bkw134 Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Hello. I am new to the site and I was wondering if I could get some help from yall. I am trying to convince my dad to buy a semi, because we farm grain, and my dad hopefully is going to retire from chrysler this fall, it will give him something to do. I personally was thinking about a Mack tractor with a 40' frameless dump trailer. I figure that way we could haul grain, as well as in the off season could haul gravel or whatever. What do yall think? What kind of truck do you think we should look for? Does anybody else done anything like this? If so how did it work? Well I thank-you in advance for any information you could give me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambi80 Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 (edited) Hello. I am new to the site and I was wondering if I could get some help from yall. I am trying to convince my dad to buy a semi, because we farm grain, and my dad hopefully is going to retire from chrysler this fall, it will give him something to do. I personally was thinking about a Mack tractor with a 40' frameless dump trailer. I figure that way we could haul grain, as well as in the off season could haul gravel or whatever. What do yall think? What kind of truck do you think we should look for? Does anybody else done anything like this? If so how did it work? Well I thank-you in advance for any information you could give me. The 39' frameless trailer would be perfect. Just make sure it has a plastic liner in it before you go haul anything other than grain!We bought a 39' Vantage frameless with 60" sides around the 1st of the year. It's worked perfectly for on the farm so far. I had to lobby my dad for quite a while when he wanted to replace his old hopper trailer with a newer one. Be prepared to spend $20,000 or better for a decent used one though. I guess you'll have to throw a price range out there for us to determine what to tell you to look for. I bought my truck in April '07 for $24,000. It's a 1997 CH 613 and it had 550k miles on it at the time. 427hp, 187" wheelbase, 2 line wet kit, air ride, 18sp, the 'premium' interior, all aluminum wheels, twice pipes and engine brake.Truck and trailer empty weight, with a full tank of fuel, teeters around 29,000. Gives you a 25 ton load with some room to work with and about a 920 bushel load of corn. So total investment...truck and frameless trailer was around $50,000. Trailer is a '98, by the way. I'll put a picture of my truck on here if I can figure it out. Edited March 24, 2008 by Gambi80 Quote Ever wonder how a blind person knows when to stop wiping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkw134 Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 thanks for the thoughts. Money is a thing i have to keep in mind. He really doesn't want to spend of 40-45K. Obviously the lower the better, but we don't want junk either. that is a nice truck ya got there. I appreciate your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambi80 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 thanks for the thoughts. Money is a thing i have to keep in mind. He really doesn't want to spend of 40-45K. Obviously the lower the better, but we don't want junk either. that is a nice truck ya got there. I appreciate your thoughts.Go to www.truckpaper.com and poke around to see what things are worth. Chances are you'll be able to find a truck cheaper than a trailer. A truck for what you want to do would be along the lines of 350-400hp, 9 or 10sp, air ride and wet kit. A little either way of 190" wheelbase should be good enough to keep you axled properly and short enough to maneuver. The rest is all in how fancy you want to get. With air ride you can have a gauge on it to tell how much you have on the axles which is pretty accurate. Make sure the 5th wheel can be blocked up and moved. How much, what and where do you farm...?? Quote Ever wonder how a blind person knows when to stop wiping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkw134 Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 thanks. i have been looking there for a little while now. well we farm in northern IL. we have corn beans wheat and some hay. between our family we run about 900 acres, that includes some custom work. my uncle helps us out all the time, but his eye sight is getting bad, and we don't know how much longer he can continue to help us. so instead of him driving tractor and wagons on the road, we could use a semi. that is kind of the game plan anyways. You got a nice setup there with your tractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambi80 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Coincidentaly, I too am in northern IL...LaSalle-Peru area and farm about the same amount. My dad is looking to retire and my brothers and I are trying to figure out who's going to take over. Might come down to a fierce game of paper-rock-scissors. If you have any more questions feel free. Quote Ever wonder how a blind person knows when to stop wiping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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