Here are some pictures of my T300 dump truck project. I pull a Bobcat E32 excavator and a Deere 323D CTL and needed a single axel dump truck. All of my work is residential and on occasion I need to remove or bring in a small amount of materials. I looked at used dump trucks in the year range and condition that I was comfortable with and quickly found out they are worth quite a more than my budget allowed. After looking into cab & chassis and build your own options, with quite a bit of work on my own, I figured I could do it for a reasonable price if I could find the right truck. I was lucky to find this 2003 T300 with 150 000 miles and a double frame and got it for an offer that I could afford. Shortened the frame, moving the rear axel up 5' and removing 1 section of drive shaft gave me the correct length to get a 12'-6 box built. I installed the PTO and wet line kit and had the box built and installed locally. Here it is just fitting into my shop after I cut all the frame past the spring hangers off. (Now I wish I had a bigger shop) Here it is shortened Ready to get the box built
Here it is after the Box was installed, I added an 11" visor and painted the wheels. The work was done last year, I have it in my shop again because I am installing stacks.
Looks good, what are the specs for the truck? The only thing you may regret is not having fold down sides on your box?
The truck has a 250 hp Cat, 6 speed manual, air brakes, 12000 lb front axel, a 2100 lb rear axel, and I think 411 or 457 rear end (about 1875 rpm at 60 mph). I ran the engine serial number with Cat and they had no major issues on record from its warranty days. I had the box built with 24" sides + the board so that I could easily load with either the excavator or the CTL. If I did it again I would look for more hp and at least a couple of more gears, its alright with pulling the equipment but when the box is loaded as well, more power or gears would be nicer I think. I often wonder if an air ride suspension would have been nice as well, the roads are very rough around here. Overall I am very happy with this truck and and going this rout vs a 3/4 ton or 1 ton diesel pickup to pull my stuff around.
Went to the local auction on Saturday. They had a similar Peterbuilt for sale, sure was a nice little truck but I thought it would cost too much to make a tandem dump out of it. (Basically would be a glider kit, engine too small , 6 spd transmission, single spd rear end ) Now if I had seen how nice yours turned out chances are I would have it in the yard now to make a s/a dump like you did.
That truck look's great. Kyle
That's a beauty of a truck man! I've had my eye on one very similar to that! What sorta weights and such are you good for with it? Just curious what they can handle towing-wise. Any complaints about the truck at all besides wanting more gears/grunt?
This is an old thread, the email notification for reply is a great thing. I sold the truck a couple years ago due to personal reasons that rhyme with eivorce. The truck ended up weighing in at 13000 pounds empty, so int theory you could put 20000 in the box, but not so because it would overload the front end, I kept the heavier stuff like sand or gravel to under 5 yards. It pulled the my excavator or skid steer very well but pulling either along with a load in the box was a different storey, it pulled okay, just took a while to get to highway speed. The truck was one of my favourite pieces of equipment and it was ideal for my business. If I needed more than a few yards of material, I would get it delivered to the site. For me this truck complimented the business and was much more versatile in the business than a diesel pickup for sure.
The following winter after the box was installed, I decided to add stacks. Very nice sounding with straight pipes
Wow what a beautiful truck. Sorry to hear about it going though. Would you mind discussing prices since its gone? What did that box cost and what did you buy/sell it for?
Welcome to the Forums Jtoperator!:drinkup I missed this thread originally Fire22. Sorry about the big D, that sucks. Are you still in the business?