i overload the halfton to not even look at a 1ton and ill end up breakin the studs off the axles. Been keepin an eye out for a cheep C60 or IH loadstar with dump bed... Heck, i was even gandered at a dodge d500 but for some reason the 318 wideblock made me have a bad feeling on availability and costs. I think youll just have to decide on what you want, what your going to be hauling and the "what ifs" along with the costs per year for license, registration and maintenance

 

[bullseye13]

The 78 c60 sounds like it would have been perfect. The tags and registration and insurance gets funny though. I did a quote through state farm im pa for one of these, and the insurance was like 400 a year. It greatly depends on your location of storage though. Registration is about 350 a year in pa. Ouch! Overall, its not really that bad, you just cant piggyback the insurance policy on you other vehicles because it will likely have to be a commercial policy.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

I'm in the market for a dump truck and am on the fence as to whether a 1 ton dump truck will be enough for me... I had a 78 C60 for a few months last year, but it was involved in a accident and totaled...I'm not looking at CDL trucks at all.. but if you had one dump truck for farm and tree service use, what would it be???the tree care would be a part time gig, but I would need the truck on the farm I'm getting willed in the near future.

It depends on what you do. If you do alot of big softwood takedowns then I'd say go big. It also depends on the chipper you have if you have one. An 18" chipper needs a big truck but a 6" you could chip into a ford ranger. Depends on how many guys are working too. 4 guys and you better have a big truck or a close dump. good luck..... Mike

 

[SchafferLoaders]

Buy bigger - easier life on your vehicle

The bigger the better.

Hi Guys,

Although I'm in a different industry (selling articulated loaders) I'd go the bigger option - less trips to the tip, get more jobs done without having to unload and an easy life on gear if its not hauling to the max every trip. Fuel economy is often just as good (although you guys get diesel a lot cheaper than us in Australia!) as the engine isn't working so hard and more safety in an emergency.

We were going to buy a 4 tonne Hino flatbed and decided to go for the 6 tonner (they are meant to be metric tonnes!), we use every bit of it and could do with a bit more! I think a lot of folks end up with this conundrum and best to buy it a little bigger in the start. :greenchainsaw:

Often its the same decision with loaders of any sort - buy one a little bigger than what you think you require and it too will get an easy life and the job done quicker everytime, which means onto the next job. Although dimensions can be important through gates etc..

Cheers,

Cam

 

[arbor pro]

It depends on what you do. If you do alot of big softwood takedowns then I'd say go big. It also depends on the chipper you have if you have one. An 18" chipper needs a big truck but a 6" you could chip into a ford ranger. Depends on how many guys are working too. 4 guys and you better have a big truck or a close dump. good luck..... Mike

Mike hit the nail on the head - it depends entirely on what other equipment you use and what type of tree work you do. My one ton (see attachment) worked great when I used it as a flatbed dump with 2' sides. I could either haul logs or stump grindings in it while pulling a 14' bumper-hitch trailer pulling my sc252 and bobcat mini skid. It also worked great as a chip truck for my 12" bandit chipper after I built a chip box on it. I would haul my mini skid between the chip box and cab of the truck.

However, now I have an 18" chipper. The truck is inadequate for two reasons: 1) too small of chip holding capacity, 2) has plenty of power to pull the chipper (even when fully loaded with chips) but, is not quite heavy enough to handle the payload and really squats the rear of the truck. That and I know I'm way over the rear axle gvw when fully loaded.

this one-ton has served me well and I think is a great all-around truck but, there are times when a bigger truck is absolutely necessary and having an 18" chipper is one of those instances.