Big Rig I need help

[sticky]

I need to move dirt 1/2 a mile away for two ponds that are about 3/4 of an acre. I have use of a Hitach EX150 and am too slow to pay atrucking company to wait while I fill the trucks. I want to buy an old 2 axle dump truck use it than resell it. What price range will I get hert the least when I resell?


I see alot of cheap county salt trucks around and I was wondering if you would recomend staying away from those. I found a 1991 International 2554 with 160,000 15 foot steel dump for 11,900.


Any tips on what to look for?

[big rig guy]

Internationals and Volvos have the least in re-sell, for a single axle dump truck, maybe landscapers could buy it from you??????? I mostly deal with tri-axle dumps and trailers,. single axle too light.

Your basically buying the truck for your own use and then re sell it after your done with it. I am thinking to buy something cheap and then try your luck in re selling, unless you have lots of money to play with, ie buy a big truck, fairly new, like a pete kenworth mack etc, then resell, but your playing with fire.

Cheap truck would be a ford from that era, I see them in these parts for under 6000.00 CDN, no one wants them though and that would make it hard for re sell.
Go real cheap and keep the truck if you think you might need it again in the future.

That international you posted about, low mileage decent shape??? 11900.00 I thought that too be high. Internationals get no resale value. Talk the guy down or rent it from him, if its sitting not selling, he might rent it out.

The salt trucks, yeah buyer beware there, steel box check the crossmembers real carefully, you might get your first load in and find big problems, costing big money to repair.

A decent dump truck with alum box up here is minimum 25 grand and that is something from the 80 early 90's. Your still buying something that will need a constant repair on this or that.

[sticky]

Thanks Big Rig for the info and direction to go in.

[DDA52]

Sticky
If you look towards sunnier climes, the trucks won't have salt damage. You can usually find a few dozen of them in the traders. Truck Paper.com has a bunch. You can find them in fair shape for half that price. May need to put some tlc with it, but it beats paying out the nose for something you'll have to keep 'cuz it won't sell. Dumps are my deal. Fords are cheap and so are Int'l's. Stay away from the gas engines. They are usually ragged out. Air brakes are better too. The hydraulic brakes don't work so good. The ones with the best resale, unfortunately will be the ones that cost the most. The single axle road tractors that have been converted work well and sell ok, but they cost.

We do hauling for people like you all the time. We have been loaded by some who would have been faster with a shovel. If you could rent the truck, that would maybe be the best bet for the bulk. Then you could finish it off paying some one by the hour to do the little bits. Or just pay them by the hour with the knowledge that loading will be slow. Some won't care. We usually don't. Just depends on how busy we are. Right now we are jumping. Got orders for well over a thousand tons of base with more pending. When we aren't as busy, slow jobs are fine by us.

My two cents.

[Tape Drive]

Will you be hauling the 1/2 mile "on site", or do you have to use a public road?
A 54,999lb plate costs $2,300 annual here in IL. (this is pro-rated by the 1/4 or 3 months) How about insurance? Fuel? Repairs? Highway Use Tax? Fuel Taxes? Sales Tax? Title Transfer fee?

What kind of material is coming out of the hole? Good black top soil has value, so does good blue clay. You might find a way to trade your material for the cost of carting it away.

If these ponds are only 3/4 acre ponds, can't you use the material for a berm or similar landscaping on site? Got any low places that need to be filled in? Can you just sprinkle/distribute it around the site?

What will ya do if you tip over sideways 1/2 way thru your project?

Soil tends to fluff when worked... a cubic yard in the hole does not equal a cubic yard in the bed. I mean, you won't get a 15 cubic yard hole to fit into a 15 cubic yard bed. In general, a bed loaded 3/4's of the way will be getting close to a vehicles weight capacity.

[sticky]

The dirt is going 1/4 mile down the road. I found a trucking company that will show up with a triaxil, driver, fuel for $50 an hour. I have to get my speed up with the excavator before I get the truck or the driver is going to be making fun of me.

[arcdawg]

sticky, what i would recomend is find a guy that screens topsoil, and fill products.......make him the deal that he can have it for FREE......

pond stuff is good fill......DONT PAY TO GET RID OF IT !!!

and dont get suckered into buying a truck......esp a state P.O.S. !!

dawg

[dirtdigger]

Sticky,
Go for the $50 per hour. can't beat it. I'm like the rest, by the time you plate and insure a truck it's more than rent will be. $50 is what I paid for a truck and driver here in southern Mich 4 or 5 years ago. you can hardly put a guy in one and run it for that. I was going to suggest renting an off road hauler, but if your only choice is to go on-road, then that might get you in trouble. I have an old (vintage 1973) GMC gas tandem dumptruck for sale, cheap! air brakes too! but I only use it on off road jobs. too rough to put on the road, but it's a low geared workhorse. but, bottom line, unless you're gonna do alot of your own dirt hauling, it's better to hire it.

ps. what other dirt work do ya do? just curious. were in the farm drainage and excavating business here.

[sticky]

Dirt Digger,

A guy down the street said I could use this machine if he could have the dirt without a rush. Weather is the issue and digging with a freeze. I am not in the buisness at all. I just like running big machines and starting large projects( and not finishing them, just ask my wife). I have cleared and wanted to build a pond for some time and my neighbor is building one too. To hire somebody to do mine will cost $10,000 so if I pay $1500 to a trucking company and get to drive this beast I'll be having some fun.

This unit is in my driveway.

[sticky]

Here is another shot