truck up grade(its here)

woodmills1 · April 10, 2008, 10:59:36 PM

realized the other day I am going to kill my one ton with the blue ox behind it

went to chevy and my truck they give me 1600 new one 48500 no bed

go see my neighbor about some pine for his barn........4500 in his driveway

he says I need to sell my truck I say wow I want it

next day he calls and says my dad wants your one ton

I am like who died and left me boss

bottem line he takes my one ton at 22000 I get his 4500 at 45000 both 2005 but his 4500 also has plow and switch and go with 4 beds and has 9000 miles

I go to bank for loan deal is happeneing I drove it today I am hooked

Dave Shepard · April 10, 2008, 11:04:20 PM

Cool! Now you can haul even more bigger loads. :D 8) 8)

Dave

woodmills1 · April 10, 2008, 11:07:59 PM

already too order one more roll off frame to weld up a log body.

Dave Shepard · April 10, 2008, 11:10:46 PM

I always thought those swapper bodie woule be great for landscapers. Dump bed for hauling, flat bed for mowing, sander in the winter. Never see anybody doing it though. We'll need pics of course. ;)

Dave

woodmills1 · April 10, 2008, 11:27:43 PM

well I am thiking leaving a body at a cut site so all the shorts or junk can be pre loaded and rady to just pick up with no log loader time. 2 of my 3 tree service companies use ground machines so the could load the bodies.

Captain · April 11, 2008, 06:41:28 AM

I'm in the same situation James. I pick up my new-used Freightliner in a couple of weeks and get busy changing it from a box truck into a flatbed.

I'll be by to chec out your wheels soon, congrats.

Captain

tcsmpsi · April 11, 2008, 11:05:16 AM

Hey James.

Congratulations on your good fortune!

Which Ox do you have?

I went the other day looking at a new 3500 chassis crew cab that they agreed to make me a pretty good offer on (no bed).

How do you like the Ox? I've been looking a bit at them (and a few other things).

Ironwood · April 11, 2008, 02:32:44 PM

A friend just put a "HOOK" system on his F-450. He has a dump, flat and a few other boxes to put on/ off. The one disadvantage seems to be height, darn thing really ends up putting the bodies too high for my taste, I love versatility but not with the bed 12" higher.

Ironwood

Dave Shepard · April 11, 2008, 03:57:52 PM

There are a few different designs, and a couple of different ways to mount truck bodies. Sometimes you have to think a little outside the box. I've seen a few one tons dumps that had the bodies mounted at least a foot too high. >:( There is no nead for it.

Dave

woodmills1 · April 11, 2008, 06:42:16 PM

this is a unit from switch and go it looks like it adds about 5 inches and less than 500 pounds.

I have a little ox and have towed it behind my 3500 for 2 years now. It does it but as I have gotten busier I realize I am going to kill it in a relatively short time. The motor is and will be fine its the brakes, the springs and the transmission I think about.

I LOVE MY BLUE OX it has taken me to a level I never imagined. :D :D :D

Ironwood · April 11, 2008, 07:53:25 PM

I had an older 1996 F-350 for a while. The machine shop that had owned it put the flatbed 10" higher than needed so it would back up to the dock @ Latrobe Steel once a week for their delivery, guess they never thought about a set of wooden ramps left at the dock ??? , Good news was that was all they ever did with it (it was all down hill from their machine shop into town loaded, empty coming back up the ridge), bought it 9 years old w/ 18,000 original miles, drove it for 2 years and kept the bed and sold the cab / chassis for $1300 more than I had paid for it originally. Goota love that, still only had 44,000 miles.

Ironwood

woodmills1 · April 11, 2008, 09:12:04 PM

had an 86 chevy one ton, bought it with 13000 miles in 1988 and put 68000 total plowing, harvesting firewood in the woods, and hauling firewood and lumber. Three transmissions, a cab, new dump bed, radiator, 2 starters, heater core, 3 sets of exhaust doughnuts, one pair of exhaust manifolds, three times back brakes and 2 times front..............but the choke on the quadrajet still worked when I got rid of it.

woodmills1 · May 13, 2008, 06:30:04 PM

here ya go, it is mine.

CLL · May 13, 2008, 08:57:59 PM

Nice truck, and the right name on it too. ;D :D

Dale Hatfield · May 13, 2008, 09:42:26 PM

So when the insurance man ask what kind of truck? You tell him flatdumplogsanderbox haul anything ya can stack in it on it . Let me see ya fit that on the registration.
Nice work truck.
Dale

Ironwood · May 13, 2008, 10:22:17 PM

Nice. What engine?

Ironwood

woodmills1 · May 14, 2008, 06:25:06 AM

yes I like my +LUMBER plate, I was surprized no one had it already

Believe it or not, the title says pickup :D

It has the durimax 6.6 and allison automatic

dewwood · May 14, 2008, 08:53:39 AM

Nice truck, I am envious! You will love that duramax with the allison, all the power you need and with the tow option the transmission really saves the brakes. Time to go have some fun with it! :D :D

OneWithWood · May 14, 2008, 02:31:57 PM

Yes, a nice lookin' truck.
Put it to work 8)

ScottAR · May 15, 2008, 03:19:02 AM

Nice ride... The swap a body seems like the best thing going for a
multi-tasker type business. If I could find an IH in my price range,
I'd abandon my F550 search...

woodmills1 · May 15, 2008, 07:10:50 AM

I put my stuff in the tool boxes yesterday. Saws on one side and tools, tarp and extra clothes on the other. Will have to get a short handled blue peavy just for the truck now.

scott how does the price of a 550 ford compare to a 4500 or 5500 chevy.

ScottAR · May 15, 2008, 01:02:06 PM

I'd say it's lower in my situation, Mostly as I'm looking at older '99-02
trucks. I really like the 7.3L in my current f350 and I want to stick with
it. I don't have the jack for the '08s with 6.4L and several of my
customers have had problems out of the 6.0L engine.

If I was to get out of the F550 search, I'd get an IH 4700 or 4900 and
go big. Dt466, 7 or 9spd. I'd be able to have a flat dump or a
swap a body and still pull the backhoe.

As it is, the F550 will pull a backhoe with reasonable control I think
and I could sell my F350 if I had to and the F550 could do both truck
duties.

Ironwood · May 15, 2008, 01:18:18 PM

ScottAR,

You are right on w/ the 7.3, avoid the 6.0 AND possibly the 6.4 as well (jury is still out, and I have heard a few gripes, head gasket AND terrible fuel economy). Keep your eye out for a 2000-2003 F-550, the six speed had a overdrive bearing improvement in late 2000. FYI

Ironwood

Dave Shepard · May 15, 2008, 02:50:29 PM

ScottAR, unless you need 4x4, I'd look harder for an IH. We have a 1991 4900 DT466 250hp 7 speed. Great combination. We have less than $5k into ours, and that includes the in chassis overhaul, two new batteries, and new air tanks. Way more truck, which is nice for pulling full size backhoes. ;) We did our entire corn season on 120 gallons of diesel. The old truck used 20+ gallons of gas per day.

Dave

logwalker · May 15, 2008, 04:10:28 PM

Quote from: Dave Shepard on May 15, 2008, 02:50:29 PM
ScottAR, unless you need 4x4, I'd look harder for an IH. We have a 1991 4900 DT466 250hp 7 speed. Great combination. We have less than $5k into ours, and that includes the in chassis overhaul, two new batteries, and new air tanks. Way more truck, which is nice for pulling full size backhoes. ;) We did our entire corn season on 120 gallons of diesel. The old truck used 20+ gallons of gas per day.
Dave

How do You do that for less than 5K. That's amazing. Joe