Advice Needed Quickly ~ Having to Replace Truck

That's Perfect Doug ~ I like your rig set up ! Glad to know it's under the towing ratio so I'm good to go starting out with the F250 ~ gives me plenty of time to decide on the second vehicle ! I appreciate everyone's input
 
On typical 3500 box trucks, your available payload is close to a 2500, typically 2000-2200lbs. The weight on the longer frame + the box typically brings the weight up quickly, wouldn't recommend a 3500 box truck. I have an isuzu npr 3500, 14ft box, light cabover truck, 2000 lb payload available with full fuel tanks + me in it.

3/4 tons have the same payload once you stick on everything the manufacture pulls off when they do the weigh in (bumpers, radio, ect) and you add fluids and people in the weight.

250's are great for pulling trailers, wouldn't bother with putting a tank in the back. Doug's setup up there is cold (burner add's 500-600 lbs of weight most times) and he can't run with the tank full. Fine if you can fill your tanks at the work site, but you are limited on your jobs.

450/550 is the truck I would put the weight on, ie tank + pressure washer.

250 run around truck + trailer puller.

Here is my experience, dodge 3500 dually, 270 imp gallon tank + base line pressure washer + 240,000 btu burner (I lifted it in the truck, its that small) 11500 lbs full of all water, diesel, gas + me.
Ford E550 2002, 20 ft box 10,500 lbs with the 54 gallon fuel tank full, me sitting in it, no equipment in the back. I have a heavy pressure wash setup, easily double if not triple with all the fuel weight then most. I can only fill 2 x 275 imp gallon tanks and them I am at my 17,500 lb limit.

That is still 5000 lbs of water weight, keep in mind most tanks are not measured in US gallons, but UK gallons. Difference is that a US gallon is .8 pounds, UK gallon is 1 pound.

I am just talking from what I have, trucks and payloads can be all over the place depending on different factors. I had a mini heart attack when I first weighed my NPR with the water tank I had in it. I didn't understand water weight when I first started and the 600 gallon US tank and pressure washer setup put me way over weight. I upgraded to my big truck (Tandem freightliner) from there as soon as possible and have made sure to keep my trucks legal weight wise ever since.
 
Doug, didn't you have an arial view of your truck skid a while back? Can you post it again?
 
Benjamin said:
On typical 3500 box trucks, your available payload is close to a 2500, typically 2000-2200lbs. The weight on the longer frame + the box typically brings the weight up quickly, wouldn't recommend a 3500 box truck. I have an isuzu npr 3500, 14ft box, light cabover truck, 2000 lb payload available with full fuel tanks + me in it.

3/4 tons have the same payload once you stick on everything the manufacture pulls off when they do the weigh in (bumpers, radio, ect) and you add fluids and people in the weight.

250's are great for pulling trailers, wouldn't bother with putting a tank in the back. Doug's setup up there is cold (burner add's 500-600 lbs of weight most times) and he can't run with the tank full. Fine if you can fill your tanks at the work site, but you are limited on your jobs.

450/550 is the truck I would put the weight on, ie tank + pressure washer.

250 run around truck + trailer puller.

Here is my experience, dodge 3500 dually, 270 imp gallon tank + base line pressure washer + 240,000 btu burner (I lifted it in the truck, its that small) 11500 lbs full of all water, diesel, gas + me.
Ford E550 2002, 20 ft box 10,500 lbs with the 54 gallon fuel tank full, me sitting in it, no equipment in the back. I have a heavy pressure wash setup, easily double if not triple with all the fuel weight then most. I can only fill 2 x 275 imp gallon tanks and them I am at my 17,500 lb limit.

That is still 5000 lbs of water weight, keep in mind most tanks are not measured in US gallons, but UK gallons. Difference is that a US gallon is .8 pounds, UK gallon is 1 pound.

I am just talking from what I have, trucks and payloads can be all over the place depending on different factors. I had a mini heart attack when I first weighed my NPR with the water tank I had in it. I didn't understand water weight when I first started and the 600 gallon US tank and pressure washer setup put me way over weight. I upgraded to my big truck (Tandem freightliner) from there as soon as possible and have made sure to keep my trucks legal weight wise ever since.
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Benjamin,

I like the detailed information you gave me thats what my concerns were is to account for all weight including fluids ect....They are real sticklers here in my area about that & will ticket you in a heartbeat around here ! Dealership told me F 250 - 15,000 # & F 450 - 24,000 max pull weight. I don't intended to pull any water tanks or equipment in back of pickup ~Only Tool box's ect... I agree I believe I'm going to use a F250 W/trailer for around town for certain projects and then get an F 450 down the line for bigger projects and oil field work a bit more durable and I won't feel stressed out. It's one of those things once you're in it and actually doing it you know more of what works for you and what doesn't. I'm sure I'll be tweaking as I go lol...

Man, I'm glad you said something about the difference in measurement of water ! Those are the things if you haven't done it you wouldn't think to ask until it's too late ~ I appreciate you sharing !

Do you happen to have any pics of your trucks? I didn't see any on your sites. Your doing the kind of field work that I'd like to get into ~ maybe we can talk further about that how you price and go after those kind of accounts. I've been in oilfield my whole life and that's the kind of equipment I'm around. I do painting, blasting and coatings for oilfield and subsea now.
 
A U.S. Gallon is 8.3 lbs. I understand the ratio, I don't understand what you are saying.
 
Here is the 3500 as it sits now, its only used 6-7 months a year due to the cold, but it does a good job. I can still put a trailer with more water and just transfer it to the tank on the truck. A 450 will do the same thing, you don't have to carry all the weight on the truck. Its nice to have a set amount for most jobs, trailer with extra for the bigger jobs. I would also look into putting a bigger pump so if you need to, you can 2 wand it if needed or push the gpm's to get the work done quicker.

Truck hose.jpg


Here is the ford, 27 hp isuzu diesel, 750,000 btu 120v farley burner with a 40 gallon fuel tank below, legacy 9.5 gpm pump, GM 10si alternator with a xantrex 5000 watt inverter.
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Can't find a photo of the freightliner, think of a 5 ton box truck with 2 rear axles, 8 tires. I never have to worry about being over weight with this truck, but fuel and tires add up quick. I can go through 120 gallon's of diesel in the big truck in a couple weeks no problem, tires easily go for $4000-5000 for rear replacement. The best thing though about this truck is that because I don't push the limits on it, brakes and suspension never give me any problems, and engine + drive train are the same. A 5 ton would be too small, or at it's limits and would give me more issues I would assume. I have run the truck 3.5 years without a back up and only missed one day of work due to a mechanical issue. I got the ford to save on fuel and tires, so far it's done it's job, but it's not my freightliner.
 
Scott most tanks I have seen and used, some come from down south and they put the Gallon's and Liters on them. Give you an example one tank from Washington state is an HLT500, so you would assume the tank is 500 US gallon's, but the numbers go up to 2273 liters. If you don't know to look for the difference you won't know you are 1100 lbs difference either in weight. I am not trying to make confusion, I am just trying to give a heads up to something you might not look for unless you understand the difference.
 
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but if you go to a F-450 flatbed then you have to deal with log books, Department of Transportation, USDOT #s, scales and much more. If you pull a F-250 pickup with a trailer you don't have to deal with that. I had a friend who had a F-450 at one time. Now he has all Chevy 2500HD trucks with the Duramax behind them and he pulls trailers. He doesn't want to deal with all the stuff that comes with a F-450.
 
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