Hook Lift Trucks

I sub for two people with switch n go's. I dig these up, but there are some quarks.
One company rarely deals with big so they send me other with a dolly and expect me and the other guy I'm with to cart everything into the truck with the bed on the ground. convenient on paper cuz there's not machine needed, shitty for the crew cause it's hand moving. But no lifting so that's cool. We cart right into the box.
If you have a small machine you can just drive the machine right into the container allowing the small machine to really pack the container. That feature is pretty sweet to me. I've loaded big trucks with small machine. Whole lotta man effort.
Then you can also have a phc bed like mentioned, ya just switch em out and go.
Best of luck Merle
 
I do mostly trimming work. But when I do removals it's lighter dead pine all the way to heavy green eucalyptus where a 16 inch round maxes out the Avants 2000 lb lifting ability.

Grapple trucks look great to me SouthSound (Sean) but frequently wouldn't be able to get next to trees being worked on rural properties etc. Right now I would benefit most from maxing out the moving and loading capabilities of my Avant 528. I'm thinking of a 11x8x4.5 debris box (can) and a 10x7x4 box/can. Load the Avant in smaller one, insert it in the bigger one and haul it to a job. When optimal I can tow the 14 dump trailer too.

The last pine removal I did was 5 loads with a rented 12 foot Ram 5500. With a hook lift doing a partial loading on the ground for placement of rounds and then topping off a load when up on the truck would be nice.
 
tc262 said:
Hook lifts are cool but I don't think they are worth the added weight and expense for tree care operations. Now construction or scrap businesses hell yeah. My brother has a hook lift on an F550 he keeps trying to get me to buy off of him. There are rare occasions where it'd be nice to have but I don't see myself benefiting from a hook lift on a daily level.
Did you have a specific intention for the hooklift in mind?
Click to expand...

It won't benefit me on a daily bases either. But when it does..... Loading wood with less concern for tearing up a chip box, loading the initial placement and logs on the ground, loading logs I can only drag one end at a time, loading large amounts of splattered dead debris that won't go through a chipper.

At a cost of 1500 lbs less hauling capability, possibly 6 inches more height, and $25,000 divided over 20 years of operation. (That's what I'm thinking anyway.)
 
An additional note for anyone looking at class 5 trucks and Switch -And-Go or hooklift, sometimes just dumping with a normal dump hoist - Ram with automatic transmission does not have "moving hydraulics." You can't be moving a hydraulic function while you are driving forward or in reverse. (I was just told that by an upfitter I would like to work with after weeks of talking to other shops and salespeople that neglected to know/tell me that.)

I'm still thinking I might well want to go with a Ram as I will be primary operator and I think I could finesse loading bodies without moving hydraulics.

For those of you who have used hook lifts, how well do you think you could lift an empty or loaded body onto a truck without moving hydraulics if you wanted to? (I'm assuming only changing bodies a few times per month, and only lifting loaded boxes a few times per day once or twice per month.)

Thanks to you all for taking the time to share your insight and experience.
 
Merle Nelson said:
An additional note for anyone looking at class 5 trucks and Switch -And-Go or hooklift, sometimes just dumping with a normal dump hoist - Ram with automatic transmission does not have "moving hydraulics." You can't be moving a hydraulic function while you are driving forward or in reverse. (I was just told that by an upfitter I would like to work with after weeks of talking to other shops and salespeople that neglected to know/tell me that.)

I'm still thinking I might well want to go with a Ram as I will be primary operator and I think I could finesse loading bodies without moving hydraulics.

For those of you who have used hook lifts, how well do you think you could lift an empty or loaded body onto a truck without moving hydraulics if you wanted to? (I'm assuming only changing bodies a few times per month, and only lifting loaded boxes a few times per day once or twice per month.)

Thanks to you all for taking the time to share your insight and experience.
Click to expand...
You'll be fine, you don't need to be moving with hydraulics but they do need to run with the truck in neutral. You can in and out with the jib to grab the hook while stopped. You will usually load loaded bodies in neutral and let the truck roll under the body until you lift the back off the ground.
 
@Merle Nelson, What vehicles/equipment do you see yourself bringing to your "average" job site, and what do you think you'll be bringing to your not so normal jobs?

How exactly are you set up now and what do you see changing? How many guys do you run in your crew, now and plan in the future, that have cdl's and reg licenses.
 
Me (getting a CDL soon) and a laborer is it for man power. Chip truck and chipper most of the time, sometimes just the truck with non chipable brush.
Less often Avant and bins to haul big wood - dump trailer too when that makes sense.

Next purchase after this will be a lift for the increasing number of dead trees that are not safe to climb etc.
 
84 inch cab to axle is what I see it referred to. Can handle up to a 12 foot bed. The chip box may go as long as 12 foot, probably 11. Running an 8 foot pick-up insert now. Can haul about 6 to 8 yards of chips, will be able to do 16 yards or so.

Turning circle, as they seem to call it now, appears to be going from 41 or 42 feet to 47 feet - with a far more capable truck.
 
Any time you have any maintenance or other issues (wreck the truck accidently) you are sorta dead in the water.

I've never seen the switch and go stuff or used hook-truck stuff

Seem like a small crane on a flatbed/ dump that can double as a chip truck, and tow/ haul additional equipment is more versatile. Easy enough to load your art loader into a flatbed, with a removal tarp or soft roof. My friends kboom has a sweet hydraulic winch on it, too.

SOOO much is market and operation dependent.
 
Yes, I worked back in Maryland for a couple of weeks for the learning experience. I couldn't believe how different work needs were there compared to my area.

At least one debris box will have stake pockets. Add two foot plywood sides, tarp and chip into it when I want a truck profile no taller than the cab of the 5500.

I'll keep my current pick - up as a back up and when I have to do more hillside/back property kind of work.

Sean look up "Bin There Dump That" on youtube.
 
arborcareman said:
This has been a thought of mine as a small operation. I think it would ROCK in a lot of ways.
Chip box, debris box, V Box salt spreader, PHC rig. Maybe on a DT466.
I'd say do it !


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Click to expand...
Dude I didn't even think of the ease of putting your sander on the truck. Mount it in the flatbed while it's on the ground, the just hook it up. I dig that thought man.
 
So, as stated elsewhere, I did go with the Ram 5500 and plan to have a chip box built with tool storage, and two dumpsters that fit inside of one another for hauling heavier wood and logs.

I went with a Steller hook lift. The main reason for this is that the model which fits my cab to axle size is capable of loading/dumping 16,000 lbs as compared to other manufacturers maximum capability of 14,000 lbs, 10,000 lbs etc. Also it is able to perform this while only weighing in at 1,400 lbs itself as compared to other units being over 2,000 lbs.

They turn the hyd pressure down on this unit upon installation so that it only lifts the legal hauling limit of about 10K. But, if you ever wanted to move it over to a class 6 or class 7 truck you could turn it up to lift 16K.

Also that there are a bunch of these Steller lifts mounted on F550's running around for a franchise business called Bin There Dump That was a plus. They proved out it's performance on class 5 trucks and have been running them for 10 years or so.

Pictures to follow in mid November when I get things mated up.
 
Actually, another question comes to mind. What kind of weight is the most any of you has seen hauled on a class 5 truck that wasn't abusing it's components?

The reason I ask is that often I am working back in a big ranch property and they want all the chips, or nice oak firewood rounds, etc. brought up to the front of the property. I will never be going out on the public roads but I would like to carry maximum loads on their property for the sake of time savings.
 
Some of the class 5 trucks are pretty tough. We have a 2001 F550 with a 12' dump on it that has been filled to the brim many times. It has had zero problem related to loading. We also have a 1992 Mitsubishi Fuso FH that is the same way. It's got about 270K on it now. It's just a 16' flat bed with removable sides but it has hauled more than it's fair share of wood. I'm actually thinking about putting a hooklift of some sort on it. I'd like to be able to use it as a flat bed for going to get materials, chip into it, and use it as a open top dump truck. Seems like having three different beds for it would be great. We could also setup a couple of them to haul our SK650. We also generate a lot of scrap with our other business so we could use it to haul for that as well.
 
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