Mack cab & chassis

[JJZ 109]

JJZ;

I'm curious on how much water you are planning to haul. You mention 12k-14k weight, that's as much as 1600 - 1700 gallons. How and where do you fill the tank with that much potable water?? Thanks

SimS

It's pretty much as aczlan says. We have several municipalities in the area that sell bulk water 24/7. Pull up with a pocket full of quarters and you're off to the races. The closest one has 2 inch hose for filling trucks or a 3/4 inch hose for filling jugs and small vessels. Fairly low cost, I might add.
I stopped to fill my 65 gallon tank a few weeks back. 47 gallons for a quarter or 50 cents (it escapes the memory) and it literally was about 7-8 seconds with that 2 inch line.

 

[JJZ 109]

Still rounding up insurance quotes but not on the original truck referenced. Not looking good, unless I skip collision coverage. No financing is involved so I guess that could be a possibility.

 

[JJZ 109]

Why not an ih platform or a fl? I just saw a freightliner with a flatbed for sale locally for 3k. The insurance companies are way off base. I have a 470p international and only pay around 850 per year.

Did you insure it for commercial delivery purposes or personal use? I think that's where the expense lies for me. Right now I'm at $2200 for business use and $1200 personal. But if there were to be a claim of any sort and it was discovered that the truck was making money for water deliveries, I'm sure the claim would be denied and I'd be stuck. Not worth the risk to me.
It's funny that I've had a couple of bucket trucks over the years with commercial coverage and that only ran around $800 per year.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I'm pretty sure its for commercial use. We specifically told the insurance company that we were hauling horses out of state with it. I also used it for picking up hay, supplies and equipment. They didn't seem to have any issues with it. I don't think I fall under the delivery category which is a very high risk arena if I understand things correctly. I wish I could offer some advice as to how to phrase it to not make it delivery.

 

[JJZ 109]

State Farm has just come in considerably lower. I emailed back with a few questions after I received the quote just to verify that bulk water delivery would in fact be covered. We did in fact discuss this over the phone before the quote was emailed. But she was in Long Island and I'm up on the Canada border of NY so I had to explain bulk water delivery and the need for it to her. Now I'm waiting for verification. If the quote holds true I'll check out this other truck Friday sometime.
28 Ford stake rack flatbed - Price reduced! - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

I'm pretty sure its for commercial use. We specifically told the insurance company that we were hauling horses out of state with it. I also used it for picking up hay, supplies and equipment. They didn't seem to have any issues with it. I don't think I fall under the delivery category which is a very high risk arena if I understand things correctly. I wish I could offer some advice as to how to phrase it to not make it delivery.

I think you may be onto something about the delivery thing driving prices up. If I don't get into this business it's not the end of the world. Just checking out my options if I decide to phase out of my current business and do something a little less labor intensive. I would have hated to have a truck sitting in my driveway that wouldn't make me any money because the insurance is so high.

 

[JJZ 109]

The truck linked in the last post isn't going to work for me. Way too low weight rating to carry any water. Add to that the fact that a little research showed the truck last sold at auction in Indiana for $3250. Current seller says price reduced to $8900? I'm in business. I don't mind a guy making a profit. But he's not making that off of me.
I have my eye on a low mile fire department tanker now. 2200 gallon stainless tank. All set up to do what I need without having to build a bed, buy a poly tank, buy a pump/hoses/fittings, etc. Once again the kicker will be insurance. I'm trying to get a VIN now so that I can get an accurate quote.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

One nice thing about the fire trucks if its a newer model is that they generally had the highest HP motor available to get to the fire faster! I know my dt530E could have had another 50 hp or so if it was an emergency services configuration! I will say that using a medium duty truck sure makes a "HD" pickup feel like a toy regardless of how much the pickups are rated to tow even if it isn't as fast. :thumbsup:

 

[JJZ 109]

One nice thing about the fire trucks if its a newer model is that they generally had the highest HP motor available to get to the fire faster! I know my dt530E could have had another 50 hp or so if it was an emergency services configuration! I will say that using a medium duty truck sure makes a "HD" pickup feel like a toy regardless of how much the pickups are rated to tow even if it isn't as fast. :thumbsup:

This one's an '89 but only 17k miles on it. Obviously there's probably some hours on it but not as many as a pumper would have. New stainless tank and some refurbishment in recent years. 6 new tires.
It's a gas job, but I'm not long hauling anywhere.

 

[aczlan]

Not sure how (or if) the fire truck turned out, but I saw this one this morning on Facebook:

1999 Chevrolet C6500, 100,000 miles, Automatic transmission
Good condition. Runs amazing and will carry whatever you want. Caterpillar Diesel engine. Has PTO and hydraulics. Allison automatic transmission. NO CDL REQUIRED. Anyone can drive this with a license. 4200 obo

Aaron Z

 

[JJZ 109]

Not sure how (or if) the fire truck turned out, but I saw this one this morning on Facebook:

Aaron Z

I've decided to push this plan to sometime in the future. I've had a 5th wheel camper for sale all summer. It really needs to go to free up some space. And I didn't want to finance, so I would have had to take a bite out of retirement savings. I'll wait until the camper sells. I'll have more space and more capital to work with that way.
Too bad, the fire tanker would have been perfect. It's not meant to be right now, patience is the key.
With the truck on that FB ad, I'd really question whether a non CDL truck has the GVWR to do what I'd like. But thanks for taking the time to poke around truck ads.

 

[aczlan]

I've decided to push this plan to sometime in the future. I've had a 5th wheel camper for sale all summer. It really needs to go to free up some space. And I didn't want to finance, so I would have had to take a bite out of retirement savings. I'll wait until the camper sells. I'll have more space and more capital to work with that way.
Too bad, the fire tanker would have been perfect. It's not meant to be right now, patience is the key.
With the truck on that FB ad, I'd really question whether a non CDL truck has the GVWR to do what I'd like. But thanks for taking the time to poke around truck ads.

From what I found, it would weigh ~12k with a flatbed on it, so you could haul about 1700 gallons of water while keeping it under CDL/current registration limits.
As for finding it, blame FB, it popped up in my news feed when I got on this morning.

Aaron Z

 

[schmism]

seems you could iron planet a tender turn-key for several thousand.

 

[JJZ 109]

seems you could iron planet a tender turn-key for several thousand.

Not at this particular time. Everything is way up in Canada, Texas, Colorado, Washington, etc. Far from home, relatively new and way, way out of the ballpark price wise. Timing is everything I guess.
The one I had my eye on is a 5 hour drive. But the owner has made clear that the price is negotiable, so maybe this one isn't over quite yet.
The CDL aspect doesn't bother me. I've had one forever. What I'm trying to research now is how much New York's Highway Use Tax would cost me per quarter. I found an insurer that's not too bad.

 

[HHR]

Here is a parts truck with bad clutch for only $800.
95 mack - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

 

[JJZ 109]

Here is a parts truck with bad clutch for only $800.
95 mack - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Airliner? I think he meant Midliner. These trucks are off the table for sure anyway after talking with my Mack mechanic friend.

 

[Frank Surber]

Just wondering how the water truck venture ever turned out.
A friend of mine bought a 2002 Mach CH back in 2014 it had 500K miles on it when he bought it the E7 engine made by Renault set for 425 HP. the first thing we did to it was I swapped out the 10 sp. transmission it had for an 18 speed. the truck now has a million 100k years ago I added the OPS lubrication filter system. He changes his oil at around each 25K. Bout the only thing I have had to do to the engine was I have replaced a couple of the unit pumps 3 years back. then 2 years ago it was leaking oil between the flywheel housing and the block so I cut an oil ring grove in the housing while I had the transmission and flywheel off as a preventive I replaced the rear main seal and clutch. Back in January this year he took it to Mack and they replaced the injectors with new not rebuilt injectors then in July he called me with a knock in the engine. From the way he described the sound it might had dropped a valve, I had him haul it on a hook the 400 miles to bring it to me. Since I had 3 other engines if worst came to worst I could swap it out. I pulled the valve covers and saw it had not dropped a valve so next I pulled the rockers to get at the injectors. I pulled and inspected them 1 by 1 until I found one that had a cracked tip. Then pulled that head to inspect the piston and bore. A new head gasket and 1 new injector Warranted replacement and he was back on the road the next day. its been 50,000 miles since and no issues. Had he taken it to Mack it would have been 2 weeks before they could have brought it in their shop and would have automatically assumed the engine was toast with over a million miles in it. From the oil sample history we have on the truck I am confident he can most likely run the truck another 300 to 500K before I have to change the engine unless something like another injector comes apart

 

[JJZ 109]

Just wondering how the water truck venture ever turned out.

It never came to pass for a couple of reasons. Further research in my area showed that the water haulers seem to be cutting each other's throats. I don't know how any of them make it.
I decided to continue on with my seamless gutter business a few more years. I'm well established in that and continue to have all the work that I want every season.