lorry / van costs

[Timbermcpherson]

I love small vehicles, but once you start to grow, anything thats holding you back, you have to seriously look at.

 

Work out what having a to small vehicle is costing you in lost time and production.

Depending on your staffing size and work load, dumping availability and the associated costs you might be better off with the smaller truck.

 

If your having to tip more than once a day and it costs you more than 30mins in time off the job or if you have to often alter the way you do work due to limited capacity, (not to mention when clients start putting you in the "hes to small for our next job" catagory, dont underestimate clients ability to pick up on areas that you struggle in. Especially if ever have to say "we dont have the room/we will have to come back/that will cost extra" to often) you probably need to look at a bigger truck.

 

We run a couple 6t's and a 5t, and we find this is fine for 2 guys but they start getting a little small if running a 3 man crew. But its all contextual on the environment you work in and how you work. Only YOU know where your going and how your going to get there.

[ecotreecare]

We have a 13t Isuzu FTR as our main truck. It holds about 13-14 cube of chip. Really good to have a big truck on big jobs, some days we can fill it three or four times. For the smaller jobs its good also as we don't need to tip off as often.

 

The only problem is loading logs by hand as its quite high. On bigger jobs there's usally is a digger or loader around so its not all bad.

[gibbon]

For the work I do I found it better to buy a landrover 130 tipper and and ifor Williams trailer to run alongside the truck. The landy holds 1.3t and the trailer 2.3t. That's as big a payload as most 7.5t trucks. The advantage of this is you can have 2 trucks on the same.job or run 2 jobs and have 4x4 capabilities and the winch.

[Pedroski]

We use 3.5t tipper truck with an enclosed back, single cab with tool storage. Can only hold about 500kg on top of bodies and tools before hitting the limit. It is an ex-council "cage" truck - we took the mesh out the cage, took the gates and drop sides off as they weighed a ton, made up higher sides using alloy planking and all the proper fittings, then had a cover made up that properly fits over the whole lot, has a back that rolls up and a front panel that rolls up to fit long ladders through. This was made up by a bloke who makes curtainsides for lorries. Proper fantastic it is.

 

Used to use 7.5t but instead of going back that route we invested in a proper big 3 way tipping trailer. So much easier for loading stuff into, and if we need chipper on the job then we just tow that separately behind my 4x4 and chip into the trailer.

 

It's ideal really. It also means we keep the back of the truck pretty clear which makes it useful for fencing materials, plants. And we're even thinking about going back to a high roof van and towing with that.

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we run a transit crew cab tipper with a removable chip box.find it incredibly versatile,the chip box has 3x worklights,2xrear beacons and a reverse camera built into it,all this simply unplugs via a 7pin trailer plug from the headboard.removable in seconds which allows us to put the compact tractor/timber/larger items onto the original body.

a chap i know runs 7.5tonne dafs, done a few days for him and i prefer our transit tbh,quite often he cannot get into the smaller domestic jobs with the trucks due to their size weight on driveways etc so you end up lugging crap further thus creating more mess and adding time to the job ,plus his o license,checks,limited drivers due to license etc etc.becomes awkward

we find the transit good in most conditions with the all terrain tyres,if it gets too wet then we revert to the tractor and trailer.

i now hear that the dafs are up for sale as he is downsizing to trannys,due to increased operating costs,and a general downturn in work.

 

both 7.5 and 3.5 have their pros and cons but if you need the additional capacity,can afford the o license and downtime with checks etc etc then go larger,but if not stick with what you know,more trips but less mither

[john p]

I love small vehicles, but once you start to grow, anything thats holding you back, you have to seriously look at.

 

Work out what having a to small vehicle is costing you in lost time and production.

Depending on your staffing size and work load, dumping availability and the associated costs you might be better off with the smaller truck.

 

If your having to tip more than once a day and it costs you more than 30mins in time off the job or if you have to often alter the way you do work due to limited capacity, (not to mention when clients start putting you in the "hes to small for our next job" catagory, dont underestimate clients ability to pick up on areas that you struggle in. Especially if ever have to say "we dont have the room/we will have to come back/that will cost extra" to often) you probably need to look at a bigger truck.

 

We run a couple 6t's and a 5t, and we find this is fine for 2 guys but they start getting a little small if running a 3 man crew. But its all contextual on the environment you work in and how you work. Only YOU know where your going and how your going to get there.

 

good post:thumbup1:

[Drayton tree care]

cheers guys your posts were very useful considering getting 3.5 ton truck and getting a trailer for additional capacity which can be towed by another truck

[Pedroski]

cheers guys your posts were very useful considering getting 3.5 ton truck and getting a trailer for additional capacity which can be towed by another truck

 

Just make sure it's a tipping trailer. Makes a massive difference when emptying it. Also it's ideal for delivery of loads of mulch and compost.

[skyhuck]

Do you guys who use large trailers with your 3.5 toners have tacko's ???

[Pedroski]

Do you guys who use large trailers with your 3.5 toners have tacko's ???

 

Nope, not us anyway.