When I was looking at dump trucks, I was shocked at how much they were going for, and how bad of condition they were in!!! Even more shocking was how hard it was to find them.
After looking for awhile, missing out on some deals, and walking away from allot of others, I bought a 1983 F-600 dump truck with a 370 big block gas engine for $3,500.
If you do a search on posts that I've started and includ Dump Truck, you'll see some of the issues I've run into. I've probably put another $2,000 into it, but the headache factor has been huge. It's not street legal and I doubt it ever will be. Mostly I just need to get the lights to work and register it, but there's no real need for me, plus I don't want to deal with insurance.
My latest issue with mine is the bed isn't flat and it holds dirt. If my clay is wet at all, it will build up with each load. I then have to scrape it with a shovel to get it clean again and go through the process all over again. From reading posts on the Heavy Equipment Forums, this is fairly common in older dump trucks. Both single and double axle. I've orderd some special, slipery paint, that I'm hoping will help the problem. WHen it gets here, I'll start a thread on it and how it performs.
I've broken the lift on my dump bed twice. Old age, lack of maintenance and probably a bad design all add up to the problem. I'm afraid it will happen again, but don't know when. Removing the parts and fixing it was a TRUE nightmare. Doing it the second time was almost over the top for me.
I've had the cylinder come apart on me too. What will you do if you have a full load of dirt and no way to dump it? Even with my backhoe, there's allot of shoveling involved.
New brakes, leaky rear axle seals, new clutch, rebuit the engine and now the wipers don't work. They are nice for clearing the dust off the windshield, so I've got to figure that one out.
Tires go flat all the time and mine are split rims. They charge extra for that feature!!!
If you drive it on the road and it's "Capable" or "Rated" to haul a load combined with the vehicles weight, that exceeds 26,000 pounds, you need a CDL. It doesn't matter that you will never reach that amount, it's all in the ratings. Mine is rated at 24,000 pounds, so I'm good. I would bet that the F-800 would be able to haul allot more then mine.
Good luck, the price is right and you'll never lose money on it. I'm worried that it's too cheap and there's a hidden problem that you will find after you own it. If you can fix it yourself, then you should do fine as they sell for allot more in good condition.
Eddie
