53' Flatbed

[CaptainCrutch]

I think at this point most people on here know im looking for something to haul the firetrucks with, just an older tractor, definitely pre emissions... but that tractor is pretty useless for hauling unless you have a trailer, just something to throw both the 25+ft long firetrucks on the bed of. Dad keeps saying he wants a Landoll. Just throwing out what i intend on getting at some point and seeing what works and what doesn't.

[AZB755V8]

If you got deep pockets anything is possible. Safety and weight should be paramount in any decision for equipment selection. Sounds like you got an eye on the tractor but not on a trailer. Landoll type trailers are not common at all at 53 feet and big bucks if you find one. A new one is only for a company working it every day. One is on my wish list but not going to happen for me. Going to a few shows a year a single drop deck might be a feasible option. Even 53 foot single drop decks are not that common. Add the removable aluminum ramps and the effort to load and unload trucks not convenient but the cheapest way to go. One big issue with the tilt decks is they are heavy. Depending on the weight of 2 fire trucks, tractor and trailer you could be at 80,000 and not think it possible. My drop deck is 9650lbs which is tons less than what you are thinking about. My setup is just under 60,000 total, you will be considerably higher.

[Quickfarms]

If you are looking at used trailers the 102" deck width is much more user friendly than the 96" deck width.

I second all of the points above

Personally I will end up with a step deck with air, or hydraulic, assisted ramps or a hydraulically lowered tail

[CaptainCrutch]

Both the trucks combined weight is less than 40,000 pounds without any water, so that's not the primary concern. The real concern is length because both trucks would have to be bumper to bumper and they'd still be hanging off one end or the other. The reason I said Landoll was because the few times we've had them hauled places it was by a Landoll. I'll admit that it is a bit of a wishlist item but like you said, with deep enough pockets anything is possible, and being honest I'm hoping a few somethings pull through soon so I can knock some of these wishlist items out in the next few years. At the very least thanks for the recommendations, you're right I know more what I want with the tractor than the trailer. What I really want is something that's easy to load them up with, preferably with a winch so if something happens loading doesn't rely on the vehicle being loaded up, we've had plenty of issues with that in the past to say the least. Honestly I'd rather have an antique truck and trailer so I can put historic tags on them and not have to worry too much about the DOT and keep the insurance lower. This is actually exactly why I posted it here, either I find what I want or I find out what I really want. I mean I haven't even found the truck yet, because me and dad keep finding one's we want but they need work that we need to dedicate to the L, and the ones that don't need work are the ones that we feel just don't fit what we're looking for. Mini update on the L though: we're hoping to get it back real soon. The new fuel pump is coming and then were going to just maintain it for a little while before continuing the restoration effort later after some personal matters that it needs to be ready for.

[AZB755V8]

I have been there and done or thought all of what you are saying. It took me 20 plus years to get my setup together so time and money were big factors or at least for me they was. 

If your trucks have trouble running on to trailer it would be a lot easier to fix them right to not need a winch. The only time I have non-running truck on the trailer is when I first buy them not running and the place loads them for free. 

Different states have different tag and historic plate laws. One thing I found is here in AZ you can not get around WEIGHT. I had Historic plates on the B model for a short time to find out that there is a 10,000 lb limit. Had to get commercial plates for all as nothing I got weights less than 14,000. Got to pay for weight going state to state. There are some other limitation as well but I go cross country and it would be hard to explain to an out of state officer at 2:00 am in the morning the finer points of out of state historic tags on a tractor with commercial plates on a Landoll trailer and to think there was going to be a positive outcome. An antiques truck sticks out, let alone fire trucks, so blending into the normal crowd on the highway is not likely. There are no antique 53 foot 102 wide trailers to find, 53 footers are a resent thing from what I know.

Wishful thinking but you are playing with big toys understand, they come with a big price and big responsibility too. Hope you are not saying that DOT would have issues with your stuff. Antique or current safety should be your first priority. Truly best of luck.👍

[CaptainCrutch]

I’m not saying I want to ignore the DOT laws per say, more things like drivers logs and daily chores a trucker has to do besides personally inspecting your rig, especially with new laws coming out trying to stop pre emissions trucks from continuing to run daily jobs. And I do intend on slowly collecting more trucks, off in the distant future I want my retirement plan to be rescuing trucks from places like Commifornian junkyards and find them new homes, and as many times as it seems like we’ve fixed this thing and then a new problem appeared... it’s better to have a winch and not need it than to need it and not have it. And I’ve looked into the whole legality and state laws and I can’t remember if it’s PA, WV, or VA but one of them actually has a law specifying that hauling antique vehicles with an antique truck and trailer is a perfectly legal practice. And talking about an antique tractor hauling a trailer with commercial plates is exactly why I would rather have an antique trailer. It’s much easier to explain it as a historic piece of history on your than somebody have some fun taking his toys around that way. Worse comes to worse I know a few trucking companies that wouldn’t mind adding something like this to their fleet if you know what I’m saying. Believe me I’ve spent more time looking into the legality of this situation than I have finding out what trailer is best for what I plan on doing with it. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Mr. Cal Little but I quite like the way he operates his collection, and that’s essentially what I’m aiming at being similar to. Basically he takes an old L fire engine that’s been converted to a tractor to haul his toys to shows and bring new toys home. He hasn’t had many issues if any at all and we’re not too far apart in terms of location. I’m also in no hurry to get this done I’m just getting a head start so that if opportunities start arriving I have less of a chance at missing them.