Dougster

Looks brand new too!!! I sure hope the old LC didn't do anything illegal to get it!!! Maybe he won that Powerball lottery that I've been trying to win for so many years???

And MAN... talk about extending range and customer service area!!! He could haul that damn thing well over 100 miles and still get out of the cab relaxed, rested and fresh as a daisy! 15 damn miles of hauling my toys around here and I want to go back home and take a nap!!!

I wonder if Lone will speak to us anymore now that he has moved up into the big leagues???

Dougster™

LoneCowboy

answers:
It's an 2003 Freightliner Columbia with a midroof sleeper. MBE 425hp (about 1550lbs of torque), Eaton 10spd, 500,000 miles, very clean as you can see. 212" wb. I put a 2 line wet kit on it and I put another 100gal fuel tank (other side) which isn't hooked to the truck, but has a electric pump for filling the tractors. It's a clean look, I'll try to get a picture. However, these things don't come full from the dealer. It went to $990 and the pump shut off and it WASN'T FULL!!! (pretty close though)

The trailer is a 2000 Trail King TK70HT. As someone mentioned, it has a hydraulic tail and that upper ramp is also hydraulic (it's up in the pictures, it can come down). The tail unfolds and you have a 12' ramp. Takes about 30 seconds, with no actual labor involved.

We simply couldn't move the batwing without two trucks. Tractor on one trailer, batwing on the other. HOok it up and take it off, then turn around and hook it to the back of the tractor. (about 15 minutes), but it takes 2 trucks and 2 people to get it there. When it's close, my wife would just go home, when it's far away (and we already go a good 100 miles south), she simply has to sit there all day, not worth driving back. So, 13mpg dividided by 2 trucks is 6.5 mpg, plus tire wear, truck wear, etc. Long term, the theory is that this should be cheaper in maint and equal in fuel(maybe better, the MBE is supposed to get really good mileage) It's not even close to loaded. Sitting like pictured it probably weighs 50k lbs, as someone said, we can get up to 80,000lbs , no problem. Air brakes actually work (Like you wouldn't believe if you have never driven one) as opposed to electric brakes.

There are some places we simply won't be able to get into. Typically though we can park on the street (rural streets, nobody cares), or for some smaller spaces/customers, we kept the plow truck and the smaller trailer.

We had to sell the MF (remember) mostly because of taxes, but we used that money and then traded truck #1 in on the trailer. Payment isn't bad because i put a lot down. (big payments scare me). Unlike a pickup, a 100,000 miles hauling with this won't change the value of this at all, where a pickup will be dead or close to it.

I bought it for the tractor plus batwing and realized late in the process that I could probably get both tractors on it. As you can see, I'm right. (that's the first time we ever loaded it). And that's the longest they are ever equipped. When we do big aerating/seeding jobs, the attachments are even shorter, so should be less of a problem and a lot more efficient. I also had them hook in a line to the air lines, so I can blow out the radiator, fill up tires, etc.

It does, however, take up ALL of the yard.

yes, a Class A with air brakes CDL is required.

Brian H
Longmont CO
Pasture Maintenance
NH TN75DA, NH TC45D,
06 Chevy Duramax 2500HD
03 Freightliner Columbia MBE 460

Dougster

Unbelievable Lone... just unfreakin' believable!!! I am duly impressed!!! That is an amazing step forward you have taken and I sure hope it works out for you! Nobody can say you aren't serious about making that business work and work bigtime!!! Mama Mia!!!


Dougster™

GreenWannabe

All I can say is "WOW!!!!!" Sweeeet!! Have fun with it, and may the business be yours.

Fred

Mickey

Nice looking rig LC. It does look like a Freightliner.

1970 Bolens 1257 w/tiller
2005 Cub 3204 48" deck
Yanmar Fx24D
5' Howse rotary mower
RSB 1300 Yanmar tiller

Dougster

I still can't believe this magnificent deluxe rig that Lone bought. Holy Cow!!! Obviously, I am in the wrong end of the business and LC is in the right end of the business!!! Folks have told me since Day One that I've got to spend more money to make more money, but so far I've only got the spending part down pat... so much so that I am fast approaching dead broke!!!

Dougster™

GreenWannabe

I wouldn't be too envious - how would you ever park anywhere near your work site with one of those? If you tried to park onsite, you probably wouldn't have enough room left to even unload - - and given the streets in the eastern Taxachussetts area, how would you even get a rig that size to the site to start with?

But looking at it, anyone needing to haul their stuff would be envious!!

Fred

Dougster

Hey Fred - You are 100% correct that a big rig that long would be unworkable here in the congested residential streets and narrow, curvy backroads of Eastern Taxachusetts. Not a single job I've had in two years would have allowed me to park or even maneuver a truck-trailer combo that long anywhere near it... but that wasn't really my point.

I'm not a grass cutter and LC ain't a ditch digger! We could both benefit from superior hauling rigs tailored to our particular services and markets. The big difference is that LC has been far more successful than me and made it happen (and is to be highly commended for it!)... whereas I am still floundering rather badly here.

Dougster™

GreenWannabe

You reckon there's more money in grass mowing? Of course, there are more and larger pastures in Colorado!

Fred

Mickey

Doug, what you got to do is be more creative in your thinking. You might want to see if you could acquire one of those mini-Freightliners out her at antique powerland. You'd have the looks of LC's rig but in a more compact size. Might even be a bigger head-turner being a scale model of a full sized rig. And the reduced size would fit in with your congestion issues.

1970 Bolens 1257 w/tiller
2005 Cub 3204 48" deck
Yanmar Fx24D
5' Howse rotary mower
RSB 1300 Yanmar tiller