Looking to buy a small 1 or 2 axle dump truck for my small construction business. I have already spent about $7000 on gravel and sand this year. I have found an 87 international model 1954 with crew cab and 118,000 miles. It is listed at 10k obo, I haven't seen it yet but a little nervous because I've never bought anything like this. Currently I only have a class c and I am pretty sure this won't do. Any suggestions or insites?
First question is do you want/need the crew cab? For a truck that long you could get a T/A day cab for the same or less money. Turning radius will be long for what amounts to a 5-7 yard truck. If the point is to move a lot of material drop the crew cab. If tight access drop the crew cab. Engine should be a DT466 most likely. Should be 200-300hp depending on version. Not a bad engine and far better than the gutless v8 offerings. What is the trans? Guess 9 or 10 speed but with smaller body and crew cab could have specd a 6 or worse a 5+2. Do you have any experiance with a 2speed rear or splitter trans? Auto was fairly rare back then but maybe. Let us know more what you want to do with it.
IF you can find trucking when you need it...and IF they're not absolutely killing you on prices...don't buy a truck. I've yet to meet a customer with trucks that wouldn't be perfectly happy not dealing with trucking. If you're using it to pull whatever equipment you've got to jobs daily...then it's a necessary evil. But remember tires are a couple hundred bucks each, break jobs, oil changes, time spent driving & not working on the job, DOT fines (there will be fines), and all the other fun that comes with a truck. Good luck...
Having a truck comes in handy. The nice thing about a single axle is less maintainence and you don't need a special license. If it has air brakes you need to take a course for that. A tandem is a different story. If you're not going off road, you don't need as many gears. Best truck I had was a cab over Hino with hydraulic brakes. Took the 11' dump box and hoist off a GMC 6500 gas job that sucked the gas pretty good. 5 +2 trans. isn't bad and you don't have to keep switching between low and high range. Hino was only a 165 HP non turbo diesel with a 6 speed but got about 16 MPG empty. Turbo around 200 HP would have been nice. Only time it was lacking HP was pulling my Cat with the backhoe (11 ton) but I didn't move the Cat very often. It would turn sharper than my pick up truck and pulled the skid steer like it wasn't even there. Great in the city and tight area's. Off road it was no good as 1st gear and reverse were too high and you'd go through clutches in a big hurry. DT466 is another good choice for an engine but I wouldn't get a crew cab unless I had a crew I needed to take on most jobs. I wouldn't consider a gas engine unless it was something a little newer like a GMC Topkick with fuel injection. Diesel is still the best option though but there are some to stay away from like the 8.2 Detroit. Have heard too many bad experiences with them. Good idea to post on here any potential trucks and get feedback from the forum. Lots of knowledge on here. The biggest question is how much do you have to haul? A lot of times you need a tandem to haul away material or to bring new material and if that's the case it's better to just hire a truck. I would often get a load of topsoil delivered and then load the old sod and dirt in the same truck to be hauled away. Would have been 4 separate loads in my truck and not cost effective as I was an owner/operator. For smaller jobs it was great being able to have the truck when you needed it.
There's alot in what everybody's saying here. There will be times it feels like it's paying for itself, but most of the time it won't be practical. I think at a minimum, you'll need a CDL. If it has air brakes, that's another test for a separate endorsement
In Alberta, you don't need any special license for a single axle with hydraulic brakes. Air brake endorsement is just a course so not a big deal.
Anywhere in the US, whether you need a CDL or not depends on gross weight RATING, so a small single axle needs none, but if the gross vehicle weight RATING is 26001 lbs or more, you do. IF you need a CDL. AND it has air brakes, you need that endorsement, but it's only a written test.