Stubborn66

I think a front mounted winch is a good idea, the size would depend on the size of the wrecker. I would also get one that has the longest cable, or rope on it. I have a 13k mounted on our service truck. It comes in handy at times. I would have one on my wrecker too but I run an International 4700 LP and it is kinda low and I would have to keep it low so the hood can swing open. I like the idea of the roper versus the cable but I am not sure about the durability of the rope. The electric winch on our service truck has rope, I am waiting to see how it holds up.

I got a call yesterday to move a class B RV on a Mercedes chassis to an RV dealer. When I got there the left rears duals had come off it. When I used my tall forks on the frame rail I could not get the rear wheels high enough off the ground. Adding a 4x4 on the fork I was able to wedge the 4x4 between the fork and the trailer hitch on the rear end. I took a lasso strap and went around the frame and the 4x4 on the front side so it could not kick it out sideways. I strapped the lasso to the bottom of the fork receiver hole which I figured created down pressure there and strapped the trailer hitch to the cross bar in the back. Even after I got the back high enough, I had to leave it lower than I would have liked to so I didn't drag the bumper cover in the front It felt secure to me so I went with it for about 70 miles with no issues. I forgot to take pictures after I got it all strapped but you can see what I did from these pictures I am fairly new to using forks and have not had to do this to get one high enough off the ground before so I though I would get some input here. Thanks Tracy

We got a call for an Amazon van last week. They told us that our wrecker would not fit up the driveway were the van was stuck and asked if we had anything smaller. The driver tried to turn around in the customers yard and slid all but into the truck. Everybody laughed when I put a winch on the front of our S10 but that is what I took up in there. The picture doesn't show the grade real well and the ground was saturated. I ran a line to another disabled car behind the van, then back to the van and pulled him backwards up the hill to get him straightened out, they he drove it out. It was an easy pull even for the little S10, nice little job close to the shop.

I would be interested, the one I have is too small. I need to get some dimensions so I know what will fit. I will give you a call when I get more info

First thing you do in these rural communities when going into someone property is ask "Where is your septic tank" . You would be surprised how many don't even know where it is

If he knows were the start button AND the brake pedal is, is he then experienced???

I found this 1990 F350 with a 5.8 gas motor, only 27,000 original miles on it. The truck is really solid for the year and the price was right. This should be a tank in the snow and has plenty of storage. We are currently running a Chevy 1500 with a service cap on it and an S10 with a service cap for service work. This will eventually replace the 1500, I like the S10 for fuel mileage on the simple calls but when I need tools I want something more useful than the 1500. I have a few ideas of what I want to do with it to make a new service truck for us. I am also going to mount a front winch, compressor and generator. Maybe this time I will remember to take pictures as we get going on it. I like this old iron and no emissions to speak of.

Great ideas here, I am running out of room and it shows in my boxes. Trying to figure out how to mount two more boxes on my Jerr dan with the outside rams for the bed tilt.

Hope they both had insurance

We finally got some time this week and I wanted to build some Ice Cleats for the back of the wrecker for this winter. These should do I think

NY plates too!

The one I am having an issue with is still here. The comical part of this is I went to High School with the guy who wrecked it. I know where he lives,, have called his house and they told me he no longer lives there...........but that is the address on the registration card in the truck. I am waiting until I run in to him, it is a small community, eventually I will see him. In the future, if I call the State Police to get a car abandoned, will they call a salvor that I recommend? I know a few of the junk yard guys around here who would work with me on those scenarios if the police will allow it.

LOL Seems like I always start hearing things the further I get from home too

My thoughts for what it's worth, hopefully simplified. I agree, cash versus accrual base accounting is what your account must be talking about, BUT, even if you were doing your accounting on an accrual basis you still cannot write off ALL that you have listed. In your list, you are trying to write off the Lost Profit, you cant write off lost profit so you need to itemize all the expenses for that particular call. To do that you need to know what your operating costs are and be able to substantiate it if audited. For example, I know that it costs me $1.62 per mile to operate my trucks, and that includes driver pay based on averaging 28mph . I can also take driver pay out of my calculation and it brings my cost to operate a truck down to $1.12 per mile or $31.00 per hour. This is important because, as someone else stated, your are writing off your drivers pay in your payroll. What you can deduct on your example is the TIME it took the truck to go to the call and hook up, clean up, etc. You have that listed in your example as $235.00 but you need to know how much time was involved. Lets say, for example that all took 1.5 HOURS. You would then deduct 1.5 X your hourly operating costs. Using my costing example that would be 1.5 X $31.00. That is what you lost having that truck out there for 1.5 hours and not getting paid. You can deduct the 7 miles at the rate it costs you to run the truck, using my expense example it would be 7 X $1.12. That is what it costs you to run that truck for those miles that you did not get paid for. To simplify that process, you can just use the total time the truck was tied up on that call and use the hourly calculation. Storage charges, In my costing to run my trucks, there are line items there that account for Office overhead, maintenance on the trucks, building overhead, and other things I need to have to run the business. That is basically what someone else stated and if you do your costing and include all of those items, you are covered. In your example you are trying to write off lost income or lost revenue for the storage charges. That is not an expense. All of the fees and leg work you need to do to get "ownership of the vehicle are expenses and can be written off. Then, when you sell the vehicle you list that as Income in your accounting, Hope that helps and yes, it is a Pain in the Azz but it is part of doing business. Also, if your accountant did not explain to you how and what you CAN deduct in your scenario, I think I would be looking for another accountant.

So, we got the truck back together, but I didnt take any pictures yet of the finished deck, you cant really see much anyway, it is all underneath. I wanted to build a side puller for this truck so this is what I came up with. I had decided to mount the side rails permanently. That will keep me from moving sheds LOL and the sides will take a lot of pressure being welded in permanent. I made mounting holes in the side rails just behind the rear wheels. This way I can mount the side puller in the rail, keep the bed in the locked position and have it putting down pressure on the tires for stability. My cousin had told me about Ron Pratt videos on YouTube which is where I got the idea. I didn't like the ones they sell that mount on the back of the deck and they are pretty expensive anyway. This should work pretty good. I am also putting on a new light bar...........Can anyone tell me why in the hell they put so many patterns on these new light bars, I have picked the one with the most random pattern and will let it there.

We are showing our age LOL

If I remember correctly, they were top of the line for Toyota back in the day.

I have made more than my fair share of bonehead moves over the years too, that how we learn. He is actually pretty good and I am not afraid to send him out, he represents us well and will learn from this. You had to see the look on his face when I showed up smiling from ear to ear. That was the worst part for him........and before we left he fell on his Azz in the mud. We charged our normal recovery rates to the customer but gave them a little break

We got a call the other day for a skid steer stuck in the mud. This is a brand new machine with about 15 hours on it. He was clearing this lot and was impressed with how good it moved on the tracks so the day after a big rain he is back at digging out the stumps, then he backed into a hole left from a stump that was dug out. woops, it wont come out. It was a greasy mess, I had to winch myself back up as far as I could then chain myself to his dump truck to keep me sitting still. I rigged for about 20K resistance but I am sure it was not that stuck, after the initial movement it walked right out

We had a call recently for a stuck car "in the parking lot" behind a local supermarket. Well, right behind the supermarket is the Susquehanna river and a good local fishing spot. I send my cousin who helps me out pretty regularly anymore. He decides it is a good idea to back the wrecker down in the mud to get the car.....wrong. He gets to the car, gets it out, then proceeds to get the wrecker stuck. Well, I taught him how to use the winch lines to get himself out when stuck so he tries, and tries, and tries. In his mind, there was no way he was going to call me.............except he had too. LOL. In this first picture he is explaining to me how this mud snuck up on him. Now, to his credit, the car was further down in there and was stuck pretty good, I am surprised he got this far. Another part of the explanation!! I was able to get close enough with the roll back to hook to the wrecker, then re-hook the car and pull them both out. It was all good, he didn't tear anything up and he washed both the trucks LOL

I havent had any all summer but got one Saturday night, sunk two wheels in a muddy culvert leaning heavily. We got it but it seems they are alway about to roll over when they call me. LOL

Congratulations, wishing you well

dprone, I don't even get them to land on the same road I am on We are pretty rural, it takes me 5 miles to get to a well traveled road. Most of my calls have about 12 - 15 enroute miles. Police work for us is not regulated, we just have to post our rates. I work for 3 clubs and get pretty good rates because I am out here and I get calls from the others because no one wants to travel so it works out pretty good

If he was able to do that just backing it out of his driveway, wait to see what he can do when he gets it out on the road!!!!!

So, in that scenario, you get paid for the clean up under his liability, but if he didnt have full coverage you dont get paid for the tow??