Was offered 3 graintrucks for 1k is there money to be made?

Hi guys

I found a couple trucks sitting in a field 2 months ago and finally tracked down the owner here are the specs

68 gmc 5500 with a 400 v6 no box no bed single frame single axle and a shot cab wants 250 for it gvrw 15,500

74 c65 with a 366 v8 no tranny gutted rearend no bed single frame single axle wants 250 for this one to gvrw 17,400

then he says he has a nother oen in teh shed so i looked at it and that one is like a 69 c50 with a 20 foot steel sided wood flooed box on it tandem axle 366 v8 4spd tranny 2 spd rear 9.00 20 tires all around with good tread says teh seal in the top of the hoist is shot but the truck runs and drives and he wants 500 for that one with title also the gvrw on this one is 33,000

so my question is this

I could juggle some money around next month to buy them but the place i can take them will only pay me 125 a ton for them, but i get to yank the radiators and take them somewhere else.

i dont know what any of these weigh empty so does anyone know if there is profit to be made on them when i have to have a friend come haul them for me ($75.00 per truck)?



I was hoping to make enough on the 2 junkier ones to make the better one cheaper for me so i can repair the hoist take off the box sides and use is as a iron hauler or would i be better scrapping them all out or just walking away from the deal??

I'd be a little cautious on this--trying to run that old gaspot dual axle for a scrap truck may be a heartbreaker. Costly to keep operational and costly to put gas into. Less than 10mpg, I'll bet. Also, I think you will run into regulatory issues with a truck with a load rating above 29K lbs.

You probably would be best to scrap all three out, pulling out the higher valued stuff like the rads , pulling wiring, selling any decent tires, etc.

Hopefully someone with some detailed experience will fill in some of the things you'll need to know about getting a heavy truck on the road.

JOn.

I have done similar. Scrapped a 65 ford tandem dump truck, I think a 33klb Truck? can't remember exactly. It had a 360 v8, and two transmissions- main and a 3 speed auxiliary. Took 3 long days with help.
Day 1:
Drag out of where it sat for 30+ years, took 2 pickups to move because of being sunk in dirt. Remove box, take to yard- about a ton, and not prepared price! THe trailer we hauled that with was actually more rigid with the box strapped to it! (Be careful)
Day 2:
Strip the good stuff! Radiator, heater core, Air compressor(air brakes), Starter, Generator, Air horns!, Copper air lines, brass fittings- all the brake lines were copper-Not DOT approved any longer!
Day 3:
Cut frame behind cab. Come-along front half onto gooseneck trailer(1/4" at a time), take to yard. Go back and do the same with Back half.

We sweated those days- middle of summer. Ended up with over 7 tons of iron at close to 280 a ton. Plus the non ferris, which went with other piles we saved.

Lessons: Have a way to catch the oil from the dump hydraulics- was close to 40 gallons in there! Demo saw with steel cutting blade is awesome for cutting old rusty frames! -But bring your cutting torch for inaccessable areas. Dont let anything heavy fall on you!! Be safe!

At first, I thought of getting it running and driving it in. Bad idea, it was a mess- only fit for cutting up. Besides, if DOT caught us, we would have been strung up- Safely, of course!

How much is he wanting got the truck.I would think you will have some work ahead of you but should make a decent pay day.

Also if any of you see a abandoned car at a abandoned house i can run the vin and get the owners name and such for you.

Junkman- why not just haul a grain truck in whole ? Seems like a waste of time to me. Id pull rad, and any other goodies and
Send the rest to the yard.[/QUOTE]

We cut up the dump truck because it was too long and heavy to fit on our trailer legally. We had to pass a notorious DOT hangout on the way to the yard. We also got 2 dollars more per hundred pounds for the tandem axels than the front half, and 5 more than the bed.

if they are in decent condition, some shops like having a vintage style truck to beat around on.

If you were closer I'd have you send me pictures. I'd love to make one into my toy hauler

Those old trucks are super simple for operation. Just need to know basic mechanical skills and some hyraulics to have everything functioning properly.

appreciate the answers guys two of the trucks have bud rims the 74 has daytons and 75 each is what it will cost him for gas to haul each truck he has international flatbed hauler that we can put the two single axle trucks on but i could probably drive the c50 to its grave if that was the way to go on it we were figuring that the ones without beds would weight like 2.5 tons each because they dont have beds or anything like that on them and figured the complete tandem would weigh about 8-10k but the grain box is in nice shape if we got it all done in one day it would only be 100 cuz the yard is only 10 miles from where the trucks sit but if we only did one a day thats where the extra cost comes in beacuse he lives 60 miles from where the trucks are

Originally Posted by taterjuice

Does that 2$ offset your cost of labor and supplies ?

I would MUCH rather have hauled it in as one piece to save time and $$. BUT, our trailer was too small for that, so we cut it up. It was the best we could do with what we had to work with. Paying someone to haul would have eliminated the profit- we checked on it first.

I agree with Tater. If the tires hold air I haul them whole. I have a tow hitch that adjusts to different size bumpers that I just hook onto and tow them in after pulling the valuable parts. This hitch has saved valuable time and effort. I use magnetic brake lights that I just plug into my truck so I just pop them on and off without much effort. I would recommend this tow hitch if you have a good size truck and lots of vehicles to haul. It was one of my better investments because I work by myself and sometimes have to move several trucks between job sites.

Any updates on this? I'm sure a few of us would like to know how this went.

they are stuck till spring but i am gonna get them paid for over the winter sort of like a savings plan for the spring i know it sounds pathetic putting scrap on lay away lol but i think i got a few parts sold off of them