Ford 450 help

emr

emr

Cheesehead Treehouser
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
2,193
Location
Neenah, Wisconsin
So the day in my life that I dreaded the most is about to happen.... I'm buying a Ford! We have decided to sell our TopKick and replace it with a Ford 450 chip truck. We are still working out the details but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these? We are getting gas (V10 6.8l),two wheel drive probably extended cab with an 11 ft box.

Thoughts? Problems to watch for? Things to ask the salesman?

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Great trucks. You won't be disappointed. What year? A diesel is better IMO but you have to be into them for it to be worth the maintenance/upkeep that's required to see those benefits. 2 wheel drive is......well 2 wheel drive. Obviously it works for ya.
 
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  • #5
Is going to be new, 2014! No more diesel for me. It's too cold here in winter for them. We got rid of our diesel chipper and it is great. I can't wait to get rid of our diesel truck.

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How cold does it get there?

No love for the diesel seems odd to me. Mine run or are mostly plugged in this time of the year. Zero issues.
 
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  • #7
No power is the problem. When it gets really cold we have to go two hours early and start a generator to power the block heater. We would probably get diesel if we had power.

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Oh yah wow. No block heater would be real crappy. I've heard those new v-10s are awesome. I bet you'll be really happy with it.
 
They have the power but also a huge thirst for gasoline.Ohio doesn't normally get as cold as Wisconsin but you about need to plug in diesels here to get them going in cold weather .It takes about two hours on the heater to warm one up .

Now the pick up trucks will start because they have glow plugs--if the batteries are up .Big trucks not so good .
 
My new Bowtie has a intake heater like the Dodge, no trouble in the single digit weather we've had this week
 
I used my buddy's Yanmar?/John Deere compact tractor one winter. It would pop off without letting the glow plugs warm up in single digit temps. The old bigger JD's always liked their ether. No glow plugs. If the battery was good they would fire OK without heat down below zero with ether.
 
It just depends on the engine design .Toms' skid loader has a 43 HP Perkins .It takes the glows weather it's 10 below or 80 .Runs fine though other than that .

I think the worst ever was when Chevy got the bright idea of converting a gasser block to a diesel for pick up trucks in the 80's .Glow or no those SOB's would not start if it got below zero .They had to be plugged in or just left to run for days on end .They didn't have enough power to pull a greasey man out of bed either .
 
Plugging in is sop. I can't fathom not having power or a shop to work with. I am constantly working/maintaining things it seems. If I had to hire that out I'd be broke.
 
The dealer wanted $5000 to put a clutch in my buds 90 horse Case IH tractor. Gonna have about 1200 in parts and fluids. New pressure plate/disc assembly (2stage clutch) new throwout, pilot bearing, hydro fluid/filter, AF. A bit of savings.
 
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  • #16
squisher said:
Plugging in is sop. I can't fathom not having power or a shop to work with. I am constantly working/maintaining things it seems. If I had to hire that out I'd be broke.
Click to expand...

It's a total headache. That's why we are getting new equipment and getting rid of all diesel. Luckily we are at a point with the company where we can afford it. It's not the repair bills killing us but messing around. We look like chumps when we call a customer and tell them that we can't work because our equipment wouldn't start right away.

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Cobleskill said:
Wanna splain that a little more? Just aim the elbow at the oil pan? One length of pipe?
Click to expand...

Yes one 3 or 4' length and the elbow aimed at the oil pan or what ever you need to thaw.
Place the brush burner just far enough into the stove pipe that the flame stays inside the pipe.

At -40 it would take about 15 to 30 minutes to get a semi tractor to start. Depending on how good the batteries were.
Tarping the hood while doing this helps hold in heat also, kinda pre heats the intake air.
 
Very good advice above. We make sure all the propane bottles are full before winter.
I do not personally own a 450 but have driven the CRAP out of a bunch of 450's and 550's. All were v-10s and most were automatics. We work the hell out of them. The 550's carry five hundred gallons of water on a short flatbed with a pump. Tall tool boxes with hundreds of feet of hose and lots of fittings. In my opinion they are very reliable and tough. In my opinion the gas engine is a very good choice. Yeah they burn some fuel but they dont need additive, are cheaper to work on, are easier to start, are warm quickly in winter, burn cheaper fuel, dont need DEF, and most diesels now a days dont get the best mileage.
We once figured it out when diesel was cheap that the cost of the diesel engine option would take over 200,000 miles to recoup the cost.
 
Well ole Tom is figuring out there isn't one thing cheap on a diesel as far as repairs .

The big gasoline engines are about a thing of the past though .No more Ford 370-429-460 or Chevy 366-427-454 .You're about running out of options ,V-10 Ford maybe .
 
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  • #23
Reading all of the posts here is really making me feel good about our decision. Thanks for all the input.



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  • #24
Has anyone had any experience purchasing from Arbortech directly? It is looking like they are going to be our best price for truck and box. Easiest too.

Does anybody have any other suggestions for buying a new chip truck? I know people will suggest having one fabed up buy a local welder and I'm not really too interested in going that route.

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Well you have all kinds of options .Tom borrowed my machinery trailer a few years back and bought an old Aspludh box in South Carolina .Southco box with all the hydraulics intact ,pump and all for 800 bucks .Epoxy painted and in good shape to boot .He pissed it away though ,ran out of money one tough winter and sold it .Dumb azz that bought ran out of money and cut it up for scrap iron,duh .
 
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