Automatic trucks

[Paystar5000]

On 9/24/2024 at 3:14 PM, Missouri Mule said:

Funny. I drove a 90's 4900 with T444E and auto in a large bucket truck for alot of miles. Thats how you ran it. When we got the " new" truck with 3126 and allison i was in heaven. 

I get the argument, owned lots of trucks all manuals. You guys dont get it, theres a ton of guys that are willing and capable of driving a single axle truck with 400bu on. However nobody knows how to use a 2 speed right. Ill argue that if you want to, and with our steep hills and curves i dont get the warm and fuzzy about turning them loose. Somethings getting tore up. My 4900 has a 13spd roadranger and im the only one that i trust in it of the ones i have around. Obviously here there are some guys more qualified than me. 

Let me ask this. S1700-4900 single axles. What transmission (auto) options were available and what worked/didnt work?

At work we got 15 trucks hauling corn silage right now 13 are Allison’s.  In a 4900 series with a DT466E or a DT530E it will most likely have a MD3060 /3000 series transmission.  Can be a 5 or a 6 speed depending on programming.  It’s the same transmission as the bigger one (HD4560P) just smaller and will handle less torque.  A 1997 and newer will have a good selection.  Before  1997 the less common automatics will be.  Most likely behind a mechanical engine you will find an AT545 or a MT653/654.  All these transmissions work fine. Some have very low reverse gears which might not bother you as bad.  You want low rear end gears.  4.44 or higher.  Which most likely it will have already.  The DT466/530 has a lot more power and torque than the T444E.  FWIW almost every farm around here has some Allison’s or automated manuals of some sort.  We run tractor tread floatation tires on the trucks around here and it does not take anything to twist a drive shaft off or blow out a diff in a soft field at 90K gross trying to get back to the road.  Truck is making no money when it is broke.  Most of the guys we hire usually like the automatics.  All we do is short trips back and forth to the field with possible 4 or 5 intersections to get there.  

[acem]

3 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

DOT will get you here, even just hauling to the bin without a tarp. 

Interesting.

I've been pulled over several times without a tarp and they didn't say anything about that.  The made many other comments but never mentioned the tarp. 

Maybe they didn't get that far!

My hopper bottom dates from the late 60s and is DOT bait...

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

2 hours ago, acem said:

Interesting.

I've been pulled over several times without a tarp and they didn't say anything about that.  The made many other comments but never mentioned the tarp. 

Maybe they didn't get that far!

My hopper bottom dates from the late 60s and is DOT bait...

This is what the Missouri regulation is. It could be different in Arkansas. 
 

[Lazy WP]

7 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

This is what the Missouri regulation is. It could be different in Arkansas. 
 

And yet rock or sand haulers can drive all over the country throwing rocks and not be tarped. 

[acem]

In Arkansas the gravel trucks can't fill above one foot below the sideboards without a tarp.

Most gravel trucks here have a powered front to back tarp.

[jass1660]

1 hour ago, Lazy WP said:

And yet rock or sand haulers can drive all over the country throwing rocks and not be tarped. 

Law here pertains to rock haulers, just hardly gets enforced. 

[ChrisNY]

Agricultural products do not need to be tarped in NY

[sandhiller]

3 hours ago, Lazy WP said:

And yet rock or sand haulers can drive all over the country throwing rocks and not be tarped. 

And the truck that hauls offal from an area packing plant is never tarped and has had "load" spill over the top at intersections and around curves. 

Getting behind that truck in the summer is an experience you will likely never forget

[ray54]

More and more gravel trucks are using a front to back roll screen more than a real tarp. Have not been up on the bank to look down on the powdered lime trucks, hauling past here. But after weighting it they pull up to a water hose and spray the top down to make a crust on top if they don't trap them. Most is hauled in belt unloaders with roll tarps. But every once in a while going around corners a puff of dust come out.

[hobbyfarm]

20 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

This is what the Missouri regulation is. It could be different in Arkansas. 
 

Would this apply to hay and straw too?  Generally speaking state police here intentionally try to avoid ag vehicles.  Ag isn't the target.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

52 minutes ago, hobbyfarm said:

Would this apply to hay and straw too?  Generally speaking state police here intentionally try to avoid ag vehicles.  Ag isn't the target.

Those loads they are usually looking to see if they have any straps on them. If none, or too few, it’s a failure to secure your load violation. Enforcement has been pretty lax here for the last few years, especially on trucks with a farm license. 

[Cdfarabaugh]

Surprised I never saw this thread yet.  

Are automatics superior.......no doubt yes as of now.  Allison's especially, more operator friendly, they are tied in with engine management electronics to give the ideal outcome and any seat holder can drive. 

The bad? When something stupid electrically happens to them you're done where you sit.  Rarely happens in a manual as you'll get noise, jumping out of gear, or grinding when there's an issue and have some warning to remedy it.  

Manuals are easy to come by parts wise and if you need a swap unit. 

Remember too a lot of these automated manual gearboxes are unserviceable and other than a few simpler repairs, strictly R&R.  Allison really keeps the clamps on their info as well and not many places touch them around here.  

I'm a believer in fix what you have, with 150$/hr rates and going up you almost can't afford it unless you're a big fleet.  

 

[TroyDairy]

On 9/25/2024 at 6:32 AM, Lazy WP said:

I don’t think YOU are understanding what I am saying. You are going to take Joe Blow from off the street. Biggest thing he has ever driven is his F- onefiddy, put him in an older automatic truck, which there’s a good chance will be over loaded and send him down the road!

Again, if you can’t take the time to teach someone how to handle a piece of equipment properly, they have no business doing it. 
Personally, there’s times I would love an automatic. I am pretty sure that coming out of a soft field they would be better, at least the automatic in my pickup, and the torque converter in my Case tractors doesn’t slip the tires like a manual transmission does. 
 

My issue is with the lack of training involved, and that goes for large fleets as well. 

Well.... you train.  Problem solved.  Big thing we see with silage is the older very competent guys helping out.  Heck make it easy as possible for them.  Everyone says at thw end of the day you are less fatigue.  And then training someone like my 18yo nephew.  Lets teach you how to do silage.  The auto truck is way easier.  THEN now that the job is taught this winter in a low paced quiet day i will teach the 9sp truck.  

[TroyDairy]

21 hours ago, ChrisNY said:

Agricultural products do not need to be tarped in NY

Thats here in WA too.  DOT was pulling over silage trucks.  Guy who custom chops/trucks printed out the RCW code from the DOT site stating ag products exempt.  Hands to officer if pulled over.  99% of gravel trucks have power tarps since that a rule for decades.

[Jacka]

1 hour ago, TroyDairy said:

Thats here in WA too.  DOT was pulling over silage trucks.  Guy who custom chops/trucks printed out the RCW code from the DOT site stating ag products exempt.  Hands to officer if pulled over.  99% of gravel trucks have power tarps since that a rule for decades.

Like that idea of printing out the law.Leads to a lot less arguments I bet.

[acem]

Certain AG trucks in Arkansas can legally runn off road fuel. 

Litter/Manure spreading trucks and cotton module hauling trucks I think.

States have funny rules.

[Matt Kirsch]

13 minutes ago, acem said:

States have funny rules.

Funny, and inconsistent.

I mean, for as "overbearing" as NY is, they don't require ag products to be tarped??? Boggles the mind.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

15 minutes ago, acem said:

Certain AG trucks in Arkansas can legally runn off road fuel. 

Litter/Manure spreading trucks and cotton module hauling trucks I think.

States have funny rules.

I bet there have been some arguments on the side of the road over that rule. There’s nothing like that in Missouri that I’m aware of anyway. 

[Lazy WP]

2 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

I bet there have been some arguments on the side of the road over that rule. There’s nothing like that in Missouri that I’m aware of anyway. 

It’s federal law, just not common knowledge. 

[dale560]

2 hours ago, acem said:

Certain AG trucks in Arkansas can legally runn off road fuel. 

Litter/Manure spreading trucks and cotton module hauling trucks I think.

States have funny rules.

I am not 100 % sure on this but I think the federal even lets you haul to first point of delivery out of field with dyed or farm fuel. 

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

Just now, dale560 said:

I am not 100 % sure on this but I think the federal even lets you haul to first point of delivery out of field with dyed or farm fuel. 

So you could haul to the elevator on an interstate with dyed fuel if you go straight there from the field? 

[jass1660]

41 minutes ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

So you could haul to the elevator on an interstate with dyed fuel if you go straight there from the field? 

Why shouldn’t they have to pay the road tax and use clear fuel when they are tearing the roads up like everyone else?  They have been known to sit on the access roads around here to the elevators and dip fuel tanks.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

6 minutes ago, jass1660 said:

Why shouldn’t they have to pay the road tax and use clear fuel when they are tearing the roads up like everyone else?  They have been known to sit on the access roads around here to the elevators and dip fuel tanks.

I have never heard that they don’t have to before. I have had our trucks fuel tanks checked before going from the field to the elevator. There are signs all over the place to report fuel tax evasion. I would be interested to see the exact language if that is the case. 

[lotsaIHCs]

4 hours ago, acem said:

Certain AG trucks in Arkansas can legally runn off road fuel. 

Litter/Manure spreading trucks and cotton module hauling trucks I think.

States have funny rules.

Same in NoDak. A local hay grinder runs red fuel in his truck because most of his fuel is used sitting still grinding hay. I didn't know it was legal until I worked for Farmer's Union and he'd come and get red diesel in his truck. Boss said the truck was considered a farm implement.

[sandhiller]

18 minutes ago, lotsaIHCs said:

Same in NoDak. A local hay grinder runs red fuel in his truck because most of his fuel is used sitting still grinding hay. I didn't know it was legal until I worked for Farmer's Union and he'd come and get red diesel in his truck. Boss said the truck was considered a farm implement.

Not here

I tried that with my Dodge and bale bed

Told them it never leaves the ranch, just feeds hay on the place

They said "if it can be licensed, it needs clear fuel". 

It may run in to Cody on a rare occassion

Don't run enough fuel through it to risk the red.