Semi Purchase

[Mike]

Be completely honest with yourself. How many miles per yer do you tow?

 

[Duke]

Why not get a better tool to do the towing job?

Seems to me that I should consider the lightest-duty, used, big truck I can get that will do the job. If I could find something for $15k or less that is mechanically in a position that won't require me to spend gobs of money to get it up to *****, then that may be the way to go.

Mike

I've been reading your posts for years about not wanting to fork over the bucks for a new truck and, well, here ya go, take the dump off, sell it for $4,000 and get yourself a hauler body. Cat diesel LoPro with A/C and all the towing capacity you'll ever need. Mechanically sound and way under $15,000. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-G...624372766QQcategoryZ63734QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Doggy Daddy]

Funny; all those pictures and none of the engine bay. Who really cares what the passenger's seat looks like?

I have convinced myself that I need a dump/flat bed as a "farm truck". I'm just not sure that 5 acres constitutes a farm. And then the reality of higher priorities sets in....

 

[apextrans]

Mike,

Why not look for an International 4700 Lo-Pro? Still a motor your familiar with & no CDL required (for the truck). Look for an older rollback & ditch the bed in favor of a small fifth wheel plate.

 

[Duke]

Funny; all those pictures and none of the engine bay. Who really cares what the passenger's seat looks like?

While I agree with you that there should be a picture of the engine, I think it's because a picture of the engine bay tells you relatively little about the internal condition of the engine. A picture of the seats does explain a lot about the condition of a seat.

 

[PackRat]

Usually, Apex & I are pretty close to the same page. In this case, I disagree.

After watching rollbacks, for a while now, it seems that an old truck just about doubles in price, with a slidebed attached. Don't forget, that rollbacks, and wreckers see a lot of idle and idle bump time, so the engine hours could be very high, versus the mileage.

Looks to me like the cheap trucks, are old cargo rigs. The bonus to that is, you can pull the box and use it for storage, and still have a fairly inexpensive truck, to pull a 5er.

 

[apextrans]

Usually, Apex & I are pretty close to the same page. In this case, I disagree.

After watching rollbacks, for a while now, it seems that an old truck just about doubles in price, with a slidebed attached. Don't forget, that rollbacks, and wreckers see a lot of idle and idle bump time, so the engine hours could be very high, versus the mileage.

Looks to me like the cheap trucks, are old cargo rigs. The bonus to that is, you can pull the box and use it for storage, and still have a fairly inexpensive truck, to pull a 5er.

We are on the same page. They put cargo boxes on 4700's too ya know. Only reason I mentioned a tow truck is because that's what most 4700's I see are. You're right though, alot of idle time could be a bad thing. See...same page

 

[chris88]

I was just at an auction in atlantic city, NJ and saw the perfect truck for you. It was a single axle Mack R model with a 6 speed trans. Not sure of year or mileage but it seemed like it was in pretty good condition. Went for 3000 dollars. Was about as long as a pick up truck so it was probably pretty nimble. Real nice truck though.

Chris

 

[Semi Crazy]

Insurance costs

In Arizona, if you have a heavy truck, older than 25 years, you can register it as a historic vehicle AND there are no weight fees or commercial taxes, you don't even have to have a CDL to drive it, plus you can pull a trailer. As long as you are not running for hire. All for 25.00 a year. Insurance is running me 350.00 on a w900A. Pulls my toy hauler better than anything else

 

[Duke]

That's unbelievable-you'd think just the opposite would occur. You'd think the smoke spewing trucks would get reamed for registration because theyr pollute the air more than newer rigs.

'member when AZ was paying people to convert their trucks to run on NG so they'd reduce pollution?

In the future, I could see the tree huggers forcing the gov't to offer us "buy outs" for older polluting trucks so we could buy tier II compliant diesels.