I was wonder how big of a truck I needed to tow 20 to 25,000 pounds, plus trailor weight, and be able to hold tools, air compressor and fuel tank in the bed. I was thinking a 1 ton daully or a Chevy Kodiak, I want 4 wheel drive and a crew cab. The trailor will be a goosenek, not sure on length yet.
You need something bigger then a 1 ton IMO and to talk to your states DOT. A Kodiak is only rated by the manufacture for a GCVW of 26000 because thats what the trans park pawl is rated at. I know guys that tow more then that with there 2500HDs though legally, so thats where your states DOT comes in.
I'm thinking you need to be looking at a single axle medium duty like a f650 or better. Thats where crew cab and 4x4 get hard or expensive. there might be some late model freightliner/mercedes unimogs available... or a ih pickup semi deal
Kodiaks even with 4wd ain't very costly, but are a little harder to find. I have seen them cheaper then similarly equipped pickups though. To get a higher GCVW on the Kodiak you have to step up to there bigger trans Aillson 23** over the Aillson 1000, but then you can't get 4WD in the 23**. I wouldn't touch a freightliner JMO.
Perhaps a Kodiak with a manual tranny would do it,not sure.That is some serious weight you want to pull there rammer,I think it will probably have to be a special order with 4x4 and crew like a C7500 Chevy.
Look in the "for sale" forum, I have a cheap older truck that might work for you.
20-25000 pounds will be to much weight on a goose neck. most dual tandem goose neck should only haul 16000 pounds when you figure in trailer weight.
There are many people doing it both ways.You can have a good or bad experience depending on many many factors. 20-25000 is not to much if spec are right. but it sounds like you might be pushing that. one ton 4x4 sounds like a all purpose vehicle and all purpose means it wont do every thing very well . We have most combinations of equipment (Excursion, Ford Ranger, one ton 4x4 crew, Freightliner FL 60, F 250 SRW diesel, and all trailers up to 24,000 goose neck ) so there is a lot of experance on this forum I think some more info on our part will help a lot.By the way is money a large factor?
are you sure you need 4 wheel drive? i would go by a used 6 wheeler day cab tractor. sureway, fed ex, any freight company tractor. they are all maintained and are very cheap. i would think you could buy a nice tractor for 5 k. no problem.
Did I mention how nice horsepower and breaks are?
26K gvw truck and up. Heavy Equipment, Heavy Trailer, Heavy Truck