Isuzu NPR Diesel Towing and Hauling thoughts

[MTGreen]

I assume those hills are only so steep on backroads where the speed limit is 30 anyways ?

Yes, also on long freeway grades up high passes. Lots of those here in western Montana

 

[Farmer495]

When your only tool is a hammer, you go to see every problem as a nail.

When your only vehicle is a pickup with a fragile and impractical tin foil bed, you want to put everything on a trailer. When you drive a commercial Isuzu with a real bed, you dont use a trailer often...
(Or like me, when you dont want dirt in the back of your wagon Diesel and fuel is expensive, you only hook on the bed on wheels, when required)

Years ago 2-3 ton straight trucks were common here on farms, flatbed with removable sides, often a hoist as well. You could haul grain, hay, cattle and a tractor etc. Pickup trucks of that era were challenged to carry much and didn't tow much either.

With the advent of the diesel full size pickups in the 80s, the shift was made to towing gooseneck trailers. Was far easier to load cattle, bales, equipment on a low gooseneck trailer behind a Cummins Ram than onto a C50 or S1600 a mile in the air. Lower center of gravity and less frontal air driving down the highway. Cummins ram pulled it faster too.

The pickup generally got driven daily versus the straight truck sitting and need extra license, insurance and maintenance with tires, brakes etc etc.

So yes, only tool is a hammer, because it didn't make sense to own two trucks when the HD pickup can tow.

I did look at buying a GMC badged NPR for farm use, was low km diesel with 5-speed manual ex fire truck, was going to put a flat bed on it. Once I penciled out that I wasn't going to haul cattle on it, but tow a stock trailer, and hauling hay on the bed from the field to the barn meant having two loader tractors,(or towing the loader tractor behind the NPR), I stuck with pickup and trailer and tractor and wagon already on hand.

 

[ddbackhoe]

I would much prefer haul the load on a bed of a truck than having to pull the load on a trailer but it is what it is. About the only advantage of the L200 is that I can use it as a daily, while before I had a small Ford Fiesta as daily and the Canter to haul stuff, so basically double the expense.

I would too but sometimes its not practical. Sometimes the question is, how do I carry my skidsteer (tractor, backhoe, etc) and all the attachments + supplies in one move?
We all have a learning curve we need to go through.

 

[ning]

Lots of people these days think if it can't hold 65mph towing a space shuttle that it's underpowered.

For someone mostly on flats and not towing heavy non-stop an NPR has plenty of power to do its job, just don't expect to drag race...

 

[4570Man]

I've been on the two sides of the spectrum.

Heck, the only reason I got rid of my dual cab Mitsubishi Canter was because of weight restrictions. Even though it was technically built to have 5500 kgs gross weight, it was registered as 3500kgs and therefore could only legally carry 1000kgs or not even that. Kinda silly.

Ended up going with a Mitusbishi L200 with a trailer and can now haul 2200-ish kgs. I didn't really wanted to get into a "bigger" truck with higher payload capacity and having to deal with the tachograph, more expensive inspections, Category C driving license, and so on. Even though I would like to have C+E driving license eventually.

I would much prefer haul the load on a bed of a truck than having to pull the load on a trailer but it is what it is. About the only advantage of the L200 is that I can use it as a daily, while before I had a small Ford Fiesta as daily and the Canter to haul stuff, so basically double the expense.

View attachment 794063

I’ve hauled my mini excavator on my truck bed and I would never consider it a viable option for routine hauling. It’s slower and more dangerous to load and there’s no room for extra implements. My tilt trailer is much nicer to haul equipment. And I can haul my tractor, skid steer, trencher, or vehicles on the trailer. I would need a substantial set of ramps to haul those on the truck. I can use any of my vehicles to pull the trailer where the the 750 is the only one strong enough to do it on the bed. I wouldn’t be apposed to a heavy duty rollback but it doesn’t offer the versatility the dump truck and trailer does. I don’t have much problem with room to navigate the truck and trailer. If I did I would give the rollback idea more consideration.

 

[ddbackhoe]

I’ve hauled my mini excavator on my truck bed and I would never consider it a viable option for routine hauling. It’s slower and more dangerous to load and there’s no room for extra implements. My tilt trailer is much nicer to haul equipment. And I can haul my tractor, skid steer, trencher, or vehicles on the trailer. I would need a substantial set of ramps to haul those on the truck. I can use any of my vehicles to pull the trailer where the the 750 is the only one strong enough to do it on the bed. I wouldn’t be apposed to a heavy duty rollback but it doesn’t offer the versatility the dump truck and trailer does. I don’t have much problem with room to navigate the truck and trailer. If I did I would give the rollback idea more consideration.

Alot of people get hung up on the concept of, “I have a backhoe (skidsteer, miniex, etc) so I need a dump truck”. Over the years I found not having one saved me a bunch. The time not spent “on the road” I got to use to keep moving on a job site. Through a truck broker, I got one truck or 30 depending on what the job needed that day, haul out or in, didn’t matter to the driver.
So maybe, dumping the dump for something else does make more cents.

For the ones saying, a big dump truck is too tall for me to load, I’ve also used the dumpster guys quite often for different jobs.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Lots of people these days think if it can't hold 65mph towing a space shuttle that it's underpowered.

For someone mostly on flats and not towing heavy non-stop an NPR has plenty of power to do its job, just don't expect to drag race...

Ha, one of our drivers never used the brakes. One evening, he was sent to get someone stalled out on the bay bridge. 43 mile drive and 20 minutes later, he was radioing in looking for the car. I think he got lucky with one or 2 traffic lights being in his favor.

 

[4570Man]

Alot of people get hung up on the concept of, “I have a backhoe (skidsteer, miniex, etc) so I need a dump truck”. Over the years I found not having one saved me a bunch. The time not spent “on the road” I got to use to keep moving on a job site. Through a truck broker, I got one truck or 30 depending on what the job needed that day, haul out or in, didn’t matter to the driver.
So maybe, dumping the dump for something else does make more cents.

For the ones saying, a big dump truck is too tall for me to load, I’ve also used the dumpster guys quite often for different jobs.

I agree that it’s more productive to have bulk materials hauled in by more capable trucks but every job has stuff that needs hauled off. And it’s not as practical to get a truck in to haul off trash and wait for it to get there to load. And without the dump truck I loose the towing capacity.

 

[Renze]

Lots of people these days think if it can't hold 65mph towing a space shuttle that it's underpowered.

For someone mostly on flats and not towing heavy non-stop an NPR has plenty of power to do its job, just don't expect to drag race...

Big rigs have 430hp to tow 80k gross. Pickups have 430hp to tow 25k gross and people complain about being underpowered.

Then in Holland they haul 110k and in Scandinavia 132k

 

[4570Man]

Big rigs have 430hp to tow 80k gross. Pickups have 430hp to tow 25k gross and people complain about being underpowered.

Then in Holland they haul 110k and in Scandinavia 132k

430 hp is fairly low for a semi and definitely low for the heavy haul setups.

 

[oliver1555]

BTI trucks hauling soda ash over South Pass from mines in Green River to the BNSF railroad at Bonneville, Wyoming.

 

[ddbackhoe]

I agree that it’s more productive to have bulk materials hauled in by more capable trucks but every job has stuff that needs hauled off. And it’s not as practical to get a truck in to haul off trash and wait for it to get there to load. And without the dump truck I loose the towing capacity.

With a little planning, always had something on-site when I wanted it there didn’t matter if I was loading or unloading.
A roll back or hook lift can have a trailer hitch.

 

[ddbackhoe]

430 hp is fairly low for a semi and definitely low for the heavy haul setup

~375 - ~600 . Seems to be as emissions get more complex, hp needs (desires) go up.
Of course some people can make them bigger and faster

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[Renze]

430 hp is fairly low for a semi and definitely low for the heavy haul setups.

Heavy haulage is done here with Volvo FH16 750 or Scania R760 V8. Mercedes with the 15.6 liter OM 473 six pot (allmost the same as Detroit DD16) and the MAN D3872 at 15.2 liter up to 660hp generally do the heavy haulage up to 60-70 ton gcw.
The Paccar MX11 at max 440hp is popular for tank transport because it weighs slightly less than the MX13.
Moreover, power ratings in the 13 liter class are rising to 540-560hp because people dont want the added weight of a 15 liter engine anymore.

Back in the 70s the Germans still sold Magirus, Mercedes and MAN with a 16 liter naturally aspirated V10 at 310hp..

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[Renze]

By the way, Daf trucks Australia is doing a field test with 10 Daf trucks equipped with the brand new Cummins X15D at 660hp. Though European trucks are getting more and more popular at long haul operators due to their automobile level finish and luxury, Daf was lagging behind the Germans and Swedes because they had only their MX13 on offer.

The Cummins X15D (for Daf?) is tailored primarily at the Australian B-double market, but will also be seen in the Scandinavian market pulling doubles, as well as European heavy haulage.

With 660hp and 3200Nm (2360 Ft-lb) of torque, there is room to upgrade to 700hp and 3400Nm in the next generation because the automated ZF Traxon transmission is rated for 3400Nm.
This means that this new X15D engine is a whole different animal than the existing X15 engine with 605hp and 2050 Ft-lb at 1400rpm. In fact it didnt really have a competitive edge over the Paccar MX13 with 1850 Ft-lb at 1000rpm in Australia or Europe...

Daf was already working with Cummins on a Euro spec X15 version since 2021, and i wouldnt be surprised if its going to be badged Paccar MX15 and sold exclusively in Daf, kenny and Pete because Volvo/Mack, Mercedes/Freightliner, MAN/Navistar already adopted European engine designs, or are in the process of building a factory on American soil...

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