Best truck/hopper trailer combination

Our farm is going to buy a truck and a hopper trailer to haul our own grain. Thinking of possibly hauling commercial 1 week per month , or so, to try to make a little extra when not farming. Will buy a flatbed to haul our hay but that's another discussion. Been searching online forums trying to find out the best truck/trailer combination. Not so much make/models, just dimensions. I see a lot of spread/triple axles running. We are in Kansas and would probably stay in this area (80k tandem, 85.5k spread). Would a daycab 220ish" wheelbase, with a pusher axle, pulling a 42'x96 hopper be my most efficient and cheapest maintenance setup? I've read one forum where a guy has a 226" wheelbase, 36" sleeper with a timpte tandem, super singles, weighing 24.5K with fuel, and can put on roughly 55K to get to 80K. His claim is with that combo and shorter tandem he can net about the same as a spread axle. I like his thought on being as light as possible with a tandem, and not trying to pull a 48-50' trailer around. I thought maybe with the pusher it would allow me a little extra to go into neighboring states. I just want to be as efficient as possible for the minimal time I am out. Not looking to talk about insurance, etc. Thanks for any advice.

https://www.kansashighwaypatrol.org/DocumentCenter/View/178/Weight-Enforcement-Facts-PDF

 

Thanks Long FLD, exactly the type of input I'm trying to come up with. I've seen that combination more and more in Kansas it seems, but I still also see 4 axle trucks (lift) with spread axle, 3 axle trucks with spread, 3 axle truck with tandem. I've even considered a cabover but I think a conventional day cab would be most comfortable, possibly with a 30-40" sleeper. Do you run super singles anywhere on your truck/trailer or just stick with duals?

 

I'm going to bother you one last time. Please excuse my stupidity. A friend that hauls cattle was told by a local dot officer that the most efficient way to haul cattle is with a pusher axle on the truck and a spread axle trailer (is it true? i don't know). That is the reason for my questions. I know I should just get the triple and be done, but I'm finding tandems a lot cheaper, and how many trips will it take to pay it off with an extra 3-4 tons per load going to a triple. But I'm also not afraid of sliding a pusher under a truck and fabricating a 24" sleeper (dot minimum?)

In Kansas with 6 axles, to bridge 85.5k you must be 53'. So I'm assuming to get the 90k permit I must be 53'. My calculations, trailer length minus 52 inches will get the bridge length. Example, a 42' trailer minus 52 inches = 452". Add on a 210" WB truck (with pusher) and I'm at 55.16'= feet. Could I slider the 5th wheel all the way forward (assuming enough clearance) and be close to weight limits on on all axles? With a 40' foot trailer that'd put me right at 53 feet, but like you stated earlier, I would have a hard time getting my axle weights correct. Sorry for overthinking this and throwing out random dumb ideas, but I can find cheap 42' trailers and short wheel base trucks all over. (compared to triple axle trailers and big sleeper trucks) Thanks again

 

I'm going to bother you one last time. Please excuse my stupidity. A friend that hauls cattle was told by a local dot officer that the most efficient way to haul cattle is with a pusher axle on the truck and a spread axle trailer (is it true? i don't know). That is the reason for my questions. I know I should just get the triple and be done, but I'm finding tandems a lot cheaper, and how many trips will it take to pay it off with an extra 3-4 tons per load going to a triple. But I'm also not afraid of sliding a pusher under a truck and fabricating a 24" sleeper (dot minimum?)

In Kansas with 6 axles, to bridge 85.5k you must be 53'. So I'm assuming to get the 90k permit I must be 53'. My calculations, trailer length minus 52 inches will get the bridge length. Example, a 42' trailer minus 52 inches = 452". Add on a 210" WB truck (with pusher) and I'm at 55.16'= feet. Could I slider the 5th wheel all the way forward (assuming enough clearance) and be close to weight limits on on all axles? With a 40' foot trailer that'd put me right at 53 feet, but like you stated earlier, I would have a hard time getting my axle weights correct. Sorry for overthinking this and throwing out random dumb ideas, but I can find cheap 42' trailers and short wheel base trucks all over. (compared to triple axle trailers and big sleeper trucks) Thanks again

 

Appreciate the advice, I'll probably try to find a triple and be done with it. Just down the road is a fairly large truck salvage yard, so my thought was it would be easy to source a pusher axle, and I've built small sleepers for a few farmers on their century/columbia in the area and they went nuts for it so I could always sell the truck, I just went to the salvage yard and got a roof cap,interior, etc and it looks like a factory unit. I'm just nervous about pulling a long trailer as some of the elevators that were designed at a time of short combinations, but maybe I just need to stop worrying and start doing.