Converting flatbed to dozer ramp bed

[treemuncher]

A few updates on the work. Truck is mostly done and I was able to test fit my smallest piece and my F250 on to the flatbed. The Reese hitch tube drags lightly on the F250 but clears the belly well enough. The little machine (15k+lbs) got up there just fine. 2 pitch changes on the way up to the flat - no slippage and the climb was easy with the air ride dropped down.

I still have to get a grease reel and finish up the installation of the grease bucket. I also have a fuel tank to finish fabricating and pressure testing. At least I now have a truck that is ready to move some loads. I will change my design on the ramps - they are currently manual lift and I don't have room to get helper springs in them. I will likely build them into hydraulic lift ramps and if I do that, I might make them a bit longer. I have more of those beams available to me in my metal pile so it's just the time and labor to build them up.

I plan to take it over to the local gravel pit scale house to weigh out what my build is. I'm thinking somewhere around 2 tons on the bed weight. Regardless, I will be legal with the big machine (30k lbs) when that gets loaded up.

 

[treemuncher]

And I REALLY like the LED lights that I put in on the bed. Super bright reverse lights and everything looks pretty slick.

 

[Junkyard]

Came out sharp. Good job.

 

[old-iron-habit]

Nice job. And the bed is long enough to balance your load as needed to get the correct front axle weight.

 

[treemuncher]

Nice job. And the bed is long enough to balance your load as needed to get the correct front axle weight.

That was the first job on layout - figure where the Center of Gravity of each machine must be located in order to establish how much weight was put on the steer axle. That also made the decision on ramp location, overall length of the body and the rest of the layout. I made up an Excel spreadsheet that tells me how far forward of the tandem center each CG should be in order to put how much weight on the front axle. For the big machine (not loaded yet), I will have a choice of 5k-7.5k lbs on the front axle. Due to the length of the machine and the area saved for fuel tank and greaser, I am unable to load more than that on the front but that works out about perfect and shares the weight as it should be.

 

[treemuncher]

1st load on the new bed hit the road this morning to start a job 60 miles away. Truck did great, no shifting on the hills required with the little machine. I still have to finish the 200 gallon fuel tank, add tool boxes and hydraulics to the ramps but I have a good working truck. with an air powered grease system. A 55 gal drum of off road diesel works fine for the small machine to make a full day of it but the larger machine will chew through that drum in less than 3 hours.

 

[Planedriver]

Well done. When you have free time and want to work for beer come to Michigan. I have a project for ya!

 

[redneckracin]

looks great! When can I borrow it?

 

[treemuncher]

I purchased a 12 volt pump/reservoir combo and modified the ramps into a hydraulic lift system. I did not need to take a chance on my back and the ramps needed to be beefed up a bit. Things were just going to get heavier. I also added a 12 volt battery behind the pump with a solar charger over the deck. The lift and lower buttons are hidden from the weather and anyone else. Works like a charm and the money it cost was far cheaper than doctor visits for a back injury.

The ramps no longer lay down on the deck but hydraulic lift is SO worth it! Now, to finish up the 200 gal off road fuel tank and some tool boxes. Then I should be about done with this project. So far, everything has been working out great with this truck.

 

[79star]

Nice work. Did you hit your budget?

 

[treemuncher]

I put on 8 new low profile tires last week and painted the 8 rims with a HD urethane paint. Now the bed sits another 2+ inches lower and I will be under legal height with the big machine.

I still need to finish the 200 gal tank, mount tool boxes and try loading the big machine on the truck. Right now, I've been using it for moving the small (15k lb) machine around and it is working great. It's a lot safer than pulling that load with my F550.

I really should add up how much I spent on the truck just to know true cost. If I get the track issue fixed on the big machine this week, I will post up some updated photos.

 

[treemuncher]

200 Gallon tank installed and works well. I've been driving some relatively steep areas with the small machine and the truck handles great. Track tensioner gave out yesterday so time for more repairs on this machine.

Tried loading the big machine for the first time today. Nothing bent, front end stayed on the ground the whole time and the loading was perfectly stable. Really happy with it. Once the lo-pro tires were put on, the load angle is near perfect with the air ride dropped down.

 

[treemuncher]

I still have to figure out my binding locations. Once I decide on the best tie down points, I usually stick with that program to keep things fast and safe. Driving this load on the truck felt fine and not overloaded. Once I choose my tie down program, I'll run it down the road to test it out prior to going to a job with it.

I still have some issues with the machines RPM sensors on the tracks to fix before putting it to work. Nice thing about this machine is that the low gears run 0.25 and 0.5 mph which makes loading a slow breeze with a gentle break over.

 

[td25c]

Dozer bed & hydro ramps turned out really nice treemuncher !

 

[redneckracin]

thats a sweet looking rig. Nice job.

 

[colson04]

What did the truck end up weighing?

 

[JNB]

Nice job on the bed and the fuel tank looks right at home. Looking forward to more updates as your project progresses.

 

[treemuncher]

I've recently added a lift axle to the truck. See the write up here: https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/adding-a-steerable-lift-axle.80655/#post-856663