# bee trucks



## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

hey guys kinda getting in the market for a bee truck thinking along the lines of a flatbed maybe 12' bed. dont want it too big so it is a pain to drive around just checking hives but also dont want it too small that it will take forever and a week to move hives. so i kinda settled on a 12' bed. what kinda of truck do you have and engine and how much wieght can it hold and tow? any more suggestions would be great regards Nick


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

If your looking for a 12 foot bed, your going to have to run a minimum of a 1 ton truck. Desiel, 4 wheel drive, 6 litter up. Especially if your looking to tow a load. 

FORD!!!


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

I drive a fairly aged dodge one ton diseal.. automatic, two wheel drive dually (standard bed) with a fifth wheel hitch. it now has about a half million miles on the odometer. the automatic is a good choice if you don't have lots of experience driving a diseal truck.. 'most folks' who drive diseal with standard transmissions will noticable and frequently lug the engines. taxing the engine in this manner cuts the life of everything in the drive train by about half. 

the max towing load on most one tons is +20,000 pounds that typically allow you to carry about +10,000 pounds of cargo (truck and trailer about 10,000). at least that is how my rig's weights works out. standard transmissions and gasoline engine will give you greater maximum towing load, less fuel economy and about half the expected life of a diseal. 

if you go for a flat bed on the truck I would suggest a wood deck. hive bottom boards will slide on metal.. not so much on wood.


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

ok a one ton is what i was thinking is a one ton diesel going to be enought to hold 64 hives (that is how many i figured i can hold that would be 8 skid and then two layers so 16 skids of four hives) and a trailer with somthing like a swinger?


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

Hi there. I have a 94 Ford f450 with 5 speed, 7.3 diesel, 14 foot flatbed, 2wd. The only thing that I wish that I would have got different on my truck would of been 4 wheel drive. Other than that it is great. It hauls 64 palletized hives with ease. I don't do to much towing yet but have it all hitched up with a brake control. I paid around $8500 for it with 119k miles on it. It should last me for years. I bought it in Michigan off of ebay. Oh and it does have 2 long tool boxes on each side of the bed that is really nice. 

Matt


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

I would like to get a old lumbertruck with a moffit on the back, but price is an issue.
Somethings to keep in mind when truck shopping:
Max weight is 26,000 lbs with 10,000 lbs in tow before a CDL is needed. Anything with air brakes requires CDL. If you can find and old military M35A1 at less than $3000.00 in good running condition, buy it. The upsides of this truck are:
6x6 makes getting into remote bee yards easy.
20,000lb winch makes getting out easy.
Multi-fuel engine will run on any oil type fuel.
parts are easy to find and interchangable with hundreds of different model military trucks.
no CDL needed and truck is rated for 2.5 ton load on its 16' bed. When the truck is dead and unusable in the future, you will still get your 3000.00 back selling for parts.
This is what they look like:
http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/smithie128/?action=view&current=bradinduece.jpg


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

bluegrass adds:
with a moffit on the back

tecumseh ask:
what is a moffit?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

I have a 2001 Dodge, 4WD 1 ton short bed, with a Cummins Turbo Deisel. Great truck, great engine. I had a fold down, gooseneck ball attached to the bed. When doing regular apiary work, the 10' bed is fine. When needing to carry lots of supers, or when harvesting honey or moving bees for pollination, I add the 16' gooseneck trailer. Great addition. The trailer is low enough to work from...eliminating high lifting. I can harvest three tons of honey or carry hundreds of empty supers to the field or move 80 triples to the orchard. I can also park my load and drive away.
MIke


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## sjvbee (Dec 27, 2006)

I have a F450 w/12' bed (64 hives ) and a F550 w/14' bed (80 hives ). Both trucks are 4x4 diesels. A 4x4 truck is very helpful off road pulling a trailer w/loader. If I had to do it over again I would get two F550. Both of the trucks weight and mpg are the same. The F550 has heaver front and rear ends and 2500# more gvw. When I need to move a lot of hives I use a 18' trailer on the F450 and pull Swinger w/F550. That gives me 240 hives and someone to run straps while I unload.

Scott


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Tec
A Moffit is the three wheeled all-terrain forklift that you see stuck to the back of flatbed lumber trucks. Would be real handy to have!


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

#1 1994 GMC 1/2 ton extended cab short box. 5.7 Gas fuel. Custom rebuilt trans. including gorilla Sun Shell, shift kit and gas saver, towing package with electric brake and overoad springs. Great truck, able to haul 6,000 lb but tends to sway over 55 mph. Very Comfortable for long trips. Short bed is never big enough and extended cab is great for 2 with gear but hard for 3 or 4.

#2 1993 Ford F350 7.3 Banks Turbo Diesel (about to become biodiesel), crew cab (4 door), full box, dully, 4 wheel (6 actaully) drive. Body off rebuild 1998 including the 1993 Internationl engine and tranny. Towing package with electric brakes. Usual cranky cold diesel starts when not plugged in, in the cold, usual diesel noise, usual diesel smoke. Loads of Power and space, Hauls the 6000 lb trailer like it doesn't know it's there. Hauls a ton of honey and gear to NYC each week with no problems except I'm limited to driving on commericial routes. Get's better fuel milage than the 5.7 GMC and should be running free (fuel wise) by May 2007. Diesel fills tend to be messy and not always easy to find at 3:00 am on RT 17 in Va. Oil changes are twice the cost of gas engines. No tune ups. It feels like more work to drive on long trips although I can't specifically say why. At 21 Feet long it's hard to park and get in an out of tight spaces. It costs around 900 bucks to do replace tires. Overall though a great bee truck.

64 hives and a loader sounds like alot for the 350. I think you might be better off with the 550. I agree wholeheartedly on the 4X4 for pulling trailers in and out of yards. Newere with diesels and transmission does not mean better. 1993 was the last year for the international with Ford. I've heard (not witnessed) of difficulties with both engine and trannys on the newer trucks. My friend runs a new Duramax Diesel which he has had several problems with.

Buy a chey truck for comfort and a ford for work.

[ December 31, 2006, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: Joel ]


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

>>Buy a chey truck for comfort and a ford for work.


aint that the truth, well except for the newer Fords out there. We have a F350, crew cab, long box, auto, four wheel drive. Just a beutiful riding truck, much nicer ride than our old 95F350!
We also run an older GMC 5 ton gas job during the honey pull, which allows us to pull multipule yards in a day. Makes things logistacaly simpler and quicker.
But it runs only to take honey off and move bees around, for it costs a small fortune to drive that thing around!

[ January 01, 2007, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: Ian ]


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

bluegrass sezs:
Would be real handy to have!

tecumseh replies:
given 'this' old back... too die for!


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## ozzy (Feb 5, 2005)

nick,
I read through all the posts and wondered just how many hives you have and how many you move at a time. I also wondered what kind of investment it would require to buy a truck, run and maintain it and whether it would be worth it. I know one pollenater that buys old trailers, loads them with hives and moves them around with his pickup. I don't have that many hives so I don't have the problem but when I need to move 12 to 15 hives I rent a Uhaul open trailer. They work great since they are so low to the ground. They have a long spring loaded ramp that allows one to rolls hives on with a hand truck. It is also a lot easier to use for transporting supers full of honey since you can load a stack of supers by just rolling them up the ramp. They are also cheap to rent and you don't have to store them. On the other hand you can buy a trailer a lot cheaper than a truck.


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

yea i talked to a buddy yesterday and he said for the older truck that i would want go with the dodge or ford diesel. He siad that the chevy 6.5l diesel just wasnt a great engine and he is a die hard chevy man. he thought that a one ton would do that job but with so much wieght i would have to add a few leaves of suspension in the back told me it would ride like a wagon when empty but it would get the job done. thank for all the advise guys. this year we are buying a bunch of hives and will be up to 650 so it is time for the truck. 
Oh a 550 is the same thing as a 350 except more supension and heavier axle right? the same engine? regards Nick


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

swarm trapper sezs:
he thought that a one ton would do that job but with so much wieght i would have to add a few leaves of suspension in the back told me it would ride like a wagon when empty but it would get the job done.

tecumseh replies:
the longer the truck wheel base the smoother the ride. also all makes of truck do not have equal rides loaded and/or unloaded.


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

I know my f450 rides rough unless its loaded then its pretty smooth.


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## sjvbee (Dec 27, 2006)

swarm_trapper
on a 550 you have a heaver frame, computer is set differently and you have different gear ratio. I had a 91 diesel 350 for several years. there are times that 40/48 hives is all that you want on. however a used 550 4x4 is not as easy to find as a 350.

scott

[ January 01, 2007, 08:15 AM: Message edited by: sjvbee ]


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## sierrabees (Jul 7, 2006)

I use an F350 super duty dump truck that I bought new in 89. It can only hold 40 2high 8 frame hives double stacked but I mounted a pickup crane on one of the side boards so I can drive up and load individual hives without lifting. It's not too big to use for day to day work and the only time it would be worthwhile to have anything bigger is during pollination. I can carry six 55 gallon drums of syrup so I can pump feed, and when I don't need it for beekeeping I can haul two yards of gravel at a time to maintain my road. Four wheel drive would be handy, but I have learned to work around that disadvantage. If I had to replace it I think I wouldn't change the setup much.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

Lets look at the math for the 64 hives on a one ton pulling a loader. My 350 weighs in tare at about 6300, I think the Gross vehicle weight is around 10,000. That leaves 3700 lbs to haul on board. 

64 hives (singles) with a flow on @55 lbs = 3520
Skids- 16 X 40 lbs = 640
1 beekeeper driving ( a svelt [email protected])= 175
Misc. necessary equipment = 100
Toungue weight of 6 X 12 trailer w/loader = 300
2 full tanks of diesel (32 gals) = 300

Total weight =5035

Of course doubles or 1 1/2, the more likely configuration would add several hundred pounds more.

I beleive My 7.3 diesel could pull the 20,000lbs mentioned but we put the hives on the trailer and haul equipment in the truck (including a 4 wheeler). I haven't had that much weight on the truck so don't know what the squat factor is. I do know the fines for being overloaded or the liability in an accident would not make it worth the risk. The trailer allows me to drop the netted bees if I need in the event of vehicle or trailer problems, when I arrive at yards @ 4:00 am, when I want to load in the cold and haul anytime in the next few days. My rig loaded runs around 15,000 lbs and the truck has the power but the less I have on the truck the better for me.

[ January 01, 2007, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: Joel ]


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

joel sezs:
1 beekeeper driving ( a svelt [email protected])= 175

tecumseh replies:
why joel you must not know any really svelt beekeeper like george ferguson or myself??? 175 pounds... don't think I will ever see that kind of gross vehicle weight.

then joel adds:
I beleive My 7.3 diesel could pull the 20,000lbs mentioned but we put the hives on the trailer and haul equipment in the truck

tecumseh apoligizes for the confusion:
me very bad.... the 10 ton figure for my truck was for truck and trailer (I guess I should have tagged this gross towing weight). adding a net load of 5 tons to a one ton truck would, I do believe, squat the beast plum down on the ground. I did casually see this trick done on one occasion when a fellow loaded a very small dozer on the back of a stretched one ton flat bed. the fellow never made it to the bottom of the hill. so the liability in this case joel simply translated into the driver dying... the 'rig' could carry that kind of weight, but it would not stop...


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

wow this is great guys. it sounds like I need a bigger truck or carry less hives. Nick


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Hey Nick
I vote for the 6X6 U would look good on a date in that


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

shoot honeyman, cant you see how this is going. i need to cut down in wieght not pick up another passenger







even though it would make a the rough ride more enjoyable lol.


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

hey guys what does a double deep hive wieght about? say just before the first super gets put on. just a guess would be great.


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## sjvbee (Dec 27, 2006)

Nick
I try to figure 80-90# spring to 110-140# fall.
Scott


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

{I also wondered what kind of investment it would require to buy a truck, run and maintain it and whether it would be worth it.}

These question have no place in a bee truck discussion. $500 or $50000 a bee truck is a destination in life, a Cabin in the mountains, a hut on the beach, a childhood fort in the woods! The only place you are truly happy when you aren't actually working bees or hammering out messages on Beesource. Most of them are aborations of vehicles that have so much time, money and love invested in their aging/ailing drive train one could have purchased a new suburu forester or possibly a suburban. But we can't really haul bees and honey and bee stuff in those could we, could we? We bear the scratch of branches and bushes on their paint like a badge of honor. When they spark alive on the slightest turn of the key even the most gilded look upon them and see thier beauty and independance. We are rock stars to the gaping public as we proudly manuever them through the world loaded with honey supers, with beehives, with a pallet load of aromatic fresh new pine supers waiting to be assembled. We buckle under the task of changing a head gasket on I-95 with a load of bees on, a drive shaft in the Mountains of PA during a thunderstorm, a tire puctured by that hive staple we dropped last year and never found. Still we know a bee truck is nary a possession, a truck, a mode of tranportation in an oil powered world, it is truly a station in life, however humble.

[ January 02, 2007, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: Joel ]


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

ve-ry nicely said joel..

or as the old black character said in 'Crossroads'.... 'a man ain't a man without wheels'


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

So did you ever buy your beehichle? Or are you still looking?


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## JC (Jun 3, 2006)

A commercial beekeeper informed me, from bitter experience, that a 1 ton truck was all I needed. Even a commercial beekeeper, like himself, did not need a 2 ton truck. He also told me make sure that I could obtain some mud tires for the truck. A friend of his made the mistake of buying a truck that didn't take mud tires.


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

yup sory i didnt post sooner i got one a week ago monday 
a one ton 1999 dodge cummings 24v, 300,000 highway MI on it manual 5 sp, brand new injector pump and lift pump. 12' bed, hidaway gooseneck hitch, only 2 wheel drive only part i dont like about it but i figure i wont have it on snow hardly ever and just have to whatch it carfully in the mud. needs new back tires on it so im thinking about some cooper dicovery ATR's. I love it








thanks for the help guys. Nick


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

I should have taken some pics of things not to do with a 2wd. I have been stuck twice the past month. Dang rain. Thank goodness for john deere's and wreckers. Haha.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

I picked up a 95 GMC 1 ton with a 16 foot
flatbed and duels. It has a tommy lift but
I am going to remove it to increase the
weight ability. It had only 100K on it
but the trany bearings (5 spd NV4500) are
makin a bunch of noise. It goes into the
local VoTech next week for a trany tear
down. 

It is the 6.5 TD. They are a good engine
if you do the following:

1. 4" exhaust

2. Re Chip it (the 40 HP one)

3. Move the PMD and add a heat sink

4. Marine injectors.

Adds about a grand but it is an amazing
difference. 

Here's a site that specializes in 6.5's

http://www.ssdieselsupply.com/index.html

The nice thing about used trucks is that
if you don't like it you can dump it and
not get hurt too bad (or maybe even make
a buck or two).


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

The older dodges are nice ,hard to kill. My grandfather bought one that was sitting in a field for a couple of years. A 1997 cummins diesel, it had 260,000 miles on it when he bought it . It now has close to 400,000 on it.
Im hoping that the new 6.7 Cummins will be as good as the 5.9 , I am thinking of getting a Dodge Chasis cab this summer. I use a F-550 with a 16 foot bed for everything, so I want to get a 1 ton to do the light weight stuff.


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## Paraplegic Racehorse (Jan 25, 2007)

Personally still seeking a truck. Dreaming of a Unimog but will probably end up with a mid-eighties F350 or Ram.

Will get by this year with a (believe it or not) Aerostar van.

[ January 27, 2007, 04:34 AM: Message edited by: Paraplegic Racehorse ]


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

yup i got by the first year with 20 hives and a mini van it worked had a pickup for moving them and pulling honey though. hey is there any cheap place for the under body tool boxes most of you guys have them on your truck right?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

>only 2 wheel drive only part i dont like about it but i figure i wont have it on snow hardly ever and just have to whatch it carfully in the mud.

Get a set of chains. You'll find out that it doesn't have to be snow or mud that gets you stuck. Wet grass will stop you too, when you're pulling your loaded gooseneck in and out of your yards.


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

Hey swarmtrapper. Tractor supply has a nice selection of toolboxes that you can mount under the bed.


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## Paraplegic Racehorse (Jan 25, 2007)

>> only 2 wheel drive only part i dont like about it but i figure i wont have it on snow hardly ever and just have to whatch it carfully in the mud.

> Get a set of chains.

Take it from a rural-Alaska taxi man: get a winch, too, the strongest you can afford.


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## eaglesbee (May 3, 2004)

how about a 1 ton toyota with a 10 foot bed and douls for a small operation good gas milage? seem like you only need a big truck to move bees and a small one for work 
Lee


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## eaglesbee (May 3, 2004)

l


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

i never have seen a one ton toyota.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

The 1 tons are and were used on the 
motor homes they put out. I have not
seen one without yet. It would be a
decent little truck though.


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

My friends used to have a toyota 1 ton truck. It was a nice little truck. It just seems too little.


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## Barry Digman (May 21, 2003)

Ford?
Chevy?
Dodge?
C'mon guys, let's talk TRUCKS!


http://www.shadetreemechanic.com/cxt_international_pick_up.htm


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

Haha. Ya thats a truck alright. I would hate to lift a hive to the back of that. My 450 is to tall as it is.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Hey Para
A unimog has been on my list for several years now too. I don't see that they would be much use for moving hives, but up where you are I can think of all kinds of other things you could do with it. I have looked at several 404s, but that would require a diesel transplant. I would like to get a 406, but those are out of my price range. The cheapest route is to import from Europe. I can get a good 406 for less than 8000.00 U.S. plus 1500.00 shipping into any east coast port.


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## TwT (Aug 5, 2004)

heres a nice one for sale on ebay, just wish it was deisel and 4x4 but for a little over $4000 right now but still has 3 days left, lift gate and all, not bad.... wonder where the bids will stop


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-Ford-F550-Flatbed-Stakebed-Truck-Liftgate-NO-RES_W0QQitemZ270085640767QQihZ017QQcategoryZ63742QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[ February 05, 2007, 06:18 AM: Message edited by: TwT ]


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

The bed alone is worth $4000.00 .


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Sure wish my lift gate would fold like that
one. Mine comes right up like a end gate and
really grabs the wind!! So much so that I am
going to remove it this spring and sell it
off. They are heavy too.

I saw a 2004 Ford 450 with a longer bed than
this one go for $8500 at auction last spring.
If it wouldn't have been the V10 I'd have bid
on that one. The guy that won it was shocked
he'd only paid that. I was too.


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## TwT (Aug 5, 2004)

I would hate to put gas in that one also but if it went for 8000 I think I could live with it, going to wait and see what it looks like the last few hours....., looks like it would be a nice bee truck for small timers like me.....


but if you are looking to carry more hives take a look at this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1998-FORD-F-SERIES-CUMMINS-6SP-26K-GVW-24-STAKEBED_W0QQitemZ280079085814QQihZ018QQcategoryZ63742QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[ February 05, 2007, 05:51 PM: Message edited by: TwT ]


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