new to site and have questions about service trucks and cranes

[bunky]

Hi everyone. I have decided to purchase a Service truck with crane. My question is not so much about the F550 but will a 6000# crane be good to remove booms and sticks on medium size excavators and to remove/install blades on dozers up to about D7 size. The truck that I am going to purchase will probably be the Ford F550 with 6.0L. I know of the problems with the 6.0l but the truck that I am looking at has only 128K miles and is a 2007 model year. I will probably only be using this truck for less then 4000 miles per year (more like 2000/yr). My daily service driver is a GMC 2500 Van and I usually put on 20000 miles/year with this truck. What DOT restrictions are to be expected with the F550. I do not have a CDL. If I need to get a CDL then I will upgrade to a larger truck. the GVW on the F550 is 19500# but that is only for the truck with body not sure if the crane is included. Thanks Ed

 

[willie59]

Welcome to HEF bunky. :drinkup

I'm not going to address the questions of the F550 setup because it's secondary to the crane and work you describe. That is, when you say "medium size excavator" , I assume you're talking about 100 to 200 size excavators, a 6000 lb crane will not do the task of handling the boom or stick of those size machines, and you would have to be sucked up tight to handle the entire blade of a D-7 if it would handle it at all. In my opinion, gonna need a bigger truck and crane.

 

[theironoracle]

I second what willie59 says. you can find the info on this site, cruise around it the "shop" forum and the "showtime" forum under "ultimate service truck", keep posting you'll get the advice you need here...........TIO

 

[bunky]

thanks for the input

 

[norite]

I think the 550 might be OK for you. You should be able to handle engines, transmissions, cylinders, tires, tracks etc which is the meat and potatoes of heavy equipment mech. work.

How often do you need to take the boom off a big excavator or lift a big dozer blade? If you need to do this often, a bigger truck maybe is necessary but you can often use other equipment nearby or rent a boom truck or crane occasionally for the really big stuff. No matter how big your crane is on your service truck you will still need a real crane sometimes anyway.

 

[bunky]

I think the 550 might be OK for you. You should be able to handle engines, transmissions, cylinders, tires, tracks etc which is the meat and potatoes of heavy equipment mech. work.

How often do you need to take the boom off a big excavator or lift a big dozer blade? If you need to do this often, a bigger truck maybe is necessary but you can often use other equipment nearby or rent a boom truck or crane occasionally for the really big stuff. No matter how big your crane is on your service truck you will still need a real crane sometimes anyway.

I work at the Port of Baltimore and sometimes I am hired to remove these items so the unit can load onto the vessel. By removing these things it allows it to be measured smaller and in return the cost is greatly reduced. If I can remove the stick, boom and bucket it saves the customer about $4000 before what they pay me. I do not go the construction sites this I leave to the boys with the bigger toys and better expertise. So far this year I farmed out about 20 of these jobs at other ports. I still was able to do 8 jobs at my major Port with the use of forklifts that are located at this port. The other Ports I do not have the luxury of these other pieces of equipment. Like I said I will probably only put about 2K to 4K miles per year.

 

[norite]

I work at the Port of Baltimore and sometimes I am hired to remove these items so the unit can load onto the vessel. By removing these things it allows it to be measured smaller and in return the cost is greatly reduced. If I can remove the stick, boom and bucket it saves the customer about $4000 before what they pay me. I do not go the construction sites this I leave to the boys with the bigger toys and better expertise. So far this year I farmed out about 20 of these jobs at other ports. I still was able to do 8 jobs at my major Port with the use of forklifts that are located at this port. The other Ports I do not have the luxury of these other pieces of equipment. Like I said I will probably only put about 2K to 4K miles per year.

Now that makes perfect sense, knowing what you want to do. I was just thinking typical construction heavy equipment mechanics truck.

 

[willie59]

Even with that information given, working at a port, the loads that you're talking about picking will require much more than a 6,000 lb crane on a service truck. Remember, with any crane, no matter what it's mounted on, the max load capacity (6,000 lb in this case) is with the boom at max elevation and no boom extension, which will only give you a load radius of a couple of feet. When you extend or lower the boom, capacity is greatly diminished. The work you're describing is going to require either a much higher capacity crane on a service truck, a good tonnage carrydeck crane, or a class 8 truck mounted boom truck.

 

[Dualie]

Id look at a boom truck vs a mechanics truck

 

[willie59]

Id look at a boom truck vs a mechanics truck

For the scope of work described, I agree Dualie.

 

[95zIV]

Something like this would be a good way to start, I know it's your money not mine, but going a bit oversize will give you not only the capacity to make the lift safely, but room to grow too.

http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=3044505

 

[willie59]

Yep, I agree 95, and the two part line block is a must for the fine hoist movements required to remove pins.

 

[bunky]

I don't have a CDL and really don't want one either. The transportation police around the port are very picky. or should I say very PRICKY. They stop all trucks coming and going thru the toll plazas near the port. This is why I am looking for something in the 19500 GVW range.

 

[theironoracle]

cdl starts at 26,000 gvw, TIO

 

[bunky]

cdl starts at 26,000 gvw, TIO

Yeah I know but with my luck I would be scaled and be over the #26000 and get busted. In Maryland they don't play.

 

[FarmWrench]

I wish some oilfield guys would let us know how well those boom trucks work. A local guy had a homemade two pipe and cable rig for butchering cattle. Not dozer sized but simple and probabily how the machines will get put back together in some third world port.

 

[Nikolai]

Don't be overweight. Then that allows you to get a bigger truck and not be in trouble with the DOT. Do it right or don't do it at all.