Chip Truck Question

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Beware about towing anything other then a chipper under 10k.
If trucks gvwr is 18k , an 8k trailer empty would require CDL.

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Not true... This only applies to trailers over 10K. An under 10K trailer can be towed by anything under CDL without needing it. It's the trailer that sets the requirement. For instance, I have a 15k trailer... I can tow it with anything under 11K without a CDL.

Single vehicle over 26 K = class B
Towed vehicle over 10K, combined weight over 26K = class A

Tom

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You are correct!

My bad.

I remember now, we could not legally pull our 12k with a F450 of gvwr 15.5k with out CDL. This is why we got a F-350 srw w/gvwr of 9990 so we could legally have upto 16k goose neck.
 
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Royce what's the tranny in it? I've run chevy's for 15+ years. We've had cat engines run for 200k before any major issues.
To further tom's point above; DOT only cares about GVWR, even empty if the ratings combine to over 26k it's CDL when you're commercial.

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Good question, I will have to call the guy and I will report back.
 
So, Let me get this straight. Your GVW of your truck and chipper combined cannot exceed 26,000 lbs. If, However your trailer is more than 10k lbs you automatically have to have a CDL. Is that correct?
So, If I bought a truck with a GVW of 16k and hauled a chipper weighing around 7k lbs then my combined weight would be 23k, which would put me 3k below the weight requirement for a CDL?
 
Royce,

You will regret not having 4x4 in the green mt state. I promise!

I run a F350 7.3 powerstroke (needs to retire), but it has hauled everything I've asked. Not fast, probably not safely, but it has done it.
 
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So, Let me get this straight. Your GVW of your truck and chipper combined cannot exceed 26,000 lbs. If, However your trailer is more than 10k lbs you automatically have to have a CDL. Is that correct?
So, If I bought a truck with a GVW of 16k and hauled a chipper weighing around 7k lbs then my combined weight would be 23k, which would put me 3k below the weight requirement for a CDL?

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Anyone feel free to set me straight..
depending on the state...in nys chippers are not trailers up to 10k so they do not count...they are equipment; saw mills, cement mixers, air compressors, wood splitters.....
in new york my f700 w/gvwr of 25,500 can haul our 9900lb intimidator with no cdl. actually can also haul a trailer of 9999lbs with no cdl. but... an f550 w/gvwr of 18k can not haul a 10k trailer w/out a cdl..cause that make so much sense...
 
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This is the truck that I am real interested in looking at. I would build a chip box on it. I like how many tool boxes it has. Low miles, But not sure of the GVW of it. I will have to call and ask. Anyone had any experience with these type of trucks

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Bottom line look at vehicle's actual weight (gvw)(curb) versus allowable weight (gvwr)then figure how many yards of chips you could hold and what is the weight of them...and unless you have a chipper that weighs over 10k..all set right?
 
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Beware about towing anything other then a chipper under 10k.
If trucks gvwr is 18k , an 8k trailer empty would require CDL.

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Not true... This only applies to trailers over 10K. An under 10K trailer can be towed by anything under CDL without needing it. It's the trailer that sets the requirement. For instance, I have a 15k trailer... I can tow it with anything under 11K without a CDL.

Single vehicle over 26 K = class B
Towed vehicle over 10K, combined weight over 26K = class A

Tom

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You are correct, my bad.

I can tow a 16k goose neck with my one ton that has a gvwr of 9990lbs.. No cdl

And my f700 w/ gvwr of 25,500 can tow a 9999 gvwr trailer or chipper... Also no cdl

But do not put a 10k trailer behind an f550 with a gvwr of 18k, with out a cdl.

Chippers up to 9999lbs are equipment in NY... Not considered trailers, like cement mixers, saw mills, wood splitters...
 
Okay, still a little confused about the whole GVW and GVWR and such.
So, I am now looking into an FG made by mitsubishi. 4x4, 13 foot dump, tool boxes, seams real good. My question is, the GVW of the vehicle is 12,000. the front axel is rated for 5500 and the rear is rated for 8800, so the salesman told me.
So, this means the vehicle cannot weigh more than 12,000 lbs with all the cargo and weight, right?
So, how do you know how much the truck weighs empty, so you can know how much you can add to it, to equal the 12,000 lbs. the salesman said there was no GVWR rating on the truck.
It seams like it might be too light weight for tree work if a yard of chips weighs about 500 lbs.
 
Alot of trucks are sold as cab and chassis and listed as "uncompleted" so that whoever the first owner is they can put on whatever they want i/e dump body, flatbed, utility boxes... and since this additional hardware will make the truck heavier it almost leaves it up to the owner to find the dry weight of the vehicle (entirely empty, just the vehicle itself, no payload, trailers, drivers, tools etc).

You can go to a truck stop, municipal transfer station, mulch yard, scrap yard, many different places have whole truck scales and probably wouldnt mind if you just drove on to find the weight of the vehicle. So what you would do is set your truck up how you will want it to be used: whatever chip box/toolbox combination you will have, and a full tank of fuel, and weigh the truck. That is essentially as "light" as you will ever be (barring having an empty tank of fuel). From there its simply subtracting the dry weight from the gross weight, to find payload capacity.


You mentioned the axles, that is where DOT can get you if you ever get inspected. Here in Ct there are more and more officers that carry portable scales with them, and if they choose to they can weigh the vehicle, they can look for you being overweight as a whole vehicle, but they also can cite you for being too heavy on one axle. I know that if you are heavy on one axle and light on another, they give you the chance to move/re-strap the load to balance out, but if you cant even out the weight to the listed numbers they can flag you and prevent you from going anywhere until you lighten up. (worst case scenario)

Here in Ct the DOT laws are as follows:

less than 18,000 lbs GVW No CDL, No Med Card
Between 18,001 and 26,000 Medical Card Necessary, No CDL
Over 26,000 CDL and Med Card.

Trailer under 10,000 No CDL
Trailer over 10,000

ANY vehicle with airbrakes, CDL with airbrakes endorsement.

In ct the rule with combined vehicles is they are measured seperately, and this is a quote from the head DOT inspector from a seminar on DOT regulations from this past summer, "Grandma can go out into the driveway and drive your chip truck grossing 26,000lbs and your chipper grossing 9,999lbs and all she needs is a MED card. (and these gross weights come from inside the door frame, not what is on the registration)But as soon as grandma drives a truck that grosses 26,000.01Lbs she will need a class B and if she drives that truck grossing 26,000 but a trailer grossing 10,000 lbs, she will need a class A CDL."


No CDL <26,000lbs gvw truck, <10,000lbs gvw trailer
Class B CDL >26,000 gvw truck, any trailer under 10,000lbs gvw
Class A CLD any trailer over 10,000lbs with combined GVW of truck and trailer being over 26,001 lbs

Hope this simplifies things

-Steven
 
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Okay, still a little confused about the whole GVW and GVWR and such.
So, I am now looking into an FG made by mitsubishi. 4x4, 13 foot dump, tool boxes, seams real good. My question is, the GVW of the vehicle is 12,000. the front axel is rated for 5500 and the rear is rated for 8800, so the salesman told me.
So, this means the vehicle cannot weigh more than 12,000 lbs with all the cargo and weight, right?
So, how do you know how much the truck weighs empty, so you can know how much you can add to it, to equal the 12,000 lbs. the salesman said there was no GVWR rating on the truck.
It seams like it might be too light weight for tree work if a yard of chips weighs about 500 lbs.

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Wow that's low! Our 2008 5500 dump truck is just over 12k empty. 10 foot bed over speced floor Duramax diesel.
 
No CDL <26,000lbs gvw truck, <10,000lbs gvw trailer
Class B CDL >26,000 gvw truck, any trailer under 10,000lbs gvw
Class A CLD any trailer over 10,000lbs with combined GVW of truck and trailer being over 26,001 lbs


This is what i was taught.
 
Sorry, My confusion is not with if I need a CDL. I understand that. Just confused about how to decide if a truck will have enough capacity for what I want to use it for.
Say my GVW is 12,000 and I get pulled over and my cargo and all is 14,000, I would be in trouble for being over loaded. Just trying to figure out what is the best size truck, under CDL to have for a small tree service.
If I buy something and have to build a box, then I want to make sure that I have enough truck under the box to be within regulation.
 
that looks like a nice truck Royce. I'm hesitant about small trucks though. Here is the reason why: Yesterday, 1800a man loaded a big oak reduction full truck in 5.5 hours with a twenty foot drag. Today, with the same 1800a and a miniskid we filled the truck up (22 yards) by lunch on a 30"pecan take down. Off to the dump. Put the logs and rake up in the bucket truck. off to the dump. put last of rake up into chip truck, < third of a load. finished unloading tools at 2:30pm started loading tools and warming the equipment at 7am. That same job would have taken me two days for the same pay costing me more labor, fuel, and time. Hence making less money. Big trucks and equipment are nice. If you can get a good deal. I agree with everyone here do not buy a CDL truck. To much head ache. I started my business with a pick up and a 16' trailer. when things got serious and i decided to go full time into my own business then i bought the truck and chipper i have now for two reasons. One: they were cheap. They were in decent shape. They made me good money. The mistake i feel that i made was buying to cheap. Meaning the business is getting rid of the truck for a reason. Reason one: The piece is a piece of [pick a different word] and they are moving into newer more reliable equipment. Reason two: They are moving their company into a new direction and are changing the way they do business. Reason one is the main reason companies get rid of equipment. There are a thousand individual cases that have different reasons than the above, but these to represent 90% of the used equipment/trucks out there. You can buy to cheap. Don't do that. Pick a truck that will do 80% of your work. Pick a chipper that will do 80% of your work. Remember there is nothing wrong with a 16' trailer(other than i HATE stacking a trailer :-)) Trailers are Cheap!!!!! You can buy a F250 or an equivalent and pull it and your tools around CHEAP!!!! Get a dump trailer if you are feeling frisky and put advertising on it! Spend your money networking, advertising, and marketing your business. Build a nice website. Then buy the right truck and chipper to handle your volume off work. Something newer in the current decade low miles and low hours. or be like me and buy cheap spend $68,000.00 total just so you can go to work and now only be able to sell the truck for $7500 and the chipper for $19000. The lesson i learned is clear. I hope you can learn from this story.
 
End of my diatribe. We get paid to cut trees not fix someone else junk we bought trying to be to thrifty. Buy smart. Hire an independent mechanic to look it over or get a warranty. Used = some sort of problem. find the problem on the front end of the deal so you know what you can expect to finance into your budget and remember trailer are cheap. trailer are cheap. trailers are really really really really really really really cheap.
 
I must have jinxed myself with that last post. Today a bearing went out on my chip truck going down the highway and heated the axle up so much it lost its temper and when the truck was on a hill and tried to pull forward the axle snapped. It was right on the exit ramp of a popular road what a headache. I feel like scrapping the truck and taking the loss, seriously.
 
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No CDL <26,000lbs gvw truck, <10,000lbs gvw trailer
Class B CDL >26,000 gvw truck, any trailer under 10,000lbs gvw
Class A CLD any trailer over 10,000lbs with combined GVW of truck and trailer being over 26,001 lbs

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That's exactly what I said earlier, you just said it better :)

-Tom
 
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