My business has gotten to a point where I need to get a bigger dump truck. If I buy another single axle that means I need another body to drive it, If I go to a tandem I wouldn't need an extra body and could haul twice as much. However with the tandem where I live there is very little rent-out work for them......which brings me to buying a tri-axle or quad. I got work for the truck myself as well as I've found lease work for when I do not require the truck for myself......but do I want to have to employ a driver full-time and add those head aches too? I 'm just looking for some feedback on which way to go. Thanks
congrats on needing an upgrade. i wish i had the work around here to justify it. you have herd the chains only as strong as the weekest link. i feel keeping the chain as short as possible gives you better odds. an other employee round here means more insurance, more workmans comp. exetra. plus 2 trucks means more fuel, more potential breakdowns, and last having to find work for 2 trucks. good luck:usa
If I go with tri or the quad it means more money to buy the truck and then the next problem is the driver...........good help is hard to find!
more trucks Everyone is kinda in the same boat, but not quite, if you know what I mean. The work needs to be there, in order for it to be a postive. If you have to hire someone to drive it, that person needs a steady pay check, or he is going to quit. Its a hard thing to answer, its all a gamble, is it worth it? I dont know. Price of fuel? Hauling hourly rates? Insurance? cash flow for repairs, tires and fuel? I have two tandum axle trucks and its hard, to keep them working, when I dont need them, BUT, just up the road, they are building a bypass and only hire quads. So I am in the same dilemma, as you, kinda. At the present time, Im holding off on the quad axle purchase, it would mean a big investment for me right now, with everything so slow, more insurance, much higher tags (about $500, more per year) have to get Federal licenses ($500)because I would be over 54,999 lbs. Its all about $$$$$$$$$$$$ "YA GOTTA DO WHATA GOTTA DO":Banghead Good Luck and if you buy a tri or quad, make sure its a factory built truck, most of the time a converted tri or quad is a problem and wont hold up, because it wasnt built heavy enough
Truck or Driver???? Around here there are 3 kinds of driver! The first is a company hourly paid driver! He/She gets paid by the hour to drive the company truck being tandem. quad 6, 7 axle; or semi. Their pay goes with their experience, not the size of the truck! The second kind of driver get paid by the load! This is done in tons/hours! Lets say the truck makes $600.00 a day! the driver gets 30% of that $600.00 (600 X 30% = 180) or $180.00 a day! Now since you don't pay them for not being loaded, you also don't pay them to travel to or from the job sight! In the first 2 instances of driver; you still have to cover their payroll taxes, as well as their workmans comp! The third kind of driver is a independant contractor! He is hired like the second type of driver being paid by the load; however he is leasing your truck therefore you do NOT withold his payroll taxes; you issue a 1099 at the end of the fiscal season! The driver is responsible for all payroll taxes! You only have to cover workmens comp; and in some cases not even that!
Drivers If I go through with a tri or quad, stick a driver in it and they can't drive here comes the problems......#1 I won't be able to find work for the truck because the of a bad driver; #2 My repair bills might go sky high; #3 Insurance. I am not going to go on, on. I'm definitely leaning in the way of the tandem because I or my current guys can drive it. Thank you for reinforcing what has already been in the back of my head!
This is easier in Michigan. We have a lot of guys with tri axle dumps. But they also pull a dump trailer. With the combo you can haul a good amount of material. When you dont need the haul a lot of material, pitch the dump trailer off somewhere. It works pretty good, driver starts the morning out pulling equipment to the job. Runs back, picks up dump trailer, gets material for the equipment until job is done. Leaves the dump trailer somewhere. Around here the asphalt plant usually lets you leave a trailer in their yard. He goes and picks up the flat bed and equipment, takes it to the job, or back to the yard
Well, to add a little more.......I found a 95 Int 4900 Tandem DT466 with 6 spd. The truck was municipal truck w/ 39,000miles on it. It has a 14' bed. Everything looks to be in excellent shape. (Oil, brakes, tires at about 50%, bed, cab, etc.) Is it worth $20k?
go for it...we bought an 1988 Peterbilt Municipal truck, tandem, CAT engine:Banghead, almost new body, 8LL, air to rear, pintle, overall real good condition for $33K but that $33K included a 20ton tag trailer which my boss later sold for $10K making the truck cost $23K (plus the paint job we had done to her)
truck In my area, this is a bit high for that truck. I have a 1996 Mack CH613, 17 ft dump, Im thinking about selling and the going price is around $20-$22,000. A friend of mine has a Volvo dump, 14ft body, state truck he wants $12,000 It all depends on the area, I guess. I perfer the 16ft body Just my 2 cents worth
I had a 4900 single axle with the DT466 and a 10 speed. The DT466 is a great little engine, but I think you would be underpowered with it in a tandem, especially with only a 6 speed. The price might be OK if everything was in top shape. The 4900s are tough trucks. I would only consider a truck like that if it had a 13 speed. Also, the DT466 doesn't have a Jake brake which would be very helpful if you operate in the hills at all.
I agree. A DT466 will handle a tandem, but it's really in its' sweet spot in a heavy single. When my 4800 is loaded, even at 250HP, it's no speed demon. The tranny is typical for a gov't truck-as few gears as possible. 13 speed would be better. You might laugh, but I'd take a nice Allison 6 speed over a manual. So much easier to drive and leaves more focus on the road & saftey since you don't have to shift.
I am keeping in mind the milage on the truck too (39,000) is pretty low. The cab has no dents and excellent paint and the frame has no rust. From what I can tell its not a winter run truck or around here it would have evidence of a plow. The body is steel and has the usual surface rust spots; good floor; and coal door, but what it most appealing to me is that the bed sides are only 24" high.......(I load with a mini-hoe alot and is quite handy for the type of asphalt and concrete work I do). And on to the other issues (So I don't have a million "quotes" in here). I realize the 466 w/ straight 6spd will be no power house but most of my work is in town (short runs) and with that said I am originally from PA so there are no real hills here to speak of. Most of the cities and towns I work in have the "No engine brake" ordinace.
Test run I did take the truck for a ride today.....Tag on engine says it's 250HP. It drove really well and might be a touch gutless from out of the hole, but does as every 466 I've been around seems to strike a powerband at mid RPMs. I must correct myself however....the drives are about 90% and steers are about 50%. It even had bed vibrator which I didn't notice last night when I was looking at it. The price seems to be in line with all the ones I have seen in the trader or the truck paper that are similar. I think I'll sleep on it for a bit, I tend to become overly implusive when it come to buying! ointhead
New truck Well I stated a few days ago, I was thinking abour sell my Mack dump, Now for the last few days, I must have fell in a pot of gold (maybe silver) the phone hasnt stopped ringing. So I bought the state truck I mentioned before 1995 Volvo Cat 3306, 93,000 miles, 14ft bed high sides, heavy duty everything. I got it for 10 grand. I got a call today for two new jobs in the area, one of them could last for a year, they wanted 5 trucks, but I told them all I had was 3. Hope this is a sign, that things are picking up
lol
Well just to add a bit more, I ended up getting a 87' Mack DM tri axle. It hasn't been driven in 2yrs, so needless to say it needs a bit of TLC. I picked it up on Monday and planned on going thru it for a couple of weeks before putting it on the road. That plan went out the window yesterday when my other truck dropped a couple of cylinders!! I am having so troubles with the bed, it hangs up coming down empty. I was going to try to bleed it but can't find anywhere to bleed it on the top of the scope. Any one got any ideas?? :beatsme :Banghead It has 439,000 on it with a 300 (new reman in 02' , only has 50,000 on it since then) w/ a 6 speed. New king pins, tie-rod ends and drag link, camel-back was rebushed, all new brakes in 04' (17,000 miles on it since then). Other than some faded paint, sticky fuel petal, clutch needs adjusted, some light bulbs, and couple holes in bed, I don't think I made a bad buy at $14K, especially after some of the junk I've looked at in the past few months for about $6-10K more.
Here are a couple of pics of my new truck with the camera still somewhere way in the future. LOL
dump bed Im guessing you looked on top of the cylinder, on my trucks, you have to take a panel off to get to get. Ive never seen one without a bleed valve. Does the bed good up pretty fast, or is it reallll slow? If it goes up slow the return/pressure line could be restricted. Last thing I would try is, put a load in it and see if it still hangs up. It could be a seal trying to roll and with a load it could free it up or cause it to roll, either way if this rolls, you need to pull and replace the seals/packing Good Luck
This might sound a bit like toffee stuck in the teeth, but down here in SA we mainly use 6x4 Rigids, and don't usually have a lekker nose out front. Most of the trucks like that here are brand new freightliners, and when spotted, have high sides and chrome every where. I would seriously love to have a dump like that... A TLB on a trailer behind one of those monsters looks so much better than behind a little cat face 6x4 10m3.
DO you have power down??? Meaning you need the PTO to lower the bed? If not then the problem is a restricted vent on the Hyd Res! My truck had the passenger side fuel tank re-plumbed for the hyd res. from day 1! I kept having to leave the job early due to only having 60 usable gal. fuel capacity! Two seasons ago they reclaimed about 2/3rds of that for fuel as a dummy tank with a crossover line! It was night and I had a full load of 858 Super-pave 17mm, 18 tons. I just starting the night, and emptied that load into the paver! When I let the bed down I heard a pop, and thought A tire then NO up on the bed, thinking a hyd hose, I pulled off the road into a grassy area, grabbed a light and went out to see the damages! The whole end blew out of that tank! The Mechanic thought 1 quarter inch port would be enough to handle the pressure! Well his calculations were flawed to say the least! To top it off the boss was on the job that night! I sat out for a couple days while my truck was repaired! The mechanic added 2 half inch ports, but I'm gong to add a filler vent like the old 50's and 60's cars used on the valve cover!
It's kinda scary to old dude like me to look and see that it's 2025 did I miss a bunch of years Nice rig, good luck with it.:drinkup Ron