"Dump Truck Is What I Want...Where Do I Start"

I'm now wondering If I should be looking for just a tandem instead of a tri axial....I can get in to some tighter areas with the tandem...for soil and excavation work ...mulch deliveries etc.[/quote]




You should call around, since its the off season. Local Excavating companies Quarries area a good start. You would be whats considered a rental truck. The way it works here in the north east you make your truck available to whomever and call them every day asking if they have work.Or they call you. When your calling theses places ask them what types of trucks the prefer, Not sure what types they use in the great white north but A tri axle here in PA cant axle weigh in OH so they use quads and quints to get around and to the east In NJ a tri-axle can haul a full 80,000 So check whats going on in your province I would try to get a handle on whats the most common in the area.. You mentioned a L model ford They are getting harder to get parts for because of not being built anymore I personally would go with a Mack just for availbilty of parts or even In your case what is the closest Heavy truck dealer for parts..



And that fancy White pete is a joke, I just sit here thinking what would happen if an R8 was loaded in it. And where is the tarp?

 

i dont know about canada but i know out west you dont need a tarp to be legal

as far as a tandem.....they are nice provided you have a tag axle to handle more wieght, but i really dought a tri axle ( meaning three rear axles always on the ground) is any harder to get into some of the spots ive had to put a tandem in

i say just buy a triple axle delly dump and a 4 axle tractor (one being a tag)...and they are legal to 96k in montana

 

As with some of the others who replied, it depends on what you haul. Hauling rock, spoil, hot asphalt, or broke you should get a bed that is constructed with AR 400. It's light enough to hold down your tare weight, but strong enough to handle the rock and broke.

Air ride sucks for dumps if you get into soft material. I have a T800 with air ride and even after dumping the bags it can be rough. My Pete on the other hand has a hybrid suspension and besides, it tugs my low side and there is no excuse for getting a low side stuck if you know how to "inch-worm " it out.

Dump trucking is slow in Cal and now there are some guys running super 10s for the 10 wheeler rate. Quite a few contractors are convinced that supers are better than 10 wheelers and now the supers are taking away from the low-sides too, go figure. These guys claim that their supers can gross as much as a low side.

As for myself, 2007 sucked and if it does not break out by the end of April I may be going OTR. I am a seasoned O/O for dumps but going OTR I am unfamiliar with much of it. But the benefit of this forum is the vast knowledge shared by so many.

 

Down in the South an air ride is unheard of on a straight dump. Stability is much better on a spring suspension than air.
Aluminum is good if you have a good solid contract for hauling light or small aggregates, but if you are going to look for the best load paying, a steel box is the way to go. For Canada, Bea-Roc and Bibieau both make good heated bodies with exotic steels that work well for your area. I would be leery of any dump body built in the South as it is not really designed to handle the salts or the cold.

 

Owning your own dumptruck, does has its up and downs. Weather permitting, I have a tractor-trailer with an end-dump, and a tri-axle, cause if one doesn't make money the other will, and vise versa. I am thinking about selling my tri-axle though. It's a peterbilt 1997 detroit diesel series 60 377. It has the light steel box, and I put plywood around the inside so that it wouldn't get messed up from whatever material is hauled or hauled off. It helps alot. I'm looking for at least between 35,000 to 45,000 for it. For some reason I am unable to post a pic of it, cause they say the pic is to big. But if you want to see a pic of it, I can send it to your email address. I'm going to keep trying to find a way to post a pic of it on here anyway.

 

We are running Peterbuilt Air Leaf suspensions on our dumps. Just gotta make sure to dump the air before you dump the bed. Ours are automatic air dumps. We lease our trucks to a local sand and gravel company as well as the state when they need extra trucks. We also do a lot of our own hauling being we are an excavating contractor. We get $75 an hour for a dump truck that carries 46,000# Our latestpurchase is an 89 Pete 377 retired road tractor with just over 1,000,000 miles. It has a 425 mechanical cat with a 15 speed and a Galion box. Paid 15K for the truck and 6K for the used box from a county in eastern montana that used the box for 1 year. By the time i was done putting it all together we had 25K in it............

 

Where are you located? Just curious. California wants to get rid of trucks equipped with mechanical engines. Right now there is program (Moyer) to get them off the road and compensate the owner. I know a broker who had two pre-Ecm trucks but the state would only compensate her with enough money for only one new rig though.


I have a '95 T8 with a N-14 Red Top (Ten wheeler) and a '97 379 with a Series 60 that pulls my low-side. Supposedly, according to CARB both rigs will have to be re-powered by 2010 the T8 and 2013 for the Pete to be in compliance. Although on the rumor mill, I hear tell that even after either re-power or retro-fit, anything pre '07 will be off the road by 2015 that's according to the Northern Rep for the CDTOA. Plus if you go to landfills there's more restriction on engines.

Just curious, outside of Ca, what are the other states enforcing. Will they require DPF's/re-powers on older rigs?

 

Geez!!! Leave it to Cal I ###$ You to screw small business!! Nuttin like that here but we have less than a million people in the whole state of Montana.