Time for newer truck

**BMAC** · 12-03-2012, 03:20 AM

My mechanic has convinced me its time for a newer truck. I think I will keep my old F450 as a local yard truck but that will be it.

I am kind of curious what everyone would buy if they were to buy a newer truck.

Would it be a 20+ foot flatbed like a freightliner, F550, Ram 5500?

I am leaning towards 20 - 25 foot flatbed. It seems like the most readily available are Freightliners.

**jim lyon** · 12-03-2012, 05:26 AM

Originally Posted by BMAC

My mechanic has convinced me its time for a newer truck. I think I will keep my old F450 as a local yard truck but that will be it.

I am kind of curious what everyone would buy if they were to buy a newer truck.

Would it be a 20+ foot flatbed like a freightliner, F550, Ram 5500?

I am leaning towards 20 - 25 foot flatbed. It seems like the most readily available are Freightliners.

I love my Ram 5500 but if you think a bigger truck is a better fit for what you want from a truck then I would second your notion of a Freightliner with a 20' flatbed (7 rows of standard pallets) and a wb somewhere around 230". There are some great buys out there in used trucks with gvw's of 26k just try to learn something about the history of the truck. I bought an IH like that a couple of years ago and had a really bad experience with some shoddy mechanical work that had been done to it, cost me 5,000 in repairs the first year (improperly torqued injectors) but no problems since. A bigger truck can handle up to 9 ton compared to about 5 with the 5500. Choose the tool that works best for the majority of your hauling.

**HarryVanderpool** · 12-03-2012, 10:50 AM

If you EVER plan to take this truck into California, you would be advised to carefully read the following link regarding emissions.
There are a lot of good deals on trucks right now but spending a little more on a slightly newer one could save you $10000.00 - $15000.00 in upfitting and then replacement according to this:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdies...s/FSRegSum.pdf

**BMAC** · 12-03-2012, 03:46 PM

Thanks Harry. I dont much care about Ca. If my bees go there it will not be on any truck I own.

**G B** · 12-03-2012, 06:13 PM

Hello Bmac, I am curious as to how old your truck is mileage and motor ie 6.0 7.3 or what. just curious thanks

**G B** · 12-03-2012, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by HarryVanderpool

If you EVER plan to take this truck into California, you would be advised to carefully read the following link regarding emissions.
There are a lot of good deals on trucks right now but spending a little more on a slightly newer one could save you $10000.00 - $15000.00 in upfitting and then replacement according to this:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdies...s/FSRegSum.pdf

Harry thnk you very much for the link. I have been hearing of these new calif. regs for some time but have never been able to find anything in print. I bought a 2003 F-550 with a new motor and was curious how long it could be legal in calif. I planned to run it to Calif. for the almonds even though my buddy Jim Lyon cut me to the quick with a post about the 6.0 motor

thanks again GB

**HVH** · 12-03-2012, 08:13 PM

I purchased a 24' international flatbed a few years ago and will add my two cents. If you have a forklift you might want to consider a shorter bed and stack the hives two pallets high. Unless you plan on getting a commercial license, a 26k gvwr will probably only get you a single layer on a 24' bed (maybe 50% more with a lower curb weight truck or not heavy with honey). Driving around with 30 feet of truck plus another 15' of forklift trailer is a pain in the rear in some places. The guys that have the "A" or "B" licenses have to deal with all the IFTA garbage plus some extra regs that someone else more knowledgeable that me can weigh in on. If you stick with a "C" license and a 26k GVWR then a 16 foot bed with 26GVWR can carry almost as many hives but you need to stack them. For short runs to out yards I wish I had a smaller truck. For trips into California, the longer bed does allow fewer trips. One of each would be great.

**jim lyon** · 12-03-2012, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by G B

Harry thnk you very much for the link. I have been hearing of these new calif. regs for some time but have never been able to find anything in print. I bought a 2003 F-550 with a new motor and was curious how long it could be legal in calif. I planned to run it to Calif. for the almonds even though my buddy Jim Lyon cut me to the quick with a post about the 6.0 motor

thanks again GB

Ah yes, the infamous 6.uh oh

Don't worry George they can't all be bad. Actually I had a pretty good Ford diesel mechanic say they are a pretty good engine as long as you keep good fuel in them but the injectors just don't tolerate any fuel gelling incidents. We load our 26k IH to 30,000 a lot here locally but wouldn't want to try to do it interstate.

**BMAC** · 12-04-2012, 04:17 AM

My F450 is actually an F Superduty. It pre F450 days as its a 97 with the 7.3 engine. Not many miles to speak of only 170k. I have a 95 F250 flatbed capable of pulling my skidsteer where I need it to go so pulling a skidsteer behind it isn't terribly important. Being able to run equipment to and over a semi load back from Ga is fairly important at this point though. I talked with a guy that hauls alot of hives and he stated if I am going with single rear axle then anything over 18 feet is a waste, so if I lean more towards 25 foot flatbed then get the tandem rears in it.

I know the issue with my F450 is computer related. I will eventually fixed it as its got posi 5.13 gears in it which is great locally for the hills. I just need to replace some of the sensors and such. Its crazy because my 95 f250 has 7.3 powerstroke and I have 390K on that truck and it runs like a champ. All the power in the world, just lite on truck!