I'm just curious to know makes the best heavy haul truck? Kenworth t880 Volvo vnx300. The colic would be an auto. Reason in asking is because a friend is starting a equipemnt hauling busines and wants to know. Thanks
We bought a 2015 T800, opting out of the new T880, and they make a great heavy haul. Double frame, 18spd, 20000 front, 46000 rear, 550 hp ISX15, extended cab.
My friend wants to get an automatic just so people that need to borrow the truck can drive it if they can't shift a manual.. Any reason you opted for tha 800 instead if the 880? Any pics of it?
Sounds like a good reason to opt for a stick shift!
Haha I'm not sure if he's gonna get one. He pretty much has his mind set on an auto.. But I told him to get a stick and to also look at the t800 as we'll as mentioned by someone above
I will second that opinion. :drinkup
Stick or auto, never let anyone borrow your trucks or equipment. I have been passively looking for a lowboy tractor and I want an auto. Since I will be lowboy driver, I don't want to shift gears - hate it in traffic. Just a need a truck to get equipment from A to B in the easiest way possible other than hiring it done.
I believe Snap=On guy had a tool box sign he handed out one time that said, "Don't ask to borrow my tools and I won't ask to borrow your wife":tong
Aside from the obvious already stated, (never loan out a truck etc.) I would never have an auto. If I had my druthers, they would all still be 5x4s. An auto I believe, allows a bad driver to get worse. A manual requires drivers to think, plan ahead and keep their mind on the task. An auto in many (not all) circumstances allows anybody to just become a throttle masher. They do not have to think about the road as much, thus they do not plan ahead as much and can get into jackpots much quicker. Not thinking gets more folks into trouble than anything. If they have to work at driving, they tend to think more about driving… :my2c:stirthepot
I was on the fence about the looks of the 880 while my driver for the new truck hated it. We decided to stick with the tired and true. I'll try to get a pic posted.
Couldn't figure out how to edit my last post. Anyway, as I said, I was on the fence about the looks of the 880 while my driver for the new truck hated it. We decided to stick with the tired and true. I'll try to get a pic posted.
Jumbo you have a good point and I don't disagree. Truck driving school for however many weeks, CDL, auto trans and boom - you're a long haul truck driver. Doesn't guarantee a safer driver. However, easier to operate doesn't necessarily equate to unsafe operation. Take for instance a track loader. I would much rather run my 953 than a 955A. At the end of the day I will be more productive, safety still remains in the matter resting on my shoulders - not how the machine operates. Same with a truck. Personally I want a truck to get from point A to point B in the easiest, most efficient manner possible. For me that's an auto, owned several from single axles to tri-axles. It's a personal choice of course and whatever works best for you is what you should go for.
"Don't ask to borrow my tools and I won't ask to borrow your wife":tong[/QUOTE] I like that so true
I'm agreeing. Id want an auto. It makes life easier to get from point a to point b. And easier to drive in general. If I was going across country i wouldn't wanna be shifting the whole time and traffic in manual sucks. I honestly don't think an auto is that Bad. I really like the Volvo ishifts
Like Somthing like ribs would be what I would want http://m.commercialtrucktrader.com/listing/Volvo-VNL64T300-2014-112569688
Here it is:
That's a real TRUCK. I have always liked the T8s. NICCCEEE!!!!
NICE! If I could charge $5000 a piece to mobilize the equipment that's what I would have.
For myself if I was building a heavy haul rig would probably go with the automatic transmission with a 3 speed hog box behind it . Rears would be in the 4.88 range . Engine , 400 cummins . The auto transmission has stood the test of time now & works great for frequent stops & starts and off road applications . Concrete trucks in my area have used auto's for 25 years now . They pull in the jobsite around 72,000 lbs. Then maneuver around obstacles & less than better conditions many times .
That's very nice! Deffinatly like that look of that.
On the auto vs stick debate I ring in on the side of the manual every time for a true heavy haul truck. For a lightweight truck, running 80,000# loads or less, an auto may be fine, but for heavy loads and the wide variety of road conditions you need to travel to get to new construction sites, I want to control what gear my truck is in, not some computer that doesn't know what the road conditions ahead are like. I also agree about the auto leading to problems of driver awareness of what is going on around him. When you do not have to think about driving, gear selection, and such, pretty soon you will not think as much about the basic task of driving, and that may lead you into situations you would not get in if you were focused due to the shifting decisions required. I have an 18 speed with 2 speed rears, and drive So Cal traffic, which is worse than anywhere else in the country other than maybe some of the major East Coast cities and would still not trade for an auto.
KW with an 18spd gets my vote. We have 2 T800's but the W900's are sweet too. It's going to take a while to get used to the 880's I don't care for the exterior looks but the inside of the cab is awesome.
Is the a 880 or is that the 900? That looks sick.
Understand what your saying JDOFMEMI . I'm not familiar with the new model automatics . What I was used to was the older Allison's with the torque converter & shifter where the driver could select the gear range . The 18 speed transmission with 2 speed rears sounds like good combination . You know ...... Over the years I've came to the conclusion that from a logistics stand point as far as hauling a load the weight is only half of the equation . The other half is where is it going ? Highway / Interstate driving or some back country narrow road . I know you guy's have to deal with both in Southern California along with steep grades . Most of our work is within 25 miles from the shop . Half of travel time is highway & other half narrow county roads . Looks like this http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/td25c/media/100_2826_zpsd79660df.mp4.html?sort=3&o=10 I still love shifting gears
Neither, it's a T800. Here are pics of A T880 and a W900 respectively. Photo credits Colby Williams Fueled Photography.
With an 18 spd, why the 2 speed rearend? I have an 18 also with a 550 Cat and I have all the splits I can wish for. I know nobody buys a 2 speed rearend without a reason, I am curious about your needs.
I drove an automatic Mack Granite tandem for a long time to pull a 20 ton trailer. That sucker would burn some fuel and it would fly empty and with a light load. It was well known that the automatics burnt more fuel. Basically you just put it to the floor till you get above the given speed limit and the converter lets it act like a hydrostatic all the while the motor stays revved all the way up. It makes since it would burn more fuel than a manual that is basically one to one lock up for lack of better description. Also it was only a 6 speed. It definitely needed more gears to get the power out. It would lug like crazy when going in to the next gears. Surely they have more gears now since I've seen 18 speed autos in road tractors. The auto was also heavier at the quarry scales and definitely on the price tag. You could drive that truck way too fast being an automatic but it was gutless loaded with a 400 in front of 6 sp auto when loaded.
I have had two Mack granites with 400's and 6 sp autos, anything but gutless IMO. One was a tandem hook lift and the other a tri-axle that regularly grossed 85K. The hook lift was an '07 and the tri an '06. The '07 hook lift seemed like a stronger truck but they were spec'd the same. Pulled a 54K tag behind the tri-axle, hauling a 953, D6N, 315 and D5G regularly.
I've always felt the automatic transmissions were easier on drive train , less shock load & so forth with the torque converter . 5240 Grove uses an auto ..... It aint no lightweight . But then again just give me an old KW with a 13 speed & 4.11 rears and I'm happy . Works fine for hauling equipment and trucks , or ... whatever ?
hey TD do you know if the blonde girl still works for RH Marlin? been a few years since Iv been around the company yard. & they don't seem to be down in my area like they were...
Don't know FSERVICE ? We were working in Bedford IN in the first picture . Had RH Marlin come down & set a pre cast building for a communications company . They done a nice job .
I got mine 3rd hand. It was originally specced to pull 9 axle trailers at around 250K gross. I now mainly run a 5 axle up to 126K, and an occasional 7 axle load up to 186K. While I agree I do not "need" the 2 sp rears, I would hate to be without for many of the places I haul to. It puts the gears in the 18 speed about 25% closer on the splits. Normally I run in high all the time, but when running in the mountains I like the splits being closer, and I rarely need to range shift except on the really steep roads. The low side on the rears really pays off in the local mountains. We have some roads with grades up to 26%, and in excess of 20% is regular on the remote roads. I do not do that all the time, but when I do, especially with a D-8 or a 330 excavator on board, I want all the choices I can get.
2005 Kenworth W900L C15 Acert 18spd 4.11 rearends I wouldn't want to have my rpms any higher but don't have many mountains in ks.
im a little farther south, west of Clarksville. I used to travel ALOT for my previous employer & worked on some jobsites where they would be setting up. she was always on the crew that set up the big crawlers been several years since I saw a Marlin crane, just thought id ask
Yeah, I never get to drive it tho/just pay for it . I drive the old 379 next to it, with standard specs except for a pretty strong C15. I love the old darlin' either way- good power, smooth riding.
My vote is for the auto(Allison) for the safety side of it, the auto frees up "mental bandwidth" for the driver. Think about it, at a stop sign, waiting for a clear opening, with a standard, one foot is on the clutch, one on the brake, while your mind is trying to calculate if an upcoming opening is long enough. Meanwhile, subconsciously you are planning moving from brake to throttle, engaging clutch while coordinating throttle, and getting it all rolling. Even though you aren't"thinking" theses, it's happening in your brain. The same with up and down shifting, people call it muscle memory, but it is subconscious mental causing it. In 2000 I bought my first class 8 automatic in a Mack RD 688 because my insurance carrier had notified me that in the next few months, my oldest driver, then 74, would hit 75, and thus be un-insurable by them...unless he was in an automatic trans truck, whereas he could then drive another 5 years. I argued age discrimination etc so they emailed me the statistics that the insurance industry had compiled, along with a DOT study, as well as 2 studies done in the European countries where auto trans have had a stronger stand for years, basically the same driver in the same conditions, are less likely to be involved in an accident involving driver judgment in an auto trans vehicle. Well that tri-axle now has 780xxx miles on it, working in soft South Louisiana ground conditions, and other that oil and filter changes, the Allison has not had a wrench on it. We now run 3 tandems, 5 tri axles, and 2tractors, for end dump and lowboys . One tractor is a Titan with the 605/18 speed combo, the other is a granite with the Mp8-445/allison 4700 trans, both tri axles. The Granite is by far the truck the drivers prefer to use, even when they really should be using the Titan.brw, just for laughs, my oldest driver, who said I was taking his balls when I put him in that first auto, wouldn't have traded it for anything after he got over his emasculated stigma, and that didn't take but a few weeks.
We have a 08 Pete 367 with allison auto. Motor is the isx485 cummins. Front 20k, rear 46k with lift axle. As the previous post stated, once we went auto, nobody wants to go back. Smooth, fast and powerful set up.
I am no heavy hauler but I want to throw in another vote for the automatic. Besides what has been said already, it is really nice on the steep uphills where you would not be able to catch another gear on a stick shift. The automatic will keep upshifting until it senses (yes it does actually calculate from engine rpm rise, road speed, etc.) when it cannot pull any more gears. Not like the old days when it might hunt gears at the top, but even then they usually didn't. One trick I learned is to make friends with the Allison service engineer at the dealership, and they will help you fine tune the shift points and that makes it a whole different animal. I think that on most any truck that starts, stops, goes slow up hill and down hill, etc. that they should be a money saver all around: less fuel, less repairs, both clutches and internal stuff, also drivers can't really abuse it because the transmission will not allow it to occur, maybe easier on the engine also because lugging or overspeeding is no longer possible; also, I hate to say it but it allows you to pick from a wider selection of drivers. I have had the odd failure of the computer which cost a grand, like all truck repairs, but that rarely happens and for the most part the mechanicals are pretty much bulletproof.
Fact is if you cannot shift a big truck, you should not be in the drivers seat.
I disagree with that. It's the same as saying if you can't grade with a 955A you shouldn't be running a 953.
I disagree also
I'm limited with my posts, but really? The modern version of the newer Allison's can't be beat! Oh, and yes I can shift. So if you can't program computer code, don't surf the net. (HEF)
Yeah , On a manual shift transmission I feel the same way . If the driver cant do it they don't need to be in the seat . Is that what you were saying ? Back to the thread ...... Who makes the best heavy haul truck ? I'm sticking with Kenworth . Won't go wrong with a W- 900 KW pulling anything .
It is up to the truck owner to determine that, and the insurance company...sounds like the insurance companies think of it the other way around
I still prefer a manual transmission but the fact is the new Allison's and the Eaton autoshift transmission are pretty hard to beat. A local trucking company went with the Eaton in their over the road trucks and found that drive tires last a lot longer. The autoshift is just much smoother than a manual trans. But I have to agree somewhat with turbo64, but just because we say that doesn't mean that if you have an automatic you don't know how to drive. But I definitely would not recommend buying a truck with an automatic in it just so someone who doesn't know how to shift can borrow it. IMHO that's asking for trouble.
This whole thread is opinion and here is mine . The equipment is important . But I pulled everything the old crane rental place had with a t 600 , N14@420 hp and a 9 speed . The driver specs are more important than the truck specs IMHO . Good driver can make the day in anything . The last lowboy hauler the rental place had was t800 kw 600hp an an 18 , good truck . However I swapped to the tractor mount boom truck by that time . only drove a couple of times but was happy with it .
I really have no opinion on manual/auto. Either would probably work fine for this. The powershift trans from Cat hasn't been mentioned but I have not seen many on the road either. I only question the sanity of someone starting a equip. hauling biz and loaning out the truck for free.
If you can't shift stay out of the truck. Imho Good luck getting your foot in the door in this industry if you can only drive an automatic. Allisons are great bulletproof Trans but I'm not sure they're worth the $$. After a 5 yr hiatus from driving truck I received an offer to drive a push truck w an 18 speed. Nothing new to me. First day on the job, I didn't get a solid job offer till we went up the first major hill, (& I hadn't missed a shift). Certainly didn't try to catch every gear, or even every other gear. Gross weight @ 600k. That's a KW C500 by the way. A little heavy for practical lowbeding but great in the bush.
MAN and Volvo
nice pic, is that Scheuerle trailer?
Yup. That's a Scheuerle 22 or 24 line.
AMEN brother :beerchug Getting to be way to many "Steering wheel holders" "Windshield Ornaments" whatever else you want to call these "truckdrivers" :throwup that got their license from some driving class and had never driven anything bigger than a car 2 months before. I won't deny the fact that an auto will extend drive train life and allow better fuel economy, but only for inexperienced drivers. I've seen way, way too many morons who couldn't back up more than 10 feet or who are too lazy too make a wider turn and drag the trailer down the ditch. And we wonder why the FMCSA keeps trying to take our freedom of choice away.
Got any more pics of the truck? We run a whole heap of C500's, 510's and 540. A fair few twin steer tri drive C500's with QSK's and 18sp although some have been repowered with signature's. The 510's have QSK's and 18sp while the 540's have QSK's and a remote mount allison 6610. The 18sp cant handle the hp/torque of a pumping QSK
Good thread, i took delivery of a W900B and absolutely love it. Been using Freightliners prior and they just werent spec'd heavy enough. 600 hp, 18sp, 4.10 rear, 20K front, 20K pusher and 46K rear have made for a great combination. Never driven many KW's before but the inside i really like, plenty of room and well laid out gauges.
That is one sharp looking KW!
Thanks, it pulls like a train, all while getting 2.5mpg.
Essayons did you order that truck the way you wanted it? See several things that I was wondering if it came from the factory that way! Nice looking rig
Well, it is a federal gov. truck so that's why there's no visor or air breather covers, extra lights or stainless pieces. When ordering anything with the government you can only specify mission critical items, not luxury or shiny bits. I would have maybe preferred a long hood but, it wasn't an option. So to answer your question, yes I did spec everything deemed mission critical, axles, hp, gauges, wheelbase, etc. To be honest, it's an extremely well optioned truck considering our ordering restrictions and I'm super excited about it.
O ok sorry didn't even look to close at name on door! I had my hood repainted on 2005 W900 and left stainless pieces off below headlights and kenworth guys thot that it would get all scratched up but havnt had issue yet!
Yeah, it has non of those pieces, I realize it's an "odd duck" and I'm glad to answer any questions about it.
So are you a federal employee then?
Yes, i am a federal employee.
Looks like an Army Corps of Engineers sign on the door.
You are correct, it is indeed.
Couple more.
Sharp rig. I would have been ok paying another nickle in taxes so you could have gotten a visor for it. Better tell them it's a safety hazard with the sun in you eyes. Greyson
:falldownlaugh
You sir, are a great American. :salute:usa
I was surprised to see that. I get that it wouldn't come with a big drop visor. I'm shocked to see no visor at all!!! I don't know that I've seen one without one at all before.
I hear that alot. I see so many one of a kind vehicles that the gov. has bought, im almost immune to the odd and weird things. Honestly the thing about the truck that is just really absurd is the DEF tank location. Its on the passenger side.......i havent found a DEF dispenser in the U.S. that is on the passenger side at a truck stop. And the nozzle does NOT have enough length to reach across the truck from the drivers side to fill the tank. Whats worse, the battery box (drivers side) is in the location where the DEF tank should be.:crazy
DEF tank is on the passenger side for those roadside pit stops... But it is likely located on the same side the exhaust pipe is on.
This is my favorite truck - http://www.truck1.eu/tractor-units/volvo_fh_13_460_eev-a1848017.html
I agree with this guy. Army corps of engineers needs some shiny things and lights:falldownlaugh This is my truck. 525 hp Cummins, Eaton Fuller 13 spd. It's a good truck, great power. It's a little too short though. Some of my heavier things have made me move my 5th wheel to put weight on the front axle. Also wish I had a lift axle on it. It gets the job done good for now.
I'd like to get into something like this as a glider after we get a new tri axle dump.
pic of the pete!