Hose Bed/Tank configuration

[Elwood]

I am looking for specs and photos that show a 1500 gallon tank with a low hose bed! Is it "pie in the sky" thinking or does someone have a good example that is working for the department.

[chiefengineer11]

That's a tall order. My guess is that it could be done with a pretty long wheelbase and some version of an "L" shaped tank. You could probably get a low hosebed, but it might wind up being on the short side. Be very careful about how much weight you concentrate in a short span of frame rails in between the axles. How about it, you tanker folks?

[Ledebuhr1]

Do you want a single or tandem rear axle. If you spec a truck on the longest wheelbase available(tandem axle), then you shoulden be too high. The truck might be awkard to drive as it will be kind of long.

[ChiefSquirrel]

A 1500 gallon tank on a single rear axle probably won't allow for much storage and compartmentation. If you want lots of equipment, hose, storage, etc. you should probably go with a tandem rear axle setup.

[640SATFD]

Weight Distribution will be KEY!!!

Folks keep up the good work & Info!

I don't think we have the info we need Elwood to give you an honest answer. Why type of vehicle will this be and what type of chassis would you like it on (commercial or custom)?

Dept. to the North of me just received a International 7400 Pumper/Tanker with a Al. Fire Body with lots of compartment space built around a T-Tank.
It has 1500 GPM Hale Pump with an 1800 gal. capacity Tank. NFPA Rated as a Pumper.

This Unit has 14,000 Front Axle & 31,000 Rear (weight distribution would appear to be key in this type of application).

Thanks

[Elwood]

addl info

Thanks for the input. It will be a custom 6 man cab with top mount pump and CAFS. It will be rated as a pumper but used as a combination pumper/Tanker. Length is an issue and we need to keep it as a single axle. I realize it will be a high hosebed, but we are trying to get away from"real high"!

Another question, Does anyone know the minimum dimensions for 1200' of of 4" hose?

[chiefengineer11]

Like Birken has said about the 31K axles, and I agree, you can make it go, and you can make it carry, but can you make it stop? Once upon a time I cited the old single axle Mack Aerialscopes as an example and someone came back saying they had one and it stopped fine. I gotta wonder then, how often did they have to do brake relines/drums/rotors on it? And Mack quit putting 75s on singles let alone 95s, Seagrave won't, and no one else that made 'Scope chassis in between would, either.

Stay safe out there, everyone goes home!

[Ledebuhr1]

Better spec it with a large engine and a engine brake. The larger engine will help in stoping.

Click here, http://www.csiea.com/index.php

Then click on "Custom vehicles", then scroll down to the second truck, a pumper for Lyon Twp. That might be similar to what your looking for.

[rfdlou]

Like Birken has said about the 31K axles, and I agree, you can make it go, and you can make it carry, but can you make it stop? Once upon a time I cited the old single axle Mack Aerialscopes as an example and someone came back saying they had one and it stopped fine. I gotta wonder then, how often did they have to do brake relines/drums/rotors on it? And Mack quit putting 75s on singles let alone 95s, Seagrave won't, and no one else that made 'Scope chassis in between would, either.

Stay safe out there, everyone goes home!

Until June of this year we had single rear axle Mack Aerialscope. The brakes were terrible. Cracked drums also. It stopped fine because you drove it knowing the brakes were lousy.

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Without going tandem and long, large water tank (1200+) generally means high hose bed. There's only so much space to go around. As someone else mentioned, you tend to lose compartment space. And if it's a truck that will mainly be supplied by tanker shuttle, you won't be accessing the supply line too often. And if you do, you're laying a lot down the driveway to keep the tankers on the main road for speed.

If it's going to be all hydrant fed, then every job is going to have people up and down for short lengths. About the only way around that is if Smeal does an EHL through the middle of a tank or something like that. Either that or the Pierce Pack Mule to bring the hose bed to you. Most of the low hose bed trucks I've seen had 750gal or less, and without losing compartment space were longer than their 'regular' height brethren.

[neiowa]

Thanks for the input. It will be a custom 6 man cab with top mount pump and CAFS. It will be rated as a pumper but used as a combination pumper/Tanker. Length is an issue and we need to keep it as a single axle. I realize it will be a high hosebed, but we are trying to get away from"real high"!

Another question, Does anyone know the minimum dimensions for 1200' of of 4" hose?

What is a low hosebed (in inches from the ground)?

Topmount w/6man cab? And want it short and low? How does 12' wide work? Conflicting requirements going to be high or looong.

We have a F9000 1500gal pumper 2dr commercial cab, single rear axle. Reasonable length and stops fine. Nice truck. Hosebed height is what it is. We carry full ISO load fan and portable genset and have adequate storage space. I wouldn't call 1500gal a tanker but truck does have a rear dump so in emergency could be used as a baby tanker.

Most of the world is going to 5" for LDH so planning for a few years down the road would be worth considering. 4" being yesterdays news.

[Eng3ineer]

Another question, Does anyone know the minimum dimensions for 1200' of of 4" hose?

If I remember right want to say 1200' 4" will take up 55 cubic feet... It's in the book Layin' the Big Lines by Paul Shapiro... I'll have to look it up when get home..

[mohican]

I would definately consider going to a tandem

We have 1500 gallon pumper tanker with a 1250gpm top mount pump, but it is a 3 man cab. We carry a 2000 gallon portable pond on it, so compartment space is limited. I think it's about 37K on the scales, filled with water and a full fuel tank.

neiowa - just as an aside, 1500 gallons puts it into tanker or "tender" classification by most standards.

back to the show

you could put a custom cab/ top mount pump on around a 225 wheelbase and
have the hosebed height reasonable. This is if you stick with a "medium" custom cab. That is possible whether single or tandem.

Hannay and possibly others have dry reels available for LDH. You may want to consider reels for your LDH vs Hosebed.

Elwood - I applaud the decision to go with CAFS. Is this a one apparatus "do it all rig"?

I guess one of the first things is to determine it's tactical role.

[Elwood]

purpose

It will be first out on everything that comes in with the word "fire" in the dispatch. The role it will take is dependent upon where the call is located. If it is an Automatic Aid run, will will likely be a tanker. Sometimes we wind up being the primary fire attack unit and all others supply water. The only thing it will not do is grass fires. It may respond but it will wait at the structure.

[ChiefDog]

It will be first out on everything that comes in with the word "fire" in the dispatch. The role it will take is dependent upon where the call is located. If it is an Automatic Aid run, will will likely be a tanker. Sometimes we wind up being the primary fire attack unit and all others supply water. The only thing it will not do is grass fires. It may respond but it will wait at the structure.

We just ordered a similarly missioned Engine.

I would start looking at websites. Some have drawings and measurements on them for demo trucks.

A link to a page with many of the manufacturers pages is

http://www.ct.gov/cfpc/cwp/view.asp?a=827&Q=245500&cfpcPNavCtr=%7C

In our search, we found 4 Guys and HME had some spec's and pictures to look at on their site for ideas. (1000+ tank on custom capable of dumping) Look for yourself and you may find some trucks to look at.