Anyone know the estimated weight of an 8gpm hot box?

I am trying to put some numbers together on how much weight I might have in a box truck. I don't have a hot box yet but was thinking about a 12v upright Largo for an 8gpm machine. I am not set on a Largo but was just looking at them. The one I saw didn't have a weight on it.

a Pressure -Pro hotbox 115 v weights about 515 lbs. 12 V = 475 lbs

Looks like I found it on Largo's site. 98012 is 485 and the 99012 is 545. I am looking at a box truck that is 18000 gvwr and trying to put some numbers together so I know how much water I could haul etc. Do most of you only load your vehicles to 80% of the gvwr or do you go more?

Remember the fuel in the tanks and water in the coil, fuel is about 7.5 pounds per gallon and the coil could hold about 5 gallons of water.

Depending on the size of the fuel tanks, that can be another few hundred pounds.

My Hotsy 5.6gpm hot water skid empty is 875 pounds with 11 gallon gas and diesel tanks. With my skid it is about 1080 pounds when fuel tanks are full and water is always in the coil.

I would not take the box truck over 70 to 75% of it's capacity to be safe but that is me.

Hoses don't weigh that much but the equipment, tanks or drums of chemicals, water in the tank, machines, reclaim equipment, generators, lights, etc.... add up.

Hope this helps.

I have pretty much got it down to the weight of the hot box and the unknown weight of water it would hold. The fuel tank that comes with the one I am looking at is a 7 gallon tank but have also seen them with bigger tanks. Its been a little hard trying to find a box truck to the specs I am looking for. I have found one but its not quite as big as I would like so thats why I am trying to crunch numbers. However I need to get into something before winter hits. I have some time yet though.

You will have plenty more room after you set the hotbox in a box truck with that type weight capacity for alot more goodies so shop on.

I have a 2002 Ford E550 7.3l w/20 ft box 17,500lbs, very close to the weight you are looking at. Truck with full fuel + me and no equipment was close to 11,000 lbs.

Setup is a bit heavier then probably you would do for equipment.

27hp isuzu diesel engine w/10g fuel tank
9.5 gpm 3500 psi legacy pump
Farley 750,000 btu 10 gpm burner with 40g fuel tank 120v

With 550 imp gallons of water I am very close, but just under my weight limit

This is my middle truck, I have a big one that at 1250 imp gallons I am still under 75% load limit which I use for big jobs.

The weights add up fast with these trucks, does not take long when hauling water to go over.

Roy, keep on looking everywhere, it took me almost 6 months to find my truck that I bought up north.

Craigslist, truck trader, other versions of the trader online and many others out there, even EBAY sometimes has good deals.

Christopher said:

Roy, keep on looking everywhere, it took me almost 6 months to find my truck that I bought up north.

Craigslist, truck trader, other versions of the trader online and many others out there, even EBAY sometimes has good deals.

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Oh believe me I have been looking. A big part of that issue is that I only have a certain amount of dollars to spend on one right now. The c5500 that I am talking about a guy wants to trade me that for an old truck I have. I have only got 2300 in the old truck so it doesnt sound too bad from that aspect. I can find 24 foot trucks all day long for the money but I am trying to stay at 16 foot. I dont need all that extra truck nor do I want. I really hate working on a tight budget.

I went through the same thing, lots and lots of 24' and 26' box trucks from UHaul, Penske, Ryder, Budget, etc..... but not many 16' trucks like what I wanted.

Have you tried Search Tempest? It is a nationwide craigslist search, just type in the miles you want to search in from your zip code, I would do 2000 miles as that would reach just about anywhere here in the USA. I would search for Box Truck, Delivery Truck, Enclosed truck and a couple other terms.

Just a FYI, if you see a box truck with damage like on the top or side, the places that repair them usually have a minimum of about $1000 to $1500 even for the smallest repairs as they have to drill through every rivet to remove panels to replace the damaged panels and then rivet everything back. I found some great deals on some box trucks but when I emailed pics of the trucks to the repair place (4 hours away), almost each time the repair started out at $1500 plus freight for the panels and it would always take a week or two from when you left it and you had to have someone follow you to bring you home and then a ride up there to bring it back so the expenses start to add up quickly.

Sometimes it takes a while to find something good, someone who is good at finding trucks fast is Ron Gilliam, talk to him and he will show you how he finds trucks at great prices.

Good point Chris with the 70-75% of Gvwr- not only could be unsafe but increasing the wear and tear on brakes, tires, trans, etc

i have a 375 water tank on my 14ft trailer

I NEVER run full- at most ill drive with it 1/2 full- and thats only if the job is close and i want to move quick

Yeah searchtempest is one of them that I use. I also look at eBay, truckpaper, commercial truck trader, ryder and a few others. I am keeping the c5500 in mind but still looking. I actually had ron try to find out about an international 4700 but they wont return either of our emails and they didnt list a phone number. I still have time before it syarts getting cold enough to freeze but dont want to wait until the last minute either.

DunRite said:

Good point Chris with the 70-75% of Gvwr- not only could be unsafe but increasing the wear and tear on brakes, tires, trans, etc

i have a 375 water tank on my 14ft trailer

I NEVER run full- at most ill drive with it 1/2 full- and thats only if the job is close and i want to move quick

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If he is buying this big of a truck, I would assume he has the need to haul full tanks.

90%+ of my customers have no access to water, the other 10% its too much hassle to deal with.

Got a call the other day, a contractor promised a guy some cleaning at a large shopping center in town but could not do it because there was not hose bibs 150ft within the area. They actually couldn't find any hose bibs, this guy basically had to leave with his tail between his legs, per say. I already had a full day going, but gave him the number to a buddy of mine that also carries large amounts of water.

In saying this, if you stick to residential or places where water is readily available you shouldn't need to carry much and don't need the vehicle to do it. If you can and do carry anything over 500 imp gallons let your customer know and let them know the benefits as well. Driving a bigger truck and carrying water is a bigger operating expense then those that show up with an F150 and a little buffer tank. You can typically ask for atleast another $5-10 an hour and get it assuming you can sell the benefits of the big truck.

Keep this in mind as well, big trucks = bigger costs when it comes to fuel and maintenance. You make all your money with the bigger truck driving to a site and parking it in one spot for the day and working. Driving around a couple hundred miles a day in a big truck will hurt your fuel bills and of course things like tires, brakes, ect.

The C5500 can be very expensive when it comes to things like brakes, just a heads up. One of my customers has one of these for a service truck and just did the front pads and rotors, and the price for the parts were $1200-1400, not including labor. Where as my tandem axle freightliner is $500 for new shoes and labor all around, or all 6 wheel sets.

Just trying to give you info on experience here, thats all.

That is a great price for brakes for the truck Benjamin, wow!

Yeah I am not looking forward to the added cost of repairs, tires, plates and everything associated with a bigger truck. The reason for the need to haul soo much water is for fleet washing. I can only haul about 400 gallons now and see the need for more capacity and also the need to have an enclosed area for the machine during winter. Just too much liability keeping it on an open trailer in the cold months.

Have you thought about a very strong capacity enclosed trailer? It might be a different option instead of buying another truck if your current truck will be able to pull it.

You can get a trailer with 5,000 or 7,000 pound axles or stronger with brakes on each axle, 2 or 3 axles on enclosed trailers, just depends on what you want.

Using an enclosed trailer might even be less expensive to insure than a large box truck.

Between jobs you could have the engines idle to circulate the water, not sure about insulation but you might be able to have them insulated but most guys just empty the water and put antifreeze in the system, this has been talked about with many pictures here on PWI in the past.

Just another idea for you.

Roy Sanders said:

I am trying to put some numbers together on how much weight I might have in a box truck. I don't have a hot box yet but was thinking about a 12v upright Largo for an 8gpm machine. I am not set on a Largo but was just looking at them. The one I saw didn't have a weight on it.

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Largo 8GPM verticle... 500 lbs Ask me..... i know... drum cart straps and a come along mounted it on my trailer.... oh and me... #neverdothatagainbymyself!

Christopher said:

That is a great price for brakes for the truck Benjamin, wow!

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I know a guy, I also clean his dump trucks occasionally....

Trailers are a good option, maybe even putting a trailer with just a water tank on it. I am considering do this for my ford, put a trailer hitch on the back and carry another 1000 gallons. My truck's GCWR is 30,000 as per the manual, but the extra tank would only be used on certain jobs. My ford came with a heater tied into the coolant system for the rear box. A little bit of Styrofoam and thin plywood and that should be good enough for going from the heated shop to the job. Also keep in mind, full water tanks will also keep heat within the back box assuming the water has been warmed to room temperature.