Talk me out of an excavator!

[Jaybr]

Can y'all explain this to me?

In VA:

• A combination of vehicles with a gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 pounds or more if the vehicle(s) being towed has a GVWR of more than 10,000 pounds.

I know some 3/4 ton trucks have a GCWR of over 26k. My understanding of this is if the truck has a GCWR of over 26K and I'm pulling a 14k trailer, I'd need a CDL regardless if my total weight is under 26k. Am I correct on this?

So if I'm shopping for a new truck I want to avoid 1 tons and make sure the 3/4 ton has a GCWR less than 26k?

 

[4570Man]

But you can't drive it down the highway. That is why I bought it. I will have 5 jobs done and your still moving to the second one. Also you can jack the back tire up to a cable spool and wind up the cable.

There’s just no real world application where that’s true. Driving the backhoe a mile down the road I get but doing 5 jobs to my 2 come on let’s be real. It takes me maybe 5 minutes to load and chain the mini. Driving a machine to a job sucks too. The truck carries a lot of useful stuff as well as going much faster.

 

[Fixastuff]

There’s just no real world application where that’s true. Driving the backhoe a mile down the road I get but doing 5 jobs to my 2 come on let’s be real. It takes me maybe 5 minutes to load and chain the mini. Driving a machine to a job sucks too. The truck carries a lot of useful stuff as well as going much faster.

Machines love to leave mud on roads also.

 

[4570Man]

Can y'all explain this to me?

In VA:

• A combination of vehicles with a gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 pounds or more if the vehicle(s) being towed has a GVWR of more than 10,000 pounds.

I know some 3/4 ton trucks have a GCWR of over 26k. My understanding of this is if the truck has a GCWR of over 26K and I'm pulling a 14k trailer, I'd need a CDL regardless if my total weight is under 26k. Am I correct on this?

So if I'm shopping for a new truck I want to avoid 1 tons and make sure the 3/4 ton has a GCWR less than 26k?

The GVW is the important number. If the truck GVW and the trailer GVW add together to make 26001 pounds then you likely need a CDL. And a 1 ton dually may get you into trouble with a 14k trailer. Single wheel 1 tons are usually fine.

 

[Jaybr]

It's the GCWR in the regs that throw me off. According to that most any 1 ton truck towing more than a 10k trailer would need a CDL and a lot of 3/4 ton trucks also exceed 26001 GCWR

 

[Fixastuff]

I did a lot of work one summer in Maryland. The drive up highway 13 eastern shore is a weight truck watch area or something. Twice with my 10k ram and 16k trailer I had state troopers in SUV. They rode next to me for a mile or so while passenger police was typing in laptop. Both times they turned around to check someone else, Botha time other vehicles were pulled getting scaled. There were multiple state troopers with others pulled over. So at least in VA my understanding is a 10k truck and 16k trailer is legal without a CDL(I guess state police agree because they didn’t pull me).

 

[4570Man]

It's the GCWR in the regs that throw me off. According to that most any 1 ton truck towing more than a 10k trailer would need a CDL and a lot of 3/4 ton trucks also exceed 26001 GCWR

The C in GCVW stands for combined. Regardless of what the suggested towing capacity is you have to add the truck GVW and the trailer GVW together to get the GCVW. My single wheel one ton GVW 9900 pounds is legal to tow my 14k trailer with no CDL. I doubt the towing capacity is there to support the idea but I should be able to pull my 16k dump trailer without a CDL on my single wheel one ton. If I hooked either trailer on my F-350 dually GVW 12,500 pounds I’d need a CDL. To further muddy the water I think it would be legal to tow a 9900 pound trailer on my Dads F-550 GVW 19,500 pounds. That would put the GCVW over 26k but it should be alright with the sub 10k trailer.

 

[Drstrangeglove]

There’s just no real world application where that’s true. Driving the backhoe a mile down the road I get but doing 5 jobs to my 2 come on let’s be real. It takes me maybe 5 minutes to load and chain the mini. Driving a machine to a job sucks too. The truck carries a lot of useful stuff as well as going much faster.

Where are you going to unload? Today, there was no parking in the ditch, and you have no idea who is going to call the cops using their private land. The state engineers and cops aren't going to let you unload in the road. Some contractors use a mini ex others use a backhoe. The larger production one here has backhoes. They are wide open from one job to the next and may dig 20 holes a day. That's over 1.5 hours loading and not counting your unloading. These guys get paid by the foot, so they don't screw around.

I prefer my 10 ton mini ex in the woods and farm.

 

[Drstrangeglove]

Where are you going to unload? Today, there was no parking in the ditch, and you have no idea who is going to call the cops using their private land. The state engineers and cops aren't going to let you unload in the road. Some contractors use a mini ex others use a backhoe. The larger production one here has backhoes. They are wide open from one job to the next and may dig 20 holes a day or more. That's over 1.5 hours loading and not counting your unloading. These guys get paid by the foot, so they don't screw around.

I prefer my 10 ton mini ex in the woods and farm.

 

[mike69440]

A KX-040 will out dig a M62 and you can trailer it with the same hauling requirements as the M62.

I think a M62 will slightly edge out a KX40 pulling a stump or digging out a big rock as long as the TLB can maneuver. In terms of speed, the typical job is done faster with a KX40.