What’s on your truck accessories wish list this year?
We asked several contractors from past Pumper Classy Truck features about their favorite ways to accessorize a vacuum service rig. Read what they had to say and see if you have the same equipment expectations for your trucks.
EASY FLUSH
To Tom Oravsky of Countryside Septic Service in Voorheesville, N.Y., a vacuum truck is more than a work vehicle — it’s his pride and joy. Oravsky calls his vacuum trucks his play toys and tries to outfit them with every add-on possible.
A 2006 Classy Truck of Month entrant, Oravsky recently added a new vehicle to his fleet. Like the 2004 Peterbilt 330 featured in the August 2006 edition of Pumper, the 2008 Peterbilt 335 has stainless steel hose trays straddling the tank. LED accent lighting adds to the look and safe operation.
The truck also has a Chelsea hot shift PTO that can be operated from outside the cab and a 2,500-gallon, carbon steel tank built by Transway Systems Inc. Sight glasses are mounted to show each 500 gallons on board, and there’s an auxiliary valve with pump at the front of the tank.
“I like that a lot because I can flush the tank out,” he says. “I can go six months by just flushing water through a fire hose in the front valve. The truck is almost 95-percent clean all the time.”
Oravsky is thinking about going with an aluminum or stainless tank on his next truck. “Stainless doesn’t pit inside the tank like carbon steel,” he says. “And with aluminum you can carry more payload.”
