We are still trying to find the most efficient way to transport loam soil from a 1 acre pond dig. We are now looking more at truck/end dump options. Most of our tandems locally run about 15T on the road but we are just transporting soil about 1000ft off-road so would like to push to full capacity on the truck within reason. Is 20 yds out of the question on most? Probably a similar question coming regarding end dump trailers.
IMO there is no reason you cannot load more off-road where you are not subject to the same weight limitations as you would be on-highway, but you can't talk in tons in one breath and then cubic yards in the next. You need to know how much per loose cubic yard the material weighs before you can equate volume in cu.yd. to tons of payload. When you say "tandem" you mean a truck with 2 rear drive axles and one front steering axle - correct ..? Where I come from a truck of that configuration would be limited to 24.4 metric tonnes (about 54,000 pounds) gross weight on-highway. Depending on body configuration the truck should weigh around 8-10 tonnes empty, giving a payload of 15-17 tonnes which pretty much fits in with what you're saying. Off-road and at low speeds (less than 15mph) we would generally load the same truck with about one-third more payload than it could legally carry on-highway. So we would be looking at going from 15-17 to 20-23 tonnes payload. What volume of dirt you could physically get into the dump body is another matter entirely ............
on site vs otr haulage i would agree that moving material on site is a totally different ballgame. over the road everything has to be tidy and scale out. no reason to risk the public's safety and accidents. on site is basically what type of tandem you have. what suspension and how big of a box. a good heavy duty tandem will move large volumes of dirt very quickly and efficiently. put as many as you need on it to keep the hoe busy all the time and it works well. here we are 54,000 lbs oaded. the trucks haul around 15 ton down the road. if i was digging a pond that big i would use my tandems or consider adt's before a large loader. can the 225 dig as much as you think. i looked at the other thread yesterday and it looked like 1800 c/yds a day in a 10 hour shift. have you done that before and is your estimate off of job cost figures? i don't expect that much from my 210's in a day and they are all 1.3 yard buckets and we have a 2.5 yd loading bucket. i would put a dozer behind digging hoe cleaning up and then have him tidy up the haul road on the way to the fill and push it out. every dam we have built always went in 1' lifts and 98% compaction. some with geogrid. good luck regards, cd
How big of a box does the truck have on it.... dimension wise? (L x W x H) / 27 and that will tell ya how many yards you can fit in it..... We have two tandem trucks, one has a 15' x 7' x 4.5' and the other has a 15.5' x 7' x 5' and we have never had a problem hauling off road loads like that..... Just depends if ya have the right gearing and motor for it..... To give you a hint our International has a L10 250hp motor with an 8LL transmission and it rolls just fine
I would have to check box dims. I have not been in a "flat out' situation on an excavator in years. We are usually dodging utilities, lowering pipe, etc. I am estimating "balls out" 100% of the time or 3 buckets/min. which I know is a bit off. I was also previously estimating throwing in a spoil pile. Loading trucks is a touch slower but not like I need to be neat about it.
any hoe hand worth his salt should be able to load trucks equal to hogging. to me it is the same thing. plus, the material isn't stacking up. send the dozer out, flatten and cut benches so the hoe is working on flat ground. i'd say 75% percent of what we dig goes right into tandems. regards and good luck cd ps. you may be overthinking it a bit checking dimensions on box sizes. on a tandem, site hauling should get 14-16 c/yds. if its is a small box, heap it. the problem is inexperienced operaters with trucks that have 15-16' gravel boxes and high sides. if they are on bags it is even worse. these trucks can handle alot of material and it can put a licking on the truck.
I have done several off-road jobs moving dirt with my super 10. It holds 16 yds. when full and would scale out at approx. 68K - 70K. The extra axle and a heavy frame certainly help. Some of these jobs included some steep hills, and I had no problems. Of course the speeds are slow, but the terrain isn't all that friendly which kinda evens out the stresses. With a good driver, I don't think it is that hard on a truck. With a bad driver, it could be terrible. One truck can move a lot of dirt in a day if the distances aren't that great.