Pusher price

[Texasmom]

I'm looking around the Internet, trying to determine what our budget is going to need to be for this project. Someone has suggested (my research suggests the same) that I might need a flat nosed pusher to get the interior space I would like. A quick look around online shows those go for around $8,000-10,000 on the low end. Is that about right? Any resources for finding them any less expensive?

[dan-fox]

Gaaah! Get yourself signed up with PublicSurplus.com and GovDeals.com and set up a daily search named "school bus" or something creative like that. They go for $2500-3000 if you buy them directly from the school system.

As with most everything bus, it's been discussed here many times before. What to look for, what engines and transmissions people like and don't like, how to read the secret codes on tires to see how old they really are, etc etc. There's a "sticky" thread for listing bus vendors and places to buy IIRC but I can't find it just now. Can anybody help me out with that?

Really, you can find a bus that someone else has stripped out and repaired already for less than that.

[M1031A1]

TM,

We got out bus for $2K, and after a good service, driving for almost 2K miles, we came home with a wonderful bus for around $3K including fuel, food, hotel, et.al.

Look around at GovDeals.com or publicsurplus.com for some good deals. Talk to the lead mechanics about the buses you're interested in and be prepared to walk away from some. Avoid the northern buses (rust and corrosion). California buses are some of the best to get. That's where we got ours. So if someone wants $8K to $10K, the bus needs to be rust free, VERY low mileage, AND VERY low hours on the engine to be worth that kind of money (i.e. 50K miles and 4K hours or less), in other words a *unicorn*.

Hope this helps.

M1031

[Scooternj]

Agreed, get on GovDeals.com and PublicSurplus.com. You can occasionally find a deal on Fleabay or Craigslist, but as CUCV (M1031) pointed out, as rare as unicorns. Buses'll start going to auction in a couple of months as they age out.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Texasmom

I'm looking around the Internet, trying to determine what our budget is going to need to be for this project. Someone has suggested (my research suggests the same) that I might need a flat nosed pusher to get the interior space I would like. A quick look around online shows those go for around $8,000-10,000 on the low end. Is that about right? Any resources for finding them any less expensive?

Get one at an auction.
A FE has plenty of space and a rear door to boot, fwiw. Cheaper too.

[Texasmom]

Thank you, thank you! Music to my ears I knew that had to be too high. I was starting to think we may have to wait two years or more before we could even buy the bus!

[EastCoastCB]

With as many folks living in it as you're gonna have, make sure you get one with a side emergency door. Can't have too many exits if a fire happens.

[Texasmom]

Good thought. It wouldn't take long for the whole thing to go up.

[Docsgsxr]

Worth the investment to save a life.....


http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/bu...ety-13374.html

[Texasmom]

Definitely.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by Texasmom

Thank you, thank you! Music to my ears I knew that had to be too high. I was starting to think we may have to wait two years or more before we could even buy the bus!

Read my thread "Heavy Fuel". That should give you a good idea of what to look for and where to look, such as California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

Just my opinion.

Oh, and good catch Scooter on my name originating from the CUCV series of military vehicles. I still own my M1031! LOVE HER!

[DT Rutledge]

Like the others have said, Govdeals and Publicsurplus. Also, google First student. They are a huge school bus contractor all over the us.