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mobile mechanic rates

Started by mike_belben, January 17, 2019, 04:48:23 PM

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snowstorm

i dont remember anything good or like able about the 360 now the 351ho i got in 84 was very good 100 times what a 360 was

starmac

I guess it depends on the guy, and what he expects out of them, for my uses I liked the 360 better, the 351 ho wrapped up faster but I never got the mileage or the torque I did with a 360. For a quick engine, I liked the 351 ho's, but I also liked the 65 ---67 352 interceptors just as well, maybe better. Both engines to my tastes were better suited in a !/2 ton than a 3/4, I actually liked the way a 300-6 pulled better than the 351 ho. I did like the snappiness of the ho though, just wasn't my favorite by far, 77 up I was pretty much a 460 type of guy.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Corley5

  My other Grandfather had issues with two 360 Fords.  One was a 1972 and the other a 1974.  Both were F250 Camper Specials.  The 72 was an oil burner almost immediately and Ford wouldn't do anything about it.  He traded it in on the 74.  He didn't learn his lesson.  At not very many miles a wrist pin worked out and scored the cylinder wall ruining the block.  Ford refused to stand behind it and Grandpa had to buy a new short block for a very new truck.  No sign of the wrist pin keeper was found and general consensus was that it was left out at the factory.  That's why this side of the family never had much to do with Fords ;) ;D
  My Dad bought a brand new 1999 Dodge 1/2 ton with a 360.  We were @ an auction one day and he said does it sound funny?  I hadn't paid any attention until then and "Whoa that's bad" was my response.  Someone didn't put a keeper in a wrist pin on that engine.  Chrysler stood behind it and put in a new short block.  I told him to insist on a new crate motor but he didn't.  They're all good and bad.  
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Dave Shepard

I've seen people defend a lemon just because it was their brand, and I've seen people hate on a good truck just because it wasn't their brand.  ::)
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

starmac

I have basically always been a ford fan as far as pickups goes, but other than town cars or the older gran marquis, preferred gm for any sporty types.

I am not entirely racist though, as I have and use ford,chebby and even dodge.

I am kind the same way with semi's, I have KW's, a binder and my log truck is even a freight shaker.
For Alaska I prefer a KW, but am more partial to the binder running the lower 48, so it just depends on what I am doing with them.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

SwampDonkey

My grandfather (mom's dad) always had Fords, up until his last vehicle, which was a Toyota 4-Runner. :)

Jim Irving (big forest company up here and oil, all private owned) always had Ford in the woods. His father had the first Ford dealership in NB I believe. But last summer I have been noticing Toyota's appearing in their fleet. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

mike_belben

no factory is in the business of selling you the last truck youll ever need.  If you want an honest to God bulletproof rig, youll have to collect all the ingredients and build it yourself.  And with that said it will either be a tough truck or a comfy truck but rarely both.   
Praise The Lord

barbender

I've never came across a Ford V-8 that impressed me very much. They made all the right V8 noises and such, but not much in the way of power or acceleration. I could never understand why they couldn't seem to match a Chevy 350 with anything. The good ol' 350 has set me back in my seat in everything from sports cars to 2 ton dump trucks. Ford's current 5.4 is a very very sad engine, anyone that thinks a Chevy 6.0 is gutless needs to take a spin behind a 5.4 pulling a load. Btw, I could care less about brands I just like stuff that works😊
Too many irons in the fire

mike_belben

Ive towed car trailer sized loads, lets say 6k or so.. With a 5.4 triton and a 6.0 chevy that were family members trucks, a few times each.  Neither had any issues being in the flattish massachusetts region we were in.  but neither were ever gonna compare with turbo diesels up in hill country VT/NH/NY/PA at 26k gross. Both trucks ran until they rotted out and i never worked on either which suits me fine! 

A solid 'meh' either way.  Passenger pickups.  Meh.  They both ran better than this 351W turd of mine but its what i got.
Praise The Lord

mike_belben

I had a k30 SRW with a 350/th400/4.11/32s and headers/dual exh/4bl.  It was fair towing around town but needed a 4th gear for interstate and was a slug up any real hills.

My 12v would have beat it in a drag race with the k30 in the bed of the dodge and thats that for me. That foot to the floor and theres nothing left feeling is not ok.  I want to know that theres enough power left to explode something important at any given time and any given load.  30psi or bust.  They all get 9mpg and i dont feel the maintenance is any worse on a diesel.
Praise The Lord

Dave Shepard

If I tried to describe my 5.4 Ford with anything close to an accurate analogy, I might get woodsheded permanently. The 6.2 is a different story, not to mention its in a truck that doesn't ride like a trainwreck. 
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

mike_belben

Just when we were about to empty the ash trays for coins, i get a call to go weld a tractor loader back together tomorrow.  Havent even told anyone i was in the fixit biz yet.  Thats gotta be a good sign.  

I'll be draining the lawn mowers for gas in the morning.
Praise The Lord

Kwill

Built my own hydraulic splitter
Built my own outdoor wood stove
Built my own log arch
built my own bandsaw sawmill
Built my own atv log arch.
Built my own FEL grapple

barbender

The Chevy 6.0 I had experience with was typically pulling a 6000# load, and it had plenty of power for that. Way better than the 6.5 diesel powered rig it replaced.
Too many irons in the fire

Ron Scott

 
 A couple logger service trucks pretty well equipped to take care of on the job needs.


 

~Ron

mike_belben

Found a scrap of 2" heavy wall EMT that came in the fill dirt and demo piles of last summer, set up my bender and got to work building a filler neck tube.  Simple as it is, this thing was a royal pain in the pewp shewt to make.  You cant stack bends very close on a 2" x 6.5" centerline radius die and they just werent sharp enough for the tank nozzle junction.  Nor was there any room to see anything.  My fingertips are the only thing that did any looking in here and it took me a few hours today just getting the boot and hoseclamps on the tank.  Dont even know if its gonna stay attached.   Had to be 50x crawling under the truck, im about sick of that project. 












Way more trouble than i expected.   On the plus side i sold the 42s today for $300 which brings my cash outlay on this truck to about $600 as it sits.  Working on a miller bobcat trade and building an engine driven compressor stat. 
  
Praise The Lord

mike_belben

The box on that F superduty is what i wanna get onto my international in a few years.  The quarry had one sitting on timbers in great shape that i bet i can work off pretty quickly.  No crane is only drawback
Praise The Lord

barbender

I shoulda got a pic of one of our service trucks today, just to add to the conversation.
Too many irons in the fire

starmac

I like the way you have your bender set up.

I have always wanted a crane on a service truck, well I should say a nice crane set up. I have built some different ones over the years that were basically get by units.

2 Years ago, we were at an auction where there was a ford service truck. It had a 3208, nice box and crane setup. The problem was you could not crank, nor drive it and it had mechanical problems written on the window. it had a 3208 for power and everybody assumed the worst. The logger I worked for got it for 1250 bucks. I put batteries in it and fired it up, the only mechanical problem it had was a leaking wheel cylinder, everything on the pto driven crane worked including the engine start from the remote, except the fast idle, but the new module for it was in one of the boxes. It did not have an air compressor, but I happened to have a heavy hydraulic industrial comp, that I gave him.
He wound up with a very nice setup for less than 1500 bucks all in, less a welder and torch set up.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

mike_belben

Thanks man.  Air and welder/genny is all i'd really need to do handrail or mobile roll cage.  I have a notcher too.


I never really did auctions. Working at junkyard spoiled me.  no bidders, no auctioneer premium or entry fee, and an unlimited amount of time to tinker and kick tires before i bought it or just verbally put something on hold for a few months then change my mind without harm.  and it didnt cost me any money either.  I brokered equipment sales on commission and worked off all my trades.  It was addictive and scored me way too much sweet, sweet junk. 
Praise The Lord

starmac

Years ago I traded my busted up goldwing for an 1800 international wrecker. Since I had no use for it, the only logical step was to buy a wrecking yard. It was about as much hobby as it was making a living with it, but I sure had a lot of fun trading for the couple of years I had it.

I have had some pretty good luck at auctions, MOST times.  I passed on a super clean first gen dodge cummins dually service truck, because I could not hear it run. It sold for 2500 and ran like a top. If I had jumped in on the bid, it may have went for twice that or more, you just never know.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

mike_belben

Well your logic is sound, i will give you that. 
Praise The Lord

starmac

What I meant by hobby, was I had and made my living with a dumptruck at the time. The wrecking yard had recently crushed out and didn't have many cars in it. i built it up and it payed the help, payed for a shop I built and before I got rid of it, it was profitting well enough to support a family and all the help, PLUS all the trading I did. It actually was not a bad deal. 

Later years I I kind of had another one basically what I accumulated from having a shop and wrecker service for almost 10 years, it is amazing how much stuff a guy winds up with.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

mike_belben

No seriously.. Im like wrecker.. Yeah that leads to wrecking yard. Just the natural progression.  Wrecker beds should come with demo torches by law. 
Praise The Lord

old-iron-habit

Quote from: starmac on February 05, 2019, 07:19:51 PM
The reason for the high cost charged by cat on the slope, is they have to fly the mechanics back and forth every 2 weeks. They also have to put them up in a camp and pay for their meals, at probably 200 a day or more a piece. It is just a logistics thing.

They actually lost money when they increased the rate, and now can't keep mechanics as they don't draw wages just because they are there and available.

Good luck running a service truck and keeping a flexible schedule. I ran a couple of them out of my shop for 9 years. It was a 24/7, 365 days a year deal and I had to just dissappear out of town to get any time at all off.

Trucking is not for everybody at all, and really the industry is designed to be a 70 hour or MORE if you run your own, but it has it's rewards too.
My health has pretty much limited me to running my log truck, which is by far the least hours I have ever worked, but also the least money too, but at least I still enjoy it and can somewhat handle it.
I have been reading these posts and will add some comments based on being in the industry, construction and logging for 50 plus years. I do not see how any one with a 1 ton service truck and a good head on their shoulders could operate for much under $100 an hour port to port. You need to get paid to drive to the work. If you were home working in the shop you would be getting paid. You need insurance, + workers comp on yourself, sooner or later you will get hurt. Your truck and tools are not free, again insurance, maintenance, replacement in time. You need to pay your self a living wage and putting some away for retirement. If you are not meeting these requirements you are only fooling yourself and will probably end up with a low SSI payment when you finally draw because your reported income was always low. Remember if you have more work than you can handle and can not keep up, or never home because of to much demand on your time, your rates are to low. You should not be getting every job, that is a warning sign for any business.

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