recommendations for compressor on service truck

[chrisbowles]

Hello,
I am doing a buildup of a maintance/mechanic truck. It's a 4500 gmc with 14ft tool bed. The task of this truck will be lube service, tire repair, parts changing, ect. Not pulling Trans or engines. I am adding a small 3203 crane and Lincoln welder. I have several other air compressors on other crew trucks. The largest has a gx390 Honda which is about 13 hp. It was bought from Northern tool then for 1800.00 with free ship. It has adequate air to run one 1" impact. I have been looking to see if it's a better compressor to be had. Northern tool has a model made by quincy for 2400.00. It looks a little nicer. A local dealer has a unit with 18 hp Honda on a bigger compressor for 4400.00. I think it produces about 25 cfm at 175, where the gx390 only puts out about 17-18. It's times where the ability to run 2 1" impacts would be nice. On a common occasion we will swap 8 trailer tires at one time. Time is money so the faster the better. I have seen the truck driven units but I don't feel that's the direction I Wana go. What's everyone's opinion on a big truck compressor? I don't really know if I'm needing more cfm or more volume.

 

[Nige]

You might be better looking at a larger air receiver tank. Personally my preference would be for a hydraulic driven compressor run off the PTO.

 

[RBMcCloskey]

Nige,
I agree with the hydraulic drive PTO idea. What do you think of hydraulic torque wrenches.
Bob

 

[Shimmy1]

I know you already have the welder, but we bought a Miller Air PAC 302 last spring for our truck. One engine, can run a suitcase MIG (only costs an extra $1200 for the suitcase) and the Miller Spectrum 875 plasma cutter (extra $2500). Whole package cost about $14,000. Compressor is a 30 CFM. Possibly more than you're looking for, but without a reservoir tank will run a ¾" impact. Plus you get a 450 amp battery charger/booster.

 

[Nige]

Nige,
I agree with the hydraulic drive PTO idea. What do you think of hydraulic torque wrenches.
Bob

We use Vanair compressors and have found them very reliable. On torque wrenches we stay with air and use RAD tools. Just as much torque as a hydraulic wrench but far simpler.

 

[RBMcCloskey]

Nige,

Sounds very interesting, could you point me in the right direction. Do you have a web site for them?

Bob

 

[Nige]

www.radtorque.com

 

[RBMcCloskey]

Thank You Sir

 

[chrisbowles]

I have seen the miller all in one. It's very nice but out of my league. This truck will never make one cent. But hopefully it will keep the equipment up and running and extend component life. I never seen advantage to the pto units. Why idle a truck with a 10k engine that's drinks fuel when you can run a 600.00 dollar Honda that will run hours on a few gallons and has nearly no maintance. I have 7 units on trucks and love them. But I'm open to new things, what does pto units cost. My upper range is around 4k. What advantages does the pto units offer

 

[Nige]

What advantages does the pto units offer

More power available so the capability to use a bigger compressor - useful when working on big tyres or with a 1" or larger rattle gun all the time. No hauling gasoline around, most modern-mine sites don't allow any gas-powered equipment through the gates. Simpler installation. Usually small gas engines don't have much of a life span, a hydraulic drive runs for ever. That's how I see it, your situation and/or needs may be different.

 

[chrisbowles]

What brand do you recommend and what's the price range with the pto units

 

[Nige]

We use Vanair at the moment. Try their website for models and prices.

 

[chrisbowles]

I called dealer. Looking at over 8 grand by the time it gets installed. I'm thinking of a quincy qp7.5 with a honda. Anyone have any experience with that brand

 

[still learn'n]

On my old service truck I put a 13 hp Honda with 30 gal tank and 22 cfm compressor and now I got a 60 cfm hyd compressor and wouldn't want to go back to little one yes it might work but efficiency is way less and there isn't any waiting for air! also I don't have to worry bout gassing up air compressor

 

[still learn'n]

Nige you have any idea how much them rad torque run?

 

[mitch504]

I try to stick with Ingersoll Rand compressors. I bought the one in my shop new about 10 yrs ago, no trouble with it yet. I bought the one on my service truck used in 1991. It is on it's sixth Briggs & Stratton engine, (and 4th truck) but I've had no trouble with the compressor.

 

[overworked]

I have Ingersoll Rand and no problems except the control cables for throttle, my cousin buys ones from Napa, twice the air, twice the money, That's where I will go next unless I go hydraulic.

 

[John C.]

I ran and Emglow wheel barrow unit that was 17 CFM for years. The Honda motor never hiccuped. Thing cost $1,2000 new and more than made up that cost several times over. They went out of business and are now called Jenny. The capacity was a little small for a carbon arc but did everything else I ever asked of it.

If you are working the big iron, 50 ton and up, the hydraulic driven can't be beat. You don't need it for the small to medium construction markets.

 

[Nige]

Nige you have any idea how much them rad torque run?

Depends on how many ft. lb. of torque you want but the general answer would be "spendy". However you buy it once and that's it, not like a rattle gun that you have to be overhauling every so often.

 

[f.sava]

I think John C is right from my experience. I used to do some work for a company and we had one and old army truck with a pto/hydraulic compressor. i don't know what its cfm rating was but two guys could work at once with 1" impact drivers with no problem. It was also nice that you never ran out of gas for the compressor, unless the truck did (in which case you have bigger problems). We had another one that had an older Ingersol Rand with a 30 gallon tank (around 25 cfm I belive) that was good for one guy although some air tools would bog down if you tried to run them for long. I have worked with some newer Ingersol Rand compressors recently that look a lot like the one I used before but they didn't seem to have the same strength as the older one. I don't know if they have gone cheap in recent years or if my memory just thinks everything was better when I was younger. The only small diesel driven i used was on a Lincoln welder which like the pto driven one, did not add the need for to have to haul gasoline-which for you might not be an issue if your welder already requires you to have gas cans floating around.
If you do go gas engine powered, make sure it has a Honda engine. I have used lots of small engines on welders, compressors, power washers, plate compactor and what have you and have never had any problems with any of the Honda engines. I can't say that about many other manufactures of any other products.