Howdy! Not a "real" trucker, own/operate a dumper

Hello,
My name is James, and I'm a gearhead. (((Hello James)))

I swear, some days it seems like there should be a gearheads group, like AA but for us folks that love to drive, love to tinker, build, but most of all, just cant stop!

ANYway,...
I shoulda posted on here some time ago, and I appologize to the powers over yonder for that infraction.
Me, I'm not a trucker. Always wanted to be one. Grew up around big rigs. Dad taught truck driving at a Job Corps center in WA, his best freind owned a truk shop in Yakima, and of course we knew a few drivers here & there too.
Never made it behind the wheel tho, I joined the Navy at 17 and was off to boot 40 days after graduation. Done did 20 years in the US Nuclear Canoe Club, got to drive some interesting rigs that some of ya wouldn't believe unless ya saw em yourself, but never did get to drive the big trucks.
I do own my own & operate my own truck. She's a '56 GMC 2-Ton, 5-yard box, 21K gross, 30 combi. Not real big, but pretty impressive when ya see she's allllll stock. 270cid inline six, 4-speed on the floor, 2 speed in the rear, slow as molases, pulls like a 20 mule team tho.
Decided to get into business last spring when I got 'Tater out of the shop and running. And of course, no sooner than I got my business licence, I couldn't get a job to save my life! Figgures,... Good thing I was still in the Navy!
Made my way to Bakersfield when I retired, left the truck at our place in WA, and went to work for a carrot company (of all flippin things!) up till, oh, Monday, just got let go. Woo hoo!

Anyway, here I sit, lookin at options. last on the list is haulin our hineys back to WA, but somewhere above that is gettin my CDL and drivin a truck, FINALLY! But then, this aint tha best time for that idea. Seems I may never get to drive afore I'm just too broke down to do it.

Ah well, thats how the cookie crumbles folks, sometimes you can get a load at every stop, sometimes you run empty till you run out of gas.
Keep it between the lines and rubber side down.

 

Thanks!
Lots of good info here, think I may stay a while.

And to think, I just came 'round to find a way to get 'tater from WA to CA!

 

Just fingered it was time for an update, in case anyone gives a rip.
Some of us live vicariously through others aferall!

It's been over 6 mos, but I have a job now, started a couple nights ago workin as a Janitor on the Navy base near the house. Not the best pay, but I wont be blowing the difference in gas like with the other options I was lookin at.

In truck related business
As far as 'Tater goes, and the hauling business, it's been dead. Had a few calls from locals, but even tho I charge next to nothing they never seem to want to part with the money & never call back. I did nail down a trailer, a nice 6x16 dovetail with a drop gate, side rails, and a tool rack, made for hauling gear for lawn care really, but I can fit a decent sized tractor on it. Been lookin at a New Holland 4WD with a quick change bucket and a ripper with grapple for clearing and loading brush/branches. Just have to offload the house in CA and unscrew my credit,… So yeah, sometime in the next 5 years, maybe 10.
I did finally get a solid bite this last week, the job was 40 miles away (not far for most of you guys, but in a '56 that tops out at 50ish,...) and involved moving a large pile of dirt a mere 4 mile round trip. I figured 10-15 loads (I was WAY off!). Didn't see like any sort of a problem at 1st glance.
However,... 1 mile of the trip was a gravel/dirt driveway that averaged 30 degree incline, and was steeper than that in a couple places. So I get up early and head to the site to start haulin at 8am. They had someone at the pickup site with a Cat 622 excavator that loaded me in 3-3/4 scoops, so loading was fast. Longest part of the job was that durned hill! I took the 1st trip slowly and figured out all I could manage was 2-Low for most of the drive, with a couple stints in 2-Hi if I didn't miss a shift. I am glad I never got the bug to get a bigger engine, I think I’d have blown the gearbox or snapped an axle on this job.
I kept the box topped off until we got some drizzle and I started tearing up the driveway and slipping a bit, leaving off that last 3/4 scoop of dirt for 3 trips took care of that till it dried up a bit. All in all I made 22 trips up that hill with a heaped 5-yard box.
THAT was a serious amount of dirt for an old beat up dumpy truck!
Was a very long day for me, My leg was killin me from messin with the brake and throttle all the time, thankfully the clutch on Tater is smooth as butter. I made a couple hundred bucks off the deal, but after the fact I realized I should have added a fuel charge because I burned a LOT of gas goin up that hill 3 times an hour. Ah well, live & learn, have ta remember to factor that in when hauling uphill.

Now I need to get the truck into the shop and pull the right rear spring off and have the pins and U-bolts redone, it was flexing enough that the springs started to rotate out of the stack. cant have that, not when I’m hauling max capacity up 30+ degree inclines on a hillside! Also need to adjust the brakes and eyeball the pads, might be time to reline the shoes. The bummer is I made less than half what the spring will cost, and I have no idea what the shoes are gonna run,… Fun times!