1. Get a tractor with a bunk. You won't have seating but you will have lots of space. You can also get extended cab and 4 door cab tractors, but then you're running into an odd truck; hard to find used.
2. A small bore tractor will get 8-10 mpg. Probably no worse than the 1 ton and possibly better... with gobs more power.
3. Put it this way. I pay 500 insurance on my pickup. I pay 220 on the tandem. Insurance is a lot less for PLPD on larger farm trucks.
4. I'm not aware of anything like that other than the IFTA sticker (fuel permit). We only need that here if we're travelling out of province. I'd asume you would only need that or a pro-rated licence if you're travelling outside your own state.
5. Not really... A lot of common parts are quite a bit cheaper actually. Big ticket items are expensive, but if you have a major blowup then used is ofen a better avenue. For that you'll not spend any more than you're already spending on that transmission... Tires are the big killer. A set is hard to take for infrequent use, but they do last a long time so it balances out.
6. I wouldn't worry about the trailer. You can only haul what the trailer will haul. You can only drive as fast as the roads allow. If you make a habit of hitting all the holes in the road, you'll destroy it on the ton too, along with the ton. There would be the big difference... the tractor will survive that. This wouldn't be a consideration to me other than making sure that you can properly level the trailer on the fifth wheel.
7. You're driving on borrowed time if you're bypassing scales now...
8. Again, you're running on borrowed time if you're running without a CDL. Ours are done on GVW and vehicle combination here. The ton would require a heavy trailer endorsement with a class 5 here, but generally it's getting in the class where a Class 1 is required.
Since we parked the ton I find that vehicles cost us quite a bit less even with some upkeep on the tandem. The ton was constantly nickle and diming us to death. It's not that the tandem doesn't like some parts too, but it's mostly simple stuff that fairly easily changed most of the time. You'll also find that you probably have a lot more uses for the tandem once you get it because you'll be doing jobs you could never do with the ton.
I'd suggest finding a decent used tandem in the 10 grand range, no more than 10 years old. These are 800 mile trucks. Ususally have had some major engine work already. Just find one that's clean and straight and starts and runs well. You could probably find a single axle too, but I find that around here they're generally more money because they're not so common... and some people will pay to have one. For all you'll be doing with it, cheap is better up front. Line haul tractors with light specs and small engines are easy to find and worth little more than scrap. Something like an IH 9200 or 9400, or Freightliner century's and Columbia's are perfect examples. you'll probably find them with C13 Cats or M11 Cummins engines or a lot of 60 series Detroits. Lots have 10 speed transmissions. Anything like that will work fine. Look for a clean one, probably with a bit higher price, and then make a real low ball offer. The nice ones aren't really worth any more than the not so nice ones because they're all worth scrap. You just need to find a seller than is aware of that fact. Dealers are not so bad to deal with on those things.... because they know that fact.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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