Hi all, I’m new to the forum, looking to buy me some service truck with the crane and welder on board , found that guy on Richie bros auction, can someone give me opinion on that Ford f550 2013 and Richie bros auctions, never happened to buy anything from then
Some more pictures and btw it’s powerstroke 6.7
Some more pictures
Looks decent if the price was right. Buyer beware at any auction. What are you planning on doing with it?
If it is at an auction you have to entertain the possibility that the engine is a problematic mess of a lemon hence they decided to get rid of it. I wonder if you could pull a list of historic codes with a laptop to see if this was the case, before bidding.
There have been several threads here regarding truck selection, fitment, design etc, etc. Some guys accomplish a lot with very little. Some guys have designed their rig from the ground up. It all depends on who you want to cater to. How much chassis do you need, how heavy do you objectively think you're going to be, then add at least 2-2 1/2 ton. Never know when you might have to cross a scale fully loaded with tools plus the machine component that's on your back heading to your shop. Then crane, how much stick do you need? Is it a manual pull out jib that you pin in place or going with a full power boom? Does it and your chassis have enough *** to handle your biggest job? Not just capacity but length. Can't tell how many times a guy goes to pick something and runs outta stick or capacity and it goes into HCL . When I was rolling my last rig, it was a stretched F550. Poor thing was 25,800 and I didn't even have all my tools on there. Company supplied, so that's the way the mop flops. If I carried fluids and filters for a 2k service, I was overweight. Be honest with yourself if you're going to be self sufficient or do you see farming out some heavy lifting. For example you could hire out a crane and operator for really big picks vs investing in "that much" crane. Weight is something you can't cheap out on, fines are steep and once yer marked, yet an easy target. Good luck in your selection process
Denys, You’ll need DOT numbers, URS MCSA -1 URS application verification, Motor Carrier ID report, USDOT Registration Approval Letter. A medical examiners certificate and a DOT Annual Vehicle Examination to drive it. Intrastate and Interstate? Then, if you drive it more than 100 miles or 12 hours per day, you’ll need a Electronic Log Book subscription. Its just easier to stay home.
In other words, you’ll have to start a trucking company to legally drive it for commerce.
See n he's in Canadu why in the world would he need all this US crap? Bob
That’s an X-Finning (Cat dealer) service truck. Vmac under hood, 3000 lb crane, waste oil tank in the body, welder (add on after Finning I suspect), heated cabinets, varsal tank - now what still works is another question. Set up to handle most jobs. See lots of the X-Finning trucks out there. Some are great and others are lemons the new owners sent right back after dumping 10-15k before giving up. Be nice to know the engine hours as they can idle 10 hrs a day 6 days a week when working to run the Vmac. I would buy expecting the worst (engine on its way out, crane not working and Vmac failed to start) and if it turns out anything better then your happy lol.
Ha. I didn’t notice that. Excellent. All he needs to do is diesel up and hammer down.
Thanks for an answer yes it says vmac compressor inoperable, also no idea if the compressor shot completely or restorable However I will go on site see the truck personally before bidding fortunately the location isn’t far from me , just to get closer look at it Also I think you are 100% right about truck being from finning, and yes there probably lots of engine hours of running vmac and that oil pump, cause I think they would do lots of fluid change with the truck
Are there any advice what to look on it to make sure that she is not totally shot and has some life in there?
When I was shopping for my truck I looked hard at the 550/5500 size truck. What I found out quickly is that with the budget I had to work with, a 26k gvwr truck was a better value. Ford had a bunch of engine trouble for a lot of years and those trucks are way cheap for a reason. Yes my truck is older and I did have to put an engine in it after a year but I don’t need to lift the cab to work on it and I gotta believe parts aren’t any more expensive. Secondly I was concerned with my weight once I was fully loaded on a 550. I don’t have a shop so everything I got goes with me everywhere and I currently weigh in at 24,500 lbs. I’ll never make it to 26k because I’m out of room in the boxes and if I load an engine in the back I’m overweight. I’ve got a 10k crane and have zero intention of ever going smaller. It’s not that I ever pick anything that heavy but I need the extra grunt for the off kilter/ too far away picks. I hope to upgrade trucks in the next 12-18 months and I’m looking at 33k trucks with air brakes and air ride. Juice brakes make life interesting when your heavy and some jack wagon pulls out in front of me. For what I do a bigger truck is better.
Thank you Mike for your sharing, good and honest opinion I’m not huge fan of Ford, the idea of pulling cab off all the time when you got some major break down or want to swap the engine just killing me, you don’t want to have that kind of crap on the service rig... I remember changing a turbo on 6.0 powerstroke with out lifting a cab off and what a pain in a butt that was, like you really want to take a bloody cab off and it just for changing the turbo... I like idea of dodge 5500 more, but the bastards are pricy I like your idea of avoiding 550/5500 and getting into heavier rigs , especially those ones with air brakes, but damn I need me something smaller and not with high dollar price as I’m just starting out on my own, sick of working on those companies in the shop or as fleet mechanic, no one appreciate your work, you just running around to make boss happy, sick of that crap, it’s just a joke to be mechanic and work for someone nowadays, like you have a bunch of money spend on tools, dirty , high risk of getting injured and you get paid -+ as equipment operator ***, more over you don’t have much freedom as bunch of managers are sitting on your ass... Love being mechanic, love fix machines , especially heavy equipment, but it’s a hard work and hard work should be paid good and you should have more freedom, currently at least to give it a try and start on my own, otherwise changing occupation cause what’s a point
I’d take a good look at the f650/750. Mine is an 06 with a 24 valve Cummins and a 7speed spicer. It has a tight steering radius, 26k gvwr and Ford made so any of these trucks in so many configurations that they can be had for peanuts compared to other brands. Download the truck paper app and you can do a detailed search to narrow down your requirements
I'm in a 750 as well . Best turning radius there is for a heavy equipment repair rig. A lot of little things to go wrong. Nothing severe, just annoyances. I've got a '12 with emissions. 6.7 Cummins. Low HP , 230 I believe. It's been relatively smooth for me. I'm spoiled, got an Allison slushbox. Super happy with it. Previous ride was a stretched F550 with a 6 liter. Couldn't accomplish or carry half of what I do now. I'm the same as Mike, scale between 24.8 to 25.2k . I dont carry nuts n bolts either. Extended cab is so helpful, but runs the risk of being a garbage pale if you're not careful. Good luck.
JMO..................stay away from Powerstrokes. UGH
It really depends on what kind of work you want to do. In the beginning I was in a Ford Super Duty (exactly why I hate powerstrokes) with a 6006E auto crane. I did a lot of engine and transmission pulls back then.............it was overloaded to beat all hell and I wore it out in 5 years. Was stupid enough to buy another powerstroke after I let a salesman convince me that the engine issues were addressed.......wrong! I couldn't wait to get rid of that truck! In 99, I bought a brand new International 4300 with the DT466 and the 6 speed manual...........best dam truck I ever owned, still equipped with the 6006E autocrane. It lasted until 3 years ago when I downsized to a Dodge 5500 with a 4K autocrane. The reason I down sized was I haven't needed to pull major powertrain components in years. I am more specialized and the 4K does everything I need at a more lower cost. If I need more lifting capacity, there always seems to be an excavator around. Im VERY happy with this Dodge and the auto tranny is my first in a service truck. I still use an engine driven compressor and welder.
I take it Passed on the Crawler UC?
LOL nope. I just use bigger prybars.
Come-a-longs help greatly!!
I didn't want to be the negative guy on your purchase because others have had different experiences than me, and when I bought a service truck it was a big deal and couldn't find what I wanted, everything had a ton of miles or was 100k. Seems when I am buying nothing is available and once I purchase that item seems to be everywhere. That being said, After 03 I would not touch a Ford, I would buy an 2wd 88 superduty with a N/A diesel before I bought a 13. I agree with everything said above, personaly I would purchase a DT466 before I bought a C7 or a FSeries with a cummins, but either a way better than the engine in a 550. I have an older 550 with an IMT 2020, and It does everything that I need, however I gross at 18k with air bags all the way around, and juice brakes are for hondas.
That what I see for now everything is high miles and just tired or 100k+, and the guys who sell used dodges put skyrocket price on it, and the dodge itself is not perfect either, the engine is good though, bigger rigs will not be a good start especially in my are But damn need me service rig cause uncle Sam gets annoying those days, especially in mechanics field, no money and no freedom with uncle Sam unless you are lucky,
I would not recommend a 6.7 for any type of high idle app, service truck, bucket truck, I've had to work on too many that have had issues and have too many buddies that have had issues with them in their service trucks. Not a fan of the underhood compressor thing either, we seem to run our compressors a lot either for die grinders and needle guns on fab work or 3/4 guns and air hammer on mechanical work. Why put idle hours on the truck. I get along well with a smaller elec/hydro crane, picks up all your everyday stuff, pull heads , cylinders, lift tooling, often use it to hold my wire feeder suitcase up in the air on boom, tank repairs, pull small submersible pumps. Usually when we need more crane we need a lot of crane, the boom truck has to come or we call out a mobile crane, like for generators or to fly bypass pumps.
I'm a Ford guy when it comes to the smaller trucks but I've read that for some reason there have been a lot of crankshaft problems with the 6.7 PowerStroke in the 450/550 chassis. They seem to work fine in the 250 and 350 version, it's a strange oddity. Just something to be aware of.
I suppose another option if you were looking at new would be that Chevrolet international medium duty mess that their pushing. Even thought you’d have to be willing to trust anything that international put their name on.
My co worker has one, navistar MV . He was so happy the company provided a new rig . Has the same GVW as the 550. 19.9k it has 4WD and has the turning radius of the Queen Elizabeth. A 3point turn for him is 18 maneuvers. Under the hood is a duracrap. After all that , its been a reliable truck for him. It is very quiet. Once he got all his tools and rigging loaded, he didn't have enough weight left for a welder. He was a little disappointed. We now refer to his rig as the Ken and Barbie adventure wagon.
I wonder why the turning radius changes so much from one build to the next. When we got the first F550 we thought that it was the end of battleship 4wd trucks, that thing will practically turn so sharp the inside rear is not rotating. And now to hear IH apparently thought that was not really necessary.
In all fairness it's a beefy front axle looks like fabco design. I'm sure a straight axle would turn better.
I am going to put an odd thought out there, I know everyone wants the big fancy service truck, however to get started a 3500 chevy gas engine would do the job. I got started years ago in a used van that the dealer I worked for was sending to the auction. My point is quality of work is more important than the truck you show up in, I dont know you or your work but it takes a certain person to work on their own without the support of a big brand. I have fixed multiple machines after the dealership F750's with fancy lettering, left and I showed up in a pickup truck and fixed the machine, in the dark, with the tools behind the seat of my truck. Anyone can buy a service truck, it takes no skill to purchase a fancy service truck, just a credit score.
My last 2 trucks I had when in the field were a 2012 and a 2014 F550 with the 6.7L Powerstroke. Aside from it being jammed under the hood and the VMAC jammed in there I can't really complain. Truck got started up at 6am and ran until 6pm (or later) just about every day. Might have driven maybe 2 or 3 hours out of the day on average, rest was idle time. Never plugged in (even at -35). Always started and never had a lick of emission trouble in the 1 year spent in the 2012 or the 3 years spent in the 2014.
I have to agree for the most part. Image plays a big role too though IMO. There's a difference between rolling up in a (relatively) clean and organized pickup truck that looks maintained vs a rusted out, smacked up pickup that hasn't seen a carwash in 2 years.
I have 2 - Powerstoke 6.7's that have been great. One is a '13 F350 SRW with 180K on the clock that grosses 10K all loaded up every day. The other one is an '18 F350 SRW with 51K on the clock. I have nothing bad to say about the 6.7's and will buy them again. Everyone I know that has a PS 6.7 loves them. Also have a '19 RAM 3500 with 6.7 Cummins that has been great. Now I escaped the 6.0 abortions with more than my fair share of wasted time and money.
I agree with what you said however if you show up with a decent looking, clean mechanics trucks people will assume you are probably the real deal and not some fly by night hack job. My truck isn’t new or fancy but it is recognizable and when I show up to a job I have what I need to get the job done.
Not mine, just saw it for sale and thought of this thread.
Sweet 359!
someone fairly close to me has a setup similar to that one . have`nt seen it close up just passing on the interstate
ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I have one and it is horrible! Gutless, rides like crap, bad brakes, one problem after another! I am getting into a Pete 337 tomorrow!
Here's another reason not to choose a Silverado medium duty, only medium duty authorised dealers could do any work on them. I have to take my pickup 85 miles away to get warranty work on it and nobody even stocks parts for them. It is 2 weeks every time it is down for something stupid like a broken coolant hardline or such.
Ran into that with the Topkicks. Had to take the trucks 400 km to the nearest dealer. The local GM dealer could get parts though. With the size of the fleet they just hired an auto tech and bought the GM service tools. We had about 15 to 20 C5500 trucks in the fleet.
This has eyeball and everybody comments on how cool it looks but what an absolute hunk of crap. It is the most incapable work rig I have ever owned. One of my operators will think he is cool driving it though.
I used to run around in the f550s. Last one was maybe 2006. Back then we bought 19,500 pounds trucks to avoid the commercial licensing and log book stuff. Not sure if you can do the same thing simply by registering them that way or not. My trucks were at 19,499 pounds from the day I got them on. That poor powerstroke couldn’t hardly move it. I should have just installed an on/off switch instead of a throttle. Went through 3 allison transmissions in under a hundred thousand miles. Lots of injector o-rings, valve cover wiring harnesses, and a full set of brakes at least every third service.
The Ag company I worked for 18 years ago had 450 SD's and some Topkicks. Piles they were, Clutches, transmissions, brakes you name it it was constant. I bought 11 FL70's with 8.3's and air brakes for field set-up service rigs. No more clutches, transmissions or brake issues, the cost of operating fell like a rock. Plus the tires lasted way longer with 22.5's. The towing and stopping wasn't a issue anymore, and those trucks didn't burn much more fuel to get the same job done. That same company is still running those FL70's today and I bought them used with 100,000 to 125,000 miles on them.
Previous Utility employer does NOT want to pay for Drivers License for every mechanic or operator so hangs with light 3/4 or 1/2 ton trucks, Installs a bolt thru the factory hitch box and welds a nut on it so cannot be used at all to tow. Bit them a hundred ways from Sunday in not having capabilities and having to hire it done while the trucks trash out in two to three years shotgunned.
Told ya I was moving!!
Pretty nice!
See the Paystar is already home
Very nice hallback!
Thanks guys. I need to choose a welder for it but figure a 325 Miller. Paystar is home & I will be replacing bearings in the middle drum late this week.
If I was a daily user and running wire and gouging might even consider a heavier machine? I am not familiar with the new product line of blue though.
I see the 325 is a TB with a lot of features but man it's got a lot of parts.
Ya, it's between that and a Lincoln 330MPX
I know less about the Lincs. I followed the Hobart and Millerproduct line well till few years ago and kind of lost interest.as I really don't need more machines. I talk to a Carney had new TB on the truck and said it was a beaut but that in his biz he wouldn't get the suitcase again as it was taking space and fell back to rods, cost lots extra to ride. If I was welding like a bat from he'll would have feeder with hi impact Innershield. I am more familiar with them on 600A machine though. Super good for big vert and overhead. For smaller incidental rods are easier to handle and like 6010/6011 for repairs and gap fill and use of 1/8. A side benefit of a TB is can add a Maxstar and use 2 machines with 1 engine, nice for fab. Can use the Max as a remote for fussy little work too.
Big heavy truck is good to carry big bottles to support heating tips too. if I was working logging would have bigger gas or hook 2 together. I got all enclosed too. It doesn't get used a lot, modern equipment can do most of it with common pickup today and my own stuff isn't broke stuff needs field repair.
I really liked the 330mpx I played with at the welding store the other day. They claim you can pressure wash the screen lol. I may get one for my rig and demote my current 250gxt to site skid duty.
Sberry, is that a 60 series GM? I recognize the drive hub.
You sir have found the perfect service truck.
Nah-this is the perfect service truck.
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/hvd/d/springfield-peterbilt-376-service/7281614559.html
Hear anything from RZ these days? Curious how doing.
I bought my first service truck for 9k off of eBay, flew to Pittsburg, and drove it back to Utah. Was a 2002 F-450 and made me some good money. Then I bought a 1993 Int at an auction. Was an old railroad truck. Good truck made a lot of money, terrible to get parts. Kept the bed and put it on a 2005 Topkick. The only good thing is the CAT and the Allison. Topkick sucks to get parts too. A friend of mine just got a new Chevy/International piece of crap. Been in the shop every week since new!! Now I'm building a completely different truck. Low mileage chassis(Pete) and refurbing an older bed. I would say it is profitable to buy a starter cheap and work towards a new truck. But I wish I would have just started with the truck I wanted all along. Good luck with your venture.
Week 2 of my 4500 in the shop.they say it will be 4-5 more weeks until they have the part.
Lettering is done.
The girl is a nice touch! Kinda like those girls you used to see on the old planes.
Those of you following this thread looking for a service truck United Rentals just announced they are rolling over a number of their fleet service trucks on 2011 to 2016 F550 chassis. I don't know anything about pricing. I've bought used tools from them that I've received very good service from, I thought it might interest some of you.
With a full size truck I might be tempted to want a bigger box.
United has always done me well on purchase also. A bigger box=harder to get around & nearly impossible to turn around on woods roads out here.
This is the coolest thing ever !!! Truck Shop is a master. HeavyEquipmentForums HeavyEquipmentForums I'm thinking of taking an old STERLING ACTERRA 7500 shorten the frame/drive shaft, scrap the hood and cab then mount an old F-250 cab and box. It would be like having a Cat powered pickup truck with big tires and wheels. Both vehicles are currently roadworthy, so it doesn't make much sense other than eliminating the need for a CDL. I'd probably use it to pull a fifth wheel RV. I'm not looking for a project but - How big of a project would it be ? Thanks...