Hit me with advice on becoming an Owner Operator.

Too cheep 75%

 

Heavy haul tractors are a specialized piece of equipment, I would make sure you like doing it before you invest a large chunk of money into a tractor that's very limited use.

 

Yep

I don’t know the exact specs but a friend of mine drives with a heavy haul company. They use W-900s with the 600 HP Cummins and 18 speed .
They have some with and some without the pusher axle .
I can ask about the axle ratio but I do know they use the tall 24.5 tires .

once they get the tractor from KW they add the side boxes , blinky lights on the roof , headache racks , and frame Ramps for their RGN trailers .

 

Built like this one.

 

Buy a pre emissions truck and rebuild it. Life will be better.

 

If you want to do your own wrenching, buying used is an option. If not @Midwest Trucker has it right: shops are getting unaffordable, and if the wrenches weren’t too expensive, parts certainly are. And if mechanics and parts were affordable, you still can’t get any work done in a timely fashion, so your down time is unaffordable.
As far as engines, they are a dime a dozen. Don’t idle the emissions engines (buy an APU/EPU), don’t stretch the service intervals, and trade when the warranty is up.....