Looking to buy a new dump truck for our farm. Looking for a 25-33k gvwr with air brakes and Diesel engine. Truck will be used to haul stone, dirt, logs, debris and tow our 17k pound excavator. Mostly within a 20-30 mile radius and not much major highway. I would love to have an international with a 466 and a 6 speed but I have been looking for a year and haven't had any luck finding any in my price range. I need to go ahead and get a truck since I am getting ready to start a big project. There are two trucks I am trying to decide between. 93 F700 with 5.9 Cummins and auto with 125k miles. 31k GVWR. Asking price about $1000 more than other truck. The other truck is a 91 Ford F700 7.8 diesel 6 speed manual with 158k miles. 33 gvwr I know neither one is a power house and that's ok. We aren't planning on driving in heavy traffic or up any mountains. We just something that will be reliable and will do the job. Which lone would be my better bet?
I think towing the excavator is going to be a stretch for the 5.9 and auto trans. I have a '91 F800 with the 7.8 that only runs about 24K with a service body and crane, it's got a 10 spd and I need every gear it has. I think the 6 spd would be fine as a bobtail dump, but for towing that extra weight, the 10 would be better. Oh, mine is only a 220HP engine, the higher ratings (260 I think) might be better.
I used to drive a 7.8 270 HP and that thing was quite an engine for what it was. I don't know if yours is 270 or what it takes to get 270, however. But I would recommend it if you can get it in the higher HP range. The 6 speed might not be so great though. This one had a 9 speed.
I had a L8000 with the 7.8 / 6 speed. I was towing a 943 loader with it before I sold it. It did a good job pulling the loader and was fairly fuel efficient. I liked the engine. I always wanted an 8LL or 9 speed.