Flatbedford
Minister of Fire
MrWhoopee said:
Yeah! You commie-lib Nazi! We all go down on our own in a no holds bared race to the bottom here in America.
Connundrum
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Yeah! You commie-lib Nazi! We all go down on our own in a no holds bared race to the bottom here in America.
Danno77
Minister of Fire
Yeah, duh. Everybody knows you should each buy your own cheaper Chinese trucks. THAT's the American way!MrWhoopee said:
Danno77 said:
Alright.... let's not get carried away.
I can see the value of buying the truck now as it might be needed at a moment's notice, saves all wear and tear on the van, plus I can keep my tools in it during the week so it's ready to roll on the weekend (or even a weeknight if need be). The splitter would only ever be used on the weekend (well, this time of year anyway). Just concerned about the truck deteriorating - a 1990 GMC 2500 4x4 is what I'm looking at. Any issues with these?
Flatbedford
Minister of Fire
babzog said:
It's a GM.
Just kidding. I am a Ford guy. Just like the Stihl/Husqvarna thing. They are both good and each have their good and bad.
babzog said:
Fuel mileage with the TBI system's isn't the greatest. Watch for sticking trottle plates too. If the pedal seems to "break" free off idle... It's common and usually goes away as the engine warms up. It's not impossible or difficult to take care of it but it's a little bit of $$.
Generally pretty solid trucks. No major gotchas that I know of.
amateur cutter
Minister of Fire
Generally pretty solid trucks. No major gotchas that I know of.
Rust is the killer of any truck. If you live in an area where road salt is used, look @ brake lines, fuel lines, tanks, spring shackles, etc. I repair vehicles for a living here, & many a good runner ends up in the bone yard because of terminal cancer of the underside. A C
Rust is the killer of any truck. If you live in an area where road salt is used, look @ brake lines, fuel lines, tanks, spring shackles, etc. I repair vehicles for a living here, & many a good runner ends up in the bone yard because of terminal cancer of the underside. A C
homebrewz
Minister of Fire
You need a truck, that is if you're handy and don't mind working on vehicles. If you don't do at least some of your own mechanics it will probably wind up being a bit of a problem. Towing is one of the hardest things to ask a vehicle to do, and towing beyond its weight recommendation on a routine basis is asking for trouble. With the truck you're looking at, rust is the main issue I would look at.. frame, other structural members, cab corners and floor, etc. Is it an automatic? Check the tranny fluid for leaks and a burnt smell.
If you have a group of folks you do wood with, you can all go in on a splitter.
That's a neat chevy/GMC someone posted. Here's my 3/4 ton GMC.
If you have a group of folks you do wood with, you can all go in on a splitter.
That's a neat chevy/GMC someone posted. Here's my 3/4 ton GMC.
Attachments
SolarAndWood
Minister of Fire
homebrewz said:
That is amazing...don't see too many trucks that old in that great of shape rolling around upstate NY.
MrWhoopee
Minister of Fire
Flatbedford said:
+1 on that. Insurance on the '68 GMC runs $82/year. It's pre-smog (here in California that's '75 or older) so there's no worries about passing. Parts for old Chevy/GMC trucks are readily available and cheap (mostly).
Things I would like to have:
Power Steering
Power/Disc Brakes
Taller Gearing (4.55 is good for pulling stumps, lousy on gas)
Fuel Injection
Flatbedford
Minister of Fire
MrWhoopee said:
Power steering is for sissies.
My 4 wheel drums are fine as long as I plan ahead.
homebrewz
Minister of Fire
Flatbedford
Minister of Fire
MrWhoopee
Minister of Fire
Flatbedford said:
In general I can live without power steering, but when plowing snow or manuevering in wooded areas, it would sure speed things up.
Having driven old VW buses a lot (sometimes with nothing but the e-brake), I know about planning ahead. When the vehicle has 2500 lbs of wood on it, it's hard to see that far down the road.
Flatbedford
Minister of Fire
My Ford at least has power drum brakes. It stops pretty well until I have more than around 2000 pounds on it. A full cord of Red Oak and I have to plan ahead and drive slowly. Like most old stuff, the drivetrain is far more powerful than the brakes.
After much more thought and cost analysis, I've decided to forgo a truck at this point. I can buy my wood, C/S/D, for $1100 / yr. Call that my annual wood budget... which I intend to stay within (spending as little as possible).
A truck would carry an annual insurance cost of $400-500 (depending on discounts). Plus increased gas - I've spent about $250 to get 12 cords, I'd figure on at least another $100-200 for the same loads in a truck. Maintenance - oil chances and the like would likely be another $50-60. And then I still need to rent a splitter to get it done. Cost of operating a truck for firewood hauling comes out to about the same... might as well just buy the wood and save myself a whole pile of work and aggravation. I can usually borrow my parent's truck if need be (assuming they're not using it) for big jobs.
So, I bought a splitter instead. TSC has their 22ton Speeco on sale this week (ends today, IIRC) for $1150 (comes to about $1300 with taxes). Figured even if I end up just buying tandem loads of logs, I'll have to process that anyway and it's nice to have the tools on hand to do the work when I feel like doing it, without having to plan ahead to rent a splitter and have the planned weekend be rained or snowed out.
Thinking forward, I might end up buying or building a larger trailer in a year or two... 5x10 or 5x12. As well, I might beef up the van's rear suspension with airbags to level the load (the last load of maple rounds I brought home had the van's arse end waay down).
A truck would carry an annual insurance cost of $400-500 (depending on discounts). Plus increased gas - I've spent about $250 to get 12 cords, I'd figure on at least another $100-200 for the same loads in a truck. Maintenance - oil chances and the like would likely be another $50-60. And then I still need to rent a splitter to get it done. Cost of operating a truck for firewood hauling comes out to about the same... might as well just buy the wood and save myself a whole pile of work and aggravation. I can usually borrow my parent's truck if need be (assuming they're not using it) for big jobs.
So, I bought a splitter instead. TSC has their 22ton Speeco on sale this week (ends today, IIRC) for $1150 (comes to about $1300 with taxes). Figured even if I end up just buying tandem loads of logs, I'll have to process that anyway and it's nice to have the tools on hand to do the work when I feel like doing it, without having to plan ahead to rent a splitter and have the planned weekend be rained or snowed out.
Thinking forward, I might end up buying or building a larger trailer in a year or two... 5x10 or 5x12. As well, I might beef up the van's rear suspension with airbags to level the load (the last load of maple rounds I brought home had the van's arse end waay down).
thinkxingu
Minister of Fire
I thought that was the wise choice all along--you can get the wood there with what you've got, and now you can split it when you want and without bustin' your butt (to use my dad's saying).
S
S
Truck first. But who says it has to be a full sized truck. A small 4x4 ranger or s10 can haul a bunch, is decent on gas, cheap, and can be used for so many other things. A small truck can get you into peoples back yards up closer so you don't have to carry as far. I've found several folks wanting certain trees removed from their land so a smaller truck could get you into some tight spots a little easier. And a small truck will still haul 1/3 chord at a time. And you already have a trailer to up that quantity. Since I cut, load, unload, split, and stack on my own I can vouch for the gas splitter being a waste of time. I can split 10 times as much 10 times as fast using a maul. If I had a 3 person crew then the splitter would be the way to go.
Agent
Member
I'd say you chose just fine. Getting all necessary equipment is primary to upgrading existing equipment.
Heck babzog, don't let folks give you crap for using your van and a trailer. I've hauled a fair share of heavy loads using my 97 Honda civic + 4x8' trailer. Get some strange looks now and then...
Heck babzog, don't let folks give you crap for using your van and a trailer. I've hauled a fair share of heavy loads using my 97 Honda civic + 4x8' trailer. Get some strange looks now and then...
salecker
Minister of Fire
Mr WhoopeeMrWhoopee said:
regarding powersteering on your truck.
I have had GM's since i got my drivers license.One of the nice things about the older GM products is the interchange abillity of parts.You can get the power steering componats off a newer truck and they will bolt onto yours,One of the first mods i would do on the older trucks i bought,made resale easyer.You should be able to go up to the mid 80's and it will bolt right on,steering box,pump,and pully on crank.I would get the parts for nothing from the landfill.
Thomas
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