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Southeast Iowa | I've been all over this service truck thing with my own operations as well as a few others, and a few of the comments on this thread are right on the dot. The first thing I learned was that one-tonners are cute, but quite useless in mud or to carry a big load. As a real, SERVICE/REPAIR truck, pickups are too small to be of much use, and forget even driving out the gate unless you have a crane on one rear corner. Big gassers are dirt cheap, and a used semi tractor is perfect for most service bodies. The CHEAPEST way to go is to buy a used utility or service truck and torch cut the body into a shape that suits your particular job. The right welder, the right torch, and the right air compressor are absolutely critical, and of course a complete set of bolt bins. Portable lights for night repairs are helpful, as well as lots of hose, 120V extension cords, and welder leads. Tracked-type tractor farming always needs more service truck capability; that's kind of where I came from, historically so I still think in terms of "maximum" service capability. I'm working in a Midwest corn-bean operation now; a totally different kind of farming; and it AMAZES ME how little need we have for service truck work. All the equipment is so new and the preventive maintenance program is so intense that we have almost no breakdowns. We have a small fuel trailer, and during harvest we just use a 1/2-ton pickup with a 30-gal air tank sitting in it, and maybe a few boxes of bean head sections in one corner of the bed. When I see how little "service capability" we work with, I almost have to laugh; but we seem to get the crops out with little or no downtime (we lost a total of SEVEN hours in the 2009 season when we stuffed the corn head into a gully). I think service trucks are hopelessly cool, and would love to have a big one to drive around again; like in the old days; but the reality is that it would probably be just sitting, or used for fixing other people's stuff about 90% of the time. I guess there IS a kind of "mechanical high" that goes along with driving something that can repair itself; and there is always that hope that you'll come upon a damsel in distress on a lonely highway with the RF spindle broken off her vintage Airstream. You could weld it back on while she fixes you an ice cold lemonade. My last service rig did have a microwave, but no fridge. | |
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Big service trucks
