Using grain truck to haul gravel

[JasG]

I wouldn't do it. The grain trucks around here that I have seen the bottoms aren't made to have rocks dumped into them which with gravel you would have that. Thats a lot of weight being dropped into the bed.

Also call around for hauling rates. We bought a dump truck, single axle due to it was cheaper than having a local guy we were using do it. Then I found a guy that could haul 22 tons per trip with atri-axle dump truck vs our 6 tons. He also got volume discounts at the local quarry. So he was paying 15-20% less than we were. In the end he could bring in 1 load what would take us 3-4 trips and it was cheaper.

 

[crazyal]

I haven't seen the word insurance yet, have you looked into it? It took some time but I found a company that would allow me to put it on for two weeks at a time, not cheap though. Once you get over a 1 ton insurance and registration prices skyrocket.

I rarely use my 2 1/2 ton International dump to drive the 3 miles to get gravel because to do everything by the book it costs more than to have them come and spread a load.

Now my truck is a 4wd so it cuts down on how much I can haul. It's rated at 27,500 but I have upgraded the tires and usually cross the scale at anywhere from 26k to a little over 28k. With my own truck I can put the gravel where I like and put a little here and there.

I started out with a 345 in it and loaded it was slow. Now I have a 446 in it and it does OK at best. I couldn't imagine going 20 or more miles in an old truck. You have to remember they don't ride like a modern truck.