Karl -- Bought a semi tractor Ford L9000

Insurance is a must have before you move the tractor. A quick inspection by a mechanic before you drive it is a good idea.

Best Regards Tom.

And you will need your air brake endorsement on your licence. And a licence to drive a semi, or articulated truck.Don't know what the licence is called stateside, but here you would need an AZ licence for that rig.

OK, thanks. Very exciting.

Here it is called a CDL.

Also, can such a tractor tow a low boy trailer with a pintly hitch?

Not real hard BUT it does take a fair amount of practice to do it well. Hope you have your CDL, driving one without that can get you big money trouble.

Sure. Wet lines are nothing more than PTO driven hydraulic pumps.

Yep, you need insurance and if you plan on using it for business you want insurance for the trailer and cargo.

You dog. Now I'm really pissed at you. I noticed the mn in the url. Was this auction in my part of the world?

I suggest that you get used to the tractor alone without trailer on back roads (if there is such a thing in Chi land). That's a lot a rig for an FNG.

I suppose you *could* put a pintle hitch on the tractor. But it would be really stupid with less manuverablity and less weight capacity. And you'd paint a target on your back for the law.

Karl

Air brakes are simple enough, but a bit touchy. CDL wise you mostly need to be able to understand the system and the required pre-trip safety checks of slack adjusters and air pressure build and leakdown rates.

Driving a manual isn't that difficult, but the semis are slightly different with double clutching vs. a typical manual pickup. The CDL books should have a decent explanation on shifting. If you can rent a semi with a semi-automatic transmission for your CDL road test it's a good idea, one less thing to worry about on the test. The semi-automatics are a bit of a hybrid, really they are a manual transmission with computer control. You still have a clutch, but you only use it when starting and stopping, after that the computer power-shifts for you. Pretty neat really, the convenience of an auto and the efficiency of a manual.

If you can I'd recommend learning to drive a manual on a pickup first since it will be a bit more forgiving of missed shifts and whatnot while you practice. I taught a friend how to drive a manual on my old pickup in a couple hours, and with that truck it didn't care if he missed and wend from 2nd to 5th when starting out. Normally you won't use the lowest gear(s) at all unless you are pulling a load, i.e. start in 2nd.

A wet line setup is simple enough to add, just a PTO powered hydraulic pump. The Landoll type trailers I've seen all had onboard engines for the hydraulics though.

Insurance, registration and state inspections I expect. Don't skimp, the fines would be big. The insurance won't be cheap either and your regular insurance agent will most likely be clueless. Search online on truckers sites for insurance companies that specialize in commercial insurance.

No, here in Chicago.

I have enough land that I own, near the warehouse, to practice driving.

OK... thanks a lot!

Something of a Catch-22: you need a license to drive it and you need to drive it (practice) to get a license. Oh, you could go to a big-rig school - expensive, probably.

Better would be to have it towed to your place where you could practice on your own land without a license. How much could towing be?

Bob

If you just want to get it to your place, get it towed. No licensing, insurance, etc. Just pay the towing co.

Paul

That, or find a buddy who has his CDL.

You don't have any alternative unless they're going to store it until you can get your CDL which isn't going to be overnight.

It's one of those things that the possibilities of consequences are simply too great to risk trying to teach yourself how to get it home on your own as a first experiment lacking past experience. If anything were to happen they'd throw the book at you (rightfully) and it's too big of a piece of gear that if you did have a problem the risk to others is too high as well.

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How will that help? He still will need insurance, registration and inspection on the truck before anyone cam move it other than towing it.

He could get his CDL in a week or so if he wants, but he still needs the insurance, reg and inspection for the truck.

Certainly not a good idea in the nanny state Iggy is in. Somewhere like TX he would be more likely to get yelled at and have to tow it.

Other things to keep in mind after you get this towed to your place while you work out your CDL, insurance and registration issues:

- You may have to park the truck inside your building, some nanny states / cities have restrictions on parking unregistered vehicles outside.

- You may have to pay property tax on the truck, possibly even if you do not have it registered. The tax will be based on the blue book value, not the price you paid, and that value is likely more than you paid, particularly with the low (for a semi) mileage and excellent condition.

...

Sure, he needs to find out what he's got to have done before a temporary move; generally there are provisions in State statutes to deal w/ such things. That he's not a licensed driver for the class of vehicle isn't one he can massage around, though.

Simply another possibility to evaluate in his quest to get the sucker home...Iggy is fully capable of assessing.

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Iggy. You didn't ask for advice, but you are getting it anyway.

Here is mine.

Sell the truck. Get a 1 ton pickup, dual real wheels, Diesel. Either get a flat bed or have one installed. You will have all the power and load capacity you need to pull your trailer and you will avoid all the potential costs with the big truck.

Your business insurance agent will love to add vehicle coverage.

Paul

Friend with a CDL and a temp transporter tag could get it "home". After that it's, Insurance, Registration (with DOT number on the sides), Inspection, HUT and IFSTA tags and, HOW MUCH to fill the tank!!!!

And when Iggy gets his CDL, medical certificate, log books, fuel tax logs, etc.

In his nanny state, even a 1T DRW truck is going to be a headache. Recall how he was stopped and almost impounded just with his 3/4T pickup and a trailer.