Range land Fire truck

Hey Everyone,
How do I establish a value, so I can place a bid on a surplus fire truck ? Up for bids is a 1960 IHC BC180 4x4 with 12,000 miles......included is a 1000 gallon tank, 100 feet of hose and reel and a pump. So, how do I find out how much such a thing is worth? any ideas or price guides out there ? Thanks for the input.
Have a beautiful day,
Tom

this is prob. a silent auction being surplus so you have to decide what you would give for it and bid. many times people just throw a low B.S. bid just in case no one else bids. if a public auction with an auctioneer you start with what you would like to pay for it and go up as others bid. On something that old browse the net type in old fire truck for sale and see what you come up with for comparison even put in the type of truck for sale and see what comes up. you prob. won't want to pay what they have sold for or what others are asking for them.

Can"t help you with value but remember even though the miles are low and the body is probably cherry, the engine has a ton of hours on it.

Whatever you want to bid... It's a matter of what it's worth to you. It's value to the fire service can be determined by it's weight.
I don't know what it's collectable value would be, but I can't think that it's so terribly rare that it's worth a lot. Just an old truck...

Rod

(quoted from post at 07:48:06 11/12/08) Can"t help you with value but remember even though the miles are low and the body is probably cherry, the engine has a ton of hours on it.

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Not necessarily so. If the fire pump is powered through the transfer case, when pumping water the transmission will have to be in direct drive gear, and the speedometer will register miles just as if it were being driven down the road at the same RPM.

If the pump is powered by its own engine then the auxiliary engine should have an hour meter on it.

That being said, 12,000 miles for a 1960 model year of any kind of vehicle, much less a rangeland fire engine, seems quite low. For a rangeland fire engine, they may have to travel many miles to just arrive at the fire.

Buyer be aware.

What they said. How bad do you need it and how much money do you have.

I always start with:

1. Is it something I really need and can't do without or would it just be nice to have for a cheap price. Have I been doing without it all this time.

2. How much is a new one or what would it cost me time, effort, and money to buy parts and assemble one.

3. How much will I use it and will I use it enough to warrant getting a new one to avoid ongoing maintenance.

4. Will a store bought or home assembled one do the job and be worth the money.

5. How much is ongoing maintenance and fix up costs on a used one (which may have a cracked block or develop one in a week).

6. a. If I'm bargain hunting with no great need, how much do I bid and still be a bargain. Then wait until another auction comes up and try for the bargain.

b. If I really could use one, how much do I bid before I say just as well go new.

Auctions are crazy. I've watched bidders get carried away and bid up junk to over the price of new. I've bid low looking for bargains and watched the price climb out of sight or climb out of sight before I can get my low bid in. Also watch bargains go for the next $5 over my bid and I half way kick myself but I also know the other guy could run the bid way up if I kept going and it not be a bargain anymore. I have a garage and barn full of bargains that get little use but handy to have. Never know when that $5 broken handle 48" pipe wrench may be needed. Not yet but I have one.

I've got some pasture to burn off but not sure I'd want to get into the maintenance of a vehicle with only one use a year. My pasture isn't worth it, but for $500 to $1000 I could put a tank on a trailer with a gas driven pump and not have another junker sitting around that may have to be tagged and taxed and oil changed and carb rebuilt and a new clutch, etc & etc.

Does it have other uses such as hauling water to cattle? I need something else to sit out by the barn and trim weeds around all summer so a couple hundred bucks may be a bargain if it all works. If you sold your grain before the markets fell and are flush and need some tax write offs then maybe a grand. Then you won't kick yourself too bad when the engine blows, the tank rusts through and leaks, and the pump is wore out.

Good luck.

Less than 2 years ago we got rid of a 72 chev cabover with 750 gallon pump and 750 gallons of water. approx 60,000 miles. 427 gas, little if any rust. It was not capable of pump and roll. Very good tires, chains, and ladders. Tank had been rubber sealed to stop all rusting about ten years before.

$750.00, and that was after we refused the original bids of far less. Scrap is $30.00 if they pick it up...just called them.. So therefore your rig isn't a high priced rig.

Check out the rust under the truck as they get lots of condensation in at leat our cold climate.

We sold the truck with sealed bids----NO such thing in small towns if you know what I mean.

Thanks for the replies , everyone. What I was thinking about doing with the old truck was remove the whole tank and pumping apparatus and then use the truck , since it is a 4x4, with a bale bed to feed and have a caker......the fire fighting stuff would go onto a wagon and follow the haying crew around in the summer. With that said.......it is a sealed bid kind of deal where you submit an envelope and wait, and like most everyone noted, caution is the best policy.......Have a beautiful day,
Tom

Not sure if that would be my first choice for a 4x4 but if the price is right.

Kinda like fleabay, don't bid an even number. Add a dollar to it such as 101, 251, 501, etc. Most people bid in even numbers. Wonder if they'd take a bid like: $501 or $10 over your highest bid from someone else, whichever is higher.

Let us know later how the bidding process went. Post back.

I bid on a recovered stolen car once that was owned by the insurance company. I tried the scheme you mentioned and bid $2001. The guy who won the sealed bid auction bid something like $2003 or $2004. It would have been a pretty good deal at $2500, so I felt kind of foolish losing it by only a couple of dollars. Live and learn!

Hard to say. I would be asking why the fire department is getting rid of it. It may have only 12K miles on the odometer, but I would be willing to bet they have been very tough miles. There also may have been hundreds of hours of idling, which would not show on the odometer at all.

On the other hand, the truck has probably been maintained very well, especially if it has recently been taken out of service. Anything that broke or went haywire was probably fixed properly.

I would check it out very carefully for rust. The floors rust on firetrucks as they are often wet and then they sit in nice warm firehouses all the time. I also would very carefully check the water tank and the pump unit. The pump unit probably has its own engine, which also may have lots of hours on it.

The old Cornbinders were tough trucks. But they were and are not nearly as popular as Fords, Chevys, or even Dodges. It is probably worth less than a similar more popular machine, and it would probably be tougher to get parts for. To old in some respects, but too new to really be considered for restoration as a historic fire engine.

You might get it for as little as, say maybe $1000, or it might draw much higher bids if someone else really wants it. I would try to figure out how much I would use it and come up with a number from there. Good luck!

Underwriters don't want to see trucks over 20 years old in original condition or refurbed trucks over 30 years around here. They don't want old outdated equipment.
Funny this one stuck around this long...

Rod