Gravel truck owners or operators?

[Merc63]

Anyone run gravel trucks on here? Wondering how heavy of a load you can fit in your truck, 12ton or more before pushing over the 17k kg limit on the rear axles (tandem)?

Also anyone running a 20k lbs front axle with 425 wide tires, how do they handle in the winter? Is it worth switch to something smaller?

 

[007sevens]

Anyone run gravel trucks on here? Wondering how heavy of a load you can fit in your truck, 12ton or more before pushing over the 17k kg limit on the rear axles (tandem)?

Also anyone running a 20k lbs front axle with 425 wide tires, how do they handle in the winter? Is it worth switch to something smaller?

11yards on Tandem.

 

[Cwazyduck]

https://www.transportation.alberta.ca/4777.htm
maybe this link will be useful for you.

 

[steveo10]

Front: 7,300kg
Rears: tandem 15,400kg
Tri 23,000kg

We run 445s never have any issues but always playin in the mud in the spring/summer

 

[gotboost]

Anyone run gravel trucks on here? Wondering how heavy of a load you can fit in your truck, 12ton or more before pushing over the 17k kg limit on the rear axles (tandem)?

Also anyone running a 20k lbs front axle with 425 wide tires, how do they handle in the winter? Is it worth switch to something smaller?

The 425 aren't that bad there better then the 445 the 425 are nicer in the bush with the pot holes a little smoother But its like anything else a smaller tire is better traction in the snow but you don't need to switch

 

[Merc63]

Front: 7,300kg
Rears: tandem 15,400kg
Tri 23,000kg

We run 445s never have any issues but always playin in the mud in the spring/summer

Thought rears is 17000kg?

Just wondering what guys can load their tandems to? I find I can't get the Weight enough forward to use the front axle... about 12.5ton or so.. truck is a short 190 inch wheel base.

The 425s in the front on mud are like driving with two skis, hopefully they are better in the snow and ice.

 

[teeroy]

you can go to 17,000kg on a tandem, and 24,000kg on a tri. sliding your 5th wheel ahead will increase weight on your steer axle

 

[Merc63]

Sorry this is a dump truck. Peterbilt 348.

 

[steveo10]

All I'm permitted for is 23,000kg (tri) on the rears and 8,900kg on the front (overweight permit) for a grand total of 31,900kg. I am federally regulated.

 

[teeroy]

Sorry this is a dump truck. Peterbilt 348.

ah, bodyjob. you can go to 17,000kg on your tandem drives. I'd stick with the 11R 24.5 steers if you can keep the weight to 5500kg. cheaper to replace, better steering traction, and you can recycle them onto a trailer to run them down to get the full life out of em

 

[Lightningmike]

You can only permit front axle that heavy if you are a non divisible load as far as I know. Went through a lot of phone calls and emails on this with our hydrovacs. I may be wrong but I think 7500 is the max for a divisible load

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[teeroy]

All I'm permitted for is 23,000kg (tri) on the rears and 8,900kg on the front (overweight permit) for a grand total of 31,900kg. I am federally regulated.

yeah, I thought he was talking on a trailer. 23,000 on a tri drive and only if you buy the $15 permit

 

[Merc63]

I think the front axle weight is limited to 7300kg, any higher and you need a permit. Doesn't matter anyways, with 12 to 13 ton I can't get the Weight over the front, max I hit is 5500kg loaded on the front.

 

[ippielb]

From my experience being a foreman/finishing grade operator, the skinny tires and having a full load really find the soft spots, push through corners, and really make a mess if it's not compacted properly.

If I had to hire 1 truck, and there was two identical trucks, same price, same weight, same everything. I would choose the wider tires up front every time, no matter winter or summer. Just makes my life a little easier if I don't have to go back and reblade every turn the trucks make or on soft spots.

Where as the wider tires do still get effected in turns, and on soft spots, but nothing that the double steel can't straighten out, and the wobbly can't tighten up.

On the subgrade I find the skinniest to be a death trap lol. Puts more weight into a smaller area and had one instance where we had a plate over top of the barrel for a manhole and we just got new leased Volvo tandem end dumps, all have skinny tires up front. Well long story short, the tandem steer went over the plate with 4" of slag overtop and it caved. Did some damage but meanwhile our heavier tandem with wide steers had been going all day, and our three other tandems we had been using for years have never had that happen. Skinnies also like to find utility trenches. Crusher dust turns into mashed potatoes when wet.

I drive a tandem axle plow plow truck in the winter time, plow on or off, don't really have a problem with traction steering or anything, if you drive within the conditions of the road.

 

[Merc63]

Some good points, I think they call these 425s floater tires for that reason.

 

[Bnorth]

I worked in a commercial tire shop in high school about a dozen years ago in BC. All the log haulers with 7+ axle setups were going to 385's on the front to carry more weight. They hated the extra flotation in the mud compared to the 12R24.5's they ran once it froze so we would groove out the shoulders to better clear out the centre tread. It was pretty popular at the time to improve traction. Might be something to look into.

 

[Pinner]

Anyone run gravel trucks on here? Wondering how heavy of a load you can fit in your truck, 12ton or more before pushing over the 17k kg limit on the rear axles (tandem)?

Also anyone running a 20k lbs front axle with 425 wide tires, how do they handle in the winter? Is it worth switch to something smaller?

They're good in the winter, try not to forget your lockers in or you might get a little understeer

 

[Merc63]

Speaking of lockers, do guys use them in the winter for driving slick roads or they aren't necessary?

 

[Summit 934]

Whether you have 385, 425 or 445's on the front the max you can go is 7300kg on the steers and on a tandem it's 17000....on a gravel truck. You cannot get an overweight permit for hauling gravel because its a divisible load. What you really need to figure out is what you weigh on the steering when you pull into the pit and load with a loader. If its only 5500kg you can get up front you're wasting a ton of money replacing big rubber that is giving you no benefit. If you're running offroad in soft conditions they will help you float on top but your steering control will suck. If all you get is 5500 go with 11" rubber, especially if you're running 80% highway or more. If you run 50\50 on/off highway maybe look at 315's that will fit on standard rims. It depends what type of conditions you're running in but take the big boots off if you don't need them.

 

[gotboost]

Speaking of lockers, do guys use them in the winter for driving slick roads or they aren't necessary?

No treat your lockers like 4x4 if your spinning out throw your lockers in if you drive with your lockers on you wont steer around corners it will push you right thru and if you get stuck your screwed because your lockers were in and you don't have another set of diff locks to get you out if you know what I meen