Logging truck

mike_belben · July 08, 2018, 06:16:50 PM

Are these logs at the landing 61 miles away or they need a logger too? How many board feet are getting hauled and what species?

You have a big skid steer. What have you got for a truck and trailer to move that with?

mike_belben · July 08, 2018, 06:18:46 PM

Regarding your swirling thoughts.. I lost it all a few times. My advise is in stormy waters, avoid debt. The less debt you have to service, the larger and longer a crisis you can weather.

Puffergas · July 08, 2018, 06:40:21 PM

Loan your uncle the money to buy the truck. I'm sure he could pick up some extra hauls to fill in.

David-L · July 08, 2018, 06:57:57 PM

Best thing I ever did for my Logging business is buy my own truck. Once its sorted out , and with low use breakdowns aren't often but do happen. For me its my schedule and no more calling wondering when the independent guy is coming. loading trailers, Is crucial for me and having your own truck allows that. Also nice to peddle some pole wood for $ once and awhile. I say assess the truck thoroughly and have a game plan in place. I will mention that I am the mechanic so that could be a make or break.. Good luck. I have a 1988 Mack RD690S with a 300L motor and a 120 Prentice, Tough as nails those Macks are.

Skeans1 · July 08, 2018, 07:21:52 PM

This is from a different part of the country but trucks are a necessary evil to have, the guys that don't loose out on jobs or are waiting to get one. One think we don't see out here is a ton of owner operators there's some but they're always with someone who has company work because it's steady work with a set rate.

Corley5 · July 08, 2018, 08:26:52 PM

One thing you need to think about is that when/if a correction comes it's the little producers that get axed first. Mills look out for their highest producing logging firms and lumber companies look out for the bigger mills.

mills · July 08, 2018, 09:09:51 PM

I think we've had this conversation a couple of times. I don't want to haul any more than I absolutely have to, and try to contract the hauling out as much as possible, but I'd be up a creek without my truck. Either their schedule doesn't match mine, or their truck is too big to make to the landing. Nothing worse than a weather front moving in, and the trucker doesn't show up. Had a couple of times where veneer logs got stuck at the landing because a trucker didn't show up before the rain.

Busysawyer · July 08, 2018, 09:30:18 PM

Dave I'm not certain what size truck. I told him what was there and he said it would be a partial load. He said it was self loading with a pup trailer.
Mike I do have a truck and trailer and already picked up one load. Was about 10000 bf there and we brought back maybe a 1/4 of it if that. It looked like 3 or 4 more trips to us. There was a loader on site and the logs are stacked along a nice wide driveway. Pickup is 4 miles off the main highway, drop off to me is 1/8 of a mile off the same highway. Most of it is walnut.
I'm not going to go into debt but we reached our spending cap and if I go much further I might have to sell one of our rental properties. I have a decent nest egg but the vast majority is wrapped up in rental homes and a few properties.
Puffergas, not a bad idea but I'm not sure how long or how often he would drive, he is retired. My dad said he wants to get licensed to drive as well.
David l that is a pretty sight. It looks like you can haul quite a bit with that set up. I was an auto mechanic for a few years and have a stockpile of tools but never worked on the big trucks. At this stage in life I feel my time is better spent an generally pay a mechanic for work. He's been doing work for me for a few years asnd generally comes to me and uses my tools. For what he charges it's hard for me to take the time or hassle of doing it my self.
Skeans, the guy that is hslimg this load for me owns his truck but said he is contracted to someone and will be running my load in the evening after he fulfills his prior obligations.
Corley, my thoughts exactly. These places could easily set up for more production themselves but I think everyone's still feeling the sting and it's less risky to supplement than to expand. When the demand drops off they just drop the little guys .

This is the one load we brought back. Originally I thought 2 loads but I'm new and don't have a clue and it's more like 4 or 5

mike_belben · July 08, 2018, 10:15:53 PM

Did you happen to scale that load? If its legal and your state doesnt make you get an A license for it, maybe hauling like that when you have to isnt so bad?

What about sending your uncle in that rig? Or renting a log truck?

Is there always a knuckleboom on site to load you up? Out here small loggers mostly run cheap old 4 post straight trucks and farm plates. F700s, L9000s, IH's.. Even seen a few chopped school bus log haulers as well as plenty of cab chassis 1tons with welded bunks for hauling 12s and shorter. Can get into those for $4-6k and not sweat a recession.

BargeMonkey · July 08, 2018, 10:51:58 PM

Honestly if the truck isnt thrashed and you broke down the cost of trucking for 3-4ld a yr without major breakdowns you would come out even. A straight log truck is cheap to register, if you stay under 6k miles you dont pay HUT. I would starve to death if I was dependent on someone else to truck wood for me.
A truck of that age isnt really going to lose money, that's not a bad price but you want to look it over, the obvious things are what hurt, new rubber, breaks, springs, it doesnt take long BUT you also know what you've got when you do buy a truck and start going thru it.
Mack superliner cabs are getting rare here, the hoods bring good money, make sure the cab isnt glued on.
what's it got for an engine / trans / rears ? a 120 prentice is a tough loader, couple hoses a gr.

Matt601 · July 08, 2018, 10:59:16 PM

Do you need a loader? If you really don't I wouldn't have one on my truck. I have 2 bobtail trucks one with a loader it wt in at 27,500 other one is 20,000 I can load each truck to 55k so I get 7,500 lbs of more wood with the one without the loader. That paids for the fuel.

The truck in the pic you posted looks very familiar. I think it was a guys that only had it a few months and got tired of logging and sold out.

Get the best truck you can afford. I like internationals I just love how they run.

Busysawyer · July 09, 2018, 12:01:22 AM

Mike, we did not scale that. That rig belongs to the guy in the pic. A good friend of mine. He has a cdl and is the friend that family owns the railroad company. That truck is his personal truck and he said without dot numbers he didn't want to go over that amount of logs for fear of being obviously overweight and getting a ticket. He thought that load was overweight. Due to a horrible tragedy in his family that I wouldn't feel right discussing here. None of their big trucks are insured at the moment or else we would have taken this rig. It was parked right next to that gooseneck and it would have only cost me fuel and a six pack of beer when we got back to my place. We have considered renting a truck but figure for what we want to do we would be better off owning .

Barge monkey, thanks for the advice. That truck pictured was sent to me as a suggestion of what type of truck he thought would suit a new guy like us well. We haven't started looking at anything yet. Going to have to sit down with the old man tommorow and try to figure out how much we want to spend. I think I could swing about 30 grand without too much worry but anything over that and I think i would have to sell one of the houses or properties or do something I really don't want to do and finance. I have a beautiful 22 vacant acres on a river south of me that I only go to and walk maybe once a year. The neighbor offered me 80k for it last year. He started off at 50k about 6 years ago and slowly ups his offer year after year. I've considered selling that place for a long time and it would be quick cash but I was thinking one of my kids might like to build a home there someday.

Matt I think I need self loading. Most of the time there will not be a loader on site and my bobcat won't lift high enough. Guys tell me I could build a dirt ramp with the bobcat to load and unload but that sounds like a pain and wouldn't consider it a long term solution by any means.

barbender · July 09, 2018, 01:07:06 AM

At the risk of talking out both sides of my mouth, "Buy a truck! Don't buy a truck"😁 If it is to serve your purpose and keep you on schedule, and keep you in logs, by all means- buy a truck!👍 I think it could be a tremendous asset. If I was running my mill full time, I would want a smaller truck myself so I wouldn't have to be dependent on others schedules. I could've summed up all my rambling by saying, if you need a truck go get one, just don't do it thinking you're going to save money😉

snowstorm · July 09, 2018, 05:59:58 AM

the mack ad says 10 sp. if its really a 8ll thats good if its the old rt1110 or the super 10. no. if you cant drive it and fix it you got no bussiness owning one.

mike_belben · July 09, 2018, 07:40:13 AM

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Kinda like an open ended fortune cookie that doesnt make things any clearer. If you are debt free, have property and equipment.. then you are in better shape then 9/10s of america. If sawdust is your cash flow and logs are interrupting that for lack of trucking then something needs to change.

Few questions on this guy who will haul for $700 a load: is he running a self loader straight truck or self loader trailer? How many bd ft can he fit legally? If the next job is closer is it still $700/load?

Corley5 · July 09, 2018, 08:45:10 AM

Once you develop a relationship with a trucking company and prove you're a reliable, steady, client rates may very well come down.

Busysawyer · July 09, 2018, 10:14:05 AM

Barbender , I was really vague in my first post but i figure if I can come close to breaking even and have a truck to show for the money spent instead of just a bill being a trucking company I'll be happy. I figure I can use the truck for bringing finished product to the buyers as well. I really think that I'll get a lot of use out of a truck.
Snowstorm, I'm going to figure out a price range today and start searching. I'll post whatever options we are considering here and hopefully you guys can tell me the pros and cons of those options. It's not that I can't drive or fix a truck. I have driven the big rigs short distances and feel confident I could drive anything. My friend tells me getting a license would be easy. I had my own mechanic shop and still have my snap on box full of overpriced snap on tools. I owned a very succesful welding, fab shop and still have most of my metal working tools. I'm confident if a man put it together I can fix it or rebuild it. It's just that at this point in my life I feel my time is better spent elsewhere and I no longer enjoy that kind of work like I used to. I'd rather take my kids to the park than get under a truck.
Mike, I think he's running a straight truck with a pup trailer. I don't know how much he can haul. I told him I'll have another load next week that is 15 miles from here and he told me to try and find someone else but if I couldn't he would try to help me out. We don't own all of our properties out right but most of them are paid for. My family has done very well with real estate. We have ten kids and if I died tomorrow each one of them will have a house to live in that is paid for. My mother grew up dirt poor on a farm in a single room house with 5 siblings. That house is now a chicken coop. She is the reason why the family is doing well now. She worked her but off , I hardly saw her growing up . She was always out working on her next real estate deal. She taught me the value of hard work. I started working in the muck fields and picking blueberries and had a paper route when I was twelve. She made sure I knew what it was like to struggle and work hard. When I got older she invested in me and helped me get going. She always told me that I would never make it anywhere working for someone else, it takes money to make money and it's not necessarily what you know but who you know, figure out a way to make money while you are sleeping and above all else be dependable and stand by your word. Now that I am older she tells me not to work my life away and to make time for my kids and she doesn't want me to do what she did and miss watching my kids grow. My mom is a heck of a woman and it is going to ruin me when she gets called to her next life.
Corley, that seems to be the consensus. It's going to be hard to do that because they all seem to have plenty of work. I don't think there is anyone around waiting for their next haul.

mike_belben · July 09, 2018, 11:03:23 AM

God bless her.

Sounds like a truck wont be a lawn ornament for you and you should just go get one. Deep reduction, walking beams and locking power divider are mandatory IMO. If you can find a full locking rear i would lean that way. Being able to get in and out without needing a twitch is priceless.

Busysawyer · July 09, 2018, 12:44:22 PM

Well in typical dad fashion he doesn't agree with me on my comfort level of spending. I told him 30k and he thinks much higher. He found what he thinks he likes and I think he's off his rocker. Said he wants me to pull 30k out of my account and he's going to cover the rest. This is what he's looking at. What do you guys think of this truck?

Mike, what are walking beams?

Corley5 · July 09, 2018, 01:35:34 PM

How many miles are on it and what's been done to it? 490 HP is a bit light on a Michigan Truck. Most guys are running 600 HP plus. Check the frame at the back of the cab. They break there. Sercos are good loaders.

Busysawyer · July 09, 2018, 03:59:34 PM

Corley, do you have anyone in MI I could contact to try and find a truck to buy. Thanks

chevytaHOE5674 · July 09, 2018, 05:45:01 PM

That last truck is at "skeeters" in 3 lakes Wisconsin which isn't far from me. I drive thru his lot every time I go by, and there is nothing on his lot that I would pay close to asking for and nothing that I would buy unless I planned to go over it with a fine tooth comb and dump a bunch of money into. Most of his stuff has been rode hard then rode hard again.

After working for a guy who had a log truck that was much newer than what your looking at, it was the worst thing he owned. Every dollar he profited on the logging side of the biz was blown keeping the truck legal and driveable. Best day he had was when it went down the road.

Busysawyer · July 09, 2018, 07:34:19 PM

Chevy Tahoe. Thank you for the insight on that truck. Do you know anywhere reputable? I find it kind of funny on the varying opinions and storys I hear. One guy tells me buying a truck was the best thing to do and has over a million miles. Says that truck has paid for itself 5 times over and was very profitable then I get the story's like yours. The best thing I ever did was send my truck packing. Seems to be about a 50 50 one way or the other.

barbender · July 09, 2018, 08:52:08 PM

Busybeaver- the first thing I would say is, a go getter like you will probably make it work whatever comes your way and that makes a huge difference when things aren't going right. Now, the question I have looking forward is, do you want this truck for odds and ends and filling in holes in the log flow, or do you want to haul the majority or all of your timber yourself. The first truck you pictured would fall into the first category, the second one is getting into the latter. However, I think if you want a real production rig you have to look at spending more $$$ so you don't buy someone else's pile of headaches.

Corley5 · July 09, 2018, 09:29:22 PM

I'll make a call tomorrow. I know a guy ;)

These trucks that have paid for themselves five times over were more than likely speced right, purchased new, and taken care of very well.
Used trucks are typically sold for several reasons and should have very big buyer beware signs in the windows
With the lack of trucking down there have you thought about buying a new truck and keeping it on the road all the time?