I have been researching service trucks, and I have looked at many manufacturers of truck bodies. I came upon summit bodies and saw this walk around video of their truck bodies and service crane. This guy seems like a really good salesman and he has me convinced that I should go with Summit bodies lol. Take a look at the videos of his walkaround. Part 1 General walkaround: Part 2 Crane functions: Part 3 Crane functions continued: Before watching this, I was considering getting a Tiger Crane with 14,000lb capacity, it has 29' reach and 90,000 ft-lb Crane Rating. The Summit crane has same capacity and reach but 70,000 ft-lbs crane rating. But the features he described on the crane control seem really interesting, the way the controller tells you which zone you are in and how much you can lift with the crane at that position. I don't know if other crane manufacturers offer these features. And I like the control box as well. Some might hate it as its too complicated or whatever but I like it. Their drawers are another thing I liked. One thing I'd do different is run the crane with enpac instead of the truck. Well guys what do you think of this? I want to get something similar but with an International MV truck with a crew cab. And I'm in Canada so I don't know what it'll end up costing me lol. Eventually I'll email them for a quote.
I think summit makes a good body. I’m partial to maintainer but currently run an IMT bed which is a decent bed too. A truck like that one with an enpac is probably in the ballpark of 200k u.s.
yea I figured itd close to a mortgage for a 1600sqft house lol. Why do you like maintainer? I saw a video where they have the similar drawer system but the crane was mounted right to the body, not around a cabinet like in this video or any other manufacturer. I don't know what benefit it serves to mount it that way, when the capacity and everything else is the same. Like in this video. (this is the truck I want, International MV Crew cab)
Maintainers pedestal crane has a lower center of gravity you really notice it on a 550 size truck driving down the road that's the real advantage to them but you give up space for it My 1st choice is maintainer I know of a few beds that are on there third truck cant say that with imt and summit is not common around here In reality in my experience 20 years ago I think maintainers were about the stoutest you could buy and best quality i think everyone else has kinda of closed the gap like imt did and sti did as well auto crane is a real service bed now instead of a utility body with a crane If I were to get a new service truck these days I find a worn out truck with a good bed get a chassis I want and refurb the bed probably save on a 3rd of the cost if you could make time to do it just my opinion
What does your employer run for trucks?
They have various sizes of trucks from F550 to Peterbilts. I'll be going on my own working on different types of equipments. I wont have a shop or meeting point or tool crib. I'll need to carry everything I need in my truck and also have a decent capacity crane. Whereas the employer has different capacity cranes on different trucks and even has crane contractors on standby with bigger 100T cranes.
Maintainer has a YouTube channel as well. If that international is what you like then it looks like you’ve answered your question.
Friends don’t let friends buy Intertrashionals.
13 letter s#*$ spreaders are definitely not for me but to each his own. To be honest I’m not sure why anyone would want the crew cab. I’d much rather have a smaller cab and more body space but I rarely have any passengers.
when I started at my current work they were phasing out the 2000s era F750s for Internationals, mostly Maxxforce power. They went down so much, mostly Emissions it was ridiculous. Half the time we had a field wrench in a pickup truck chasing lighter work while his was in the shop. They started replacing them with Paccar trucks. now the plus side was they did like the cabs (much roomier than a KW or Pete) and they rode decently well plus had decent power on the highway. The lucky guys that got Cummins engines had better luck with their trucks.
There is a few pretty service trucks around here like these in this forum. I have never seen a scratch on them, much less dirt.
My last truck at the dealership was a ‘17 Pete 337 with a 14’ maintainer. Nice truck. The cab was slightly extended, maybe 16-18” with compartments behind the seat. Very roomy and plenty of room to put books, clothes, etc. Vetech, most of the field techs (myself included) I know are fussy about their trucks and put in an extra effort to keep them looking nice.
Too slow for the highway, too fast for the field
Can you guys tell me more about why internationals aren't good? I'm looking for this type of feedback. I'd love to hear more and experiences. Does Pete, Kenworth, or freightliner offer a truck with a crew cab or extended cab? I couldn't see that online.
the Quote: "Too fast for the Field, Too Slow for the Road, GO International, If it will not run Paint it Red, GO International, If it still will not run Chrome It, GO International!!!" Still cracks me up to see Chrome Valve Covers on old MV 446 and 404s, or to see the WIDE Engine series all Red in Color. Red Diamonds, DTs with the other bigger Corn Queen Gassers and Diesels were not generally Red Painted.
electrical gremlins, engine issues, cheaply built noisy cabs, poor support in many places. Most truck companies have an extended cab option nowadays. But again, you’ll be trading body space for cab space and weight. Have you ever worked out of a truck?
Why would you want a crew cab? I went back to a regular cab for my pickup, I just fill the rest with coats, bibs, spare jugs, tools, and tons of other junk I don't need riding around in the cab. Less wheelbase. I don't know many mechanics that haul a crew along. I own a international semi 8100 (late 90's), and, well they're cheap. Everything is plastic and nothing is built to last or repairable. The doghouse hits the middle of my shin, it will rub a nice raw spot in me if I drive it too long. The gauges/ instrument clusters never work right. And they are a one piece cluster so you just can't replace the gauge that's bad. The switches are the same. Formed plastic in the dash, proprietary switches for headlights, wipers etc, so its a pain to fix the bad switches. I've not owned or driven anything newer from international, but the maxxforce engines have a pretty bad reputation. I have a pete, a western star, a couple fords, and a mack. All of them, are better than the international. The only international I liked was a 9300 old square nose at a place I used to work. It was actually a decent cab. International has really gone after the vocational market, and most of those users by me have been hurt by lack of uptime. My local county has gone peterbilt for all their new trucks.
I have a extended cab pickup, would hate to think what one would look like being worked out of. Giant Trash Box. Crew Cab just gives two more doors to shovel thru. Are seeing a great deal of the Ford and Dodge medium duties now for small city services here, local HE and Farm tractor services are using T370 series KW and 337 Petes.
I currently have a 06 f750. I’m not a Ford guy but parts for the chassis aren’t terribly expensive and the turning radius is pretty tight which is nice in the woods. Of course I only have an 11’ body which helps with the turning. If I ever get to the point I can afford a new truck it’ll be a kenworth t370 with a 14’ maintainer body. I ran an old worn out one for a year and it was by far my favorite truck.
all thoughts on turning this into a service rig.
Really you post one pic on a service truck thread and think that's going to satisfy my crack addiction
just seein what kind of reaction i`d get. i`m looking for some better pics now
Well depending on the motor It might be great idea just not sold on the old fords most around here died a long time ago what bed and crane is on that thing
The truck will do it, the old Utility Derrick may not handle as much weight as consider it should as winch is not designed for that type loading. Still a logical use for old Utility trucks. Stout, large tooling and component storage capacity, generally heavier framed and air brakes.
I have 2 friends who have old digger-derricks, they have much more chart than a typical service truck crane, more like boom trucks. One of them is on a tandem with about a 16' service body.
this one is cat powered 5x2 air brakes .hyd. power everywhere runs good but little rough . haven't had a chance to go through it yet. but I think it would make a kick a$$rig
I have always wanted one, ever since my buddy with the tandem digger-derrick swapped a spreader body from one truck to another for me, about 5000lbs, like it was nothing.
We still have a couple s series. One is a 93, and the other is a 96. Both with the DT466 and their 13 speed. I had the 96 on Friday and Monday. I noticed the service was due at a million and a half kilometers. That's not highway driving. I wonder how much money came through the tailgate on her? I know one thing for sure, they won't get the years out of those little M series Freightliners they have been buying.
I have the little cast aluminum knob for the wipers of one of those, and the end off the leaver for the maxi break. Does it have a detroit, or a tripple nickle?
Suspicion is a 3208 or a 1160
Problem with them is the Squirt boom final mast is Fiberglass, will not know as to how far degraded until fails unless inspect for hairline cracks consistently, any cracks internally(Invisible to inspecting) and the end is generally without warning.
Are they all fiberglass, or just some? I knew the bucket trucks had an insulated section, never thought about these having one. The guy that had the tandem was an industrial electrical contractor, worked mostly in steel mills, and paper mills. I am sure his was inspected and tested rigorously. The other was an old city truck a local construction company bought just because it was cheap.
Third Section was always FBGLS, second section was generally steel as had Digger attached to it. No Utilities ever bought Diggers that were not Dialectrically inspectable that I am aware.
That makes sense, I was wondering about a fiberglass boom section taking the stress of the auger.
Altec tried it ONCE, test unit, snapped mast on first use, back to Old method.
I don`t think there is any fiberglass in this one. I used this truck about 8 yrs. ago for some crane only work i don`t remember any fg it is a 3208 and is altec
clatterpillar
I want to say it's in the 70s, but the cab lights and signals don't match
The boom will lift way more than most mechanics cranes. It looks like it has the big lid on top of the bed? I've never worked out of one with the big lid, but they always looked like a pain to me. But a cut off wheel and a grinder would make short work of that problem. It probably doesn't have a remote for the crane. Which is super unhandy if you are by yourself. That looks like it has the winch out on the tip, most of those use the big white rope for winch line. It may be a little fast for precision mechanic work in a single line, and they don't lend themselves well to a two part. I do know a guy who removed the rope and installed cable with a snatch block. I don't know how well he likes it though. And while the digger derrick may not be the most handy mechanics crane, any crane is better than no crane. I've got a 4,000lbs cap. crane on the back corner of a ford f-450, and it won't pick much. I've loaded a 3406 cat and detroit 6v92 with a allison on it, and the detroit went ok. The 3406 I needed a little help from a overhead crane to get it in the back of the truck. My little crane wouldn't have a prayer of installing either engine in a truck, but that digger derrick would be able to with no problem.
1980
also has this mounted inside just behind the cab
I had a single axle Intercrashable with a decent utility body on it. Crane was rear /center mount . we mount a Lincoln classic 3 crossways on it torches and a hyd compressor. The cabinents were not perfect but it worked for us . Those cranes are bullet proof ,built to with stand the auger abuse ,We used it bridge and piling support work and it was great .Used to jam the boom tip against a cranky steel pile and scope out to plumb it while we beat on the pile with a drop hammer DT 466 5 speed and splitter was gutless ,i know what the guys were saying about the dash you had to keep wacking it with your fist to make it work. All in all I bought around 2003 ,it was about 10 years old, used it for 10 years hard and sold it to a friend that run a serious heavy duty repair operation and its still going strong. They just loaded a Dozer boat i had them working on for me with it. The boom tip winch is a bit hokey ,but we 2 parted with 1/2" cable and a short little block . The best thing about that setup is you can telescope inside a machine cab or a building and make a pick with out having to float the load as you scope in or out. Never know handy that is until you try it. If the price is right ,they are nt classy but they are decent work rigs.
really. Still must have replaced the lights. Even in 1980, they had those half bullet cab lights and D shaped signals. I learned to drive on Louisville trucks before I even drove a car. My dad worked for a guy that hauled fish, and had a whole fleet of them, strait trucks and tractors. He had a 73 gasjob with a 5 speed ruckstell. They cut the trailing axle off and used it as a shunter. I wasn't even old enough to drive and I was driving that.
well does the big winch go or stay?
Is it hydraulic or chain drive? If its chain drive, you are kind of stuck where its at. If its hydraulic, you could move it to the front bumper to free up the bed space. It wouldn't be as handy on the front bumper if you were using it together with the boom. It looks like its right against the headache rack. Which means you have to be straight away from the utility boxes, and around the crane pedestal in order to pull anything. Looks like the cable guide bar is bent pretty bad, and its pretty small cable so it would limit what you could pull. I think I'd be okay with it in the back of the bed if it had a tunnel for the cable to the back bumper and guides/ fairleads/ rollers on the back bumper. As it is- if you need the winch, anything in the back of the truck has to come out to run it. If it had a tunnel, the hook is on the back bumper and you can go 180 deg. from the back and pull. Up against the rack inside a utility bed really limits the angles one could work at. If you didn't make a tunnel, I think I'd have a removable roller stand for it, that I could mount on the rear of the truck. Is the digger boom in the center in the back or off to the side? If the digger turret is in the center, you could make a way to hang a snatch block on each side of the turret, so you could pull either direction, and with the outriggers the truck would stay planted. Then you wouldn't need a tunnel or guides, you could just hang the snatch block when you needed it. I think I'd keep the winch just because I might need it someday, vs if you pull it, you definitely will need it someday, and then you won't have it.
Saw a great deal of boom abuse in the power industry, the crews would intentionally push leaning poles back into position while another crew would run new guy wires. Had more than one excursion into the old ESL IL switchyards to cut away rails buried in the ground a auger would get hung on, would lift the cabs fully off the ground as it screwed into the hole.
On the L series, stick it out while laying down, most likely that third stage is a Fiberglass Tubular box with a Sheeps head bolted and epoxied to it.
I worked with a pole crew for a few night shifts removing old poles along the highway. They couldnt understand why my Manitex was 25 ton but i wouldnt pull poles out of the ground with it or drive out on a bridge and set my outriggers on the bridge sidewalk and lift below the bridge.
St Louis area line crews would rock a pole with the boom then suck it straight out of the ground, never once considered the stresses they put to the machines.
I've ran a summit body. Found it cheap. Finish didn't last. Nor did the build. A very good friend of mine has a two year old now summit body and crane with a vmac multi function and it's garbage. Crane electrics restrict lift despite ratings. Vmac is a fantastic idea terribly executed. If it's cold out the truck will idle, that's that. Unless you plumb in some very fancy heating lines to a multi function your truck will still need to warm up / idle etc. And then you're running the donkey engine either way... I digress ....
ahhh that's really disappointing to hear.
one more
Rockin the 20" rubber yet I see... There's a pile of storage in that bed. Between the side boxes and the boxes on top of the sideboxes that you access from in the bed. I think a welder/ generator or a gas air compressor in the front of the bed would be much more useful to me, than the extra bed winch. I saw pictures of a welder mounted in the front of bed, and they took the back wall out of the side box to access the start panel and the lead hookups. Never had to climb in the bed except to check oil and add fuel, just open the sidebox door and it was all right there. Reel the leads up right in that box. I like that its the offset boom, makes the bed much more useable. Does it have a outrigger on the drivers side also? Coat of paint and a chrome stack and it will be good to go!
out riggers on both sides . also has the mount in back for the roller stand. 10,00x20 tires i`m tempted to believe they`re original
Not too many around with tube tires anymore.
Hush now, some of us are still in the dark ages . It is hard to find tubes or tires on short notice though, no one stocks that stuff anymore. I keep a tube and tire around for my two cranes that are still on 20". I think a 20" rim would be a little harder to locate. Set of tubeless 22.5 rims and some 11r 22.5's and that would be fixed. Should be able to find the rims around used.
got a bunch of rims
Harder to find is someone game enough to change tube types I still fix my own but around here tire shops will no longer accept split rings. Corner booms were fine steer to the right Like mixer trucks when steer opposite the rolling load get a little spooky as to Lean!! Worked on plenty of these thirty years back now, UE preferred low cab forward C800s.
One area that always lacked attention on those boom wagons sold to the public was the Swing Pinion hidden behind all the tin shielding. PeteP when you find a sales point buy a can of spray High Pressure Open Gear lube, is black and sticky and stains near as bad as Detroit Oil but will save wear and tear on bull gear and pinion on this truck. Regular grease never hacked it very well. Behind the plate with the warning labels is the filtration system for the boom oil, another oft ignored point of review.
thanks d i am familiar with open gear dope will get some on it I doubt that it ever had any. I have an outrigger cyl. leaking and most likely some other small leaks to tend to first but i`ll have it working soon weather permiting
If got a manual with it, or if can get a manual for it, there is a Suction Strainer inside the Tower that will need change or cleaning on occasion. I used to have a few spares but have used them all up now, somewhere around 5/8" od, and around 4-5" long, a line threads into it, 3/4 or 7/8" hex and O-ring sealed.
we used to use an 80-D northwest front shovel that got its og dope at least once a day. warmed up in a can on the exhaust manifold