2007 Silverado 2500 HD w/ Dovetail?

[robertsturf]

With the high cost of gas now I am researching the possibility of installing a landscape bed on my 3/4 ton 2007 Silverado. I know it will fit and what the load capabilities are on my truck. What I am looking for is what the difference would be in gas mileage for my truck. We currently tow a 16' tandem axle trailer with 3 Standers and other mowing equipment. I average 9.5 mpg. Will I see much improvement in my MPG? Has anyone done this on a similar truck. It is a 6.0 gas with auto extended cab and long bed. Any input would be appreciated. I would be selling my trailer and the bed off the truck to help offset the cost of the installation. Also I was going to make it a dump-bed and have the dove-tail ramp removeable. Thanks for your input. Trent Roberts, Roberts Turf & Landscape.

[KS_Grasscutter]

How is 16' of equipment gonna fit on 8' of truck bed?

[robertsturf]

Good point! Make it 88" wider or stagger it. We don't use the full 16' of space on the trailer. Plus you can put equipment on the dovetail portion. I see it all the time. All equipment will be secured by d-rings and ratchet straps.

[fool32696]

Don't hack up and remove all value from an 07 truck! If you think this idea is feasible I'd buy an older F350 or F450 and put a bed on that. You'd have the security of dual rear wheels (which you'll need with all that additional weight, think tire blowouts) and you can get away with a 10 or 12 bed which will be more useful.

[robertsturf]

I'ts not a for sure thing that I am going to do. I was just weighing the pros and cons and was wondering if someone else has done it. Storeage of another vehicle is a problem since we still work out of our home and have an inside storage garage and 1 outside parking spot for our dump trailer. We are able to keep all our mowing equipment in the one garage without unloading it from the trailer. If I bought another truck I would have to take that into consideration. Also our storage garage that we are in now would not allow us to back a truck in it with the mowers on the back, the door is too low.

[PlatinumLandCon]

Lets blow a couple grand to save $10 per fill up... makes sense:hammerhead:. As fool said, don't kill an 07 truck. Buy a bigger, stronger truck for less (90's F450 w/ 7.3 diesel).

[Petr51488]

Lets blow a couple grand to save $10 per fill up... makes sense:hammerhead:. As fool said, don't kill an 07 truck. Buy a bigger, stronger truck for less (90's F450 w/ 7.3 diesel).

My thought exactly.. Or here's one. Spend an extra 30 grand on a car that will save you gas rather then using a truck. Do you know how much gas you can buy with 30,000??? Some people amaze me.

[robertsturf]

I appreciate all your sarcasm. It's very helpful smarta**. The reason I posted this is I was weighing the pro's&con's for doing this. NOT a done deal. I have seen this done around here and on the net. So don't blow a head gasket at my idea. I see your mowing with a walk-behind how's that working for ya?

[PlatinumLandCon]

pro's?? I don't think there's even 1! Less space, costs a bunch, kills truck's value, looks worse, etc...

[Petr51488]

I appreciate all your sarcasm. It's very helpful smarta**. The reason I posted this is I was weighing the pro's&con's for doing this. NOT a done deal. I have seen this done around here and on the net. So don't blow a head gasket at my idea. I see your mowing with a walk-behind how's that working for ya?

If your referring to me about the walkbehind, your making yourself look like a ******. Just remember that not every place in the U.S. can use a ztr and cut 5 acre house's. We have 50x100 lots here (some smaller, some a little bigger) and a z would not fit. Think again next time you think of something stupid. Notice how i have a 36'' and a 21''?? there's a reason for it. If i needed a ztr, i have the money, and could get one. Oh, and learn how to take come criticism. Now for your pro's and cons. I cant think of any pro's. I dont think you would really save any gas, or enough to change over. You'll wear out the shocks and springs on the truck, You'll loose value in the truck. You won't be able to to put anything in the bed of the truck without taking out all of your equipment, you will only be able to use the truck for work, where as now you could just unhook the trailer and go. With your idea, you will lug all the equipment everywhere you go unless you unload. That's all i can think of. Please excuse my sarcasm.

[robertsturf]

We don't cut 5 acre houses!! The dove tail is removable and plenty of guys drive around with a flatbed truck. I don't know why I'm wasting my time with you part-timers anyway. I was just looking for feed-back not smarta** comments from wanabees!!

[Petr51488]

We don't cut 5 acre houses!! The dove tail is removable and plenty of guys drive around with a flatbed truck. I don't know why I'm wasting my time with you part-timers anyway. I was just looking for feed-back not smarta** comments from wanabees!!

Yea, i'm part time. Sorry. You know me and my business. I didn't mean 5 acre properties, but to put it in simpler terms for you... "Large properties" You would cut a house thats on a 50x100' lot with a ztr?
You asked for other peoples opinions... you got them... don't like them.. now your crying like baby. Don't get your panties in the bundle. Relax a little bit.

[robertsturf]

We have 0 ZTR's we happen to use Wright Standers only. Because they work best for our market. We have lot's of hills and slopes to mow. We use our 36" for the gated yards and everything else with our 52's. True I asked for other opinions but I didn't expect it to be dripping with sarcasm. What I expected was professional input from others. But I guess you have to be professional first to give it. BTW this is my only job I do it FULL time and don't rely on my wifes income or my other job. All our employee's are paid above the table, speak english and wear uniforms.

[Petr51488]

We have 0 ZTR's we happen to use Wright Standers only. Because they work best for our market. We have lot's of hills and slopes to mow. We use our 36" for the gated yards and everything else with our 52's. True I asked for other opinions but I didn't expect it to be dripping with sarcasm. What I expected was professional input from others. But I guess you have to be professional first to give it. BTW this is my only job I do it FULL time and don't rely on my wifes income or my other job. All our employee's are paid above the table, speak english and wear uniforms.

Sounds good.. So we buried the hatchet? I also do this full time, don't have a wife, or another job, pay my cars, trucks, insurance, and have my brother (who speaks English) to help me when he has time. Now let's get back to the thread.

[robertsturf]

That was my point . You guy's are the one's that started out with the sarcasm. I was just looking for input on someone who has done this swap and noticed any difference.

[mag360]

I don't know what your route is like Roberts, but my main mowing rig travels 150-155 miles per week at 9.2mpg. That translates into just under 17 gallons of gas, or $69 in the truck. Affecting a change to say 13 mpg would put it at 12 gallons, or $49. In this area we would save, at the most, $600 per season. It could potentially take a few years to make up the difference in cost.

Pete---the "some people amaze me" comment I might have taken some offense to as well. I think you were just making a general statement based on the kid's comment,though, and not specific to Robertsturf.

[robertsturf]

We drive many more miles than that in a week. Our city is pretty spread out though we are trying to condense our routes more and more. We drive on the average 20K per year all told. That's with our main mowing truck , we have a second truck 1/2 ton that drives about 10K for the business although that is not part of this thought.

[fool32696]

Let's try to solve this by thinking outside of the box. What is your mileage now with pulling the trailer? What are you hoping to achieve with this modification to your truck in MPG? For example maybe you're getting 9mpg now and are hoping to get 14mpg without the trailer. I have an idea in mind.

[robertsturf]

Right my mileage is an average of 9.5. 90% of the time I pull the trailer. I would like to increase it by 3-4 mpg or more.

[cet]

I can't help with the gas mileage. I own a W5500 with a landscape body on it. I have a WB and a 72" ZTR. It is great for driving. I also have a 3500HD with a dump box on it. The dump box is 11' long and weights 2500lbs. I don't think you could but a dump box on that truck and get to haul what you want. I also think the extra weight of the dump box will defeat your expected fuel savings. I also have a 3500 DRW that I have a flat deck on. I could see putting mowers on that and saving money on fuel. I know the 6 litre is bad when towing. My 3500HD has a GVW of 15,000lbs and I am lucky to have a 6,000lb payload.

[heather lawn sp]

We went to a flat deck for our '06 soon after we accepted delivery of it. The bed was purpose-built for carrying a 72" 997 mower. A double axle trailer was added to carry a second mower when needed. The only good reason for this configuration would be the ease of handling in tight urban areas where a full size pick-up and double mower trailer would be cramped. On the day that they do small properties they drop the trailer and proceed with the 54" mower alone on deck. Some of the frontages on the properties are only 20 or 30 feet. The deck as set up would probably cost as much as a trailer, and then there is the cost of the small trailer for our extra capacity.

I can't see a lot of difference in the trailer for fuel consumption, unless you operate on a full size county scale where mileage is a issue. The reason would be more to the point of saving time and trouble of trailing the mower by having it on deck. As noted elsewhere this does have a disadvantage of storage space gone by disposing of the box for the bed, but that is a decision you will have to make based on your needs.

With that said we do have an '06 K2500 6.6 Duramax flat deck & an '05 K2500 6.6 Duramax towing a 16' trailer, the difference is about 1 mile per gallon

The box would weigh about 175 lbs (2 guys can lift it with a struggle) A 9.5 foot truck body comes in at about 800 lbs. The Duramax equipped '05 truck weighs in at 6400 lbs. the '06 truck weighs in at 7000lbs, JD 997 weighs in at 1900 lbs putting it just under load limit of 9200 lbs. Your gas engine will cut the weight significantly thus increasing the payload

[robertsturf]

Heather thank you for that info. Barring any other ideas I am not going to proceed this direction. I think the mileage gain does not warrant this investment. I will wait till I need another trailer or truck and buy a new or used cab and chassis to complete this idea.

[Petr51488]

Pete---the "some people amaze me" comment I might have taken some offense to as well. I think you were just making a general statement based on the kid's comment,though, and not specific to Robertsturf.

You're right. It wasn't towards robert, but rather to others who i've seen doing this, or talking about it. (buying a car to save on gas) It wasn't directed to him at all.

[Petr51488]

Have you thought of buying a box truck, or possibly a rack truck? I have no idea of the mileage on them. Just a thought.

[robertsturf]

My Idea for the future is to sell my mowing trailer and buy a cab and chassis truck F350 or?? and put a dovetail landscape bed with dump capabilities and removable dovetail. I am doing this also to allow us to have different drivers with the truck instead of pulling a trailer. Too many opportunities for accidents. Storeage will not be a problem, we can get a larger unit where we are and I could still use my HD to do applications, with a Perma-Green carrier. I am trying to plan for the future so I don't have to mow every day with the crew. Currently we send them on their own for 2 days while I do the applications or shrub trimming or other extras we offer. For our business to continue to grow I need to do more selling during the season. With me turning 50 last week I have to really look for the future.

[fool32696]

Just a thought. Pick up a Ford F350 Uhaul truck with 14' body. I think that the old 7.3s can get 14 or 15 mpg. You can get the truck for $3000 and a body for maybe $2000. For $5k have a nice reliable custom rig that suits your needs.

[heather lawn sp]

My Idea for the future is to sell my mowing trailer and buy a cab and chassis truck F350 or?? and put a dovetail landscape bed with dump capabilities and removable dovetail. I am doing this also to allow us to have different drivers with the truck instead of pulling a trailer. Too many opportunities for accidents. Storeage will not be a problem, we can get a larger unit where we are and I could still use my HD to do applications, with a Perma-Green carrier. I am trying to plan for the future so I don't have to mow every day with the crew. Currently we send them on their own for 2 days while I do the applications or shrub trimming or other extras we offer. For our business to continue to grow I need to do more selling during the season. With me turning 50 last week I have to really look for the future.

Welcome to being an old foogie:). Been there. . . done that. Get yourself out of the daily grind, leave that to the twenty -somethings to do. I'm only one truck and 4 years ahead of you.

If you note the year models of the truck the pick up and long trailer came first. The flat deck is a specialty truck for doing the remainder of the large scale projects and the little urban projects. The pick up and long trailer is strictly large project work (multi-acre sites). You may want to think in that direction. . . a flat deck as a second truck later on.

[Envision]

Of course there are Pros to doing this, less storage area needed for a truck/trailer combo, less property taxes and registration fees on the trailer, cheaper insurance costs as you don't have to insure a trailer, possible fuel savings, etc.

Nice work thinking outside the box, been kicking around the idea as well.

[robertsturf]

I was thinking the same thing about the less storage area and licenses/taxes for the additional trailer. I am going to do this for sure at some point just probably not with the Silverado.