Ok guys this may sound ridiculous. But we have a WL900 Kenworth. (road tractor) we currently use a hopper bottom to haul grain to mill for sale (150 miles one way) this happens about 10 trips a year.
We also have a 40 cubic yard tri-axle dump trailer for this. We can net 25 tons and "bridge out" with this rig. Which is great sometimes, but not very useful in our industry. We didn't spec this truck out for our normal operations, but rather disaster clean-up. We all know how that went..LOL.. to the point..
we have a couple of goosenecks we haul our equipment with behind a 3/4 ton and 1 ton. One of the goosenecks is a 36 foot tri-axle (21,000 rated) we are considering buying a conversion neck that will allow us to hook to the tractor-trailer(kenworth) we are aware that the lighting and turn signals will have to be re-done. new plug, combine turn and brake lights, as well as preserve the existing plug for "big truck uses". The truck will also need a electic brake controller to comply with DOT regs for brakes on all axles. saftey chains are not required on fifth wheel applications. break-away box is already on trailer.
cost to convert $350.00 approx.
the reason we are considering this is, we have a S250 bobcat with track, 80 inch bucket and 72 inch root grapples. total weight around 9500lb.
also a L4630 kubota with FEL and T-6 harley rake approx weight including ballast. 6500lb.
16,000 of net load one truck one trip.
we currently haul the bobcat and tractor seperately. at 8 mpg avg. (7.3 powerchoke)
100 mile trip with 2 trucks takes 25 gallons of fuel.
with the other setup we will average 7.5 mpg on one truck
13.3 gallons of fuel.
we regularly travel 60-200 miles one way to do a few days worth of work. if we are inside of 100 miles we usually come home everyday (leaving equipment on site) Greensboro is home. and we travel to Raleigh, Knightdale,Garner,Cary,Lexington,Charlotte,Gastoni a,Charleston SC.
I know full well it is very expensive to insure and tag and permit a 80,000lb registered vehicle. We already do the red tape and crap involved. I was thinking of utilizing this rig more efficently.
BILL I hope to hear from you on this one please. I know you are not a ford fan. That's not our issue, efficency and saftey are our main concerns.
The idea came from seeing race teams come in to the decal store pulling trailers intended for dually trucks, pulled with road tractors. Upon investigation I came aware of the adapter (rated at 30,000 lb) I am in NC, dozens of race teams within 1-1.5 hr drive from here.
Thanks for the input and suggestions.
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Last edited by start2finish : 02-28-2006 at 10:05 PM.
Wow. First let me say that I think anytime to can carry all equipment in one fell swoop to a job, you become more efficient.
We do that very thing ourselves, because on any given day we put 200 miles on a truck. Upside, use more gas on the rig, but save fuel. Haul anything and not worry about beating the crap out of your truck. Downside, insurance and mobility. Anytime you need to run an arrend from the job finding space for a big rig is a major PIA.
From the perspective that you already own the rig, and already use it for an intended purpose, and already insure it for your farm operations, you are actually becoming more efficient by using what would normally be dead iron.
So, why are you waiting? As far as not being a Ford man, I look at it as I am where I am, and those who drive Fords are within the membrane of a blue bubble, (bubble heads) many times with skewed vision and noxious gasses clouding the reality of what their brand costs them to operate. At least that was our case, and I truly hope some day that Ford learns how to make a truck as they had in years past.
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Bill Schwab
In the year 1491, if the Naturescape Landscape Company did the site work in Pisa, Italy, they would not be calling it the "leaning" tower.
Bill,
We usually take another truck to the jobs as well. We have a 2 ton dump 1988(F-700 160 hp diesel) efficient on fuel, but weak. We try not to tow because we end up waiting on it all day.
But if we took the rig to the job, it would be accompianed by a dually with a straw blower/trailer setup. So running would be easy. We usually only leave the job for lunch. Most of our stuff is grading and seeding work and we carry everything we need everyday. But sh*t happens things are forgotten. Thanks. have you seen this type of setup before? I am trying to consider any saftey issues as well.
The guys who run with us up at Irwindale speedway use a gooseneck/fifth wheel set up to pull their cars. The trucks range from class 5, up to class 8, and trailer anywhere from 30' to 40' long, usually Featherlite car haulers. I think it's over kill in many cases, but if you got the iron in the first place, and it sits idle, what's the downside? I can understand why you would not buy that set up specifically to do the deed you're looking to doing, but, hey, make it work. You know it will pull what you need right?
Why not. Go for it.
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Bill Schwab
In the year 1491, if the Naturescape Landscape Company did the site work in Pisa, Italy, they would not be calling it the "leaning" tower.
well, one reason I wanted some more opinions is my partner seems to think that a superchip is a good idea to put in a 1999 F-350 dually (7.3) with 177,000 miles on it . Granted we have had no trouble with the truck, but this is asking for trouble. He thinks it is ok to tow a 15,000lb backhoe with this truck. Now it will handle it, but every day use will kill any of them chevy,dodge,ford or any 1-ton. add the weight of trailer 5000+lb to the 15,000 backhoe.
I am probably going to set this up without his blessing.
There is a company here who does a very similar thing. He uses an older International s1800 to pull a large gooseneck deckover trailer. On that trailer he fits both his skidsteer and his non compact tractor. It seems to work well for them since their other truck that follows tows their enclosed tool trailer.
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Sales are vanity, Profit is sanity, and Cash is King.
Chips and engines. Very dumb thing to do unless you want to go racing. 177K on the engine, beyond dumb thing to do. Pulling 15K with a one ton truck day in day out, good way to have a truck die a fast death. Matter of fact, too many see that 15,000 GVW truck they own as a cheaper way to have a 26,900 GVW truck.
Stick to your guns with the Kwalker set up or get a class 5 rig and keep the chips for parties and dips......
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Bill Schwab
In the year 1491, if the Naturescape Landscape Company did the site work in Pisa, Italy, they would not be calling it the "leaning" tower.
Loaned the KW to a good friend of ours that runs a grading outfit. He isn't a large outfit. 2 (963C), cat grader, D6, big chipper and sterling tandem. He also has a 310E Backhoe. He is talking about trading the 310E with 1017 hours for the rig and dump trailer. He is going to have to come up with 5k to even it out. I borrowed the backhoe today to bury a few 330 gallon propane tanks(we do about 100 a year) and it is tight as a tick. My plans on this setup may very well be on hold.
Thanks on the input. as for the dually pulling 15k everyday I agree it is a hard life, but we have be fortunate. It may spend 3 weeks without unhooking the gooseneck. Its usual burden is the 36 foot trailer with the S250 and attachments. As long as we don't run it at 70 on the highway it doesn't seem to work too awful hard. But having too much truck is kind of like having too much money. I guess you could......It would be tough.
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