Buying a medium duty dump truck

[Red Horse]

I too would be suspicious of a 26,000 GVW truck with 19.5 rubber. In any case DT 466 is a good engine in any of its variations. Also keep your eyes peeled for a clean Ford F800 with either a Cummins 8.3 or the Ford 7.8. The 7.8 was a tractor engine from Brazil that Ford engineered into medium duty trucks- good engine but emissions regs killed it. Check out E-bay motors under Commercial trucks and search "Ford".-"Internationa"l too.

"Builder" Nice 4800!

Check out my old girl:

 

[Builder]

I too would be suspicious of a 26,000 GVW truck with 19.5 rubber. In any case DT 466 is a good engine in any of its variations. Also keep your eyes peeled for a clean Ford F800 with either a Cummins 8.3 or the Ford 7.8. The 7.8 was a tractor engine from Brazil that Ford engineered into medium duty trucks- good engine but emissions regs killed it. Check out E-bay motors under Commercial trucks and search "Ford".-"Internationa"l too.

"Builder" Nice 4800!

Check out my old girl:

Cute! :thumbsup:

Don't care for the 7.8L Ford parts are gonna be a problem and expensive. Being out of production for ~15-20 yrs, it'll prolly have a brazillion miles on it if it's a 7.8. Not a real power monster, either.

8.3L Cummins is my next fav motor to the DT466.:thumbsup:

I had an F-800 5.9L Cummins for a while and it was pretty good, but it's just a pickup cab mounted on a MD chassis. A 4XXX IH or a Freightliner is a true MD cab.

No idea why you guys are steering an occassional user away from 19.5 rubber. If he's not going to make a living with it and the truck's tires are rated correctly, what's the big deal?

 

[Village Idiot]

Wow, thanks a lot for the advice. I'll still go look at it, but at least I have a few ideas of what to look into now.

The truck I have ('94 GMC 3500 with a gas engine) will handle 2 tons just fine, but much more than 2.5t and it struggles up the hill and then really struggles to dump. I've stalled it several times and have to really lay on the gas/pump the throttle to start the lift. I got it used, and have been steadily replacing parts since then. Water pump, starter, ignition switch, dump pump, and I've re-lined the bed. I've probably moved 500 tons of road base so far. I'm lucky in that the local dirt guy will get the roadbase for me with his tri axle, and bring it to his pit in town. He also lets me use his loader to fill my small truck. I would have him bring it right up to the access I'm putting in, but 1) it is a little tight for his size truck and 2)there is a bridge I made out of hemlock that he is a little nervous about crossing (he did it a few times, but only with half a load, and he certainly won't do it with snow on the ground). With a bigger truck I could either get the material myself or at least drop the number of trips I have to make up.

I'll try to include some pics of the bridge under construction last winter, just because it's the coolest thing I've ever built.

Thanks again to everyone.

 

[SimS]

Chris;

I have a '82 Chevy C60 and it is equipped with the fairly common 2 speed rear end. The difference in ratios between high and low is 1:39. So the high ratio would be 6.50 or 6.30 (depending the RPO for the truck) and the low would be 6.50x1.39 = ~9.00 or 6.30x1.39 = ~8.75. The high/low 1:39 difference is just about right for "splitting" the gear ratios between each gear upshift.

SimS

 

[scoutcub]

I now realize that my 1 ton dump is simply not up the tasks that I ask of it. I feel like I am pushing it to (and at times beyond) its limits nearly every time I use it. Most of its use is hauling 3" roadbase up a short but incredibly steep hill. It has always made the trip, but I have ended up shoveling out the bed more than once because the electric hydraulic pump was not up the job of dumping.

I've been looking around for a 26K medium duty dump and have found a Int 4700 with a DT 466. I think it is recently converted from a box truck (tires are 19.5's) by the truck yard that is selling it. I know serious dump truckers are hesitant to go with a single frame, but this being just medium duty I don't think it's unheard of. (frankly I don't even know what a "double frame" looks like. I've heard the 466 (I'm guessing 466e) is a great little motor, but the reverse speed with a 5+1 may be a little fast.

This truck will get pushed when used, but not used to make a living.

Given all this, is there anything special I should watch out for? Huge question I know, but I'm a little out of my comfort zone and so far TBN has never steered me wrong.

I'm in the same exact boat, had a F350 dump that just didn't have the capacity. Ran OK, I put up to 4 tons of #57 gravel in it (short trips), but it would easily flatten the leafs and bottom the new HD shocks I just put on it.
Been looking for a F550 and up, up to a <26K medium duty dump. I'm torn because i like the 4WD, have some serious slopes on the property.
I also have heard great comments on the DT466, and the Dt466/Allison auto combo is also well spoken of.
Ii would be leery of a "convert" . Looking at a 04 GMC 4500 now, but lots of miles (220K) and has been converted from a small tanker....so you really don't know how good of a job they did converting it.
I'll probably end up with a IH Dt466 for road duty, (need countless loads of gravel) and thinking about a military 6X6 for the farm off-road duty....(stumps), logs, dirt, slopes.

The lo-pros are pretty sought after from what I've seen, easier to load firewood or with a compact loader....but seems like they also bring a bit more $$.
I'm definitely wanting a PTO dump, (my electric would just lift a full load, and would always kill my NEW battery) and definitely prefer diesel.

Good info on axle ratios and other things to look for, great thread.

Good luck!

 

[FTG-05]

Get a five ton military dump truck:

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Check with your insurance company too. Some want more money even for personal use if you get really HD trucks. Some seem to care less so the GVW may be a non issue.

Parts can be a concern on some options as noted. The HD stuff can have some very expensive braking systems if they need to be replaced.

I would prefer to come up short of truck 10% of the time than to have too much truck 90% of the time.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I too would be suspicious of a 26,000 GVW truck with 19.5 rubber. In any case DT 466 is a good engine in any of its variations. Also keep your eyes peeled for a clean Ford F800 with either a Cummins 8.3 or the Ford 7.8. The 7.8 was a tractor engine from Brazil that Ford engineered into medium duty trucks- good engine but emissions regs killed it. Check out E-bay motors under Commercial trucks and search "Ford".-"Internationa"l too.

"Builder" Nice 4800!

Check out my old girl:

That lady is too pretty to get dirty. Nice old truck.

I drove the Brazil Ford Diesel in the late 80's early 90's as a lumber yard delivery truck. I remember it being reliable but not very powerful and cold blooded as they come.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Chris;

I have a '82 Chevy C60 and it is equipped with the fairly common 2 speed rear end. The difference in ratios between high and low is 1:39. So the high ratio would be 6.50 or 6.30 (depending the RPO for the truck) and the low would be 6.50x1.39 = ~9.00 or 6.30x1.39 = ~8.75. The high/low 1:39 difference is just about right for "splitting" the gear ratios between each gear upshift.

SimS

Thanks for the info. Its a 6.50 gear according to the RPO build sheet in the glove box. I always wondered.

Chris

 

[scoutcub]

Get a five ton military dump truck:

I like it.....where do I get one....!?