# Mounting V box Spreader to truck frame



## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

So I am looking at getting a 3 yard henderson gas V box for my dump truck. I was noticing today that my dump box and hoist is held on with 4 large bolts, and 2 main wires both with plugs. Suddenly the idea of taking off the 1472 pound dump body, and mounting the V box straight to the frame of the truck seemed like a much more reasonable idea than I had initially thought. Of course my motive behind this is both adding weight capacity to the truck by reducing its overall weight and preserving the useful life of the dump body by not exposing it to winter conditions. 

So my concerns about this are: 1. How do I mount it to the truck?
2. What can I do to prevent the salt that spills through and in front of the conveyer chain from getting onto truck components (such as gas tanks)?


Essentially my thoughts are to fabricate a frame that fits onto and fully supports the entire bottom of the salter. The bottom side of this frame would be spaced and fit to the trucks frame and would have the same bolt locations as the dump body does. The bottom side would almost be a copy of the dump body's frame and mounting system. Am I on the right track with this?

I've never mounted or even removed a truck body, so I thought I should put in my proper research here first.


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

I did it last year with a 1.8 yd airflo on a 1 ton dually, and again this year with a 5yd smith on an F550. The airflo was narrower than the chassis cab's frame, so we built a sub-frame that incorporated fenders, and put a sheet of ABS between the frame and spreader. At the front of the spreader, I built a chute out of ABS to direct the salt spilled at the front of the v-box away from the exhaust, driveshaft, brake lines and fuel lines. The F550 was easier, as it was built with the bottom of the spreader wider than the chassis, so it was a simple bolt on deal. This truck I put a 1/16" sheet of stainless between the spreader and frame, and did the same type of chute idea at the front of the spreader. The fenders are Minimizer poly fenders.

You can see pics of the air-flo set-up in my for sale thread.

And here's a better pic of the sub-frame right after paint, before it was mounted on the truck. There's 6 bolts (3 per side) through the 1/4" angle on the sides that go through the top of the chassis cab frame. The 3 main supports are c-channel with top-lock nuts welded underneath, and the bolts go through the pre-drilled holes in the spreader to the cross-members. The angle on the front is an additional stop versus relying only on the bolts between the spreader and sub-frame.









Here's a pic of the F550, I'll try to grab one of the chute at the front tomorrow.









I have to give credit where it's due though, JD Dave led me down the right path with the first setup I did on the 1-ton. Thumbs Up Too bad I outgrew it already...


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## Moonlighter (Mar 31, 2008)

Very nice work wizardsr. Great ideas for my next setup.


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

Thanks for the input, this really helps and answers a lot of my questions.


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## JohnnyRoyale (Jun 18, 2006)

Looks great. What size of a salter did you mount on that 550?


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## mullis56 (Jul 12, 2005)

Collin - you need a subframe or a frame mount kit to put underneath of the salt spreader, as pointed out above. That is getting you going in the right direction for sure. Might want to check with local dealer and price out a frame mount kit for the size/type of spreader your using, just for comparative purposes and cost wise. Good luck!


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## CGM Inc. (Dec 15, 2008)

Awesome job! I like that!


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

mullis56;1293412 said:


> Collin - you need a subframe or a frame mount kit to put underneath of the salt spreader, as pointed out above. That is getting you going in the right direction for sure. Might want to check with local dealer and price out a frame mount kit for the size/type of spreader your using, just for comparative purposes and cost wise. Good luck!


I will do that, I was never even aware that manufactures made subframes for the smaller salters. Thanks for the input


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## JpLawn (Aug 5, 2007)

That F550 is a nice setup. We have a couple cab overs with 2.5 yd super p frame mount sanders. They also have blizzard 810's on them. They are so nice to plow with. The subframes we have are no where near as nice as they ones you have. But they do the job.


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

JpLawn;1293530 said:


> That F550 is a nice setup. We have a couple cab overs with 2.5 yd super p frame mount sanders. They also have blizzard 810's on them. They are so nice to plow with. The subframes we have are no where near as nice as they ones you have. But they do the job.


Could you post pictures of these cabovers? I was just thinking about how great a cab over would be for maneuverability in the smaller, intricate lots.


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

Moonlighter;1293400 said:


> Very nice work wizardsr. Great ideas for my next setup.





merrimacmill;1293406 said:


> Thanks for the input, this really helps and answers a lot of my questions.





JohnnyRoyale;1293410 said:


> Looks great. What size of a salter did you mount on that 550?





CGM Inc.;1293420 said:


> Awesome job! I like that!


Thanks guys, I really like the 550 so far, looking forward to playing with it this winter. I put a Blizzard mount on it, but don't intend on plowing with it unless I need to due to a breakdown, etc. The spreader is a 10' smith medium duty stainless dual electric. The chute/spinner isn't on the spreader in the pic, it's tucked away in storage. It has a capacity of 4 yards stuck/5 yards heaped, it's a perfect fit for the truck. I won the truck on ebay last February and flew down to Texas and drove it back. It's an 03 with 50k on it, showroom condition, not a speck of rust, used to have a flatbed on it that I removed and sold. Still working on the lights, wiring, grille guard, etc, I'll post up some pics when I'm done getting it just how I want it. 



JpLawn;1293530 said:


> That F550 is a nice setup. We have a couple cab overs with 2.5 yd super p frame mount sanders. They also have blizzard 810's on them. They are so nice to plow with. The subframes we have are no where near as nice as they ones you have. But they do the job.


I considered an international lopro or a cabover type setup, but I have 4 other Ford superduties, so I went with what I know, what my employees are familiar with, etc. Thanks for the comments on the sub-frame; if you want it, you can have it FREE with the purchase of my airflo spreader. Thumbs Up


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## JpLawn (Aug 5, 2007)

merrimacmill;1293599 said:


> Could you post pictures of these cabovers? I was just thinking about how great a cab over would be for maneuverability in the smaller, intricate lots.


Ill send you a pic of one when I get to the shop.


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## dieseld (Dec 30, 2005)

Looks very professional Wizard.


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## JohnnyRoyale (Jun 18, 2006)

Thanks Wizard...that truck was a nice find. 7.3? And what did you pick it up for if you dont mind me asking. How would you compare the electric and auger systems vs a gas or hydro unit with conveyor?


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

JohnnyRoyale;1293634 said:


> Thanks Wizard...that truck was a nice find. 7.3? And what did you pick it up for if you dont mind me asking. How would you compare the electric and auger systems vs a gas or hydro unit with conveyor?


V10. Stole the truck for $9k. Thumbs Up

No comparison of the electric vs gas. After running the all electric airflo and buzz box spreaders, I'll never go back to gas. Both this spreader and the airflo have drag chains, which seems to be less susceptible to jamming with chunky salt than the auger setup on my buzz box. The controls for the smith spreader are stupidly simple, very little to go wrong.


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## JohnnyRoyale (Jun 18, 2006)

Thanks for your reply.. I thought it was auger driven, A friend of mines Smith Spreader is auger driven and for some reason I thought they all were.


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

JohnnyRoyale;1293701 said:


> Thanks for your reply.. I thought it was auger driven, A friend of mines Smith Spreader is auger driven and for some reason I thought they all were.


Not sure about the smaller ones, but the Smith medium duty spreaders are all drag chain. Having used both, I prefer the drag chain as it doesn't jam as easily if you get a chunky load. The augers work great with bagged, treated, or clean bulk though!


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

Pics of the front chute as promised.

Drivers side









Passenger side









From above, you can see anything coming off the front or dragged underneath falls into the chute.









Under-side. I used abs, but someone handy with a bender could make one out of stainless as well. To make things easier, I made it in 3 pieces and bolted it together with stainless hardware.


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## dieseld (Dec 30, 2005)

Are these pics of the salter on the F550 or pics of the for sale salter? Thanks.


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

dieseld;1294077 said:


> Are these pics of the salter on the F550 or pics of the for sale salter? Thanks.


These are of the new Smith spreader on the F550, not the air-flo that is for sale. If you need more pics of the airflo, feel free to ask. :waving:


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## Kubota 8540 (Sep 25, 2009)

wizardsr ......NICE UNIT !!!! Doesn't look like you forgot a thing. Love the hoses off the front bearings for remote greasing. Very, Very Nice.......


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

Kubota 8540;1294300 said:


> wizardsr ......NICE UNIT !!!! Doesn't look like you forgot a thing. Love the hoses off the front bearings for remote greasing. Very, Very Nice.......


Thanks! I love setting up trucks to play in the snow, using what I've learned over the years to make things just the way I like them. One of these days I'll get off my butt and get some more pics up of it...

The grease lines and take-up mechanism are both extended to the rear on the smith medium duties, so if it was in a dump body or something, routine maintenance is a lot easier. Doesn't matter to me given it's frame mounted on this truck, but shows they put a lot of thought into their designs. Same thing I mentioned with the electronics, they figured out what works and kept it simple. Love this spreader already and I haven't even gotten to use it yet LOL. Thumbs Up


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## adamhumberview (Dec 27, 2009)

heres a pic of my 99 f-450 with a 4 yard salter.


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## adamhumberview (Dec 27, 2009)




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## mullis56 (Jul 12, 2005)

That's a beautiful x spreader...


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

That front chute is a great idea. We just boxed in the front on ours. We've been running a frame mounted since 2000 and I would never want it any other way.


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## deicepro (Mar 24, 2009)

wizardsr;1294083 said:


> These are of the new Smith spreader on the F550, not the air-flo that is for sale. If you need more pics of the airflo, feel free to ask. :waving:


I've been watching your airflo, did you drop the price???:crying:


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## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

deicepro;1300260 said:


> I've been watching your airflo, did you drop the price???:crying:


Nope, but if it's still here in a month I'll be raising the price. payup Stonebrooke has them for $5300 plus tax without the extension or cover... And that's their "pre-season" price. I have 2 interested parties currently, I don't doubt it will have a new owner within a couple weeks.


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## jerrywane (Mar 8, 2011)

*Spreader picture link needed on this site*

Have picture sites of everything else,but not many for spreaders.People (like me) would like to view mounted units and learn alot by seeing Just a thought.I am waiting for my snowex 1875 and trying to figure out if a backup buddy would work. would be nice if there were more pics!!!!!!!!


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## Maclawnco (Nov 21, 2002)

Old thread bump. I'm wanting to put together an international 4300 with a 6-7 Yd Swenson I just bought. Anyone have any more pics of frame mount spreaders? 

Just to answer before you ask, no, we have no use for a dump truck in the summer. This will be a salt only truck the rest of its life.


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## TGS Inc. (Aug 17, 2010)

*Here is ours...Building a second one currentyl*



Maclawnco;1840802 said:


> Old thread bump. I'm wanting to put together an international 4300 with a 6-7 Yd Swenson I just bought. Anyone have any more pics of frame mount spreaders?
> 
> Just to answer before you ask, no, we have no use for a dump truck in the summer. This will be a salt only truck the rest of its life.


Here is our truck. Love it! Building a second one.


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## Maclawnco (Nov 21, 2002)

TGS Inc.;1878149 said:


> Here is our truck. Love it! Building a second one.


Man that's nice. We pulled the plug on the project once I knew the total cost as I didn't budget for it this year. Budgeting for 2 next year. You're making me jealous.


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## Maclawnco (Nov 21, 2002)

BTW, is this a PTO or clutch pump setup?


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## TGS Inc. (Aug 17, 2010)

*Set up...*

Clutch pump. We bought all the components and put them on here. My mechanic did it all over the month of July...

Hoping to put a plow on it within the next 30 days.


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## Maclawnco (Nov 21, 2002)

When I was looking into our project this fall, a member messaged me and said he didn't think a clutch pump would have the guts to turn the drag chain. Would you mind updating this in a few months after you have some time with it?


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

Clutch pumps have plenty to run a spreader. We've had one since 2000. I'd rather have pto or a front mount pump but clutch pumps so well.


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## TGS Inc. (Aug 17, 2010)

Maclawnco;1880014 said:


> When I was looking into our project this fall, a member messaged me and said he didn't think a clutch pump would have the guts to turn the drag chain. Would you mind updating this in a few months after you have some time with it?


We have put about 10 straight hours on it so far and it is perfect... spreads wide. No concerns here. Building a duplicate truck as we speak.


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## Maclawnco (Nov 21, 2002)

Thanks for the update and confirmation JD.


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