enclosed service truck pros and cons

Good evening folks,i have been looking into getting a second hand enclosed service body for my 1987 IH s1600 short truck.it would be used as
a welding truck,and i would build a platform for a welder and compressor outside of the body.i measured my truck,and it has the same
measurments as a light duty dually,such as a f350-550,which is easier to find a bed for than a medium duty truck.anyhow,the reason i want an
enclosed bed is so i have more room for tools and can keep them better organized,plus i would like something that i can us as a mini workshop
on wheels...so my question is,what are some pros and cons with me doing this....thanks in advance for any and all help.

Rock
 
Are you talking a full box style bed with roll up door, or a true utility bed with external tool boxes and an enclosed center section? If the later, the biggest drawback is you can't usually stand up in them and they don't have a lot of interior space. Father in law had a bed like this on his last plumbing truck, wasn't as handy as it looked like it would be. Box beds, on the other hand, have lots of room and you can stand up, but they typically aren't very sturdy to mount things to the walls. Father in laws first plumbing truck was a step van, lots of headroom, but the shelving and tool boxes constantly broke through the floor and ripped loose of the walls. Pros and cons to both styles.
 
I was thinking of a true utility bed with an enclosed center...all of the ones i have seen looked pretty cramped inside which concerned me.but the main reason i didn't look into a box style,is none of them look beefy enough to handle the work like you mentioned..so i guess i would have to make the utility bed work,unless i modified a box truck style to take abuse.which one would you do?thanks

Rock
 
I worked out of an enclosed body service truck for 30 years, several different configurations. The last one, I was actually able to stand in, but, I seldom actually worked inside the truck. We had a heavy vise that we put in a receiver on the rear bumper, and that's where I did most of my work, when in the field. We mounted a welder crosswise at the front of the box, with access to the controls, through the right front bin(with the back side cut out), with the welder cable on hangers inside the bin, and welding rod in waterproof tubes, on the floor of the bin. A well stocked service body is a real asset. The guys I worked with said that I could probably build a line truck out of the spare parts, if I looked in enough bins.
 
here is what I have
cvphoto51815.jpg
 
I had a '78 Ford F-600 with a Monroe steel utility body with sliding top. This way I could self load with the crane.. . Homebuilt crane [ looked like Powers truck crane ] I could pull Deere 690 motors with it. Hydraulic raise and lower with lower speed needle valve , 12,000 lb. cable/winch for hook. and a chain driven power rotate on a 5000 lb winch with # 60 roller chain to rotate. Worked sweet , even on hillsides.. Boom worked off a homebuilt pendant. Hobart Welder between cab and body. 390 with 5 speed and aux ,high direct and low box.. Liked gas a lot , but it would run..
 
To start I don't have a dedicated service truck . But my friends and my son in law does. They all have open top service beds. Some are on f 550's some on bigger trucks. All have big aircompressors, welder generators. Vice on the back. You can find f550 and 5500 Dodges that have had their man lift taken off. Reasonable. But most still have the hyd system.
 
A low bed cargo trailer would be much nicer from the height stand point. Climbing in and out of a regular box truck for service work will get old real fast. That having to climb for each tool and part 3 ft up and down. I used a ford escape with a toolbox in the back for most of our fix it jobs in the spring or fall. If it was to big it went to the shed or brought the pickup with the welder in the back. With some decent preventative maintenance we have staved off most of the big problems. We do get an occasional bearing or broken part. Mostly just elevator chain adjustments or sickle parts to replace. Tillage is the shovels on field cultivator or mulch finisher. Don't have a lot of planter problems. Mostly the depth bolt on the white corn planter so carry a couple regular bolts in cab.
 
I would think being enclosed would be an advantage in that you would be out of the weather when working, tools would be out of the weather, could be locked for security, however, I agree a trailer fairly low to the ground would work better.
 
(quoted from post at 19:09:38 07/29/20) Never had a truck like. Really like my 15 foot cargo trailer. Had you considered that ?

Too easy for someone to back in, hook on, and drive away with all your tools. Coupler locks, chains, can be easily removed in seconds with a battery powered angle grinder.
 
Bed height can make a difference if you need to crawl in and out of it 50 plus times a day.
 
Common here to have enclosed for logging outfits. They have to lock things up. Can have parts racks. Usually a vice outside for welding/working. Sometimes the fuel tank is on that truck too.
 

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