Dump Truck Urge

[Haoleguy]

I know that my future has a dump truck in it. The question is when and new or old. Uses would be for moving dirt, stone, rock, wood, and brush on an average of 12-20hrs/week and total mileage of 5K/year. My land is relatively flat with occassional wet/mud areas and is currently being developed by my spouse and myself. I do not see an end in sight for this dump truck need. The ford financing incentives(0%) on a new 2006 F550 model has me interested. My concern for used trucks has been maintenance time and cost. I am looking for guidance from you more experienced folks. I do have a few questions should I even consider 4WD, PTO off transmission to run bed hoist, and landscaper vs cunstruction/general purpose body? If not new is there a way to navigate past all the used crap that's out there and how old becomes too old(miles vs years)?...Thanx.

 

[ducati996]

It came down to the zero percent from Ford and the aggressive price for my 2006 F550. Its is a 4x4 11ft mason dump bed by Rugby. GVWR is 19,000 lbs.
The hoist is a 10 plus ton (HR550). For me personally I wont by a truck thats not 4x4.
I find the mason dump to be the most flexible -you can build up the sides with planks (which can be removed quickly), you can fill between 4 and 8 yrds no problem with the planks installed. It matches well with my compact maxium reach using the FEL. I suggest the diesel also - 6.0 twin turbo
plenty of power, with good mileage

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a 1983 F600 dump truck for use on my land. As of right now, it's not street legal, but it will be when I get the lights wired and have it inspected.

It's a real pain in the but when buying used because you have no idea of what's wrong with it, or how bad it's been abused. If I could afford it, I'd go new. I also have a gas engine. It's got plenty of power now that I've rebuilt the engine, so that's not a big issue. I'd like to have diesel just to keep the fuel issue simple. As it is, I have to buy gas in five gallon containers to fuel it. Kind of a pain.

A few things I've learned is that there isn't any need for 4x4. I can get almost anyplace with mine if things are dry. If it's wet and muddy out, I'm not running anything anyway. A few times I've backed off my trackes into soft dirt and couldn't move anymore, so I just dump the load there. It's always close enough anyway. You always drive over the same ground over and over again. I mean hundreds of times, so the roads your using become very hard and compacted. Getting them smooth is very important, but that's tractor work.

It's dusty work. AC would be real nice. I have my windows open and the interior is totaly covered in dust. It doesn't matter if it rained the day before, it will be dusty after a few dozen passes.

I can get six yards on my truck per load. Be careful of claims of any more than that on a single axle truck. The dump beds should say on them someplace how much they hold, but it's pretty standard to have a five yard bed on a single axle dumptruck. Sideboards will give you another yard.

If you have to move material very far, or are moving allot of it, you might want a bigger truck. Originally I was looking at full sized ten wheel dump trucks. I drove a few in the $20,000 range, but they were all junk. Then I reconsidered my needs and went for the smaller truck. I only have 60 acres to mess with and it's heavily wooded. Not allot of room for a full sized dump truck.

When I first got my dump truck, my dad was here. We would take turns on the tractor and the dump truck. One would load, the other would drive. After awhile, we realized that we were wasting all sorts of man hours. One is always waiting around for the other.

It's almost as fast to load it yourself and then drive it yourself. If you have two people, the other can get some other things done besides sitting around waiting for the next go around.

You realy need several trucks to be able to validate having a person sit on a tractor while the truck is off dumping it's load.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[ducati996]

A few things I've learned is that there isn't any need for 4x4.

I suppose you meant to say In texas - as for snow areas, that would be incorrect especially on any incline. It costs more for 4 x 4 but it also adds to resale. The poster is based in CT where snow is frequent

 

[BarryinMN]

I bought a used '93 C3500 2wd 6.5TD with a contractors dump body. The contractors body sides and tailgate can drop to give a near flatbed for pallet loading etc. Sides can be boarded up for in my case 4 yards @ 10' bed. It is a scissor Rugby lift with electrohydraulic power.

PTO power hydraulic lift is faster than electric.

I live in the snow & ice belt, duallies take me where I need to go, I once got it stuck in a field wet spot to the frame. 4x4 would not have helped. I put a couple of industrial HD wire mesh ramps under the rears & crawled back. If plowing (I don't) snow 4x4 helps steering but a long wheel base is clumsy.

Get a good radio, AC , saddle bags to carry tools, DOT safety stuff: extinguisher, triangles, etc.

I kept looking & found mine at auction of a elderly gentleman farmer who was moving to a single story house in town. Bought his baby with 48K miles in mint condition. The '93 is mechanical injection so no electronic failures.

After the farm cleanup I use the dump now as a tow vehicle trailering various machinery & this year a couple of dead cars.

 

[Haoleguy]

Eddie & Ducati - Thank you for the replies. While I was away from this forum this morning I made a stop at a local used truck business(medium & heavy duty) that has been around for ever. I have never had the need to stop by but I did so today. Eventhough he's been around for ever I'm not sure of his reputation but I will find out. He has a 2000 F650 cab-chassis coming in on Monday with 200K miles on a Cummins deisel and is right at the 26K CDL limit. At his lot he already has a used 10' mason/asphalt dump that came off an F650. The dump body is in very good condition and would be hydraulically raised. When put together it would be licensed and inspected for me and comes with a 30 day limited warranty. He claims to have already inspected this truck and says it looks and runs like new with the proclamation that this motor should run to 350K...not sure about that. As you probably know this would be a 2WD truck. The good news is my property is flat(<25 ft differential on 42 acres) and my tractor (JD5325) I think is sufficient to pull me out of most problems. Any thoughts about a recent high mileage used vehicle? Any thoughts on cost for something like this? Ducati - Nice rig! You obviuosly know how tempted I am at this point with Ford's incentives. Eddie - I have enjoyed your multiple rebuild stories.

 

[Haoleguy]

Barry - Thank you for your reply adn the feedback on 2WD. On the used market you probably know my predicament...newer w/ high miles or older w/ low miles. Any thoughts on that?

 

[kmdigital]

Depends on what you can afford! Personally, I would never, ever buy new unless it was for business purposes, was run every day and I could make money off of it. For your purposes, it is hard to justify spending huge money on something brand new and only driven 5k miles a year. But if you have money to burn, go for it.

As for 200k miles on a Cummins, that is nothing at all to be afraid of, if it was maintained. The most critical part is proper air filtration, and then oil changes at decent intervals, which in your case would be about once per year, but if driven daily about every 7k- 10k miles. These often go well beyond 500k miles without any major rebuilds.

To check for proper air filter maintenance, remove the air inlet hose at the turbo inlet and check the fins on the turbo for signs of dirt and wear or abrasion, particularly on the leading edges of the fins. If the air filter wasn't maintained the fins will look like they were sandblasted, because quite literally, they were. Avoid any truck that shows signs of wear on the turbo, as a major rebuild could be in the not so distant future.

 

[BarryinMN]

Halo - I agree everything I looked at was rode hard & put up wet

On miles it could go either way, maintenance is a key factor.

When I was designing light truck parts 150K miles was considered life, we tested to double life for ppm failure rates, modes, etc

I'm a cheap sob. Bought the truck 4 years ago drove it 10k mi in the first 2 years and about 1k miles each the last 2. My fixed costs are $300 insurance $25 tabs and $50 for DOT inspection Every small town auto parts store stocks a chevy alternator - btdt.

Last point if you hook a trailer to a 26K truck it puts you in CDL territory. Keeping the truck & trailer under 26K reduces the potential hassle especially crossing state lines. (I roamed as far as 4 states one way acquiring farm equipment.) Ebay is a great place to rummage

 

[HappyCPE]

Wow! You are absolutely sure a dump truck is in your future? I know we like our toys, but that's a pretty big one....

Now I don't know your exact situation. But zero % financing or not you're talking about a +/- $40k truck new. That will buy a lot of time from a guy who already has a truck and makes a living with it. Or, you could spend half that or less for a used truck and spend some bucks fixing it and making it bulletproof. Personally I would put up with a lot of pains-ITA for money like we're talking.

Maybe a half-solution? An F350 or similar with a electric-hydraulic dump bed? The machinery costs $1000 plus install, and you get a good truck you can still take to town.

My two cents - about 1.25 cents after taxes....