Anyone ever Buy a fire truck from an auction for scrap? i was always curious how much you would spend and how much you would get out of it if you dismantled the thing.
just curious
have a good day!
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Anyone ever Buy a fire truck from an auction for scrap? i was always curious how much you would spend and how much you would get out of it if you dismantled the thing.
just curious
have a good day!
These items seem to have a following of collectors but I imagine it is a pretty "small" following....you gotta be a man of means to come home and say, "honey, I bought another old fire truck". So if you get a machine that is in pretty decent shape and have some space to sit on it for a while, well....you could try to sell it to a collector.
Depending on the area, fire equipment usually has a "sell before" date--Up here in BC, Canada, it seems to me that a city or town fire truck has to be less than 25 years old or out the door it goes--no matter what. Automatically condemned. It may be similar in the US. But that only applies to public fire equipment here. I was with a big sawmill firm and they bought a couple of those condemned trucks for use on their millsites. Hard to argue with--like 500 miles on the truck after 25 years. They had to check the water tanks because they tend to rust out over the years. But they didn't have to spend a lot to get them in shape and keep them running.
So there's another angle--sell to a company for a plant site fire truck or even a water truck.
If you gotta scrap it out rather than sell it, there will be a little more scrap value because there is some weight in brass water parts on the truck--most of the parts will be brass or stainless to avoid corrosion. There will be a little stainless in the form of pretty equipment doors and the like. But the rest of it is just an old truck...with no miles on it.
I wouldn't bid much on a fire truck, unless I had someone lined up with whom I could flip the truck to.
Jon.
A lot of the sunflower farmers out here have one or two. Sunflowers can cause combines to catch fire pretty easily. But, other than specialty uses, or business promotions if they're really old (Vintage), they likely won't be worth more than a standard truck is. Remember, a large part of them is hollow ;)
utility body work truck
sell drivetrain, usually low miles and very well maintained
Not many fire trucks ever end up being sold for scrap and even then they are parted or fixed.
There are more that are interested in fire trucks then there are fire trucks. So the values and prices remain "up there".
I always thought it would be fun having a fire truck or so. When I came across a truck for sale in the past, I didn't have the funds or proper place to put it and it wasn't a option to buy for quick resale at a profit as the trucks were for sale during "dips in the economy" when people try and sell off some of their collections as they need the funds for something else.
It has been a few years but back when we were in the auto scrap business we did a few fire trucks, vintage trucks are sell able as are later models the pumpers are the most return in non Ferris scrap as they contain a lot of brass fittings . I recall one that had a nearly 100 % brass pump that was almost 300 lbs. Also the fire hose is very sell able to Marinas as dock protection strips. many of the fittings are in demand from interior decorators and fire equipment enthusiasts. but bear in mind that was at least 6/7 years ago things change.
As someone else said, they make good water trucks. Depending on the age of the truck, the pumps can flow as much as 2000 GPM. Someone in the hydroseeding business might possibly have a use for it as well.
Around here, most of them become feed trucks for farms. The fire body gets lifted off, and a dump bed goes on. The truck already has PTO provisions and as was mentioned, very few miles typically.
No..I've never buy...:)
I have a friend who is in the fire truck and plane market. he buys old planes from Arizona and makes drop planes. He buys older trucks and refurbishes them sometimes into brand new trucks. he has a very good connection into the national forest fire dept. sells them or some times leases them to the forest fires and he is always busy and has several projects going at one time. sometimes his products are pre sold.
Interesting thread! I myself just bought an old army truck cum fire truck. Technically, it's the first vehicle I have ever owned. I came across this looking at its scrap value for the truck or just the bed. I plan on keeping the truck ideally, but was doing my homework nevertheless.
I should look at the collector market. As an MV enthusiast, I know for a fact that even Deuce and a Halfs and 5 tons have a huge following...I am even one of such followers.
Sorry, never purchased a fire truck. Well, interesting curiosity.
Anyone looking at one for scrap needs to take a magnet. As you mentioned the older ones had bronze pumps. Usually there's an access plate you can remove with a flat head screw driver to get behind the panel on one of the sides.Quote:
Originally Posted by EcoSafe