New tender for the VFD

[sandhiller]

Finally got it home from Lincoln.

Will take the dump box off and put a 1600 gallon tank on it.

[vtfireman85]

1600?? Thats it? 

[Lars (midessa)]

With that beefy frame, and tandem axle, should able to handle 3,000 gal easily if an aluminum tank..

[Lazy WP]

8 minutes ago, Lars (midessa) said:

With that beefy frame, and tandem axle, should able to handle 3,000 gal easily if an aluminum tank..

Nebraska fire insurance has something to say about it, I think. Also most of you guys have never seen the type of soils they deal with up there. Here, I am not afraid to use my semi as a tender, there 1600 gallons on a 6X6 might be to much. 

[nc1112]

9 hours ago, vtfireman85 said:

1600?? Thats it? 

The tenders out here are a little bit different deal.  The rigs like Jeff has are primarily used to go out in the hills to refill what we call grass rigs. (Type 6 wildland engines) It's not uncommon for them to go several miles off the road to load trucks.  The fine sandy soils and rough terrain can be difficult to navigate at times, especially when it's very dry. There are several departments that use the single axle versions as grass rigs too.  In addition to the Stewart Stevenson's a lot of departments out here use Oshkosh HEMTT trucks.  There are plenty of 3 and 3500 gallon tenders in the area but they generally don't leave the road. 

[sandhiller]

10 hours ago, vtfireman85 said:

1600?? Thats it? 

Well, that is the size of the spare tank we have on hand. 

Nick and Nick explained our terrain conditions very well. 

 

The fire district to our south has a couple HMMT's. 

Two axle I believe but I have seen the 4 axle up here for mutual Aid. 

They are a beast and too big for us to get in the barn or get around our hills with. 

The 6x6's will go anywhere our grass rigs (4x4 pickups) will go.

Fires can be very fast moving and cover a lot of miles, no time usually to set up portable tanks. 

We do have a 3000 gal tank on a Ford 9000 twin screw that can be sent but mostly stays on road or hard pack and used to refill 6x6's. 

[M35A2]

Partly why 1600 gallon is that with military surplus vehicles they have two sets of weight ratings, on-highway use and off-road use.  The off-road used to be based on no hard surfacing (including gravel) travel at 30-35 mph, certain grade of transit, etc..      Most of the common water tanks are round so if you put that on the truck chassis, it makes for a top heavy load.  Where if you put an elliptical tank on, there is a lower center of gravity.    Often times insurance companies will insure surplus trucks used in fire service based on off-road capacity (which is normally stamped on the data plate).  

 

[vtfireman85]

41 minutes ago, M35A2 said:

Partly why 1600 gallon is that with military surplus vehicles they have two sets of weight ratings, on-highway use and off-road use.  The off-road used to be based on no hard surfacing (including gravel) travel at 30-35 mph, certain grade of transit, etc..      Most of the common water tanks are round so if you put that on the truck chassis, it makes for a top heavy load.  Where if you put an elliptical tank on, there is a lower center of gravity.    Often times insurance companies will insure surplus trucks used in fire service based on off-road capacity (which is normally stamped on the data plate).  

 

Where is the on highway rating published? 

[M35A2]

The on-highway rating is sometimes on the data plate too.