Hello All, I'm starting a small construction equipment rental business, and need to move the equipment around to job sites. Local hauling company gets $75/hr, and tows are usually within 2 hours. But some jobs will be further, and I'm thinking of hauling them from within company. Loads will be up to 11 tons, and I have use of a 10T trailer with pintle hitch. For prime movers, ideally I would like a Freightliner M102 Business class flatbed rollback and will eventually get there, but cost is prohibitive right now. Second option is Dodge/Ford/Chevy 3500-5500 dually with gooseneck hitch, but again expensive, need a gooseneck trailer, not sure of stopping capacity though Doge says it can be done, and probably shouldn't try to put a 15T CGWT trailer with pintle hook on back. Third and most likely option is to buy a 1990-2005 (price depending)single axle dump truck and use the pintle hitch on the back of that. I'd like to stay as small as possible on the truck with as short a wheel base as possible for maneuvering, and may consider removing dump body and installing a flat rack-bed that may later take a gooseneck. Trucks I'm considering are a Ford F650-750, International 4300-4700 or so with DT466 as other engines are either too small or big I think, and any other truck that you think would be good to use. Registered weight will be just enough to cover truck and loaded trailer. Is it best to use automatic or manual transmission? I think diesel would be better engine choice but a not unwilling to use a gas engine with proper set-up. I saw and ad for a F700 with 5spd +2, and 429 gas engine, for around $6k, which sounds like it might get the job done and be cheap enough to make modifications to. Not sure of towing capacity though. A short wheelbase cab and chassis would be good too, and I might spring for a gooseneck to put on it if price is good. Heaviest piece of equipment to move right now is around 22k lbs. Thanks for any input. Best regards. John
seems like a nice little dump truck could be useful in the rental business even ifs its after you purchase a different truck for hauling
Single axle diesel dump, look for converted road tractors with dump boxes, usually they have larger motors, I wouldn't want anything less than 250, and a 350hp set up would be good
Ive got a gas burner C65 chevy. 366 engine & 5 speed trans & 2 speed rearend . mine has air brakes Air brakes are a plus. you can air up tires ect and they will stop you . Get a flatbed dump and you can have a both gooseneck and pintle hitch. get a pintle hitch trailer with air brakes also. a diesel you gotta pay road use tax and the front axle will be heavy and sink in softer places. diesels are expensive to work on.
Single axle dump sounds like a good plan, but a 11 ton machine on a 10 ton pintle sounds like it might be pushing it behind a single axle dump. You would need 8,000+ pounds of tongue weight to be legal on the trailer axles. That might make for a wild ride in a little dump truck. A late model 45-5500 truck with a 12 or 15 ton gooseneck would be a nice setup. Which is exactly what the small rental company in my area uses. But personally for the money a setup like that cost, I'm not sure I would want to be limited to hauling small stuff.
Hi Guys, Thanks for the great information, really appreciate it. Total trailer weight will be about 28,000lbs, 22k for machine and 6k for trailer, so with truck, I figure GCWR will be around 38-42,000lbs. I plan to look at the f700 this weekend, and it might just get me by for a while. There is what appears to be a converted road tractor dump for sale here, and around $10k, but has a little longer wheelbase than I'd like. Thanks for the heads up on those, Stumpjumper, will try to look at it too as more hp is better. We can work on the truck here, and pretty good with gas engines. Have not tackled a diesel, and expense of them worries me a bit, but a well taken care of diesel I know will live a long time. I'll be keeping an eye out for a nice 45-5500 series truck for use with gooseneck too, but if consensus is that a F700 or so will get the job done for now, and the price is right, I'll go that route and use the money saved for more equipment to buy and rent. Thanks again. Best regards. John
It would be worth your while to figure out the cost of running a truck with a gas engine vs diesel. Figure out how many gallons per mile that 429 is going to drink when it's moving 40,000lbs.