The truck is a 1987 Ford L9000. It has a 8.3L engine at 240 Hp and a 9 speed trans. It has 300,000 miles. 25 ton pintle and air to rear. Asking $8500 Seems to be In decent shape. What do you guys think to many mile? How much will it tow?
If its a single axle the truck has decent power but if its a tandem axle the truck is underpowered. Make sure the engine is the Cummins and not the 7.8 Ford rated at 240hp. If you want something that will tow a tag trailer you need 10 to 14 litre power.
If it has the Cummins motor, I'd be happy with the truck. If it's got the Ford motor, I wouldn't want if it had a 100K miles. Good luck!
As said above about the motors but also, dont take this the wrong way, you say it seems to be in good shape. Again dont take this the wrong way but if you dont really know what to look for or waht yoru looking at take somone who does. Dump trucks are money pits, steering, u joints, pins on the hoist, packings in the ram etc etc, they can turn into real money pits. Dont be fooled by paint. That dont make it run. Again I mean no disrespect toward you or saying you dont know what your looking at, but you say looks in good shape. Looks can be decieveing, many do dupont (paint) makeovers. Dont let the paint make your decision
Was that a single axle tractor that had a dump added later on?
If it's an 8.3L then it must be a Cummins 8.3L ISC. Ford/NH never made an 8.3L diesel. They only made the 7.8L & 6.6L New Holland/Ford diesels. It will be a bit low on power, but it'll get the job done. heck my single axle was only 210 HP until I raised it to 250+ 300,000 miles without a rebuild is another matter. If you'll only drive it 5-10K per year, that's one thing. Don't expect to put a 1/4 million miles on it without needing engine work unless the guy before you did amazingly anal maintenance.
It was a dump its whole life. Its a single axle. If I am serious about buying it I will take some who knows to look at it. About towing, It will tow a backhoe and a small dozer but not a 20 ton tag and 160 excavator. That needs a tandem right?
I have that engine in a 94' L8000 2 axle water truck w/ a 7 spd. It's been good so far. I think it is rated @ 235 HP, not huge but enough for my application. Nice little engine. DP
If its a single axle I say go for it the 8.3 Cummins rated at 240hp is sufficient for the truck. The L-8000s did come with the L-10 with 8 or 9spd. The problem with a single axle towing a trailer is the tounge weight makes the truck seesaw on the rear axle. Tandems do the same thing the truck seesaws on the trunnion (walking beam suspension). Watched one of the contractors pulling a tandem axle tilt tag behind a tandem axle Ford with a 690 Deere on it the truck wallowed all over the road (too much tounge weight). You figure a rubber tired backhoe weighs 17,000lbs a trailer weighs 9000lbs it gives you a 5200lb hitch weight with 20% of the 26,000lb load.
I tow my equipment trailer every day with around 4K-5K tongue weight behind my Western Star super 10 dump and it tows like a dream. Sometimes I forget its there. My chalmers suspension may help. I towed same weight behind an air suspension once and it sure felt different. When I had my single axle International (35Kgvw) and the same tongue weight, the only difference was in the braking. It towed very well. Stopping quick produced some anxiety.
If the truck has the Brazilian Ford diesel engine, it will be underpowered in all conditions except falling off a cliff -- with a tail wind!………. Depending on where you are, parts for the truck will be very hard to find. I've had to use three of four of these units, one set up as an asphalt distributor, two as water trucks, and one as a fuel truck. Each one was a serious mistake. You can do much better with nearly anything else. Good luck.
Chalmers is a nice riding suspension it is smoother than Hendrickson walking beam. With a single you have to be more carefull on how much tounge weight you have compared to a tandem. Braking is a big issue with single axles pulling trailers or not. A heavy single can carry a good load but when it comes to stopping that load thats another story.
I would think with a good air braked trailer there shouldn't be any issues with stopping a heavy trailer behind a single axle. After all a lot of low boys are single axle tractors. Up until 2-3 years ago, I used a local excavator on several jobs. He had a 30K F-800 with a 7.8L brazilian and juice brakes!! His trailer was a 15 ton with electric brakes with a 655 New Holland 4x4 on it or an old case mid-size dozer!!! That's a primitive set up, but it got the job done.