I was wanting to know what kind of brush trucks are being used out there? We have 3 dodge trucks with 300 gallon tanks and 3 6x6 old army trucks with 700 gallon tanks. We are tring to get a new pierce contender on a international series 7400, that is a 4x4 chassis. Dose anyone use this truck and what are the likes and dislikes on it?

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We have a old Chev one ton brush truck , with a 1000 gallon tank on it with a 3/4'' booster . Also have a lot of other gear on it that can handle anything from a MVA to a House fire . The only down side to it being a one ton truck is we can only fill it with 500 gallons of water .
Tyson,
Well this is what I do On the side from being a Fire Chief..I design & engineer and sale Brush units, Skid units and Rescues all over the nation. Most of the trucks I design are on a F-550 cab and chassis which in turn is a 1-1/2 ton...We build aluminum bodies so it keeps the unit 40% lighter then steel bodies...When you start adding equipment and firefighters on there not to include your skid unit, the lighter the brush unit the better the unit is when you are off road...The maximum I can go on a F-550 with a 19000 # GVWR is 750 gallons of water, now you can extend that water load by adding a CAVS unit or a foam unit to work in conjunction with the water your already unloading on the fire....The only problem I have seen when a department go's big and heavy like your talking about with the 7400 series is if you end up with a wet year and the ground is boggy be careful and pick and choose where the truck go's if not your going to be calling for someone to pull you out, and another down side is the overall heigth....The taller the truck the more unstable it is on uneven ground...Proof to the matter is on utube and this just happen this year a truck of sort like your looking at flipped over along a railroad...Check it out and you will see what im talking about with a taller apparatus...I hope this helps and be safe out there brother...

1974 Ford F-600 Custom Cab John Bean High Pressure 300 gal tank 2 Booster Lines.
Tyson, can’t help you much, but have been following this as we to have a IH 7400 4x4 ordered. Chassis is in and will start construction this month. This won’t be like a PU off-road but it will be a more versatile, more storage more water and at least for us still a class A pumper (1000gpm) just better all around.
I’m sorry to say this but even with 500gal you got this truck way overloaded, to the point it’s not safe. You may have gotten by with this so far, but it’s an accident waiting to happen. Then a boster line in a house fire??? You need some classes.
We have a 2009 Ford F-550 crew cab with a 300 gallon tank. It has a 3/4 boster line and a 1-1/2 line. We use it for anything from brush fire to drafting out of a pond for house fires. Great truck
While it is not a 4x4, we have a 7400 which has the same wheelbase. I can tell you from personal experience, it might not have rained for 2 months, and I will find the one place to bury it. The front wheels are fine, but the rear is the one which drops out of sight. For the foreseeable future, we'll stick with the F350s we have with 300 gal water and class A foam. They are light, agile, and quick. Plus, they are a lot easier to get un-stuck.
Try a 500 to 1000 gal poly tank, put a good CAF's unit with it, add a front mounted bumper 1 1\2 inch CAF's monitor with auto control in the cab. A 1 inch reel line and a 1 1/2 attack line. The CAF's unit should give you 5,000 to 10,000 gals of product. The bumper monitor will give you a safe way to mobil attack veg fires. The CAF's will go a great job on veh and structure fires to. The body (4 wheel drive?) is up to you. Keep about 1000 ft of wild land hose just for a hose lay or two. Get into the cab, turn on the AC and fight all the fire you want in SAFE style. When I hit the big lotto, this will be my ride. Good luck!!! PS I drove a old open cab 6by army truck with a 1000 gal plus tank in 1966 at Ft Ord ca, great way to fight fire, but not very safe.
Loved those old Bean hi-pressure nozzles. I often wondered whether they wet the fuel to put the fire out, or simply blew them out.
Chuck you sound like u read the planes for the truck. The 6bys are nice on a fire but getting there sucks, to slow.
Chuck this is almost exactly what we have ordered, instead of CAF we went with in-line inductor foam with a 30gal tank. I like caf’s but it’s not recommended on ethanol and with a new plant 10miles away well you get the picture. Total weight, loaded will be 29000lbs, not to bad considering all the stuff + 750gal water, we also have a large hose bed in order to carry the NFPA spec on footage. Total cost is a little under 300 grand. Some years back we considered a 6x6 and besides the fact it is slow, takes a football field to turn
My company uses a 1964 jeep with a 350 gal tank and a 250 gpm portable pump. It had 2 hose reels with 200 feet of garden hose ea., it has a spray bar on the front. We also carry rakes, shovels, 1 1/2" hose and indian tanks. The picture is an old one. We replaced the tank and tool off one hose reel (bad move). We put the hose reel on a pick-up, the pick-up also has a tank and pump it. I don't know the year, size of tank or gpm of pump.
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