What truck/specs should I get?

FarmerDave · Mar 30, 2021

Cat sdp said: ↑

With a 2.xx rear gear you probably get a 10 speed with high gear a direct..... I would just be afraid of soft spots in the field etc..... that why I’d take a 13/18 tall rubber and a decent rear gear.

Your weight isn’t that much so pretty much any truck will get the job done.....
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Thanks for the clarification. We'd stage the truck where it can get out of the fields easily and run a cart from combine to them. Not too worried about soft spots but I'm sure it'll become a problem eventually. Thanks

Cat sdp · Mar 30, 2021

Why no combine to truck directly...?

FarmerDave · Mar 30, 2021

It would happen in some instances but we have a grain cart hooked to a tractor and it is alot more efficient use of time and combine hours to unload on the go into the cart while the combine is actively harvesting. We can't just pull up our trucks and unload on the go in most fields because of the terrain so that's why the tractor and cart are useful.

Arctic_fox · Mar 30, 2021

i have a 17 579 with a 13speed eaton and 455 MX13 paired to 3.25 gears and 22.5 tires and do end dump work. Spends more time on pavment then in the dirt and is a slug when fully loaded. But it does the job and averages about 6 even over the last 3900 miles. Its also only .3 inches lower then my bosses 389 with 24.5s at its lowest point.

Something simular may work for you. But keep in mind you need to feather it out of bad terrain when loaded. It can do it fine but i would recomend 3.55s and a 485 HP engine minimum... i only get away with my specs because it spends most of its life on the road and i got used to a 3.08 gearing low horse pig doing tankers in ND

Cat sdp · Mar 30, 2021

So any freight spec truck would do....... 22.5 rubber 400 hp (gulp) auto....

I have heard good things about the mack mp8 you could probably find a lot of those with day cabs and decent specs....

FarmerDave · Mar 30, 2021

I appreciate all the info/replies!
Would 3.7 and 10 speed be able to run 70 mph or would my rpms be too high? Sounds like if it is a 10 speed at 70 mph 3.25-3.55 may be my sweet spot. I'd love to get a 13 speed but there are just so many more 10 speeds for sale.
I hesitated to mention driving out of fields because I don't think it will be a problem, we try and keep the field entrances in good shape, often times trucks are parked on the road and loaded there.

Arctic_fox · Mar 30, 2021

FarmerDave said: ↑

I appreciate all the info/replies!
Would 3.7 and 10 speed be able to run 70 mph or would my rpms be too high? Sounds like if it is a 10 speed at 70 mph 3.25-3.55 may be my sweet spot. I'd love to get a 13 speed but there are just so many more 10 speeds for sale.
I hesitated to mention driving out of fields because I don't think it will be a problem, we try and keep the field entrances in good shape, often times trucks are parked on the road and loaded there.
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Try Arrow truck sales, MHC kenworth or TLG peterbilt out of the kansas/mo areas. They come up for sale all the time. The MHC i bought my bullfrog from had a dozen western stars with 3.72 18 speed cats come in the day after i signed. And ive seen arrow pick up 18 speeds on a regular basis

Cat sdp · Mar 30, 2021

Northern Canada somewhere......

tommymonza · Mar 30, 2021

FarmerDave said: ↑

Thanks for the info on the gear ratios and the speeds! Maybe I should shift my search back to a pre emissions truck, there are alot of them that are cheap and not in the best condition...
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I would much rather find a decent preemission truck at a halfway fair price and pour some money and time in it than buy a newer emission truck for what you use it for. .

Being a farmer I take it your mechanically inclined.

Rubber duck kw · Mar 31, 2021

FarmerDave said: ↑

A few questions for you guys on the type of truck you would recommend purchasing.

Trucking is a part time job for me, 25,000 miles a year. I'm hauling grain from a farm to elevator. 75-85000 lbs gross pulling a 40' hopper bottom trailer. Elevator is 50 miles away, almost all interstate, 70 mph, pretty flat drive, no hills except the on ramp is uphill. Driving back empty to farm. This is what the truck will do 90% of the time and where it will make it's money. The other 10% of the time will be driving from fields back to our farm where we will store the grain, also on flat ground and not in muddy conditions.

I'm currently driving a daycab 2006 FLD 112 Freightliner with 750,000 miles, Cummins ISM 350hp. It gets the job done but looking to upgrade. Some of my main complaints with this truck is how loud it is inside the cab and how bumpy it rides. Seems like some of the older electronics are starting to go out, wiring is going bad.

I want your opinion on specs I should be looking for.

I want to stick with a daycab.

My main question is about gear ratios with what I'm doing.
I'm thinking somewhere in the 3.36-3.55 gear ratio would be a good place in terms of fuel mileage and what I'm doing, but I don't have much experience in this area and finding some conflicting reports online. Would a 13 speed instead of a 10 speed allow me to go to a higher gear ratio(3.9 or 3.7) and still maintain good fuel mileage? Would I be ok dropping around 2.64 or 2.8 with a 10 speed? I realize wheel diameter matters in this equation too but I'm honestly a little lost here. At first I thought I'd want to drive with a full 80,000lb load at 70 mph and be around 1300 rpms but today I saw a video from Rawze where he was saying that really these newer trucks like to be ran at 1500-1700 rpms. If I'm in 10th gear is my fuel mileage going to change alot from 1400 to 1700 rpms?

Should hp be a big consideration? The 350 I have now gets it done. Alot of the trucks I've looked at have anywhere between 425-500hp.

My initial thought was get a truck with around a half million miles and maybe 10 years old but I've since changed that to looking at 2015's and newer. For a second I had a thought of buying a pre emission truck but it seems any of those in good shape are just as expensive.
I've been told that 2014 and newer is good for Detroit engines, 2015 and newer for Volvo and Macks, and everything else I'd want to try and be 2016 or newer.

If you only have an answer to one of my many questions I'd love to hear from you, if you can answer a few or all, even better.

Thanks for reading and for your insight.
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Find yourself something decent with 450 horse or so. A good old 12.7 Detroit or an N14 with an 18 speed and 3.55s with 24.5 lopros works nice in my experience. I only say an 18 speed because it works better to split those bottom gears in softer dirt. That should get you a decent 7 mpg all around average. A Cat won't do that good for mileage, is fun to drive though.
I wouldn't get a newer emmissions truck, there's just a lot of stupid little stuff that's going to break and cause you to be sitting there when you've got to get bins empty, that's just my opinion though.

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