F250 Dump Thoughts

[VenasNursery]

How's the 7.3 been for you? I've had a 6.2 for a few years now and it's been a great truck. The high elevation passes sure make it work hard towing though, wondering if the 7.3/10spd combo might be enough to avoid newer diesel headaches.

@Keeth Do you still have your pickup with the dump insert?

I run two of them and they are way better than the v10 in every way

 

[VenasNursery]

How's the 7.3 been for you? I've had a 6.2 for a few years now and it's been a great truck. The high elevation passes sure make it work hard towing though, wondering if the 7.3/10spd combo might be enough to avoid newer diesel headaches.

@Keeth Do you still have your pickup with the dump insert?

Waiting on the new Cummins gas engine supposed to be spectacular and Kenworth is putting them in their medium duty trucks
So I’m expecting big things can’t wait

 

[Keeth]

@Keeth Do you still have your pickup with the dump insert?

I do. My setup is a 2001 F350 regular cab SRW manual, with 4.30 gears and a V10. The low gearing really helps in our mountainous terrain.



It is a bit of a weeble-wobble with a full load of chips, but I usually dump nearby and take it easy getting there. The only reason the box is that high is to accommodate how the chipper sprays chips.

For what I do, this setup works fine. The box is modular, and can be removed/installed by one person in about 10 minutes.

 

[southsoundtree]

A self contained chipper/dump trailer would be a better fit for a 3/4 ton...Put the weight in the trailer instead of truck. Newer models are rated to tow 15K on the conventional hitch. Bandit's unit weighs 8K...so still have 7,000 lbs for chips. I wouldn't want to pull that up a hill...or stop it going down a steep hill with an F250 (not sure it has trailer brakes?), but its rated for it, so there is that.

Tongue weight is an issue when empty.


It will definitely have brakes.

 

[Willber]

I recently got a 2000 F-350 7.3 4x4 Dually DumpTruck, with 4.10 differentials, it had new rear leaf springs put in it increasing the rear weight to about 6,000lbs
I have been quite impressed with ability to tow and carry heavy loads. Not always, but sometimes pull the BC1000XL with a full load of chips, in the dump body, about 9 yards.

The advantage of a 350, is it has a lighter curb weight, and has the softer 80psi wider 235 tires, vs. the harder 110psi narrower 225 tires of a 450 or 550 There are more tire options with greater tread options in a 350 vs. 450/550
I'm glad I got a 350 vs. 550, because many times I'll dump or shovel chips from the DumpTruck, in soft turf/terrain areas, that a 550 would cause more ruts or sink in more.
Yes, for the pre-04 trucks, maybe the newer 550s offer 245/19.5 tires.

I have since removed the chuckwagon top, and heavy back doors.

Blue Truck.heic

drive.google.com

@Keeth Maybe add a really heavy duty sway bar, in the rear and front. It could make the truck more stable when loaded.
That's what I'm going to do in the 350 DumpTruck, and take out the 3inch lift blocks.

 

[VenasNursery]

Can and chassis 550 vs 350 at most is 1000lbs difference so not that much difference

 

[Keeth]

This is the worst case scenario for me, but it still pulls and rides well if I take my time. (No, people don’t really have to wait on me.)

 

[Willber]

@Keeth I was just thinking is that is a BC1200 or 1800, if so, I remember there was a large Vermeer BC chipper on this forum that the drum had ruptured causing severe damage to the chipper.
Here's the thread, it is a BC2100

Chipper drum failure

I'd love to know too

www.treebuzz.com

I always think a rupture of my BC1000XL drum is possible, since reading that thread.
And, have tried to touch up the 2 knives of my drum, by removing the slight burs that can build up, where the non-angled face meets with the cutting edge of the knife, with a flat file, for rakers.

Removing those "burs" seems like it could reduce tress on the drum structure.
I have notice if I have been chipping for 2hrs straight, stop the machine, and just remove those small burs, the chipper will noticeably bog less when chipping, next.

I have removed 4 of the 6 bolts, from the knife replacement access door, for easier access to touch up those knives.

 

[Njdelaney]

We have an '01 F350 crew cab with a 7.3 and a dump insert like yours @Keeth and it pulls a Bandit 250XP and a full box of chips with no problem. The weeble wobble is real though with the dump insert. The 7.3 is just a next level motor.

 

[Z'sTrees]

I use these sometimes with the truck camper on my srw f-350. Pop the little pads out of the overload leaf contact point on the frame and bolt these in. Keeps the truck on the overloads instead of off & on again which IMO causes the tippy sway feeling with a high COG load. Theres a company called Torklift that makes something similar but is specific to this application and also quite alot more costly. I don't keep them in all the time but if we have the truck camper (~2200lbs) and a trailer with some good tongue weight it makes a big difference.