Building a Tandem Axle Farm Truck?

skegpro · May 30, 2018

Cyle said:
No idea, but a good indicator is look up resale in the same truck with a maxxforce compared to a cummins, it's insane what they get. As soon as you mention international and/or maxxforce to pretty much anyone, they know the resale is really bad. If a cummins is $10-15k more then the international engine, do it all day long. You'll get that back in resale easy.

Cummins doesn't seem to have a 13L.

skegpro · May 30, 2018

Cyle said:
It's crazy how many problems people are having. We bought a used truck from diamond, in a few months of owning it spent more time at the shop then using it, they agreed to buy back at price we paid provided we bought a new truck because they couldn't fix it. It's been nearly as bad, about 10 times in shop in 3.5 years, probably lost it for 3 months now, other then the EGR I believe it was and replacing turbo, the other problems are minor, but it went back numerous times because they couldn't figure out a simple problem. The biggest problem is they have no fawking idea what they are doing. Two separate times when we got truck back they forgot to properly hook up all batteries.

Brutal, that was a Maxxforce?

Stompin Tom · May 30, 2018

Can you find the chassis you need in a Pete or Kenworth? The newer Pacar engines are doing really well.

Stompin Tom · May 30, 2018

skegpro said:
I have a 51,000lb payload.
I may have to go with a semi?

With a tandem axle body job your allowed 17000 kg on drivers, 7300 kg on steering for a total weight of 24,300 kg. If you have a 51,000 lbs payload that translates to 23,000 kg, plus the weight of the truck, possibly in the 8500-9000 kg range so you will be possibly 32,000 kg.

if your packing that kind of a load you need to pull a trailer.

Stompin Tom · May 30, 2018

skegpro said:
What are the fines like for being overloaded on public roads?

the fines are only one part of the equation, the National Safety Code hit is worse. If your a repeat offender it wont take long till you lose your NSC. Then factor in if your overloaded they may make you reduce your load before proceeding.

skegpro · May 30, 2018

Stompin Tom said:
the fines are only one part of the equation, the National Safety Code hit is worse. If your a repeat offender it wont take long till you lose your NSC. Then factor in if your overloaded they may make you reduce your load before proceeding.

What if I have farm plates lol

skegpro · May 30, 2018

Stompin Tom said:
Can you find the chassis you need in a Pete or Kenworth? The newer Pacar engines are doing really well.

I need a crew cab.
I could probably get a short sleeper and put seats in it but seems like a hassle.

So far I think only freightliner and international are the only ones that offer a crew or extended cab with seats.

What engines are you referring to specifically?

Stompin Tom · May 30, 2018

skegpro said:
What if I have farm plates lol

then your allowed to break just about every traffic law there is.

Stompin Tom · May 30, 2018

skegpro said:
I need a crew cab.
I could probably get a short sleeper and put seats in it but seems like a hassle.

So far I think only freightliner and international are the only ones that offer a crew or extended cab with seats.

What engines are you referring to specifically?

If you buy a Paccar product, Kenworth or Peterbilt, you have to go with either an ISX for the big power, or a Paccar for the 13 liter down.

Cyle · May 30, 2018

skegpro said:
Yeah Maxxforce was crap, no about that.

Have you seen any of the new A26 engines? What do you think?

I don't know enough about any of them to offer any real opinion, other then the maxxforce being terrible.

skegpro said:
Brutal, that was a Maxxforce?

Yea both were. I think both maxxforce 9's. Granted none of the problems are with the physical engine, just the parts bolted to it.

Cyle · May 30, 2018

Curious if you're just going with a tandem and no trailer, why such big power? 330-350hp range with allision auto will do you just fine. Have 330hp in the dump and it's fine loaded at 23,500kg. Heck i've scaled 42,000kg with it and while it sure doesn't get me anywhere fast, it gets it done.

skegpro · May 31, 2018

Cyle said:
Curious if you're just going with a tandem and no trailer, why such big power? 330-350hp range with allision auto will do you just fine. Have 330hp in the dump and it's fine loaded at 23,500kg. Heck i've scaled 42,000kg with it and while it sure doesn't get me anywhere fast, it gets it done.

Yes, tandem and no trailer.

I'd go tri drive but Alberta doesn't seem to recognize that 3rd axle yet and I think you need a special permit to run it.......

I have 4 tandems right now at 350 HP with 8 speeds just doesn't seem to be enough.

I am sure a better transmission alone would fix things, but I just don't want to be short of power anymore. County roads have been really soft lately.

Probably gonna spec an Eaton ultrashift 13 or 18 speed.

The Allison is an awesome trans but it is 30k vs 18k for the Eaton.

the_real_wild1 · May 31, 2018

I’m not at a dealer anymore so I don’t know what they have out there for brand new trucks but I did see a smaller truck leaving kenworth a couple weeks ago. They are beside us. It was a smaller truck and a crew cab with a sleeper set up. Not sure what was in the back if it was a sleeper or not but room for six doors. Set up with a fifth wheel. So they do make a smaller truck. We have a group of trucks and b trains that haul garbage out of Edmonton to various dumps and the ones that are not giving us much trouble are the western stars. These trucks are running hard in crappy conditions. With the dust and fuzz, mud etc I am washing rads every couple days on the pro stars. The western stars maybe once a year for example. Make sure you get diff locks and extended warranties

174mcx · May 31, 2018

skegpro said:
What are the fines like for being overloaded on public roads?

I don't have any first hand experience with that Skeg, although I have heard a few storys that sure don't sound good. I heard of a 20% overweight (12900kg approx) that cost around $20G with all the fines. What happened was the driver went on a 75% road ban with a otherwise legal load, for about 1/2mile. I was hauling on the road at the time and they hired another truck and I guess no one told him or he didn't research it enough to know he needed more wheels. He sat on the side of the road while I made another few trips past him so he lost out on revenue as well.

Cyle · May 31, 2018

skegpro said:
Yes, tandem and no trailer.

I'd go tri drive but Alberta doesn't seem to recognize that 3rd axle yet and I think you need a special permit to run it.......

I have 4 tandems right now at 350 HP with 8 speeds just doesn't seem to be enough.

I am sure a better transmission alone would fix things, but I just don't want to be short of power anymore. County roads have been really soft lately.

Probably gonna spec an Eaton ultrashift 13 or 18 speed.

The Allison is an awesome trans but it is 30k vs 18k for the Eaton.

Its a yearly permit that costs like $20 for a tridem, no big deal. They are super common here.

skegpro · May 31, 2018

Cyle said:
Its a yearly permit that costs like $20 for a tridem, no big deal. They are super common here.

Really? That would be awesome.
Can you point me in the direction of where to find that info? I am coming up short when searching government websites.
Thanks!

skegpro · May 31, 2018

174mcx said:
I don't have any first hand experience with that Skeg, although I have heard a few storys that sure don't sound good. I heard of a 20% overweight (12900kg approx) that cost around $20G with all the fines. What happened was the driver went on a 75% road ban with a otherwise legal load, for about 1/2mile. I was hauling on the road at the time and they hired another truck and I guess no one told him or he didn't research it enough to know he needed more wheels. He sat on the side of the road while I made another few trips past him so he lost out on revenue as well.

Gah, I really would like to avoid that.

Tandem body job I am gonna be undersized.

Trident would be ideal.

Don't really wanna go semi as I have some tight spots to navigate.

sirkdev · May 31, 2018

Just an FYI tri drives have taken over the tank truck and logging world obviously due to the increased payload but also their ability off road is far superior, you are correct that they are not as nimble but they sure can chew through the slop in a straight line.. We have tri drives going barefoot where it used to take a chained up tandem. Saves time and money on chaining up.

skegpro · May 31, 2018

sirkdev said:
Just an FYI tri drives have taken over the tank truck and logging world obviously due to the increased payload but also their ability off road is far superior, you are correct that they are not as nimble but they sure can chew through the slop in a straight line.. We have tri drives going barefoot where it used to take a chained up tandem. Saves time and money on chaining up.

What's your registered gvw on them?

sirkdev · May 31, 2018

Many many truck configs

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2002_315.pdf

Page 20 is where they get into weight numbers.

Building a Tandem Axle Farm Truck?

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