Hello, I am fairly new to plowing. Last year i plowed for a company owned by brickman. They paid 5000. For five months. A 1000. a month unconditionally whether plow or not plow. Well i plowed five times and made 5000. It was pretty good for the first time plowing. I didnt want to plow for my self at first because of my old equipment. I was scared and did not know what to expect. Now again i am scared of my equipment and dont want to put any customers on the line. My question is should i go out and buy a new truck and settle my worries and be done with it. Or should i take the old truck and use it anyways and take the risk of breakdown and problems. The truck works but the front joints do not turn well when in four wheel drive. The truck is an old gmc dually flatbed. The motor is loud due to the three speed and it needs muffler work and the floor boards are rusty and its hard to plow residential with a dually(i found out last year). I also want to look good and the truck feels to loud and not to impressive from the image standpoint. Should i use this truck as a backup and buy a new one and go and get my customers lined up or use the old one and take the higher risk of break down and do that to all my lawn customers.
Go buy a QUALITY used truck,the size and transmission make your one ton a poor truck for plowing.I ton duellies are fairly easy to unload especially if it is 4x4 and you should be able to pay of a big chunk of a good 3/4 ton.
I would use that truck till it won't run anymore,but i would order a new one as the back up truck so if the old one is not good enough to get you thru the worst part of the winter then you can break in the new one. Or you can do like diggerman said just go find a good used truck .
Thank you diggerman and cat320. I will look for a nice used one as soon as i sell my fleet of used vehicles. I can justify buying new but just dont want anymore used vehicles unless they are five years and up. Just had too many bad experiences with used vehicles.
The Problem with used truck, is sometimes a truck that is 2 or 3 years old with 30K miles is very close to the cost of a new truck. I would rather spend a few K more for a truck, that I know the history of, rather than buy one that is unknow. I am a Ford man, and will continue to be one. Every once and a while my dealer will call me, and say we got such and such of use truck on the lot, we can give you a good deal on it. Most of the time, it has more options than I want or doesn't have the options I want, the rest of the time the price is wrong. If you have something that works for you, here is my advice. Go to your Dealer ( I don't care if it Ford, Chevy or Dodge) Spec out a 1-ton type pick-up if thats what you want. The extra money spent for the 1-ton will allow you to add a v-box down the road. Then spec on the options you want on a basic truck, and then spec a loaded truck or whatever. See what specs are less. Order the truck, and when it comes in your ready to rock. I got no problem with used trucks, but I don't want to pay the extra money for an XLT with a 6 disc cd changer, and then use it as a work truck. What I am saying is with a new truck you pay for the options you want, you get a truck you know the history of, and all for a few K more than a slighty used truck. Seeing you have a truck that works for ya for now, you not under the gun, to buy something today. Geoff
Mr. Geoff, Thank you for the great advice. The one ton now sounds better to me considering what you said about a salter. Also the extra luxury effects are meaningless to me considering it is a wirk truck. WIll look for a a one ton instead. Will also talk to dealers like you said. Thanks. Mr. Geoff, Just was curious why you choose ford. Im not trying to start a new topic but i do respect your advice and your opinion. Thanks [Edited by bdemir on 11-19-2000 at 02:06 PM]
Geoff likes ford because he is from a back woods state of maine, and they are at least 20 yrs behind the rest of the country in techknowledgy.LOL I have asked that mnay times myself, and its the same reason that I like GM. He has driven fords since he was a youngster, has had very good luck with them, and is comfy with them. Likes their opotions for work vehicles and has many of them, so parts interchange. He also likes the powerstroke diesel, which is a good engone, and they only come in fords. I am sure Geoff can answer this better than I did, and I hope he didnt mind. While looking for a new truck, check out GM, they may have left over 2000 models and with the new 2001 coming in, you may be able to get a real good deal on one. I know guys in my area that have bought 2000 k-30 p/u with air and 4x4 for a little over 20K Dino [Edited by plowking35 on 11-19-2000 at 02:33 PM]
Dino's right. I have had good luck, so I keep buying them. Plus the other bennefits of things interchanging, and good dealer support. Geoff
I was in the same boat last summer, this is what I did. I bought a new 1 ton 4x4 with a new plow. My employees drove my 2 old trucks, durring two storms the two old trucks both broke down and I had to plow everything with the new truck, these problems were not due to neglect of preventive maintance, but problems that happen with older trucks,ie alternator went, wiper motor went, headlights stoped working. My feeling is think of a new truck as an insurance policy, it also helps to sell jobs, finially find a friend that also plows so you can back each other up, it is better to show up late, and explain you had a breakdown, tha never show up.
If your going new,the Chevy 2500 HD's are great,but they do drop a lot in the nose and their is even less ground clearance on the front end than the older C'k's'.The higher height is acheived thru a factory body lift so the frame is still real low when the plow is up.Dodge gives you the strongets front end in a pickup Dana 60 5200 lb axle.Ford has 4700 dana 50,GM 4250 IFS.You be the judge as to which one will hold the weight of a plow better.I have had great luck with used trucks,around 4-7 yrs old,even some older ones too.So ive kept using them,new truck are nice,but the payment really hurts profits.
Thanks you everyone for the great advice. I will print it out and keep it. Now i have to decide whether the amounts of snow fall we have been getting are workth buying a truck. Last year we only plowed five to 6 times. Not even maybe 4 real plows. Hate to wait for snow and not get any. Most customers want a deal on snow around here so they opt for the per plow rate. I live in michigan. Its a hard decision. Last year i bought two used plow trucks and they had problems and now i need to justify buynig a new one and still have one of the old ones. I wish that i had bought one brand new truck and been done with it.
