Ford F-350 as a chip truck

J

Joster19

Location
Ames
2010 Ford F-350 SD XL DRW 2WD

it was formerly a city truck so I'm assuming decently well maintained, 117,000, mi. would you think a 5.4L V8 SOHC 24V. gas would have the power to run very well while holding 10 yd of chips and a bandit 200? I'm not in a super hilly area but you come across them occasionally

thanks!

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My F 350 dump has a 9' plus dump body. Walls are as high as the head board. No top .... I tilt the dump up to catch chips and keeps a limit on how many yards can be blown in. 3-4 I'd guess. Great for small jobs. Decent setup for 12'' chipper or smaller. Small removals, pruning's, stump grindings, and small wood hauls.

Trucks been off the road for awhile now. It was a municipality owned salt truck before I got it. They put a new dump on it after the salter duties. It needs other maintenance due to salt corrosion. I just haven't gotten around to it. This thread has me wanting to breath some life back in her. Be great for me to haul some wood home as a contract climber. I heat with wood.
 
It could probably haul that volume of chips, pull the chipper, probably wouldn’t want to do both on the same trip.
Small 4x4 dumps are great for many things but not being loaded to their max all the time.
A small light chipper and a few ornamental pruning jobs and this will shine, anything more than that won’t be a good long term investment.
 
Miles isn’t the concern, I’d try and see how many hours are on the truck. Municipal vehicles by me (Michigan) idle almost non-stop.
 
Brando CalPankian said:
I had a thread on this a couple years ago. We ended up not doing it. It's way too hard on all of the components and can be a dot nightmare.

Find an under cdl chip truck? Mine was inexpensive, 26000gvwr, and has hardly needed anything in two years. Way less headache parts wise too.
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I currently have an F-350 srw with a 6.0, gvwr 9900, payload maybe 3K, It has a landscaping dump box over which I built a wood chip box. it is decently weighed down with 10 yd of chips and It starts to squat. at that point I try to go dump and not pull the chipper anywhere so we lose some efficiencies.

what components would you be most concerned about getting overly stressed?

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Being able to steer and stop are the most important things. Going is optional.





I think that rig sounds much better as a tow-rig or hauling-rig, but not both at the same time, and never in a rush.





What can be called 'lost efficiency" could also be called 'due diligence without cutting corners'.
 
Joster19 said:
I currently have an F-350 srw with a 6.0, gvwr 9900, payload maybe 3K, It has a landscaping dump box over which I built a wood chip box. it is decently weighed down with 10 yd of chips and It starts to squat. at that point I try to go dump and not pull the chipper anywhere so we lose some efficiencies.

what components would you be most concerned about getting overly stressed?

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
@southsoundtree nailed it. It's hard on everything. U joints, axles, drivetrain, seals, trans, brakes. Everything. Lol. It's just not made to do it well.

Will it do it, yes. Will it cost you way more in maintenance and time than just buying the right truck, also yes.

Unless you like paying the mechanic or turning wrenches more than you produce work, I wouldn't. All a cost benefit analysis.

Now, if it makes you enough money to get to the next step it could be a viable option. But long term there are better builds for a chip truck. An f550 would do it all day.
 
I've chipped into this setup a few times. F350 11,000gvwr 12' flatbed with an 8' box. Side loaded a mini skid and towed a 12" chipper.

For everyday use, I'd recommend a bigger truck, but for an occasional job or to use a couple of months to increase income and purchase a larger truck, it can get the job done.

I don't recall any stopping or steering issues, however trailer brakes on the chipper might have helped with that. Screenshot_20250629_185752_Photos.jpg
 
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