plow trucking

[boxer3main]

hey curious as to anyone in bangor area doing any plowing.

my father is looking for one for his own yard, while each neighbor on either side of him has their own. Seems strange not to ask...

this subject got me thinking. Is it worth it to step up with a 6.5 diesel... and advertise to plow? or is it an abyss? even when gas was a buck, it seemed an abyss.. even if the driver had ten driveways in 300 yards of each other... today the diesel factor, mid 20s mpg...8 lug setup (1 ton) late 90s machines and onward would have an advantage. looked at one today in fact...3/4 ton, 1998, 6.5... and stepped up to one ton springs on the 8 lug axles.

I ponder risking just plowing cheap try to make it earn itself in one winter...then let it sit more than not, use it for whatever hauling.

 

[Meyagi]

idk if id buy a gm 6.5, they are plagued with problems

 

[boxer3main]

idk if id buy a gm 6.5, they are plagued with problems

like a sube and a tractor trailer...

it depends on the owner.

the facts of diesel can only be overruled by silly mistakes.

ej owners should know about plague.. seems funny to here it about a diesel. I could pluck a piston chipping glow plugged 1983 out of a field and go another 750,000 miles...

The one I looked at today is simply headed for immortal as it gets. the owner even left the tires bald evenly on the front to show it has not so much as cupped in its 12 years quarter of a million.

I have never seen no cupping, nevermind even all the way to bald both sides...

At this moment am thinking it is worth it... just wating for actual "plow trucker" answers.

 

[Matt]

plowing in general is brutal on trucks.....id honestly buy some rusted out pos, hook a plow to it and use it just for plowing, never have to worry about inspections again and carnage that plowing does to them.....aviod ford though, you can sit there and watch the header rot off them......

 

[i-wagon]

we've got an old diesel gmnc 2500. most gutless turd i've ever driven. but great for plowing the yard.

just get a yard truck with good running gear and never look back

 

[Berge56]

The 98 6.5 had the most power for the detroit diesel. As boxer3main said, the problems are small and can be easily fixed. I say go for it and good luck.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

trouble with plowing for money is if (um, I mean WHEN) you break the truck halfway thru a storm (typical, you hit a rock off the edge of somebodys drive and have to have truck towed)and then you still have x number of customers who still need to have their plowing done. so you either have to fix truck on the spot (yeh, real likely in midst of overnite storm) or call somebody else and pay them to do it. and Gawd help ya if you or your substitute flatten Mrs Smith's prize rhododendrons while trying to wing the banks back a bit!

it's a slim margin between boom and bust, literally. if you have a nice new truck that breaks down less, after a couple winters suddenly you don't have such a nice truck any more. Add normal depreciation of a late-model vehicle to the holy hell of wear n tear from 2-3 years of plowing and this business model makes less and less sense. you start with a beater, you get to excercize your toolbox and freeze yer fingers a lot. Ya gotta figure there are less frustrating ways to make a bit of cash on the side.

now if you just want your own plow truck for your own driveway...figure you'd pay your plow guy $35-50 per storm, multiply that by mebbe 10 storms per winter divided into whatever you spend for the truck n plow. THAT math makes a bit more sense but you're still looking at several years to pay off a $2000 plow beater.

oh, and why is it that plow trucks rust at 10x the pace of normal vehicles? can't possibly be cuz of driving salty roads every time they're used, eh?

 

[Meyagi]

The 98 6.5 had the most power for the detroit diesel. As boxer3main said, the problems are small and can be easily fixed. I say go for it and good luck.

its an isuzu diesel. they have probs with the blocks cracking, the heads cracking, the injector pumps failing, and head gaskets going. other then that, the 6.5 is great

 

[Chris]

I don't know very much about trucks... But I do know this.

I have a friend who HAD, yea I say had a ford f250 diesel. It can't have been more than 10 or 12 years old. He used it for towing his industrial mowers around. And guess what happened? His wife was driving it and the engine sort made this weird noise and caught on fire!! I wouldn't buy a ford truck... And then my dad has a 99 chevy 1500 thing. Except for the fact that it's almost rusted to death and the engine leaks a gallon of coolant a week it's a fine truck... A repair shop told him it would cost $1000 to fix!! Intake gasket or something stupid.

If you want a plow that doesn't leave your property kind of truck just drive up and down the back roads. I see them all the time for sale like $500.

Or you can just drive a lifted subaru and not care about plowing