I looked at an old GM gas for $2500 at a neighboring farm but the hoist leaked. Checking into it, it was unlikely the cylinder could be fixed and would need a replacement. A new cylinder was over $1000 and I didn't want the hassle of changing it. I first saw the Ford at a used equipment dealer. After getting some more pics. and some back and forth e-mails, I offered $7500 without seeing it person. They wanted $12,000 and said they did a bunch of work to it. They put new front tires and decent retreads on the rear as well as painted it. They said they could only hold till Saturday because an out of town buyer was interested. This was a farce. They were getting it ready to put in the RB auction as I saw it listed on RB's website. I got it for $8000 plus the buyer premium of about $500 if I recall. Only 1 other person was bidding on it. They were sitting right in front of me. I wasn't going to go any higher. After I showed by bidder card the guy and his wife turned around to see who bought it. He said if knew I wanted it he would have stopped bidding. Maybe I could have got it cheaper. I had to do a little work to it fixing the hoist mount and thankfully the maker of the cylinder had a shop in the city and a used outer sleeve. I took the cylinder to them and they replaced the sleeve for about $250 complete. Fantastic customer service, they didn't charge me any labour and the sleeve wasn't listed in their inventory is why I got it so cheap. One of the lifting pins was about 1/2 worn through. I originally went to them to see if it could be welded up and they found a used sleeve within about a1/2" of length that would work fine. It was on a pallet at the top of their racking.
I've seen diesel dump trucks sell as low as $2500 but weren't the best set up for my use off road. Air ride, etc. The Ford has Hendricksen springs which most people say is best for a dump used truck off road. Better traction and more stable. No need to empty air bags everytime you dump. The Ford is a heavy spec. truck with a double frame (no rust jacking) and twin steering boxes. I figured being a former plow truck it probably had pretty good maintainance for at least 15 or 20 years of its life. Now that I fixed a corroded connector on the alternator it's been working great. The seller would have been better off selling it to me for the $7500 I offered. After they paid the auction commission they lost money. They also spent the money to put better tires on and painted it. Bonus for me!
Originally I considered a dump trailer but it would have cost more, have less capacity, slower hoist, not really designed for heavy duty use and a lot harder to maneuver. I'd also need a 3/4 ton truck to pull one. There's definately a lot more to go wrong on a dump truck though.