Anyone use a Deuce for a hauling business?

[kadetklapp]

I'm always looking for a good side-gig, as law enforcement certainly isn't glamorous to pay for all the toys and what-not in life. I'm thinking a good way to justify the Deuce purchase as well as let the hobby pay for itself is to get a dump-deuce and roll with it.

So anyway, anyone done the same thing? How's your set-up? Any issues with getting Federal DOT numbers or tax stamps? It's a non-CDL truck (usually) so not sure what all would need to done with a surplus vehicle. Does .gov frown upon using the surplus vehicles for commerce?

Guys that do part-time hauling around here are always getting stuck or having to turn-down work due to inaccessible areas of work. I'm surprised I've never seen a deuce in this type of civillian service.

 

[fuzzytoaster]

My plan, that is after i get her, I will offer a moving service in town on CL or stump removal. Otherwise its only limited by your imagination.

 

[greenjeepster]

The deuce isn't going to get you into a site any better than any other large truck. A Mack dump truck has a power divider which kicks in and basically locks all the rear wheels in for muddy situations. A deuce has 6x6, but only three wheels are actually powered at any one time. So the Mack will have power to 1 more wheel than a deuce does.

You get one of these things stuck you are going to loose a profit margin quickly in wrecker fees.

Also you will have to register it as commercial vehicle (pricey) and insure as such (pricey).

It's load rating is 5000 lbs on road... that is basically one yard of stone compared to a small dump which can haul 6 yards. It's suspension can handle more weight than that, but it's brake system cannot.

They are dreadfully slow.

No power steering.

All things to keep in mind.

 

[SCSG-G4]

it's 5000 pounds OFF-road, 10,000 on road for a deuce. But you are correct about the brakes!

 

[73m819]

"A Mack dump truck has a power divider which kicks in and basically locks all the rear wheels in for muddy situations. A deuce has 6x6, but only three wheels are actually powered at any one time. So the Mack will have power to 1 more wheel than a deuce does"

the mack normally does not have lock rears so when the mack power divider locks in only one wheel on each axle will pull, also in the older mack power divider set up (not air controled), if you break an axle your dead in the water

 

[duffman1993]

 

[greenjeepster]

Well lets make that 2 yards of stone, compared to 6 on a small dump truck

 

[wldrbob]

well my brotherinlaw had a verry nice kenworth and when he took posession of it he brought it over to show it off.turned around in the yard and down she went both front tires .couldnt move at all . hooked the deuce up with 2 cords of green wood on it and out it came . if he had front wheel drive he would have driven out.so i say use it for whatever you need to. only 3 wheel drive but the front one is the important one. and you can always put lockers. oh ya one company that cleans corralls and feedlots has a fleet of deuces with big spreaders on the back they love them no more pushing the trucks out of the feedlots .they just get them moving and out they go .wish i had video darn.

 

[emr]

fast answer is u are not the only person to think of useing a Military 6X for use to make money, Actaully those after WW2 were way ahead of U and alot of others, And they all found out these are tactical vehicles, and require alot of maintenence, and are tough to drive, and as for reliability to make money in a civy world , these are antiques, and one will find they better love there truck and know what they are getting into, U can kill alot of people on the road in one of these, Just saying, And remember if the truck ever lets a person down or gets gets a person stuck, it is driver error, never the trucks fault, Like dropping a jack shaft because one did not know they come loose and fly thru the floor board and crack the tranny when pounding down the road for awhile..and so on, seen that happen twice..... Every nut and bolt needs to be retightend every so often, the more used the more work to the truck, just my thoughts, all the best and good luck...randy

 

[wldrbob]

i never found my deuce needed more mantanance than my other trucks . dont drive the thing like a crazy idiot and it will last as long as anything else.once you put new bearings and seals in your rearends its prolly 90 percent like brand new maybe more.same goes for all routine maitanance.

 

[Snarky]

The reason people will be so negative about putting a deuce to work has nothing to do with the capabilities of the truck. They are trying to steer you away from it because they want the truck preserved. That in itself is not a bad thing, but they'll feed you all kind of stuff about the truck's capabilities and reliability, most of which is hear-say from a 3rd party, or about trucks that had been driven hard.

A good condition deuce will do it's job of hauling 10000 pounds all day long, they require no more maintenance than any other diesel truck. The only sore spot is the single circuit braking system, and all you have to do is periodically make sure you have fluid, the lines are good, and there are no leaks.

A local aggregate company here has a small fleet of 'deuce and a half' based hauling trucks, they range from legitimate deuce dump trucks, to M35's modified with a dumping bed, to bobbed deuces with dumping beds. It's not rocket surgery but it is up to you to keep your equipment up to snuff. The deuce will do whatever though.

 

[greenjeepster]

i never found my deuce needed more mantanance than my other trucks .

Is that it in your avitar? Looks like it needs lots of maintenance.

 

[wldrbob]

my truck runs and drives great i use it in the bush and for farm work its lisenced and all brakes lights etc work its a 1956 and at least i know what im doing with it not like a lot of ppl that have one because they think its a status symbol. and if you dont like the steering lay off the computer and do some weight lifting.

 

[clutch]

ive hauled up to 8 tons of stone with mine. u just have to remember its an old truck its slow and drive carefully. i drive a six axle sterling for a living and i know the deuce will go far more places than the sterling even with full locking meritors in the rear.

 

[roscoe]

I use mine for hauling landscape materials. Skids of stone, mulch, topsoil, trees, shrubs ect... I plan to put a dump setup on at least one. They will haul up to 14 cubic yards of mulch. As compared to my 23k gvw GMC Topkick its much better. The only advantage the Topkick has is speed unloaded. I found the deuce seems to have the same performance loaded or unloaded. I typically don't drive fast anyway - so speed is not a problem for me. The topkick will get stuck on wet concrete and that drives me crazy. As far as maintenance, I've only had my deuce trucks for a year, but so far they have been less trouble and have yet to let me down.

 

[wldrbob]

nice to hear about a truck used right not ran full throttle through a mud hole,then complained about cause it cost them money to fix it. remember ever hr of play equals at least 2 hrs with a wrench in your hand. goes for quads skidoos bikes rock trucks etc. if you run them hard they will break. i know i have first hand experience with breaking things. lol

 

[roscoe]

I have commercial plates and insurance. Depending on the weight on the plate, tags should be $285 - $400. Went up this year in IN. Insurance is about 300/year/truck for basic liability(older guy with no tickets).

 

[wldrbob]

thats not bad our rav 4 is 1200 dollars and its just all purpose . my welding truck is 850 deuce 135 farm licence

 

[wreckerman893]

It has long been my plan to make my hobby pay for it's self.....it has yet to happen.

I just tagged and insured the M915 and went in the hole around 800 bucks and that is for six months insurance.

I have not put a paying load on it yet.

I have hauled scrap metal (my own to sell) on my deuce and a load of gravel......the gravel was a payment to my buddy so no profit there.

If I were going to use an MV for a commerical vehicle I would go with a 5 ton dump or a M915.....both can be had for around 5k and have power steering.

I plan to put a removable flatbed on my 915 and also build a lowboy to pull with it.
The installation of a wet kit would allow you to pull a dump trailer.

I will probably stay under the radar and skip the DOT number crap.....I do hold a valid CDL and medical card.

 

[wldrbob]

hey wreckerman what type of metal art do you do .i do wrot iron gates, railings and custom signs that sort of thing