I have decided to go it alone and be an o/d…I am looking at a 2006 Daf 380 8x4 tipper with a Epilson 120 grab…I drive a 360 8x4 auto with an Atlas 118 grab at the moment in my job…I am quiet happy with the performance etc of the 360…Do any of you guys know of anything i should look out for before i sign up for the 380 it has done 187000kms…
Any input appreciated…
il move this to the owner driver forum.
Seymie:
I have decided to go it alone and be an o/d…I am looking at a 2006 Daf 380 8x4 tipper with a Epilson 120 grab…I drive a 360 8x4 auto with an Atlas 118 grab at the moment in my job…I am quiet happy with the performance etc of the 360…Do any of you guys know of anything i should look out for before i sign up for the 380 it has done 187000kms…Any input appreciated…
Hi Seymie.
Im in the same boat looking for 6x4 grab but often keep wondering shall i go for 8x4?
There a loads more 8 leggers out there for sale than 6 wheelers, i did put a post up about a month or so ago about which make to buy ,whats the best crane/ grab but it didnt attract many replies, perhaps not many grab drivers on here?
Ive noticed that nothing in this line is selling from dealers ive been looking for about a year now more seriously now as olicence should be gointg through soon. ive seen grab lorry tippers been for sale over a year,some dealers lower the price some dont and some even put them up ,ugh?
I nearly bought a 03 ex balfour beatty daf 75 310 bhp 6x4 but was put of with what looked flimsy dropsides the body was not a well known make and as we want to chuck concrete at it all day i backed out.
on making enquiry on tipper makes /bodies etc i came up with this and i hope it helps.
You need on a tipper at least 10 hp for every ton carried so ;32 ton lorry at least 320 bhp needed on a 26 ton tipper over 260 bhp needed.
Scania; Often underpowered paying for the name always 5 or 6 grand overpriced because there a Scania, not that relaible ,my fitter hates them always bits falling off imtold to leave alone!
Merc. Strong powerfull no messing truck,reliable but if they do go wrong big£££s hold price well and great for export,ive always noticed with merc bodies especially if there the flat sided bodys always rust very bad i know that nothing to do with merc but the tipping bodies seem alway to be rough but of course that can be sorted.Some of the gearboxes makes driving a pain!
Daf; Great trucks apparantly no thrills but reliable and plenty of horse power esp on the 26 tonner if its got the 310 bhp engine, parts easy to get.
Iveco; Nope not pit friendly,looking old hat now but often cheap enough,not good sellers.
Volvo; Like Scania paying for the name but well worth it this time excellent tippers.
They tell me as for grabs the Kinsoffer bucket is the kiddie matched to an epsilon crane also atlas very good ,Hiab ok!
Bodies; Thompson muck away bodies with hardox floor also Charlton. Tipping gear; Harsh /edbro.
There i hope this helps you Seymie.i was very green about all this a year ago but im learning fast,the above thought are just what ive gathered over the last year its just my opinions im sure many other will disagree but as i said there are not perhaps to many tipper drivers on here.
Please let me know what you do and how it all goes as im very interested! We feel that although work in the tipping haulage game is poor at the moment we feel that with our own concrete crushing recycling game,our own muck away jobs and recycling type hippo bags we think there is enough to keep a grab tipper goin for most of the week and when work picks up?? (when??) we will already be up and running.
I must admit a year or so ago i would just not get into haulage let others have the pain but just by keeping an eye on lorry prices esp tipper /grabs theyve come right down and still dropping so there really are some bargains out there,but of course running them is as expensive as ever.
Keep in touch mate.
Tricky Dicky.
Word of warning on the DAF CF…
The CF75 that was the base truck on the mixers was a 320 @ 26 tons, 8 speed box, but at 55 mph was doing 2500 rpm, and was pretty gutless, but do bear in mind I guess that the Hyd pump for the drum took some horsepower… Personnally I would have liked a different box in them…
As a truck, minor niggles, gear linkage had to be replaced at 200,000 kms, back springs were weak, really had to nurse them as easy to break one leaf, grease ■■■■■■■ on the prop shafts, grease once a week without fail, never had a major breakdown, and all the mixers guys rated em as reliable.
Tricky…I have been on the grabs for many years now…you seem to have decided on 26t vehicle for your operation and would say that the best value combo would be Daf cf 310 with Epsilon crane…Good enough power,reliable crane with the daddy of all buckets(kinsoffer)…I have operated a fair few cranes and to me the epsilon wins hands down in every way…I would keep well away from Mercedes…I got 3235 from new with an Atlas 95.1…I had no end of problems with the crane mostly hoses popping,it also had to have a new pump fitted after 18 months as for the lorry it was gutless and had the gearbox replaced twice in 2 years …Tricky if you need any more info PM me and i will help you all i can…Good luck with your search…
hi Seymie.
Thanks for your reply. All points noted.
Funny enough talking to a firm that runs grabs up north far far away from us and hes got a merc 2632 thats the bigger engine on a 26 tonner,its on autotrader now.
Anyway Have decided against it, because i wont get any finance on it because its not a trader , the buck is in orange, yuk so that a few quid needs spending straight away plus its done well over 200k. I enquired about it because i liked the fact that it had a long reach grab @ 8.5 metres a 600kgs grab and a quick release grab and a specialy made body this all allows the crane to fold right up tight behind the cab,brilliant for us to then drive plant on the buck.
But still at £ 25k on an 04 a bit pricey from a non dealer and prices are still going down,in fact cant ever see them going up despite what some dealers are saying!
lets keep in touch let us know what you do in the end.
tricky dicky
Tricky how is your search going…?..Today I am going to have a look at 04 MAN 360 with an Atlas 95.2 and Volvo 05 340 with same both 8x4,and ex self drive …
The MAN is at SHB and i know they have some 6x4,s for sale mostly MAN, i will get some details for you if you want…
There does seem to be plenty 8x4,s available just now some very reasonable…
Keep in touch mate…
Seymie:
Tricky how is your search going…?..Today I am going to have a look at 04 MAN 360 with an Atlas 95.2 and Volvo 05 340 with same both 8x4,and ex self drive …
The MAN is at SHB and i know they have some 6x4,s for sale mostly MAN, i will get some details for you if you want…
There does seem to be plenty 8x4,s available just now some very reasonable…
Keep in touch mate…
Hi Seymie;
Must admit i still dont know whether to go 8 or 6 wheeler the only thig i suppose is that for some of the local boys doing driveways in small cul de sacs an 8 legger could be a handfull we also want to send out our crushed concrete in one ton bags and also do a pick up rubbish away in those very bags as well so a 6 wheeler would have its advantages but it all needs weighing up ,do you come back for that 2nd muck away load and in effect get 2 muck aways out of a job where a 8 legger might well pick it up in one go, certainly swings and roundabouts.
Does seem more 8x4s out there for sale than 6 leggers and it is a buyers market despite what the dealers say,the other day a monday on ebay there was 14 pages of trucks for sale monday is always a busier day on ebay as i think the boss comes in after thinkin about whether to sell over the weekend arrives in the office on Monday AM and says " Slap the bloody thing on ebay "
A big problem is do we hold on a while i spoke to my insurance company the other day ,Towergate very helpfull guys there i asked if they could give me a run down of some prices of lorries in the " real world " and was told that a 6x4 £ 27 k Daf 04 epsilon, Kinsoffer,low kms from a dealer would only really be insured for approx 19k to 21k because thats what they value it in todays market so if my 27k lorry got written off or nicked one day after purchase a possible pay out of 19k would happen! Blimey.
Also ive just sat and read the Contract Journal magazine and im afraid its very much more doom and gloom ,despite a very small bit of confidence returning to a few markets the bulding industry reckons because of virtually very little government spending in the next few years loads of civils have no works after this year some big names in there as well! This will mean that a flood of late grabs /plant etc will always be hitting the market ,great for us the buyer ,great if our finance is low or non existant on it but will are 26 k lorry today be 19k in a few months time hmm,hard one or do you just say " bolox im goin for it " Sometimes the best way!
As for you looking at a Man today good luck please dont take my word for it im a plant man dont know my lorrys but very quickly learning, we often have a local 52 Man tipper grab pick our muck up the Atlas 90 is always breaking pipes not the end of the world but still annoying one pipe the other day they just could mend themselves so Atlas at great cost had to come out, also theyve had severe engine turbo problems which cost apparantly nearly 20k, always going wrong.
LCV vehicle hire from leeds seem to have a good choice of grabs at the mo but so dear,do they ever sale at that price? They have a nice red and black Scania been told not to touch Scanias but i must admit its right in our colours so no repaint needed there but again far to dear 39k on an 05!
Have you seen the 8x4 white 02 Volvo epsilon looks superb down in kent at Truckbuster,looks like new but i think they want 37k ish far far to much in this climate plus my finance company wouldnt touch it to old they said.
Best of luck today mate let us know your thoughts?
or are we bloody mad ■■ yes
Tricky dicky
Seymie hi
What did you decide to do in the end are you going for it mate??
Me well im scratching my head one moment i say yes the next a big no no.
My biggest problem is that i notice the same ole grabs /tippers for sale week after week ,month after month and some over a year prices are only going one way and with the state of " Browns Britain " at the moment its defo getting worse and this " green shoots " thing is rubbish.
So why should i buy now at @ £25k and the lorrys worth £15k in 12 months time thats 10 k ive got to earn just to stay still!
Also diesel keeps going up by the week but being British we put up with it and pay whatever and government 2p a litre going on soon blah blah blah!
But not ruled it out completely i will still being buying Truck trader ans commercial motor first thing in the morning!
give us a clue on what you think !
tricky dicky
Tricky PM sent…
hi semie, I too am on the grabs and plant trailers and rates down here are a pittance to what they were twelve months ago £55 an hour last year and grab outfits are doing it for slightly more then £30 now. It’s tough seymie competition is fierce.
I have spoke to tricky about the dilemma he is in some months ago he is still mulling things over now… A few lads at work have bought off kellberg top dollar but very fine wagons fitted out to your spec mainly HMF 1144 all daf 380 (410 really,) and they have some decent enough second hand one’s
You are right about mercs keep clear M’way wagon’s. Atlas 95 twin blocks and out of spec ,Epilson and hmf all the way I have loads of hoses bung a few quid to have a few spare next time the fitter is out to you.
The company I work for have auctions quite often mainly 6 leggers tatty bodies but well serviced cranes and lorries they have to be the amount of Audits they do and I’m sick to death of doing 12 risk assesments a day H @ E are stopping a man doing hes work.let me know and I could put you right on a good 6 wheeler… All the best and good luck
Hi Mucksavage.
When you say rates are down to £30 pound per hour in some places, i take it this is a daywork rate and the tipping and materials are supplied by the Utility company but you supply the diesel■■?
If so, say a 10 hour day @ £30 per hr = £300, less deisel per day bloody hell thats not good could end up with under £200 per day.
Have i got that right? would be a lot better if the firm supplied the diesel as well?
Tricky D
Just adding my thoughts on this, but I’d like to make it clear that I’m not or ever have been a grab / tipper driver. I am however a driver for a plant hire firm and have driven 6 & 8 wheeler plant bodied rigids extensively.
From what I notice, and I see quite a bit the only people that seem to run 6x4 grabs are utility contractors, everyone else seems to use an 8x4.
You can get an 8 wheeler into most places, it might take a bit of effort, a good driver and a bit of luck and an extra shunt over the 6 but if you get a good driver it should be no problem. I have had some horrific sites to get in and out of but usually managed, have a think aout some of the places you’ve seen roll off bins in places - pound to a penny an 8 wheeler put it there.
Now there are some places where the above isn’t going to be as practical, Cornish villages, that sort of thing. When I used to do IOW regular I never saw another 8 wheeler over there, plenty of 6’s and 4’s
Best of luck with whatever you choose.