When can you justify a 4x4 arb truck.

[Daniel Jiggins]

Never justify, want and have and enjoy!

 

 

Great philosophy, Life's too short!

[Charles Hey Arborist]

That sounds like a hell of a collection!!! You have what I would like!!! Maybe in years to come! I think the landrover tipper is looking to be the clear winner at the moment. What is the best platform for a tipper? A hi cap or 110 pick up? Can't afford to buy a new chassis can direct from LR.

 

Any landy with a chassis cab is the easiest place to start so you don't have to change any body panels, especially good if it's already 3500kg, some are 3050kg which is a bit of a pain.

 

130s are more expensive but easier to keep the rear axle weight legal, especially if you have tool boxes. But tempting to put a big box on and fill it which would be well over weight. 3m3 is sensible I think. Other day was on an off road job and must have had 6m3 to drive across a wet field, was fine, but imagine it wouldn't have been nice at road speed! They're fine upto 60mph full to 3.5ton if they have decent suspension.

[spikeymikey]

I run an old mk4 hilux and you can find a good single cab for circa 3k, expect to pay more for low mileage. I have had 5 hilux's now of various ages but found the mk4 to be the best, it is the most reliable thing in my life. I have never lost money on any of the ones I have owned and if you look after them they wont cost you much, bits are cheap and it will always be worth good money for export so they are a no brainer for me. Yes they wont hold or tow as much as others but will outlive a landrover any day. my last mk4 went with 260,000 on the clock and never had an engine /gearbox problem at all with no rot and drove the same as my current one that had 77,000 when I got it. If you want a good reliable 4x4 with no fancy gismos and that's a good investment then give one a go.

[teepeeat]

Why not run two vehicles???

If there are two of you you can be a lot more flexible - while one is tipping the other can be moving on to the next site to set up, while one is clearing up the other can nip off to fit in a quote etc etc.

Also means if a slightly bigger job comes up needing more tools, machinery or people you have the capacity to expand temporarily.

If you have a breakdown with one vehicle, you have another to be going on with rather than everything coming to a grinding halt.

Edited November 8, 2014 by teepeeat

[Orchard]

Why not run two vehicles???

 

If there are two of you you can be a lot more flexible - while one is tipping the other can be moving on to the next site to set up etc etc.

 

Also means if a slightly bigger job comes up needing more tools, machinery or people you have the capacity to expand temporarily.

 

If you have a breakdown with a vehicle, you have another to be going on with as well.

 

 

Good point!

[teepeeat]

also meant to say that would having one being idle some of the time really cost you a lot?

If you choose the two vehicles carefully you could cover more varied work and have each vehicle doing work that it is more suited to which will mean less wear & tear, so saving on maintenance and replacement - no slogging off road with a 2 wheel drive if you also have a 4x4 for instance.

Only down side is the additional cost of the second vehicle, but there are plus points if you can get the sums to work re improved income.

[doobin]

Never justify, want and have and enjoy!

 

True that. A wise man once said, 'if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life'.

[njc110381]

Never justify, want and have and enjoy!

 

What he said!

 

Landy Hi-Cap for me too. I think they're very good vehicles for work. Not as comfortable as the jap kit and yes they do break now and again, but they handle tough work so much better.

 

By the sound of your situation a 110 Hi-Cap with high sides should fit the bill. If I remember right you could get 1.6ish cube in the standard bed, so double the height of the sides and you'll be about there. No need to have it above cab height. They also convert to tipper pretty well.

 

Last of all, you can get a pickup with a narrow tailgate (standard 110 hard top tub without the sides/roof and a tailgate instead of a door). I had one myself and wouldn't recommend it. It's a pain, with full length wheel arches too the capacity is well down and it's a pig to shovel out. On top of that the panel structure is different. The rear body is formed from the same panel as the rear of the cab so removing the back body to fit a tipper is much more involved than the Hi-Cap, which has a separate bed unit on the back.

[Mountain man]

Great philosophy, Life's too short!

 

Ha ha, well it would make a good bumper sticker, but of course in the real world one has to justify a large purchase with cold hard economics rather than the emotions of a 15 year old boy playing Top Trumps.

What I have done sometimes when agonizing over a large purchase is get out your work diary, then go back a year or so and job by job, add in the object of your desire, be it a bigger chipper, truck or whatever, then see if it would have helped you make more money,or do it significantly quicker.

If so, then go for it, if not and you realize that it's just to impress your competitors (or the 15 year old boy in you) then maybe think again.

[Daniel Jiggins]

Ha ha, well it would make a good bumper sticker, but of course in the real world one has to justify a large purchase with cold hard economics rather than the emotions of a 15 year old boy playing Top Trumps.

 

What I have done sometimes when agonizing over a large purchase is get out your work diary, then go back a year or so and job by job, add in the object of your desire, be it a bigger chipper, truck or whatever, then see if it would have helped you make more money,or do it significantly quicker.

 

If so, then go for it, if not and you realize that it's just to impress your competitors (or the 15 year old boy in you) then maybe think again.

 

 

I was told not too look back but prepare for the future! If works busy and new contracts are lined up I cannot see why you need to look at last years jobs?

It may seem daunting spending your hard earned but look at it as an investment if you buy a decent Landy tipper for say 15k look after it it's probably still going to be worth at least £10k in another 5 years time all written off against tax, If it goes belly up just sell it!