What does the average Bettendorf, Andrews, whatever it is, caboose truck weigh, roughly?
Thanks
Figures I’ve seen for older, friction-bearing trucks show weights between 6000 and 7000 pounds. Can’t find any information about roller-bearing trucks.
So if you’re thinking about transporting one with a pickup truck, I’d advise against it.
Well, how 'bout my '85 GMC 3500 1-ton 454 cu. in. pickup with a 16-foot open trailer?
Thanks for the info.
That ought to handle it. How are you going to load and unload it? I once tried rolling one up a set of ramps.
Maybe the trailer can handle a 3-3.5-ton load, but if one ton is the capacity of your pickup bed, I wouldn’t try it in there.
Sounds like a tow truck, with the winch to lift things up on its platform, might be what you want–though a caboose truck might outweigh a lot of things that said tow truck normally sees.
Not really when you think about it. A Full size van comes in at around 5400 lbs. Heck my mothers 06 Cheby Minivan weighs 4400 so they are not that light anymore.
I’d probably plan to come up with some PLENTY sturdy wood beams - set them to the wheel gauge and roll/pull the trucks up onto another set of beams on the trailer. Have to make sure I blocked up the back of the trailer, and blocked up the ramps in several places, too.
I wouldn’t even think of trying to load these things in the back of a standard pickup truck. Have to have a trailer.
Just so you guys know why I asked the weight question in the first place is this - there’s a wooden Frisco caboose not too far from me, in poor shape. It’s at a residence, not on public display or anything. I intend to inquire about it some time soon, and possibly buy it. Then I’d need to transport at least the trucks and the frame - don’t know if the body is salvagable or not. SO I was just curious as to how much the trucks would weigh, for hauling purposes.
I am a bit confused, where are you hauling the trucks to? And what good would it be without the actual body, unless you are just looking for parts. I am intrigued here, I know of people who own cabooses but store them at railroads and museum yards. If you could I am a little more interested in what you are doing, good luck either way.
The caboose is at a farm back in the hills about 10 mins drive from me. I’ve only been to the house once - learned about the caboose from a friend, and went to see about it once but haven’t been back. Nobody was home, so I didn’t inquire about it.
TO ME… having part of a caboose is better than not having anything. And it would be an option to take measurements, etc. and build a new body once all the metal parts were home and re-assembled.
Thanks for the reply Alex, best of luck and keep us posted.
My only advice would be - sometimes its easier to get things rolling than to get them stopped. That is, once you get them rolling onto the trailer, be sure you’ve had the forethought that - once they pass the center of gravity on the trailer, if it starts to sag toward the front (i.e. springs on the truck start to compress) and they start to roll downgrade toward your truck, be sure you have thing set up properly to stop them before they are embedded deeply into the back of your truck - and hopefully w/o someone pinned between. “Objects in mirror may roll more freely and may be harder to get stopped, once started, than expected.” Good luck. Sounds like a fun project!!
Stack