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Wildland Engine Design Safe, reliable, and efficient should be guiding words to those developing wildland fire engines. Connected to this page are many resources for those who plan to add a water tank to a cab and chassis. It can also be used if you are adding a slip-on tank to a pickup truck. These pages have been developed to help rural fire departments who often use Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP), obtain military chassis to make a fire unit. We hope it will help others equally as well. Guidelines for Designing Wildland Fire Engines is a primer for those planning to fabricate a fire truck. It includes basic design needs, legal and safety requirements, and a list of other resources. The online version includes hyperlinks to other resources. Slip-On Water Tank Units discusses topics important to selecting and installing a slip-on tank on a pickup truck. The contents include material selection, securing the tank unit to the vehicle, and proper loading of the tank. There is a listing of other useful publications, designs, and tank retailers. Online version is downloadable using Adobe Acrobat Reader. REC has four tools to help the
designer estimate the weight of their finished product before determining the final
details of the design. Quick and Dirty Calculator
for Pickup Truck Slip-On Units is tuned to
get a first guess estimate of how much water volume can be put on pickup class vehicles. It compares the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of a given truck to the
premodification or bare chassis weight of the vehicle. Be careful to use the true delivery
weight of the pickup truck. Often the user has the base unit weight which can be
considerably less than the actual weight with options included. Slip-On Engine Weight Calculator provides a simplified version of the "Wildland Engine Weight Calculator" which is designed specifically for those installing a slip-on tank into a pickup truck cargo box. It also can be used during the design process to help determine the placement of components on the engine and to determine tank size. For this calculation, the user must enter the weight and location of the components to be added to the truck. An estimated finished weight is provided plus a brief analysis of the viability of the load. Be careful using any of these calculators. They are only as good as the information put into them. Always double check the inputs for correctness. Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) Issues is a clearinghouse for posting specific safety information concerning the conversion of U.S. Military vehicles to fire equipment. This section is periodically updated. Currently we are reviewing past records and entering items that are still pertinent. Have Questions About Engine Design? We reserve some of our time for one-on-one technical service. Our engineering staff helps answer questions from rural fire departments, state, and federal wildfire agencies concerning wildfire engine design or equipment. Normally we are limited to telephone, e-mail or written correspondence for response. If this can help you, contact us. We try to be as responsive as our resources allow. Sometimes we are on the road and the response may be delayed a couple of days. See the menu on the left for contact information. |