Saturday, October 20, 2007

Semi trucks for the really rich farmers...

In my analysis and search for a semi truck for the farm, I came across this site - Shelby Elliott's Used Trucks of Sikeston, MO. Shelby doesn't sell just any kind of semi truck; no, he sells the type of trucks that would make a hip/hop artist drop his bling-bling in lust and desire.

Need a late model Peterbilt with built in shower/toilet, stove, and 550 horses of Caterpillar power? Shelby can fix you up. Want a rig that needs 40 acres to turn around but will impress the lot lizards? He's got what you need.

The price for these rigs? Money is no object for those who feel the need to bake a sheet of cookies while hauling a load of corn to Eddyville. At $160K, you'll be riding like a king.

I'm being a bit silly here; there are probably owner/operators out there that enjoy these big rigs, especially when driving across country. My guess is that they've saved enough money to own one, especially toward retirement, and want something they feel is part semi truck, part RV.

However, it is often easy to see semis with large sleepers pulling grain trailers. If the point of having a grain hauling rig is to maximize the amount of grain on a load (thereby reducing the number of loads), then why waste space and weight with a sleeper? Get a day cab, aluminum wheels and lightweight engine and haul 1000 bushels legally instead of only getting 890. What do you think, Windy?

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bob; Windy finds your semi search amusing. In fact down right funny coming from an Ia. State man and former Farmers Union Big Wheel who doesn't even have a dog to wash the wheels on his pickup, let alone a Peterbilt with aluminum wheels. The big shot farmers with black Volvos and Freightshaker have sleepers to haul their dogs to keep their aluminum wheels washed. When they finally get up the hills to Eddyville and Lucerne, they always let their dogs out to go do the washing. When I bought my new Wilson Pacesetter, 8 aluminum wheels cost 1200 bucks more than the steel ones and weighed only 240 pounds less. At 4 more bushels per load and 23 cents per bushel, it would take a long time to recover the 1200 bucks. Old men can't stay awake for more than 50 miles, thus the sleeper. And a sleeper costs about the same as a day cab. Just wanting to keep those former Farmer Union guys up to speed on knowledge. WINDY!!

7:24 PM, October 21, 2007  
Blogger bgunzy said...

Hey, it does work for you, Windy! Good deal!

The "sleeper costs the same as a day cab" argument is one I've heard, but let's face it; you can get a daycab for as much, if not less, than a similar sleeper rig. You've just got to do more shopping.

Yes, I've bit the bullet and gotten me a semi truck. 2001 Intl 9200 DAYCAB w/ an ISM, 10 sp OD tranny, 4.11 rears, aluminum wheels and fuel tank, and 587K miles. Checked it on the MFA scales; 14,800 lbs with driver and full tank of fuel. Put it with a 9000# trailer and we'll be hauling 1000 bu of corn legally. What will your Peterbrick do, 850 bu?

5:33 PM, October 22, 2007  

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