New truck for the 07 season (diary of my truck history)

[Snyderserv5060]

Just a bit of history... Started the business years back in late middle school/high school doing local yards. My 1st truck was an 87 Toyota 4X4 that I got reasonably cheap and was sufficient at the time. Worked well til a lady side swiped my trailer going 35-40 full of mulch...needless to say her car was totaled, my trailer was barley scared (other then the fender) BUT the rear frame on the toyota was all bent up and no longer usable for towing. Previously it was 32" BFGs, a grill gaurd and better paint... It sat around a while I contemplated projects for it (off road crawler). However toyota's and rust kinda go hand in hand so I just ditched it all together. Here is a pic of it just before I donated it:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/TalontedTSi/DSCN2415.jpg
(yes its a bit rough but hey, it was a start)

Once the truck was hit I needed to locate another fast with not all of my accounts close enough to ride the mowers to. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who worked at the local dodge dealership and had access to the trade-in's. So from this I was able to get my 2nd truck a 96 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 V8. It was a good truck, low miles, reasonable price since I got next to nothing for my toyota but it was a regular cab so having workers was a pain. Truck worked great for about 2 years but we grew enough that we were def overworking it...plus jobs not super close proved to be fun going on the highway with a 16ft trailer, 2 60" exmarks and a walker (48"). I have a pic below of the Dodge but its not the greatest quality:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/TalontedTSi/DSCN0808.jpg


Now, currently...I will be starting off 07 with my new truck. Its not brand new but its new to me and quite capable. Its a 2001 F350 7.3 PSD Dually, oh and a crew cab to carry help. I searched around here in MD for a while to locate a good condition F350 with the 7.3 but with all the road salt here a lot of them had rust and or high miles. Interestingly enough the same friend who worked at dodge had moved to georgia BUT worked at a car dealership who could buy trade-ins around the US. He located me the truck out of Texas. It was clean, reasonable miles and for a PSD it wasnt much, great price too considering he worked there. The stipluation was shipping or fly out and drive home. So well, we flew out and drove the truck home. It was used by a family who had/raised horses and traded it in to get the newer model F Series. Full lariat package with leather, Tow package/camper package... Leather was not a real want for the work aspects of the truck but hey its used all year and not just for working. I also got an extended warrenty with it :) Here are some pics I took when I was on vacation in the Outer Banks North Carolina:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/TalontedTSi/Daullyonbeach062.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/TalontedTSi/Daullyonbeach064.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/TalontedTSi/Daullyonbeach063.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/TalontedTSi/Duallyonbeach06.jpg

I got it bone stock... The stock tires may be good for towing and all but I use this truck on the beach, jobs on and off the road and in the winter here in MD so I ditched the stock tires for 33" BFG's. This season will bring some light mods and a bigger trailer now that im not going to be held back. Let me know what you think, realize im still young, in college FULL time and started this business on my own so I think the progression is going well. Last season it really hit off so thats why I decided to bite the bullet and get the F350! Hopefully a 12k rated trailer this season but I have to sell off mine first so I can afford it.

Jon

Snyder's Lawn & Landscaping :)

[mow & snow]

Look great! How many miles and how much $.

[Snyderserv5060]

I got it with just under 100k, the KBB was $26K+. They were asking $22K for it due to my friend working through a partner company I paid thousands off that. :) well plus the gas to get it back!

Plus the going rate here in MD was a lot more then down south...I looked at a SRW 2000 XLT with 80K and LOTS of rust even to a point where the doors needed body work and they wanted $24k

[Snyderserv5060]

Forgot to mention, since the factory trans went out shortly after I got it, my warrenty covered a new/rebuilt factory unit and new convertor...the tech who did it came out to tell me how clean the truck was which added some reassurance they other owner took care of it

[cgland]

I think dually P/u's are senseless for pulling mowers. (personally, I think they are senseless in the landscaping industry as a whole) Way overkill! I admire your patience and progression as a business, but I think you would have faired better w/ a F250 PSD. It's a little more manageable. Not to mention, I'm not sure of the laws in MD, but in PA as soon as you attach anything over a 10K# trailer to ANY vehicle you need a CDL. So unless you have a cdl I would rethink the 12K# trailer. ( I could be wrong about MD though) It is definately a nice truck if you are using it on a horse farm or are attaching a fifth wheel to it, but for landscaping....................overkill to the nth power.

Chris

[Snyderserv5060]

Well I do appreciate your thoughts and the clear opinion that its overkill however do consider (not written about above) that I tow cars around, purchase them out of state (buy fix sell or keep), commercial machinery, materials (stone, dirt, mulch...) and I hope to continue building the business larger possibly incorporating an interest of home rennovation and such into it. Lets put it this way, I purchased this truck with the idea that the potential in the future will keep growing for the business and I didnt want something that cost not much more now require me to sell the entire truck later and purchase a new one.
While I initially wanted a F350 SRW (cant see a 250 when the 350 was little more) as I drive it around a lot unloaded I considered the advantages and disadvantages of both a DRW and a SRW... So far with the exception of 2 more tires and a touch more diesel consumption I dont see much negative. A F250 or 350 SRW would have been the same size minus the slight width. Maybe a longer walk in parking lots since I park in the back but then again even with my Eclipse GSX I do this for my cars safety. I must tell you the stability traveling around on the highway with a full loaded trailer, even just my mowers is far more comfortable. Additionally, I priced out F250's and F350's in CC, 8' bed and due to my friend helping me locate the trucks the prices didnt vary all that much for a DRW. In the future if I were to do it again I would most definately highly consider another dually and possible a 450/550 if the need was there. So again, your comments are appreciated but I feel that my decision making process to get this truck has and will be even more justified as the season starts and the business grows.

In regards to MD laws, I will do some research before I go loading up too much...thanks for the pointer on that. Currently im not overly concerned as its not often that I will pull large loads and most of my jobs are quite confind in the area.

[chuck bow]

Nice ride Man ......... cant beat a dually. I have 2 chevy duallys and prob will always have them . Always have the power if you need it and never have to worry about it . Dont let anyone pop your bubble , you wanted one and you got it the same as i did .In In you have to have Dot Numbers if any combo truck and trailer is RATED ( yes Rated at ) over 10,000 # If you even had a Half ton with a dual axle trailer you would need a DOT number Most half tons are rated at 6000# plus ( trailer)2 3500# axles equal 13000 #

[DBL]

that truck looks nice i hope shes good to you

[ajordan193]

nice find with the 7.3 the truck will run forever. congrats

[Snyderserv5060]

Thanks, yea I found a few nice ones with the 6.0 but :dizzy: well, too up in the air and reliability questions... Wanted the proven, reliable motor. Lets see what the new 6.4 ends up doing with some time now that they are out.

[Signature Landscaping1]

Sweet truck. Those pics are awesome, they should be on a Ford commercial!

[DBL]

Sweet truck. Those pics are awesome, they should be on a Ford commercial!

yeah it looks like their website pic doesnt it

[Snyderserv5060]

Thanks!!! Suprisingly it was taken with a little point and shoot digital camera (Nikon S1). Ironic that the day I went and played around on the beach was the same day I left the good camera at home but oh well thats how it goes. I was happy with the way the pics turned out but sometime soon ill have to post up some in its working state...when its all loaded up or covered in dirt from a job. However even when it gets dirty I do my best to make sure it gets cleaned off fast, being that its good for the truck and looks more professional in my opinion.

[TGM]

personally, i got a dually because i wanted a dually. it is a little tricky parking, however not much worse than a 2500 ext. cab long bed. sure, a shortbed ext. cab would be great, but i use the bed a lot.

it's time to get an extra 100hp in that thing:cool2:

[Snyderserv5060]

heh, Once spring comes and I get a few other things in line then I plan to! :laugh:

DP Tuner 5 or 6 position chip with an 80 tow mode
Full turbo back
AFE Intake

Then it will be set to go, powerful enough yet driveable enough at the same time.

[DUSTYCEDAR]

i have a 2000 dually with the 6 speed it sure can pull but the mileage sucks with the low gearing in mine good luck with it

[Snyderserv5060]

Considering my 1500 Ram got 11ish highway, I cant complain too much. I got 16-17 (bed loaded and 4 passengers) going from MD-NC. All in all yes its going to drink some diesel but im sure it will be more then worth it in the big picture

[cet]

Great looking truck. You are going to enjoy the leather. It is very easy to clean, the dirt sits on top unlike the cloth where it sinks in.

[Snyderserv5060]

Actually thats they way I was thinking too. I really think as long as were easy getting in/out of it (wear wise) it will hold up and clean off better. Now the hot sun may not be fun but i'll get the front windows tinted. Plus when its not working its nice to drive around a fully loaded truck

[TGM]

i'd just put a towel on the seat during the days that you work, and take them out when it's play time...help keep grass/exhaust/sweat smells out of the nice seats.

[Ideal Lwns & Landscp]

Beautiful truck!! I love the dually also even though I don't have one.