I am looking at a F650 for my operation. I know some people like and use this vehicle but am looking for those with experience maintaining these. It has a Cummins engine, 187k in miles and is a 2010. What pitfalls should I be looking for here as I meet with the seller? Any long term maintenance issues I should be aware of? Here are the particulars:
2010 Ford Super Duty F-650 Straight Frame, 325 Horsepower Cummins Diesel, Allison 3000 Auto Trans., Hauler Bed, 300 fuel capacity, air brakes, air suspension, air seat, 2 speed rear, gooseneck, pintle, and receiver hitch.
Is a "straight frame" a positive or negative? Primarily this would be for local and long haul of 100-150 colonies at the most at a time. thanks for your input.
Nice looking truck. Is that the 300 gallon fuel tank on the deck? Where a row of palletized hives could sit? I don't have any answers to your questions, just questions of my own.
Does a maintenance log come w/ it? That might be nice to have. Do you need 300 gallon fuel capacity? Can you set a row of pallets on top of the fuel tank?
If the price is right you'd better grab it up before someone else does. You snooze you lose.
Matt, not sure if straight frame is referring to the general condition or more of a general statement about its ease of upfitting as needed. I know a straight unbstructed frame is a selling point for new trucks.
That is a lot of truck. How are you going to use it? It look like a lot of truck to service beeyards.
We have a single cab F450 16'flatbed and it works good for stacking up boxes and pulling a skidsteer. When we run between Texas and North Dakota with 2 adults and 2 dogs, I would love to have something like that.
The Cummings engine is hard to beat for longevity and fuel milage.
Primarily using it for transporting colonies between Virginia and Florida and further North. Need to look at the CDL requirement. Did not think of that. I think I saw "Auto" trans and immediately thought it was Non CDL.
I have a 98 F800 with a Cummins and Allison tranny. In a Ford truck thats about as bullet proof as you can get in a truck in that class(26000 lbs). Its not the fastest or most comfortable truck but I haul 96 hives on it and feel its dependable.
As Matt1954 appears to be a VA resident, I don't see anything in the VA license rules that says he must have a CDL simply because a vehicle has air brakes. The first paragraph here:
http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/pdf/dmv60.pdf
defines a commercial vehicle, and air brakes is not mentioned. It is true that IF you have a CDL, you do need an air brake endorsement to drive a vehicle with air brakes.
True Rader and I wondered about that too when mentioned before. But being as what is being discussed is a Ford F-650 I believe that the GVWR will put the driver into the CDL Class, especially if almost any kind of trailer is hauled behind.
The base model is 26,000 lbs, so would be in a weight class that does not necessarily require a CDL. With a non-CDL license, you could tow a trailer with a GVWR of 10,000 or less.
Other F-650 models do exceed 26,000 GVWR. It appears to me that a key issue would be the nameplate GVWR on the specific vehicle under consideration. If it exceeds 26,000 lbs, a CDL would be required.
You can read the exact wording of the of the 26,000 GVWR dividing line at the link in post #9.
The base model is 26,000 lbs, so would be in a weight class that does not necessarily require a CDL. With a non-CDL license, you could tow a trailer with a GVWR of 10,000 or less.
It appears to me that a key issue would be the nameplate GVWR on the specific vehicle under consideration. If it exceeds 26,000 lbs, a CDL would be required.
We can put 80 doubles, or 160 singles, with pallets on our 16'. That probably puts us overweight. I didn't weigh it and wished I had.
You wouldn't even feel that load with that truck. Any idea how long the bed is? I am guessing 10-12?
At one time I was looking at getting a trailer and I called a couple of DOTs and they said when the combined weight of truck and trailer reached 28,500 pounds, then a cdl was required. (I think that was right)
I am not a fan of Allison transmissions, fuel mileage being the issue. I much prefer an Eaton-Fuller non synchronized transmission.
Crazy Roland
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