My First Job with my Truck and Tractor.......

[Stanley Steamer]

Still making a few tweaks here and there, got a few more small things to do, but I decided to test the truck out by hauling some mulch to use for the driveway into the In-laws back yard where I'll be parking the trailer.....

Here's 4 cubic yards on the truck.....the mesh tarp with bungee cords worked great to keep the mulch from blowing off the truck...made a tight seal all the way around the bed.....and I couldn't really tell there was a load on the truck...that 350 V8 with a 4 barrel will .....suck some gas!..... ........







It only took about 15 mins to use the tractor to spread out this pile roughly.....and about ten mins of hand raking to knock off the high spots....about 30 mins max.....

This is about 450ish square feet at 2-3" deep......




Here's just the BX25D on the trailer with my DOT chains and ratchet binders...



And the truck and trailer ........

[Patrick]

Nice !

[Robert]

 

I hope this will be the start of many more for you, good job!

[scooperhsd]

Be thankful the truck doesn't have the 455 4 barrel carb - you can watch the fuel guage go down  when using it for all it's worth (mom and dad had a '72 Olds Custom Cruiser S/W  that we used to pull a 24 foot travel trailer (about 4000-500 pounds) that had that monster. Could pass everything except a gas station....

[The emperor has no clothes]

Looking Good. I`m still thinking you need that Cousin Cletus pic on the doors though. 

[hal47]

Looks like your on your way,wishing you all the work you can handle.

[sandy]

You're going to have to change your handle to "digger".

[Stanley Steamer]

You're going to have to change your handle to "digger".

Uhhhhh, I haven't even taken the lock pins out of the backhoe boom yet...not sure when I'll break that in......

[cookiedough]

yah,  gas mileage sucks with any V8 when pulling a load.

I normally get 17 avg mpg unloaded normal driving my 1/2 ton V8 truck, but I recently pulled my 4000 lb. loaded up enclosed trailer and got 13.8 avg mpg.   I guess not too bad?? 

[Alpha Dog]

That's a nice set up Mr. Steamer.  You are in business with out a huge investment making payback time and potential to expand much easier.  Hard work is all it takes and I am sure you are more than up for the task.  Best of Luck
Chuck

[jimmytee]

   At least for now, the gas prices are not too bad.

[Skinhead]

When it's time to expand, get a duramax diesel to haul all that stuff.  Congrats on the bidness startup and I agree, "Cousin Cletus's landscaping N'at" on the side of that truck would be awesome!

[Mr Whiskey]

That's a nice set up Mr. Steamer.  You are in business with out a huge investment making payback time and potential to expand much easier.  Hard work is all it takes and I am sure you are more than up for the task.  Best of Luck
Chuck

Ditto
(Couldn't have said it any better myself!)

[da prez]

  Stanley , go for it and best of luck. Work it as a side business (if I remember ,you still have your regular job)until you are doing enough hours to support yourself. I started my own business and ended working over a hundred hours a week before I finally hired help. I quit my other job in about three weeks as I could not keep up. 
  FYI , I do not know your state law , but in Illinois , a back hoe must have a separate chain on it even if it is chained to itself on the machine. It must be a three point tie-down. DOT tickets are expensive.  Please just check so you do not have to support a donut eater. ( no offence to our LEO's)

                               da prez

[cookiedough]

good point on DOT rules/regs, learn them.

In WI I did not know anything over 3000lbs. total weight inside and trailer combined has to have a trailer brake controller hooked up to tow vehicle.  If ever stopped and asked to see inside my trailer,  they can surely see 1600lbs. inside and 2500lb. trailer is surely over 3000 lbs.   The trailer dealer said tickets like that can be expensive.  When I registered,  I ONLY paid  yearly registration fee for 4500lbs. combined weight rating, but could have done 6000lbs. for another few bucks per year, technically trailer can hold combined weight with trailer of 7700lbs..  I doubt the law enforcement would require me to go to a weigh station or check that closely though just in case I attempt also to squeeze my Valk inside the trailer making it close to 5000 lbs. total weight.   But, you never know especially if involved in an accident??

[Spirited-6]

Stanley, you can bet that no one will wish you the best more than I ! Grab it by the horns ! 

[Stanley Steamer]

I finally connected the truck and trailer today and loaded the backhoe up on it to test the trailer brakes...the truck had an OLD Tekonsha brake controller in it, and I was taking it for granted that it was going to work right....wrong.....I had found some instructions for one that looked pretty close to the same as the one I have....I tried it all the ways I could, no go....I had to cut the hot wire to it and put some wire nuts on the ends to let the trailer brakes release(don't tell Randy I did that.... ).....

The truck ignition switch has been kind of touchy too..I think I'm going to need a new ignition switch...guess it's "old" in 31 truck years speak....replacement ones are cheap, but I'm going to have to get Randy to do that for me.....I don't have a steering wheel puller.....once I got it cranked though, I took it for a short trip from my In-laws to my house to see how it would pull...no problem.....you can tell there's some weight back there, but it wasn't really straining it too much......I unloaded the backhoe and dug up a small stump from an old juniper.....didn't even scratch the paint.... ....wish I had of had this a few years ago when I dug all the previous shrubs out by hand..... .....I figure that one little stump cost me almost ~$30,000 to dig out.....

[cookiedough]

I just bought a new Tekonsha Primus IQ brake controller with wiring harness for 95 bucks on amazon.com

It is a proportional brake controller much like the more expensive ones without the added price, does the job.   Same one at trailer dealer wanted 117 bucks for it without the extra wiring harness.

I could have used that backhoe to dig up my huge/old lilac bush taking me 2 hours to dig with shovel and chop up with an axe the roots and all the way around the roots (3 foot wide hole by 1 foot deep).  Something you could have done within 30 minutes easily. 

Spread the word or advertise local in the paper might get you a few side jobs.  Even most local grocery stores have a board on the wall to advertise for free.   You get 3-4 jobs done,  word of mouth will spread and you will become very busy eventually. 

[Stanley Steamer]

I just bought a new Tekonsha Primus IQ brake controller with wiring harness for 95 bucks on amazon.com

It is a proportional brake controller much like the more expensive ones without the added price, does the job.   Same one at trailer dealer wanted 117 bucks for it without the extra wiring harness.

I could have used that backhoe to dig up my huge/old lilac bush taking me 2 hours to dig with shovel and chop up with an axe the roots and all the way around the roots (3 foot wide hole by 1 foot deep).  Something you could have done within 30 minutes easily.  

Spread the word or advertise local in the paper might get you a few side jobs.  Even most local grocery stores have a board on the wall to advertise for free.   You get 3-4 jobs done,  word of mouth will spread and you will become very busy eventually.  

Yeah......I looked at this one too......need to get one made in THIS decade for sure....

http://www.amazon.com/Tekonsha-90160-Primus-Electronic-Control/dp/B001P11SCM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1448242918&sr=8-3&keywords=tekonsha

I have a feeling I'm going to be very busy come this Spring...got a few co-workers who already are wanting some stuff done...

[cookiedough]

yep, that is the one.  The box doesn't say it, but inside this primus IQ box is about 9-10" of wiring with the plug in ONLY to the unit in back with the 4-5 wires coming out to wire into to your truck wiring.  85 bucks is a good deal, I paid 10 bucks more to get the plug-n-play wiring harness for my 1/2 ton truck.  Took me 1 hour to do, but 20 minutes of actual install time once I figured out how to route the wires and where to place the unit.    My optional plugnplay wiring harness was just barely long enough at 32" to get the wiring from left kick panel, up under the steering wheel lower dash with 3 cable ties and right above my right gas pedal on lower part of the dash.    The unit shuts off after 15 or so minutes of non-use so as to not run down your battery or I could simply just unplug it from the back of the unit when not in use as well. 

The trailer place said this unit by tekonsha is what they sell and  recommend does pretty much all the more expensive ones over 100 bucks will do.    Product does say made in Mexico though but at least not made in China.  With a name like Tekonsha,  you'd think Japan, guess not?

[The emperor has no clothes]

Tekonsha sounds Native American to me.