Parting out 4106 - maybe

[richard5933]

I received the initial offer from the insurance company today. We've got a long way to go, but they did indicate that at this point they would let me have the 4106 for about $3500.

Now comes the real decisions...

The 4106 is currently sitting in a tow yard in Des Moines, IA. Here's a basic rundown of the major equipment and fittings:

8V71 Detroit Diesel with about 150k since full rebuild. Was running strong before accident. Equipped with working Jacobs engine brakes.
V730 Allison Automatic Transmission with Bennet toggle electronic shifter
Rear suspension and cradle in good condition
Trojan T145 batteries (x4)
Progressive Dynamics 9720 12v charger
300-amp battery isolator
Alcoa rims (four - rear inner are steel)
Goodyear 11R22.5 tires (x7) new summer 2017 with only about 1,000 miles
Bay doors in great condition
GPS speedo
Kenwood stereo (x2)
13kw Mecc Alte generator (new summer 2017) mounted to Perkins 4.108 diesel
New toilet
New Shureflo water pump
Jennair downdraft cooktop & grill
Webasto 2010 (newly refurbished)
Cruiseair basement air with second unit in rear
Atwood Air Command 15K BTU with heat pump
Fantastic fan
Etc.

Question is this...

The bus sits in Des Moines. I'd love to be able to keep the engine/tranny/rear cradle. Not sure how I'd get them pulled, shipped, and stored once here. I'd also like to have the generator and some of the other equipment. I really don't know how practical it would be for me to accomplish this.

So, anyone have any thoughts on saving this bus from the crusher? Anyone have a place it could be brought to so that it could be stripped of usable parts? Anyone have need for any of the major components? The value of the parts far exceeds the money they want for the bus once the settlement is complete. The dollar value is important to me and I'd like to recover whatever I can from it, but more important is to not lose the valuable parts that others can benefit from.

This is all new to me, so I'm open to suggestions on how to best handle this. If I had my druthers I'd just drag it to my gravel lot behind the barn, but i don't know if that is even physically possible given the road and driveway situation here. Short of that, I want to see what can be done to not lose whatever value there is in this bus to the community.

Richard

[luvrbus]

$3500.00 seems a little high to me most of the time for that vintage they go $2000.00 no matter what brand,be careful before you buy and make sure you don't have to pay the storage fees those can run into $1000's of dollars BTDT I paid $2000.00 for a MCI and the storage fees were $2800.00 those wrecker lot guys are bandits,they can get for what ever the law allows from $10 to $100.00 + per day,then they charge you a high @$# fee get it out of their yard where your guy can move it if they choose too     

[pabusnut]

Tell them that they will be lucky to get scrap prices, and then offer $2K or less.

They may be willing to dicker.

[Paso One]

My Vote is haul it home part it out at your leisure.
More value in the parts, than cost to haul plus the convenience of taking what you know is good.

[chessie4905]

Since a lot of items will work on  your current vehicle, have it hauled on a low boy to your location. I'd think you'd want the automatic in your new one in short order. Shifting gears isn't bad, but backing up sucks most of the time. Don't let it set at the current location. You'll rack up big $ in short order. Get insurance Co. to pay storage and get it out of there immediately after settlement.

[windtrader]

Clifford makes a very good point about storage fees. If you can get it out quickly without big charges then why not just move it local to a storage place. Here is a bunch of options in Des Moines https://desmoines.craigslist.org/search/prk

You just bought some time and can organize a dismantle trip. Get as many orders for parts ahead of time. Once you have a few days, rent a Uhaul box truck, take all your tools, and have at it with a couple folks. Load all the stuff to keep in the truck, pack and ship the stuff you sold, prep the coach for the crusher, arrange to get it hauled off, and head home.

[DoubleEagle]

I have one of my Eagles in a storage yard, and they are very restrictive about doing work on it in the yard, and they want the vehicle to be insured while it is there. Between storage fees and insurance, it costs about $140 a month to store. Serious dismantling of the bus might not be possible while in storage, plus cold weather is fast approaching. The value of what there is to take out to you should be the prime decision maker. It is either sell it to someone in the area that can use it before storage charges rack up, or bite the bullet and have it towed home. Stripping parts out seems like a good idea in our minds, but in reality it always takes longer than we estimate. 

[richard5933]

I would prefer to have it hauled to my property, but I just don't see it as a viable option. Aside from the cost of the haul (6+ hours drive time from Des Moines to my place) there is the problem if getting it into our driveway.

There is a circular driveway that goes around the house and behind the barn. The problem is that the turn is too tight to get a semi through. Ditto for a tow rig pulling the bus. There is enough room on one side to pull the bus in under its own power, but to get it out I've got to turn it around doing a 3-point turn behind the barn. We've got 4 acres, but only about 1 of them is flat and it's mostly filled with buildings.

That means that I'll be left with the option of having it taken to a storage yard somewhere and then paying storage fees, even if for a short time. I also don't know how I'd get the engine out on my own - my tractor is only 24 hp and would have trouble lifting the genny, let alone the rear cradle with engine/tranny.

I really do want to keep the engine as a spare, and I would like to install the tranny one day. Just don't know how to make that happen.

Right now I think the only things I could strip out myself would be the smaller electronics, batteries, and fixtures. There are a couple of thousand dollars worth of these items, and it would be worth the drive out there even if that was all I could get. I'd also be able to pull the bay doors to sell online to who ever needs them.

If anyone has thoughts about getting the bigger items like engine/trans/genset please let me know.

Richard

[windtrader]

If towing home does not work, then you are limiting to what can be done locally (i.e. Des Moines area). Potential buyers outside the local area will likely face the same issues; specifically, towing costs, storage costs, dismantling costs, etc. You need to call the insurance folks and find out exactly if and how storage fees accrue.

Many years ago I had a car that got into a protracted negotiation with the insurance company about valuation. Many months passed but the car was definitely not in a tow yard. It was a covered warehouse that I suspect was a storage place for cars waiting settling out.

Just why do you want to bother with the coach? Because it has valuable stuff in it? Another way to look at the whole situation is if you can get a check large enough to satisfy you then just take it and forget the wrecked one. It may be hard to let it go as there is more in parts than they are offering if you buy it back but it might be better emotionally to just put the entire episode behind you and get a clear start with the new one you found.

[eagle19952]

odds are you'll never need the engine.
were i u i'd save the $3500.00 for a transmission... which u really don't need...want, perhaps.
the rest can be retrieved.
you'd be the first "to come out ahead" on a situation like this.

[richard5933]

....Just why do you want to bother with the coach? ...

Couple of reasons:

I tend toward preservation and don't like to see perfectly good parts for a vintage bus get crushed - that's the main reason. Even if I can't directly use the parts on our new coach, I'd prefer that someone make use of things like the bay doors and other salvageable parts if possible.

There are also parts on the bus which will be useful to me with our new one. If not the whole engine, I'd like to see if the Jake Brake off our old coach can be used to add Jake Brakes to our new one. Then there is the frugal side of me that would hate to see all the electronics i picked out so carefully just get tossed. Geez - the generator and electrical parts have only 4 hours use on them.

And of course, there is the emotional side. While I realize that it may not be practical for me to recover the parts, there is a part of me that hopes something can be rescued from an otherwise bad situation.

The money side? Not as important. While the initial settlement offer is not what I want, it was pretty much as expected and I'm certain that after a few heated phone calls and emails we'll be close enough to what I consider acceptable.

Does all this make sense logically? Probably not. Maybe I'll have a totally different view in another day or so. But for now this is where I am with it all.

Richard

[B_K]

If it were me I'd wait until the Ins co gets right on the actual settlement price an then offer the low-ball price of $1500 an let them talk you up to $2000. Make sure they cover the storage fees. Then make a deal with the tow company where it is, or one you work with locally and have it hauled home. Once home you should be able to get a local farmer or contractor to use a trackhoe or large skid steer (bobcat) to push/guide (a good trackhoe operator will be able to swing the front end anyway needed to back it in like a trailer) it around the corner to the storage area where you want it. (again if it were me I'd go ahead an have a pad of gravel of the side added to either park it, or the new one on while you have that piece  of equipment on site)
When your ready to pull the engine/trans a rental forklift/bobcat will make it quick an easy!
  BK 
PS also if your local towing company has a "rotator" wrecker they can guide it where you need it just like a trackhoe could!

[HB of CJ]

Negotiate with the Insurance Company for a package deal delivering the 4106 to a location of your choice?  Right now you may be held hostage to several choke points in the salvage process.

Impound duties and hidden demanded costs.  High transport fees by the mile.  Can all of this be avoided by having your insurance agent take care of everything?  They can negotiate better prices.

Most insurance agents do not want to do this.  Requires extra work in their opinion.  But sometimes a good long term family or family trust agent can and will do it ... if he or she wants to remain your agent.

Just thinking outside the box.  Be a shame to crush your hurt baby intact.

[buswarrior]

You have 4 acres...

And you own another bus...

Big vehicles are your reality?

Get that place adjusted, widen, flatten, cut, fill, whatever...

It's your place, fix it?

Park the wreck on the lawn? That'll be sufficient motivation to do fast driveway upgrades?

Just make it happen.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[luvrbus]

I would worry more about getting paid for the bus right now, when insurance co's dig their feet in it is a treat,the 3500 is his cost up to date I bet