Putting together a log truck

[mainiac]

OK I am running numbers on putting together a road worthy truck with a log loader. I currently have a 1979 Chevy C-65 with a Barko 80 on it that is a yard truck only.

The biggest question for you guys is what is the installed weight of that Barko 80?

Would I be able to get a truck with a 26000GVWR and install this loader and bunks and still be able to load on 3 cord of firewood?

Thanks
Mainiac

[Rick Alger]

I don't think it will work. I have a friend with an F700 without a loader that can haul just under 1500 feet of softwood legally. Used to be they  figured you needed an axle to carry the loader.

[snowstorm]

that barko is 6 to 7000lbs a body at least 1500lbs. a truck. depends single axle gas ? diesel? the one you have must be close to 20k. add 3cd hw there is another 14000lbs. if you are trying to get around a cdl it wont work.

[mainiac]

I did not think it would work. Just wanted to be sure that I was not missing something. Actually I did forget to add in the weight of a bed.

I guess it is off to get a CDL. And to find a bigger truck.

[plasticweld]

I started out with the idea that I wanted to haul 5 cords of wood. What I found is that by the time you add the loader and the body there is no way I could use  a ten wheeler. For you to haul anything close to enough wood to pay for the fuel and time you need a bigger truck. I ended up with a International Pay Star 5000 tri axle with a Serco 8500. I still have to worry about being over weight and I am registered for 77,000 I would have orginally guessed that I was never need to have to haul that much to  make any money but as used the truck and had to pay the bills I realized after having the truck just a few months that if I had gotten a smaller cheaper truck I would have only lost money. Get something DOT friendly when it comes to what weight for more than likely to haul, add ten percent to be safe; then you wil only have to worry abou the other tickets they write for the small stuff

[Woodhauler]

I did not think it would work. Just wanted to be sure that I was not missing something. Actually I did forget to add in the weight of a bed.

I guess it is off to get a CDL. And to find a bigger truck.

If you want to go big come see me! I can set you up if your check book is big enough!

[Maine372]

oliver stores in new gloucester has a ford triaxle with a loader on it ready to go. you might do better to trade what you have towards somthing ready to go rather than having the money tied up while youre putting somthing together.

[weimedog]

Can't imagine anything less than a 44,000 rear and 18,000 front with 350plus HP from what I've seen. Lots of those chassis around. Extend with a tag axle? If the business is there... For off road a Hendrickson spring suspension deals with the rock & roll better on side hills would be my experience when i had my excavation business in the Rocky Mountains. Nice 18sp with lock up side to side and front to rears differentials..in the back as well. And Budd's...I understand why some used Dayton's...what a PITA! Older trucks if your on a budget, CAT's are powerful and just awesome, Cummins Big Cam series thru N-14's are cheaper to fix.

[smwwoody]

This is my truck with a prentice 110 on it.  It weighs 19500 empty.  i can legally gross 33000.  I run it a little  heavy most of the time.  In the next fer weeks it is getting the drive axle moved forward and an air lift axle added to the rear to let me run around 40000 gross.

Woody

 

[red]

on www.tomssaw.com there is a picture of a one ton Ford Pulp truck with a pto driven winch turret above the cab

[Frickman]

I have a 1986 GMC 7000 with a Prentice model F and a flat bed with bunks. It weighs 16,300 lbs. empty. When I get a regular three bunk log bed built it will weigh much less. I'm legal for 26,000 lbs. I put this truck together to haul on the many 10 ton weight limit roads in my area. Most townships let me haul 13 ton on those roads so i get away with it. If I need a big load hauled a long distance I hire a triaxle or tractor trailer.

[mainiac]

Thanks Frickman,

That is something I wanted to hear. Is your truck gas or diesel? I am looking at a 1984 GMC 7000 cab and chassis gasser with 74k miles and was wondering what it would weigh in at. I am thinking that there is a niche business in my area for delivering a couple of cord of 12' firewood logs to the weekend warrior firewood processors. This would be an added service to my existing firewood business. There seems to be some demand for small deliveries as some people do not want a full 8-10 cord truck load. Plus I have a few other firewood sale ideas that this setup will accomplish. We will see.

I already have the barko and the truck is priced right for a cheap way to test the waters. I need the loader for feeding the processor, now I am just making it road worthy for short money.

[treefarmer87]

mainiac, if you want to put one together check truckpaper.com for cab and chassis trucks, they have some sweet deals on there. i want one so bad, the self-loader trucks are so handy

[snowstorm]

Thanks Frickman,

That is something I wanted to hear. Is your truck gas or diesel? I am looking at a 1984 GMC 7000 cab and chassis gasser with 74k miles and was wondering what it would weigh in at. I am thinking that there is a niche business in my area for delivering a couple of cord of 12' firewood logs to the weekend warrior firewood processors. This would be an added service to my existing firewood business. There seems to be some demand for small deliveries as some people do not want a full 8-10 cord truck load. Plus I have a few other firewood sale ideas that this setup will accomplish. We will see.

I already have the barko and the truck is priced right for a cheap way to test the waters. I need the loader for feeding the processor, now I am just making it road worthy for short money.

12ft? wounder wear he gets that?

[bill m]

mianiac, When you come down here I will show you my log truck. It is a 89 International, Atlas log loader, 14 ft. bed and 26000 gvw.

[mainiac]

BillM, 10-4 on that. I would like to be coming down this week, but it still looks like sometime next week.

[Frickman]

My truck has a 366 gas engine. It originally had an 18' flat bed on it. I took it off and installed the loader and a 16' flat bed and log bunks I already had from another truck. I have been servicing the small load firewood market myself. I can haul 2 3/4 to 3 cords of firewood logs or around 1000 board feet of sawlogs. I'm about fifty loads of firewood logs behind right now. Not everyone wants or has the room for 8 cords. Some of my friendly competitors kind of chuckled about how small the truck is when I put it together. I'm the one who is laughing now as I am servicing alot of markets they cannot.

[mainiac]

Well it's a no go on the GMC 7000. Engine oil is over filled with a gas smell to it. Guessing it was the fuel that over filled it. So my search continues.

I do not know anyone in my area that delivers small loads on a regular basis, so I am thinking that I may have similar results as you Frickman.

[snowstorm]

366 or 427? holley carb? float stuck . washed the cyl down then it ends up in the base. not that uncomnon. some of them ran way to rich. holley makes a very good carb but sometimes people that dont know what they are doing try to make it better

[snowstorm]

and dont even look at anything without at least a 12k front an a 21k rear and air brakes. a gas motor will not run that loader well

[snowstorm]

get wood hauler to tell the story about the guy that bought a new six wheel truck with loader and tag first load of pine he hauled it scared him so bad he had to stop and puke. he tells the story better

[pinehillstacker]

Mainiac,
I wouldn't totally give up on the Jimmy, the oil issue might not be too serious.  What has happened to me before on my '71 Chevy pickup, and what I would guess happened to it, is the fuel pump diapraghm blew out, filling your oil pan full of gas.  As long as they didn't take it on any long distance drives since this happened, all it should need is a new fuel pump, and new oil/oil filter, and you'll be good to go.  By the way, I'm brand new to the forum, so howdy all.

[smwwoody]

Could be a blown Power valve in the Holly Carb also

[jocco]

Mainiac Many has thought about it but anything less than a tri axel does not seem to work. ( a wheeler cannot haul long length wood because the rear axel is over weight) Ever look into the trailer mounted loader rigs??? They haul couple cord. One guy did an economic study and with time, travle etc they were counter productive. Same went for a 1 ton delivering firewood.

[mainiac]

Problem with the GMC is that it is at a dealer not a private sale. Hard telling what the history to it is. Plus all the emision stuff has been removed or altered. A few other issues too. They have a couple of F800s in my price range that I am looking at. Something will come my way at some point. Just got the old C65 set up on the landing and will start hauling tomorrow.

[mainiac]

Jocco- My business plan invoving this truck includes the fact that my firewood processor only takes upto 14' stems. I have a 2 cutters within 5 miles of me for the next 2-4 years. These big truck drivers want $25 or $30 per cord to move the wood those 5 miles. The only thing I do this time of year is plow snow so I figured why not fill in between storms and cut out the drivers cut. I have done 75 cord this year and want double the output and if the sales are there and the cash flow is there I would not mind tripling this years numbers. Delivering 12'-14' to people that want to process 2-3 cord on their own would be bonus.

The way I am hauling right now is a pain because I have to rig my one truck for plowing then when the I am done with the storm, I have to unrid (plow and sander) so that I can use my dump trailer. Plus that takes the loader away from the processor. There a couple of other business ideas that I am going to pursue that a road worthy loader would play into

I do not want to make trips to the mills. To many others with big trucks to do that, but taking the occasional log or 2 to the local sawyer yes.

While I do appreciate the advice on going big, I still think there is the niche market for the small truck in my area if I set up right.

[EricR]

I use a international 4700 low pro for hauling logs.  Its got a 21,500 gvw.  Im about 11,000 empty. And  i can carry 2 cords legally.  Its got a 10 foot dump body on it.  I load it with a kubota.  I tried to haul 12 footers with it and had too much overhang and that made the rear sag a lot even with out a full load.  I went to 10 footers and that solved my problem.  I guess what im saying with a light truck is make sure you get something with a log enough wheelbase so you dont have a lot past the rear axle.  I would think an awsome rig would be a 26000 gvw truck with a rear mounted loader and pull a 5 ton trailer behind you.  Then you could have a load split between the two .  In Mass a trailer 5 ton or under is a freebie and doesnt count towards your 26000 GCWR limit.  My truck has the t444e (7.3 diesel)  and its slow  It does the job but its slow.  Im guessing the gm gassers are slow as well.  Do yourself the favor and get the biggest engine you can.  My truck also came with the dt466 and that would make a ok truck an excellent truck

[bill m]

Mainiac, Don't give up on the single axle truck idea. I put 3 cords on my truck and have sold over 60 cords this past fall. A lot of my customers do not want a big triaxle load of wood all at one time.

[mainiac]

Bill, not giving up, just regrouping the hunt. I got a bit of an idea from someone today that has me thinking and just need to figure out what truck I need to follow through with that idea.

[Ironwood]

FYI, A sweet NON-CDL set up would/ could be a F450 15-16k GVW with a 16' bed (bunks) crane on the back and a 10K trailer behind, that would give you approx, 2 ton capacity on the deck of the truck , and 3+ ton on the trailer (perhaps more if you had a custom light unladen weight trailer custom built, as most 10k trailers w/ decks weigh 3000-3500lbs.)  I bet you could get close to 2000-2500 lbs unladen. Remember keep it under 26K to avoid CDL, you would still need a biannual Medical Card (no biggie)

 Remember over weight trucks are STEEP fines, over weight trailers MUCH less.
 
 The Hiab 035 on my 550 only weighs 1000 lbs and lifts 5500lbs  "close", put a light grapple on it and it would be sweet. Older cranes are heavy, newer ones more engineered=lighter.

Ironwood

 

  

  

  

  

 

 

[jocco]

Jocco- My business plan invoving this truck includes the fact that my firewood processor only takes upto 14' stems. I have a 2 cutters within 5 miles of me for the next 2-4 years. These big truck drivers want $25 or $30 per cord to move the wood those 5 miles. The only thing I do this time of year is plow snow so I figured why not fill in between storms and cut out the drivers cut. I have done 75 cord this year and want double the output and if the sales are there and the cash flow is there I would not mind tripling this years numbers. Delivering 12'-14' to people that want to process 2-3 cord on their own would be bonus.

The way I am hauling right now is a pain because I have to rig my one truck for plowing then when the I am done with the storm, I have to unrid (plow and sander) so that I can use my dump trailer. Plus that takes the loader away from the processor. There a couple of other business ideas that I am going to pursue that a road worthy loader would play into

I do not want to make trips to the mills. To many others with big trucks to do that, but taking the occasional log or 2 to the local sawyer yes.

While I do appreciate the advice on going big, I still think there is the niche market for the small truck in my area if I set up right.

Just trying to give you ideas of some things i have seen that did not work. A wheeler with loader might be best for you for what you describe. Trying to circumvent the cdl law might not be good either as there is a lot of debate on that.

[jocco]

Also did i mention hose trailers with a loader from patu, medevac etc??? If you have a dump truck one guy bought a loader (licenced as a crane) and used the dumptruck and just loaded with the crane. Just an idea

[ahlkey]

 

 

I have a F650 rated at 26,000 lbs and also pull a custom tri-axle trailer with a 1400 Metavic loader.  Overall combined rating is 40,000 lbs which allows me to pull 3-4 cords of sawlogs for my own use.  However, when doing full pulp or firewood truckloads I always have it hired out.  It just is not economical for me nor is it worth the liability risks.

[treefarmer87]

that metavic is one great setup nice rig