Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Found a station at $2.89 yesterday in SC. Most of the rest through GA an AL are $2.93-$2.99.

 

Hopper trailers are definitely not the cheapest to fix damage! That really stinks that it happened to you - air ride trucks do have some weaknesses (you found one). Alot of companies still run spring suspension for that reason - I hope you're up and running soon.

My local mechanic really took care of me the last few days, and my truck and trailer is up again and better than ever. It took days to get the starter and belt tensioner that needed replacing, and the belt tensioner wasn't a cheap item ($200 after tax for the SMALL tensioner on the motor)! He was good to me and didn't mark up the tensioner because it was all of a $75 part, and the starter was "only" $335.

Apparently my starter has been going downhill for a long time, because the engine cranks MUCH faster than it used to - it almost sounds like it wants to go somewhere! I'm thankful I could afford to get it changed, or I would've been sitting somewhere in the near future for 2 days waiting for one to show up.

The tensioner must've been put on there with a miscalibrated air tool at the factory. It was the original part, and he broke 3 allen head sockets by the time it came off (snap-on and mac). The tensioner felt like it had rocks in it for bushings, and wouldn't hold the belt tight for anything. I've been so used to that A/C belt squealing sometimes over the last few months, I wonder if I'll miss the noise.

And then there's the repairs on the trailer - wow did I get lucky. I hadn't posted pictures, but the forward tandem (Holland) subframe crossmember had been rusted some and broken completely through on one side - it would bow under load. The other side was cracking out because of it, and a hopper slope support (bogie) above it was broken in the same area.

Now this is the repair that a shop had quoted $2k to $3k to replace the member, and needed to drop the tandems out to do the work. Also the reason I was planning to take the trailer back to KS and swap out soon - but there was nothing close to it available. Apparently these Holland units like to break in the area because of the plug welds, and it's wise to watch for it or have them seam welded before they break out.

While my truck and trailer was sitting at his shop, a friend of his that builds his dad's log trailers stopped by to see how things were going. Since he was out there already and they were chatting, he took a look at the problems on my trailer, and said "heck I can fix that better than it was for about $700". They took the truck to his shop yesterday (about 30 minutes away), repaired the trailer, and brought it back into town for me at around 9pm last night. It's exactly like he said - stronger than it ever was, and you can't tell there's been any work done unless you notice it's not factory weak anymore.

The work that was done on it was second to none, and for anyone out there running their own trailers - it would be wise to follow suit on this before the subframe breaks out. Apparently Holland has some aging issues with their plug welds (and I hate plug welding for that reason), because the shop that found the damage was looking in the "usual spot". I'll try and post some pictures, as I'll be taking some today to document the repair and send forward with the bill. The basics of it were seam welding all the beams together (like bridgework) and then welding in gusset tabs and anglework to give it even more support. Honestly, the welds were cleaner than I've seen in years - and the next trailer I get will be going back there for the same thing long before it ever breaks out.

Best of the best to everyone out there, and I hope it's been decent to you!

 

I do whatever I can to fuel in SC - even running on fumes or adding a few gallons to get there!

 

Ugh, I'd rather do whatever I can to stay away from the entire area. People drive like maniacs, the cops don't even come out during the day unless you call them, the hospitals are full of scam artists, and some ####### stole my loading ramps. Finally made it over into GA but now I'm stuck running around near Atlanta, which I also hate. They need to build a superhighway over that entire pit of a city.

 

Wheathauler is your truck Green? I was sneaking threw Hutch saturday afternoon and seen a green T-6 hooked to a hopper parked by a white shop building.

Who is the big outfit down by the old abondon Kansas Truck Center building? They had a lot of hoppers parked their.

 

Agreed! I do all I can to avoid Atlanta entirely - which is hard because I live about 2 hours north of it. The time of day makes a difference - you can forget getting through there easily between 7a and 7p. Hard to believe people can be so consistently bad at driving - everyone goes 80 in the 55 zones, and the usual tie up is someone's bumper laying on the ground.

As far as theft goes - I chain everything down Even up here on the dirt lot in the middle of nowhere, some ###hat stole a gladhand seal the last time I had my trailer parked. Good thing I carry spares for that reason.....

 

Ditto on Atlanta driving,I'd as soon walk on hot coals as drive thru Atlanta during morning and evening rush-hour