What about the heating cost for your 8 months of winter (slight ex.)? I have a friend who lived there for a few years and the heating oil bills were much higher than my AC driven cooling cost in the summer in Bakersfield CA.

Ralph

 

Nice truck. Pulling that trailer, you will really appreciate the DRW. I also have no problems pulling my trailer (26 ft. Silver Streak) without the sway control, but I always use it just in case some crazy pulls out in front of me.

By the way, a "Big Black Dualy" is a very "Manly" truck, LOL.

Ralph

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: NickBeek

countrydoc, I don't know if it is state specific or nation wide, but it is illegal to pull more than 5K with out distributing hitch. Also most of the reciever hitches are rated only at 5K for load bearing, then to a higher weight for distributing set up. Just FYI.

(quote)

NickBeek, I believe most of our trucks have a "Load Distributing Hitch", and they are rated at 10,000 Lbs., when you use the solid steel bar ball mount, with a 2 and 5/16 "big shank" ball. If you use two inch Square tubing for the ball mount, they are limited to 6,000 Lbs.

Hitch assemblies where the Ball bolts to the bumper, and has NO structure bolted or wielded back along the frame are limited to 5,000 Lbs..

The Sway Control is not really mandated, but was developed a number of years ago when people pulled large travel trailers with full sized passenger cars, station wagons, etc..
I don't have sway control on any of my equipment trailers I pull in my business, up to 8,000 Lbs., but I do have sway control on my 26 Ft. "Silver Streak" which weighs in at about 6,000 Lbs. fully loaded and ready to go.

Ralph

 

Thanks for the reply, i was retired from the army so i keep my tricare medical which alows me to have my own civilian dr of my choice and i can get my perscriptions anywhere i choose. so moving there wouldnt affect my health care,and i get va disability so work is not a concern for me ,but my wife works in IT and would need to find employment there. and we are not sure which part of maine we would ,move to thinking up north out of the way and definatley not down by portland thats basicly the city with the same problems i am trying to get away from. do you live in north or the south of maine?

again thanks for the info

 

Hey Doc ,
Nice truck and camper . U must be livin the dream . Congrats.

 

December 25th, and it's 46 degrees in the shade. I guess the silver lining in global warming is lower heating bills...
anyway, I burn about 5 cords of wood per year; green firewood cut, split and delivered is about 200 per cord. That way my money stays local, my back stays strong, and my house stays warm.

 

I live in western maine, about 30 miles east of the new hampshire border. You can see Mount Washington from my back deck. If you put "Harrison, Maine 04040" into Google maps you'll see the area where I live. I lived in Portland for 4 years during my training, and I thought it was a great city as far as small cities go, but it does have the usual stuff that comes with cities, just less of it.
IT is not a super-strong industry in Maine, but it should be growing since these days with a satelite dish you can do just about any kind of computer work from the middle of nowhere (in fact, that's how I am communicating with you all right now). Hospitals are starting to invest huge $ into clinical computer systems and electronic medical records, so that would be one option that would give you some flexibility in choosing where you live. And of course there's always Fairchild Semiconductor, but that's just outside of Portland. My favorite parts of Maine are the western mountains and the coast, especially the coast north of Bath (known as "Downeast" Maine). But if it is privacy and woods you want, anywhere in central and northern Maine will do, and those areas have much cheaper land available.

 

Cool thanks for the reply,I will do some looking and try and make an educated decision.