Upgrading Truck

[High Country]

My old semi is getting tired, looking around there is lots of used semi trucks. Anyone have any dealings with Heavy iron truck sales in North Battleford? Any where else I guy should be looking? With all the emission stuff now a days which motor have guys had the best luck with. Curious on peoples experiences with Detroit's DD15. Will be pulling tandems and tri axles.

[seldomseen]

It would be good to hear some opinion's on Trucks.
I can't add much about newer one's because I don't own one. I do like the ones I have because they don't have check engine lights and fuel is controlled with a steel rod.

One is a 87 Kenworth T800 with a Cat and the other is 95 Kenworth T800 with a Cummins.

[LEP]

We have 2 - early 2000 detroits, 1-1987 cummins, a couple pre 2007 Cats and a 2005 cummins. Cats have guts but I wouldn't want to pay to rebuild one. The cummins is ok but has been retired from a super b to a tandem axle trailer. The detroits eventually get so they will barely pull but run and run.

I have been around a few Paccars that haven't been a problem once they are deleted.

Personally I would look for a pre - 07 anything but would give preference to that vintage Cat. I use my trucks for farm use and relatively shorthauls.

I would expect Taiga and Helmsdale would have good comments on their preference for heavier road use.

[helmsdale]

Newest "X15" rather than ISX cummins *seems* to be holding up. You're looking at well into $100,000+ to get into that vintage however. Ne as rly every single ISX on the road has been reman'd at that magical 500K km... Plenty of guys delete and chip, at reman time. Some continue to be plagued by issues, some never have another moments trouble.

No personal experience with Detroit. Friend has a DD15 only rated at 475 that hes had from new and he hasn't touched it. I know others that are on 2nd remans.

Cats are a thing of beauty pre 07. BUT, parts are getting out of hand. Rebuilt my 05 BXS twin turbo january of 2020 and a completely reworked head, gold rebuild pkg, 2x turbos, water pump, liner shims, and a few other odds and ends, was 45K in parts alone. I went with gold rather than platinum after I established my old head was rebuildable. Long story short I dont believe in Cat "platinum" packages anymore. The head shipped for reman #1 was likely barely within spec, and ended up costing me an early reman #2.

[SASKFARMER]

Phone Wadena Prairie West.

[Old Cowzilla]

3406 E seemed to be one of the better ones, clean ground wires and replacing the coolant level sensor seems to fix yellow lights. Don't hear much about Volvo except they can be as pricey as working on a Cat. All about dealer support as usual and this old stuff can't last forever.

[furrowtickler]

We have a DD15 in a tandem . Once we “fixed” the dpf system it seems very good.
Have been told they can be very expensive to overhaul as well , but that seems to be the story for everything now.

[blackpowder]

Fwiw. I only look at kw anymore. A lot of little things add up.
If it's brown, turn it down.
Ddec detroit's can run forever.
My mechanic says pre 07 or post 14? I think. Never Navistar, wouldn't want a ISX. Also, be careful who did deletes.
Otherwise, full lock ups.
I've been lucky privately. Trucks have been cheap for me, but I don't go far. So I don't plan on overhauling anything.

[bucket]

Fwiw. I only look at kw anymore. A lot of little things add up.
If it's brown, turn it down.
Ddec detroit's can run forever.
My mechanic says pre 07 or post 14? I think. Never Navistar, wouldn't want a ISX. Also, be careful who did deletes.
Otherwise, full lock ups.
I've been lucky privately. Trucks have been cheap for me, but I don't go far. So I don't plan on overhauling anything.

What is your longest haul?

[High Country]

120 mile round trip at the most, and short hauls around the farm

[blackpowder]

Anything over 20 miles I hire done always.
Even then if winter I hire it.
My trucker charges $.75/ tonne more now than in '12. ~6.75/t. My costs easily half with no wages factored. (5 axle)
2/3 of wheat goes to terminal off combine, 1-15 miles.
My trucks must still be safe and reliable. Here, however, they can also be disposable. I would never want so much invested in a truck where I felt compelled to overhaul an engine. Haven't scrapped one yet.
Like I said, fwiw.

[LEP]

My fist truck had a series 60 detroit. It was an old Kindersley Transport truck. Ran good. I took it in to get a crankcase pressure check and they said it had 42,000 hrs on it. It had obviously been overhauled a time or two. I put over 4,000 hrs on it myself mostly idling hours at the elevator or auger. Had to Use a wire to keep the dipstick in at the end.

[blackpowder]

Idling for sure hard on them all.

[helmsdale]

Best trucks I've seen picked up used were 2 x T800 H&R trucks bought at RBauction about 12 years ago. They were in the million mile club, 7 or 8 years old at the time, and had N14 Cummins's. Those damned things put another million miles on next to trouble free for $25K each.

[TOM4CWB]

Best trucks I've seen picked up used were 2 x T800 H&R trucks bought at RBauction about 12 years ago. They were in the million mile club, 7 or 8 years old at the time, and had N14 Cummins's. Those damned things put another million miles on next to trouble free for $25K each.

Watch to see that the truck is mouse free.

Can spend major time and money getting mice gone... no fun watching them run across the dash etc....

Heard new Claus combines have desirable wiring harnesses... organics are tasty...