Input for my flatbed

GEPW4

GEPW4

New member
I am in the he process of building my flat bed and would like to get some input in the truck and design. Here is the list of equipment I will be putting on.

2 - hydro tek 9 gpm hot water skids
1- 18 gpm chem sprayer
1-1,000 gal water tank
1-250 gal drop tank
4 high pressure hose reels
1 inlet water hose
1 chem. hose reel

What size truck do you guys feel I would need to use?

Any input or pictures of your rigs would be greatly appreciated. I want to do this the right way.
 
The size and weight capacity of your truck should help determine your setup. The amount of equipment and tank capacity is dictating a large commercial duty truck NQR,F 650,F 750, LCF. I would say at least a 18 ft bed 2 hydroteks will take up alot of space and 2 large tanks even more.
 
LCf could not handle the load. I would look at the 6500 or 7500 you are at just over 10,000 lbs in just water and drop tank plus another 3k or more in equipment so you will need a big commercial truck to do that. Now if you use a 535 gal water tank and a 125 drop tank you could use a non cdl truck like a izuzu or ford LCf.
 
I need the 1000 gal water tank. We have a contract to clean 1,100 roofs and have to provide our own water. The more water the less I will have to fill up. Based on my equipment I was thinking the weight to be around 16,000. That would be with a full tank of water. I would not be rolling with a full tank of water all the time.
 
Hmmm..
have you considered putting the water tank on its own trailer..
the cost savings on the truck could be substantial ?
.. that does subject your crew to trailering laws on the highway.. max speed 55, etc.
but if that truck does half its work-week without the need for that crazy watersupply,
..and electric brakes on its dual axles means the whole rig could stop better. ...
worth considering. Eh?

and remember, you need more than one man to use all that equipment..
is it less expensive to use "less expensive" 1 ton trucks with the equipment split between them
rather than "all your eggs in one basket"-truck ?

It's SO hard to think of everything..
you're smart to post the question.
 
You can get a nice international for about 15k used. That would handle that load easy. Still be under CDL. Those engines run for a LONG time to. Or either something like a FL60 FL70. I dont think I'd want almost 9k lbs of water on a trailer. If you've ever drove a truck with a 1000 gallon water tank on it thats only half way full. You'd want to baffle it on a trailer.....
 
big water tanks require baffles

baffles are a MUST no matter what.
..that goes in the safety meeting too.
 
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GEPW4 said:
I am in the he process of building my flat bed and would like to get some input in the truck and design. Here is the list of equipment I will be putting on.

2 - hydro tek 9 gpm hot water skids
1- 18 gpm chem sprayer
1-1,000 gal water tank
1-250 gal drop tank
4 high pressure hose reels
1 inlet water hose
1 chem. hose reel

What size truck do you guys feel I would need to use?

Any input or pictures of your rigs would be greatly appreciated. I want to do this the right way.
Click to expand...

First I would do away with the 1000 tank idea, 525 will be fine. Set up a 2" hydrant fill with air gap for the tank. Get a hydrant meter from the city and it will take only 5 mins. to fill the tank, or you can run 3/4 garden hose from the hydrant for continuous flow. Tank this size will just take up too much room.

Why have an 18 gal a min. chem sprayer? This is way over kill IMO for roofs, I don't care how many you got. A fatboy will be fine.

No reason to split the flow on the Hydro Teks, not much you can do with 4 x 4.5 gpm that you could do faster and better with 2 x 9 gpm. Plus you save the cost of 2 hose reels.

This could be easily be set up on a Isuzu NPR 14 to 16 ft flatbed with a little room to spare.

You want to make sure that this truck will be able to work in your regular work environment when you're done with this job. No sense in building a rig that large and expensive to use 1, 2, or 3 times a year, unless you're looking at 50k to 75k Net per job.

Good Luck, post pictures when you can.
 
With all the equipment alone about 13,000 pounds for just that is what I would go with. Even if you don't roll with water all the time, you still will be some of the time which means that you have to have a truck carry it all. So you are looking for a truck that is just under the cdl, so 25,500 pounds is about right. In terms of length, it all depends on how good you can stack, and how tight you want everything to be. With one truck you will need more hose to spread out with 4 guys, but you can have them come to site in their own cars and probably save on insurance not having them all listed on the truck.
Another thing to keep in mind, truck are built with a maximum capacity, that does not mean though that you should build or plan your truck to this. I have seen many times where people have done this and have had the truck in the shop due to suspension and brake issues. So do you want your truck to be making $$$ for you, or paying $$$ to get it fixed and maybe losing customers due to not being able to do their work.
I planned and the built the truck way over what I needed, more so I didn't have to worry about scales and I could go on roads that would allow 75% of my total gvwr. Also parts are way cheaper on the bigger truck then I could have imagined. Since the truck is pretty much a highway tractor parts are available pretty much everywhere and are dirt cheap. Things I would expect to be expensive are not. I have heard stories of guys having to do brakes on 650's and having to order parts and pay $800 for all the pads and rotors. While my shoes and drums for the entire truck is half that price and I have 6 sets vs 4 sets to do.
Only draw back is I had to get a special license and yes I have to do yearly inspections, but I weighed that all before getting it. I bought the truck with 280,000 miles on the odometer, had to put a box on it and build everything in it. I needed lots of water as I can't fill on site, and now with the big truck I can run 2+ people for an entire day.

In saying all that two trucks might be better, but if you are going for one go as big as you can as it is better to have an over built truck then one that can barely handle what you put at it.

Just my 2 cents
 
GEPW4 said:
I am in the he process of building my flat bed and would like to get some input in the truck and design. Here is the list of equipment I will be putting on.

2 - hydro tek 9 gpm hot water skids
1- 18 gpm chem sprayer
1-1,000 gal water tank
1-250 gal drop tank
4 high pressure hose reels
1 inlet water hose
1 chem. hose reel

What size truck do you guys feel I would need to use?

Any input or pictures of your rigs would be greatly appreciated. I want to do this the right way.
Click to expand...

I used to lease trucks for a living and have specd a lot of trucks....

You need, non cdl (26k gvw), alison automatic, air brakes. My recommendation a freightliner fl 70, low pro, with a cat 3126 engine or a hino. It realy depends on your budget as well. I dont mind helping if you need any. My landlord is a wholesaler of commercial trucks.
 
Jerry,
Not everyone has the same silly trailering laws as California. Arizona law, and most other states let trucks and trailers do the same speed limit as other traffic.
 
See.. we could be safer leaving this place !
too many people on our highways don't undestand "sustainable relatoinships". Eh?

Hey.. we could all move to Arizona !!..
we're going to land there after Cali falls off into the ocean anyway !!
 
This is what I use http://www.interstateproducts.com/tanks/, if it is a remote site I pay to have water hauled in, and just siphon off of it, 5k gallons os just 200-400 and well worth it. You can also get these surplus sometimes.

We use a 20+ GPM chem pump and it works great.

That truck you are setting up sound BAD to the bone, big time, good luck with it.:wave:
 
Yep the bigger the sprayers the better if i had 1000 roofs to do i would rather have an air pump than a fatboy anyday.I say go for it sounds like you have the work to pay for the rig.I have a 14 foot izuzu with all the goodies inside.I wish sometimes i had gone with a big international i love having plenty of room to walk around in the work area.
 
Benjamin said:
With all the equipment alone about 13,000 pounds for just that is what I would go with. Even if you don't roll with water all the time, you still will be some of the time which means that you have to have a truck carry it all. So you are looking for a truck that is just under the cdl, so 25,500 pounds is about right. In terms of length, it all depends on how good you can stack, and how tight you want everything to be. With one truck you will need more hose to spread out with 4 guys, but you can have them come to site in their own cars and probably save on insurance not having them all listed on the truck.
Another thing to keep in mind, truck are built with a maximum capacity, that does not mean though that you should build or plan your truck to this. I have seen many times where people have done this and have had the truck in the shop due to suspension and brake issues. So do you want your truck to be making $$$ for you, or paying $$$ to get it fixed and maybe losing customers due to not being able to do their work.
I planned and the built the truck way over what I needed, more so I didn't have to worry about scales and I could go on roads that would allow 75% of my total gvwr. Also parts are way cheaper on the bigger truck then I could have imagined. Since the truck is pretty much a highway tractor parts are available pretty much everywhere and are dirt cheap. Things I would expect to be expensive are not. I have heard stories of guys having to do brakes on 650's and having to order parts and pay $800 for all the pads and rotors. While my shoes and drums for the entire truck is half that price and I have 6 sets vs 4 sets to do.
Only draw back is I had to get a special license and yes I have to do yearly inspections, but I weighed that all before getting it. I bought the truck with 280,000 miles on the odometer, had to put a box on it and build everything in it. I needed lots of water as I can't fill on site, and now with the big truck I can run 2+ people for an entire day.

In saying all that two trucks might be better, but if you are going for one go as big as you can as it is better to have an over built truck then one that can barely handle what you put at it.

Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...

That sounds like a great truck you have, post some pictures of it when you can.
 
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