how about a utility bed...

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As a welding truck? Would that be a little dorky. (no offence) I just dont see these much.WHAT DOES NOT KILL US, MAKES US STRONGER...http://www.myspace.com/painter22
Reply:Also, would an f150 be duty enough as a welding truck?WHAT DOES NOT KILL US, MAKES US STRONGER...http://www.myspace.com/painter22
Reply:Most of the heavy construction equipment repair guys use one. Most have a welder mounted on top of the boxes. I've also seen garage door and fence installers with those sorts of trucks with welders mounted. Depends if you need bed space or box space for what you do.To me the F150 is a bit light if you are going with a full sized engine drive like a Bobact or Ranger. Way to small for an SA200 or big unit. If you've got one of those small genset sized units it'd probably work..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:You can see my truck next to my screen name above.  The boxes you see are part of a slide-on utility body that installs and removes from the factory pickup bed with corner jacks, like an RV truck camper.  I do repair and fabrication, so I need all the tool space I can get and an overhead rack for carrying sticks of metal.  I wish I had a longer truck and an 11' contractor style flatbed with boxes all over it, but my single rear wheel F350 is not enough truck to carry a bed that big.  My truck weighs close to 11,000 lbs and is a good 1500 lbs overloaded.  You're going to run out of weight carrying capacity real quick with a 1/2-ton truck.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:repeat post.No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:An F-150 is to light for a utility bed even without the welder. I have a chevy 2500HD with a utility bed and I'll never had another utility bed thats not a dually. The single rear wheel will get stuck on a thought and inside width of the tool boxes is only about 10" wide vs 20" for a dually. I only have the welder in the back on occassion. Bye the way only dually utility bed are wide enough to mount the welder on top of the sides.Tough as nails and damn near as smart
Reply:I Have a 14' Knapheide mounted on a F-450 with tools and the vantage 500 it weighs in at 12,850LBSI would say that an F-150 wouldn't stand a chance.with the size of the vantage 500 its mounted in the bead with the rear up against the bulkhead facing the back of the truck.   Its kind of a pain in the azz to adjust the settings but honestly i think its made me a better welder.   I just set the machine first thing and adjust the wire feeder to tailor the voltage with the WFS to where it needs to be to weld.Even with the 14' utility body it still not enough room to carry everything.  I envy pipe welders due how little they have to actually carry.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Prior to my retirement I used nothing but utility body trucks.  Since I worked on lots of heavy equipment, a "welding body" just didn't hack it.  Not enough room for all the tools I carried.  I had a Lincoln SA 200 mounted in the bed, and a Miller AEAD200LE mounted on a rack in the front of the bed.  I did portable arc, mig & tig.  I also had 2 more lincolns trailer mounted.  Sold all the SA 200's. Kept the Miller for my own stuff.  The steel rack in the back of the bed swung out of the way when not in use.Here's a couple of pics of my truck, which I owned for many years. Attached Images
Reply:Sometimes one truck just isn't enough, and whatever truck you choose is never enough. I use whatever truck will best suit the job at hand, sometimes the pick up, some times the utility truck and some of the other times I use the tow truck. I will say that I made a big mistake selling my old 12' utility body with single cab for the 4 door utility with the 8' box. The smaller bed just doesn't have enough room for the big jobs, I find the back seat gets used as storage more than transporting people. Attached ImagesI am what I am, Deal with it!If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!
Reply:not trying to start a fight or sound stupid,but why did you have 2 welders on the truck paweldor?
Reply:Dabar, I completely agree with your comment about crew cab & 9' bed versus reg cab and 11 or 12' bed.   I took the back seat out of my crewcab and mounted a huge tool box in it's place.  Much more useful and no more smashing my window and reaching in and stealing my tools!  Damn theives!MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Originally Posted by DesertRider33Dabar, I completely agree with your comment about crew cab & 9' bed versus reg cab and 11 or 12' bed.   I took the back seat out of my crewcab and mounted a huge tool box in it's place.  Much more useful and no more smashing my window and reaching in and stealing my tools!  Damn theives!
Reply:I used a van for several years and I won't do it again.It's a real pain in the rear to climb in and out of, crawling around on your knees is no fun either. If you carry any kind of pre-made assemblies stood up in the middle you can't get to the tools and supplies on the shelves without unloading everything. It did have some good points but I found more bad than good.These pictures are from after she was retired and just used to throw junk in her. She finally spun a main bearing at 304,000 miles. She has been in all 48 continental United States, a couple of trips to Canada and several to Mexico. Bought her new back in '94 and finally put her to rest about 2 years ago. Attached ImagesI am what I am, Deal with it!If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!
Reply:The problem with a van would be overheating the welding machine inside, plus the welder in there would make it unbearably hot to go in there and get stuff.  I had a camper shell on my truck with the welder in there and that was the problem I experienced with it.  The camper shell didn't stay on the truck for very long.  If the welder was on a trailer, then a van, or an enclosed utility body on a truck, would be nice, to keep everything locked up and out of the weather.   My pop uses a van for his handyman service.  He loves it.I have seen some PG&E trucks with enclosed utility bodies and a seperate ventilated compartment for the welder accross the back of the cab.  There was a door on each side of the 'tube' compartment the welder sat in and expanded metal floor and front wall and an access door from the bed area.  They used Bobcats and Trailblazers.   These were on F-Superduty 60" cab/axle trucks with 9' beds, I think from Knapheide.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:PG&E now has their welders mounted on sterling ancerta day cabs.  Aprox 14"bed with TALL boxes and a small flatbed section on the rear some even have an auto crane.    Their all sporting Vantage 500's and at least 250+ feet of leads.  I would LOVE to have one but im sure they cost them over $120K a piece.  I will see if i can get some pics of one.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Originally Posted by ChrisA7164not trying to start a fight or sound stupid,but why did you have 2 welders on the truck paweldor?
Reply:I did not know the utility bed are this common, for room I can understand. I would most definately have to have a 3/4 ton. I was looking at a 1/2 ton truck that is in great shape and trying to look at the options for it. From what Im hearing is the 1/2 ton probably wont cut it for any set up.WHAT DOES NOT KILL US, MAKES US STRONGER...http://www.myspace.com/painter22
Reply:1/2-ton will work but only with the most minimal setup.I started doing mobile repair with my Dodge Ram 50 longbed mini truck.  I carried a 4000 watt portable generator, small mig welder, chop saw, a small hand tool box, couple milk crates of power tools, clamps, etc.  When I got the Bobcat, I brought it home in the little truck and it was clear that the little truck was not going to haul that Bobcat and other tools around very well, so I started using the F350 instead.  I didn't really want to spend all the extra money on gas using the F350, but that's just the way it goes when I wanted to carry more and more tools on the road.  Since then, the F350 has only got heavier and more packed.  Even with the utility body, I'm out of storage room and even though it's a one-ton, I'm overweight.   I've had to go back to using the little truck and portable generator a few times when the F350 was down for repairs.  It gets the most basic simple repair jobs done so I don't have to turn down work cause of no truck.  A friend of mine has a Toyota Tacoma he uses for mobile welding.  He carries a Bobcat and Suitcase feeder, small hand tool box, chop saw, oxy/acet torch and a couple milk crates of other power tools, clamps, etc.  That's all he carries and that's about all the truck can handle too.  He only does mobile work occasionally and unloads the truck whenever not welding with it, otherwise he'd be killing the poor truck driving around daily with it loaded all the time like that. I have another friend with a 1/2-ton full size he uses for mobile welding and he carries about the same amount of minimal equipment, portable generator, portable mig, minimal assortment of other tools,etc.  He can carry more on his truck than the small trucks can, but no where near as much weight as I carry on the F350.  The extra weight of a utility body would kill his payload capacity for carrying anything more than the most basic tools for welding.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:For welding work, and you know you're gonna carry fabricated stuff to the job from time to time, I wouldn't go any less than a HD 3/4 ton.  Preferably a 1 ton.  Heck, I even beefed up the suspension on my 79 Ford F350 to get it legally licensed to carry 13,500 GVW.  And sometimes even then I pushed the max carrying steel to the job site.  Better safe than sorry.
Reply:Originally Posted by DualiePG&E now has their welders mounted on sterling ancerta day cabs.  Aprox 14"bed with TALL boxes and a small flatbed section on the rear some even have an auto crane.    Their all sporting Vantage 500's and at least 250+ feet of leads.  I would LOVE to have one but im sure they cost them over $120K a piece.  I will see if i can get some pics of one.
Reply:You just have to limit what you ask of your truck. I did some work for a family member today that only involved cutting. I took a mini torch along in the jeep and got the job handled. But, I don't think I will try that any more.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny