We've had discussions before about our surveying rigs and payload etc has come up, however I couldn't find a recent thread to post this in...
We had to pick up an order of rebar (some of our pinnings are rebar and we use them for some control points), so we got 396 lbs worth of rebar which is cut and bundled for us by the local scrap metal facility.?ÿ
I pulled my 2005 Silverado, loaded with surveying gear (minus all my wood stakes and a couple things I removed to make room for the rebar order) onto the scales that you have to go across when you enter and leave the facility. When I picked up the paperwork from the attendant inside I asked him if I could find out what my truck weighs to see if it's overloaded. He looked at his screen and said it's just over 6400 lbs/ (that's without me in it - roughly another 180 lbs with my winter gear and boots on).?ÿ
Once I picked up the load and left I checked the weight rating of the truck and it is exactly 6400 lbs (1310 lbs of payload). So I was about 15 pounds over without me in the truck or the load I took back to the office. After doing the math and adding me and the rebar order I was almost 600 lbs over on that drive to the office.
I will attempt to streamline some of the extras in the truck to get it closer to where it needs to be. I'm not really worried or anything but I thought it was interesting because we have guys on this forum who only use 3/4 tons and then other guys that say they don't understand why we would need anything more than a midsize truck.
I sometimes don't see the office for a few days in a row, that and just for time efficiency reasons I'm not loading the truck with what I need for the days work every morning. I check my stock every few days to make sure I'm good.?ÿ
In my time of experience, I've only used 3/4 ton pickups/suburban's, 4 and 2 wheel drive.
Granted, I've worked for larger firms who have multiple (10-20+) field crews and can afford the larger vehicles.
We had a 2wd 2002 sierra 1500. It was a great truck but it got pulled out by chain or tow truck more than once. A 2wd is not an ideal survey rig IMO. I would like to have one as a backup (because the gas mileage is better and less wear items) but with the price of vehicles now I can't afford a spare one or a new one.
Oh heck...I did have one F-150, 2 wd, that was awful. It once got stuck on a slight incline on DAMP GRASS!
We switched to 2500s years ago, then somebody got a deal on a gmc 1500. I added a leaf and load range E tires for handling, but it is a half-ton truck. I refuse to load it to 50% of rating so we'll see how it does. Even at 35% of 'payload' my milage went from 23 to 14. I check my brakes and fluids weekly. That sceeaming deal on a 1500 is going to hurt eventually...
@squirl my first crew truck was a rusted out 1970's 2 WD Suburban with three on the tree. I got stuck on wet grass more than once.
I did add a leaf to the rear on mine (mostly because the originals were sagging a bit) and a torsion kit to the front (for a 2-2.5" lift) and it has load range E duratracs. So it can probably handle a little more than stock I guess.
It rode extremely smooth today when loaded to 109% of it's rated capacity. Handling was better than expected. Most of the weight was right at the back of the truck, so I'm surprised the front didn't feel lighter. Probably the biggest issue would be if I went down a long steep hill, trying to slow down without overheating brakes. But we don't really have many of those around here.
If I have to go on a longer trip with the truck I empty the back completely to help with the mileage. It gets like 14mpg mixed driving in the winter with all that weight. Closer to 20 on a long trip, empty.
Oh and all of our crews have half tons. One used to have a Tacoma but it's the backup now. The 2 newer f150s are aluminum which gives them better payload, so they might actually be under their rated payload. I looked at the 2018 today and it's 1700 vs my 1310.
Probably my next truck will be a 2015-2017 f150 once they get old and less expensive. Less rust to deal with on them at least.
Did a bunch of survey work, both in town and out, using a 1979 Chevy Chevette. No more than two grown men could fit in that thing. Loaded what might be needed for the day and headed out.
Sleeping in your own bed every night is a good thing. Boring, perhaps, but still good.
one F-150, 2 wd, that was awful. It once got stuck on a slight incline on DAMP GRASS!
Same - except with NO incline.
I'm one of those mid-size people (although I understand why some of you guys need a HEMTT). I am rarely more than half an hour from the office and don't do the multi-night out of town work, so I can easily work out of a smaller truck. For almost 15 years, I used a 2004 Ford Ranger Supercab 4X4 4.0L. It would go most places I wanted to go and pulled a Yamaha Rhino, as needed, without any noticeable drop in gas mileage. If there was a compact option as tough as the old Rangers again, I would downsize to one immediately.
I did a little downsizing in the back of the truck to try to get my weight down. Only downside is I have a corner of my garage used up by extra iron and rebar, spikes etc. I also have an extra tripod, bipod, sledgehammer etc..some of these if I know I'm going on a job way out of town I will throw them in...but usually I'm half an hour from either the office or my house...
At least I'll save a bit of gas. This is the new setup, a work in progress as usual. All the expensive equipment, robot and GPS, tribrachs and prisms, hammer drill etc all go in the cab.
I did the "build and price" on a new f150 and Tundra just out of curiosity and it's sickening. They also force you to upgrade packages just because you want some basic cheap option added. Also a 5.0 v8 is a $4000 option vs $1600 for the 2.7 just because they're trying to force everyone off of the v8.
These https://www.portacone.com/ are the difference between a ute (next size down from a F150) and the small SUV I work out of.
With RTK GNSS and a robot I only need the instrument legs and a set for backsight and everything else is done on the pole.
Those looks awesome I would love to have a set of those. However sometimes the cones come in handy as a sort of cradle for the GPS and bipod during short low speed drives on the job. Plus they're really not contributing to the truck having been a max payload. Contributing to the weight was keeping a lot of iron and rebar (can be topped up on the day to day if needed for specific jobs), 3rd tripod (almost never need that), large pry bar, chains for recovery, trailer hitch receiver, hammer drill, tsc7 :-p, 2 8 lb sledgehammers, a mini sledge, regular hammer, etc and lots of mud.
@lukenz I have a set for fly in jobs. They are great but not tough enough for day to day use. A cone rack on the front of the truck is a better option. Plus they tend to get used more if they are readily accessible.
