Electric hoist or pto

[Page]

I’m getting a new chip truck before the end of the year. Isuzu nrr. Large thru box behind the cab. A couple under body boxes. 12.6’ chip bed. 48” sides with 30” removable top. I’m deciding on wether or not to put in the pto hoist or the electric. There is about a $4000 difference. I have the pto in my Isuzu ftr and it works really well. Just 2 little switches. Plenty strong and plenty fast. I have electric on my f350 dump and on my 14’ dump trailer. They work fine. The f350 is slow to dump. The trailer isn’t bad but it has dual pistons. I was wondering about the longevity of these 2 systems and what some of you out there prefer.

 

[ruel]

Electric is more idiot resistant (nothing is idiot proof) than pto. If anyone else will be dumping the truck it's worth considering.

 

[Reddog]

Duty cycle is the limit on the electric.
If sized right it should lift the hoist in the same time as a pto.

The pto has a duty cycle of close to 100%. Where as the electrics have a couple minutes at 3-4000 psi. Then need a cool down.

I have had no issue with the electric ones.

 

[flushcut]

My personal preference is PTO but the new truck I am getting has the ability to have a PTO added but has an electric over hydro. A PTO is a heavier setup than electric, it has a large oil tank, and lots more plumbing. Electric is more compact, fairly easy to work on and replace if needed, and is cheaper than a PTO setup. IMO duty cycle is a non issue because you dump (power up power down) and you are not using it for a while when the truck fills up again. It might be an issue if you have a tiny truck and a monster chipper fed by a crane but usually if you have a monster chipper you have a truck to match.

 

[Tree09]

Or if you were hauling dirt or rock, where you are dumping every 10 min or less. For doing trees i would go electric

 

[Jonny]

I’ve never seen a manual transmission dump with an electric hoist and I’ve never seen an automatic transmission dump with a PTO.
I’m sure they exist, but I’ve never seen them.

 

[greengreer]

My f350 chip truck is electric. Works fine, maybe a little slow some times. I'm big on stopping halfway up for a few seconds and letting it rest, then continuing on. Guy at our local hydraulics shop advised me to do that to prolong the solenoids and motor.
It's nice if you need to raise the box a little for the chips to blow in better, or to un pin the toolboxes without the truck running. I also like it for dumping firewood in my barn or chips where there's overhead obstacles. I can get out and see everything while I'm pushing buttons.
That being said, bigger trucks and heavier loads, PTO all the way. A company I used to work for had an f350 with a engine driven pump (old plow truck) that was a lot quicker than electric, and seemed like a good option, but did add a bunch of hoses and shit on top of the engine.

 

[flushcut]

I’ve never seen a manual transmission dump with an electric hoist and I’ve never seen an automatic transmission dump with a PTO.
I’m sure they exist, but I’ve never seen them.

They do exist. I've seen and used both.

 

[Jonny]

Actually now that I think of it, I have driven an automatic bucket truck forestry package, auto tranny with PTO for boom, dump, and outriggers. It was also gas Ford. If you hammered on the gas pedal and let off suddenly it would backfire on command. One fella had a lot of fun with that.

 

[Page]

Well I went with the pto. I’m spending a lot of money either way. Might as well get what I want.

 

[Tree09]

You can always add more hydraulic stuff to the truck now too, say a winch or two!

 

[ruel]

Maybe a blender for post work margaritas?