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Old 06-23-2019, 12:27 AM   #21
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Hey! Saw your note about people buying buses in BC, Thats me! Living in the Sunshine coast in BC I had trouble finding a bus, not alot popping up for sale and what was was rusty, and abused often. All the good stuff seemed to be in the states.

I found one through Richie Bro's Auction site, Got an awesome price and am super happy with it, purchase and pick up was easy, **** they even finance if you need, bus its an auction so buyer beware. they come up often on it but the auctions here are in Chilliwack and happen maybe 3 times a year? A really nice bus was up last auction actually, wish I had of known so I could send it too you!

Another good site I used was BCauction.com, all the school district buses come on there, the only issue I found was they have reserve prices that are not disclosed, I "won" an auction for 10G on a bus, but didnt get the bus.... so happy after winnig my current bus for $1600 taxes in

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Old 06-23-2019, 12:58 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by scloughcarroll View Post
Hey! Saw your note about people buying buses in BC, Thats me! Living in the Sunshine coast in BC I had trouble finding a bus, not alot popping up for sale and what was was rusty, and abused often. All the good stuff seemed to be in the states.

I found one through Richie Bro's Auction site, Got an awesome price and am super happy with it, purchase and pick up was easy, **** they even finance if you need, bus its an auction so buyer beware. they come up often on it but the auctions here are in Chilliwack and happen maybe 3 times a year? A really nice bus was up last auction actually, wish I had of known so I could send it too you!

Another good site I used was BCauction.com, all the school district buses come on there, the only issue I found was they have reserve prices that are not disclosed, I "won" an auction for 10G on a bus, but didnt get the bus.... so happy after winnig my current bus for $1600 taxes in
do you know what that bus sold for in the Richie Bros auction in Chiliwack?
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Old 06-23-2019, 01:05 AM   #23
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Let me check real quick

not sure if you have to have a richie account to see this page but this was the bus

https://www.rbauction.com/1993-oshko...ack-bc-2019131

looks like it sold for 4500 CAD not too shabby! Not as cheap as mine, but less KM on this
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Old 06-23-2019, 01:18 AM   #24
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Let me check real quick

not sure if you have to have a richie account to see this page but this was the bus

https://www.rbauction.com/1993-oshko...ack-bc-2019131

looks like it sold for 4500 CAD not too shabby! Not as cheap as mine, but less KM on this
Not a bad looking beast at all.
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Old 06-23-2019, 05:07 AM   #25
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Hey Wornout Wrench. I live in Abbotsford BC. I bought a full sized 2000 Bluebird at auction from Ricthie Brothers in Chilliwack. They are a massive company with auctions all over the country. The bus has 237,000 Kms on it. There was one other bidder and I got it for $4,500 plus about a thousand dollars in Auction fees and taxes. I got lucky. They had hundreds of items for this 2 day auction and they included only 1 school bus.
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Old 06-23-2019, 10:23 AM   #26
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Not a bad looking beast at all.
that's the one that caught my eye - had all sorts of good things going for it - already registered in BC, close enough that I could get there to see it in a day's drive, and many desirable features on the bus, including a high ceiling
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Old 06-23-2019, 02:54 PM   #27
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Not much to see on the Ritchie site. A few over in Newfie land, bit too far away for me.

Hey Sleddgracer, are we going to meet up at an auction and have a bidding war LOL.

I have an account with Ritchie Bros.
A few years ago I was looking for a service truck to buy, there were a few nice ones over in Alberta.

I had my price that I thought was fair. They all went for just about double what I was thinking. Really surprised me since the amount people were paying was getting pretty close to what new would be worth.

Feeding Frenzy
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Old 06-23-2019, 04:05 PM   #28
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Not much to see on the Ritchie site. A few over in Newfie land, bit too far away for me.

Hey Sleddgracer, are we going to meet up at an auction and have a bidding war LOL.

I have an account with Ritchie Bros.
A few years ago I was looking for a service truck to buy, there were a few nice ones over in Alberta.

I had my price that I thought was fair. They all went for just about double what I was thinking. Really surprised me since the amount people were paying was getting pretty close to what new would be worth.

Feeding Frenzy
you can't just assume you are going to get a bargain at an auction - I've carried a used vehicle value book with me to auctions that I got from a friendly car/truck dealer - I figured if the price at auction went over wholesale prices, it wasn't worth the chance of buying an expensive lemon for a few dollars saved by going to an auction - - we might run into each other at an auction, but I think our needs might be different enough that we wouldn't be bidding on the same bus
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Old 06-23-2019, 04:15 PM   #29
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I know about auctions, especially Ritchie Bros.

Some of the crap that we have sent in over the years.

Have seen axles cut off and the covers reinstalled. Saw a crown gear pulled out of a rear diff.

Ritchie with their famous 5 gallon overhauls.

You pay your money and take your chances at auction.

I am pretty frugal. When I set my price I will not go over.

I have a not bad idea of what heavy equipment and class 8 trucks go for.

Buses are a different story, have not really been watching them but will have to start.
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Old 06-23-2019, 06:04 PM   #30
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I know about auctions, especially Ritchie Bros.

Some of the crap that we have sent in over the years.

Have seen axles cut off and the covers reinstalled. Saw a crown gear pulled out of a rear diff.

Ritchie with their famous 5 gallon overhauls.

You pay your money and take your chances at auction.

I am pretty frugal. When I set my price I will not go over.

I have a not bad idea of what heavy equipment and class 8 trucks go for.

Buses are a different story, have not really been watching them but will have to start.
I haven't bought anything from Richie Bros yet, but I have bought several vehicles from Michener Allen in both Edmonton and Calgary - some were an excellent investment - I'll leave the story there - lol
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Old 06-24-2019, 09:57 PM   #31
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Annndddddddd the plot thickens...

The two buses that I was looking at are no longer up on Kijiji, sold I guess.
Would have been nice to have gotten an email stating that they were sold.

One more left but have pretty much given up on them, no response back at all.
I think that it is over priced.

Question for people in the know.

I have had several Cummins 5.9 engines in shop trucks, all gear jammers. They were alright but mostly used on logging road and climbing mountains. Low geared for the mountains. Worked fine in our application and were pretty much trouble free.

Have worked on the Cummins 8.3 for years. Mostly in heavy machinery, once they got the head gasket issues figured out, not much trouble with them either.

I have only driven one truck with the 8.3, once again, one of my shop trucks. It had a 9 speed eaton behind it. Good truck, really good engine and trans combo. Lost a bit on long hills on the hiway but rolled along pretty decent.

How big is the difference in a bus.
I can't imagine the 5.9 in a built up skoolie doing well in the mountains. It will do it but what gear will you be in.
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Old 06-24-2019, 10:25 PM   #32
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Originally Posted by Wornout Wrench View Post
Annndddddddd the plot thickens...

The two buses that I was looking at are no longer up on Kijiji, sold I guess.
Would have been nice to have gotten an email stating that they were sold.

One more left but have pretty much given up on them, no response back at all.
I think that it is over priced.

Question for people in the know.

I have had several Cummins 5.9 engines in shop trucks, all gear jammers. They were alright but mostly used on logging road and climbing mountains. Low geared for the mountains. Worked fine in our application and were pretty much trouble free.

Have worked on the Cummins 8.3 for years. Mostly in heavy machinery, once they got the head gasket issues figured out, not much trouble with them either.

I have only driven one truck with the 8.3, once again, one of my shop trucks. It had a 9 speed eaton behind it. Good truck, really good engine and trans combo. Lost a bit on long hills on the hiway but rolled along pretty decent.

How big is the difference in a bus.
I can't imagine the 5.9 in a built up skoolie doing well in the mountains. It will do it but what gear will you be in.
When looking at a list of desirable engines here, the 8.3 tops the list , and the 5.9 sits at the bottom. It's not a bad engine , as you mentioned, it's just not enough for a full size bus constantly on the highway. Usually backed by an Allison AT545, making the motor less desirable than on it's own. I'd like to have an 8.3 in the front of my Genesis.
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Old 06-24-2019, 10:29 PM   #33
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[QUOTE=o1marc;334326]When looking at a list of desirable engines here, the 8.3 tops the list , and the 5.9 sits at the bottom. It's not a bad engine , as you mentioned, it's just not enough for a full size bus constantly on the highway. Usually backed by an Allison AT545, making the motor less desirable than on it's own. I'd like to have an 8.3 in the front of my Genesis.[/QUOte

Pretty much what I thought.


They are school buses, were never really built to make long highway trips for days at a time
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Old 06-24-2019, 10:32 PM   #34
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[QUOTE=Wornout Wrench;334327]
Quote:
Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
When looking at a list of desirable engines here, the 8.3 tops the list , and the 5.9 sits at the bottom. It's not a bad engine , as you mentioned, it's just not enough for a full size bus constantly on the highway. Usually backed by an Allison AT545, making the motor less desirable than on it's own. I'd like to have an 8.3 in the front of my Genesis.[/QUOte

Pretty much what I thought.


They are school buses, were never really built to make long highway trips for days at a time
Some of them were, they are just not as plentiful as a BB 5.9/545 route bus.
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Old 06-24-2019, 11:09 PM   #35
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I've got a DT 408 (6.7L) with the AT545 and it's definitely not the best on highways, I can bomb along at around 90KM on flat sections well but do suffer on hills.

I was having major trouble finding a bus as well, I found this engine tranny combo and although it wasn't my first pick (Its an odd duck of an engine) the overall condition and price made it work for me.

I did not want to screw around importing a bus from the states, and everything out of Alberta was covered in rust, made the choices slim out here in the coast of BC
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Old 06-24-2019, 11:09 PM   #36
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I had a 38 foot re 5.9 with a 6.0X rear end and Allison 3060. It maxed out at 65 mph and I got 6.5-7 miles per gallon. It wasn’t very strong and I ended up selling it. Now I have a 39 foot re with 8.3 Allison 3060 and I believed rear end is 5.3X; the hp and torque rating are similar to the 5.9 but on this one I got closer to 8 mpg. I’m not sure how it’ll do on mountains yet. I also had overheating issues on the 5.9 when but couldn’t figure out why if there was something wrong or if it was just too much bus for the small engine.
The good thing about 5.9 Cummins though is there’s so much available for them for upgrades and parts. Regardless I still wouldn’t go back to a 5.9.
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Old 06-24-2019, 11:22 PM   #37
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I've got a DT 408 (6.7L) with the AT545 and it's definitely not the best on highways, I can bomb along at around 90KM on flat sections well but do suffer on hills.

I was having major trouble finding a bus as well, I found this engine tranny combo and although it wasn't my first pick (Its an odd duck of an engine) the overall condition and price made it work for me.

I did not want to screw around importing a bus from the states, and everything out of Alberta was covered in rust, made the choices slim out here in the coast of BC

Ain't that the truth.

I started to look a bit more stateside but even down there the pickings seem to be a little slim for the engine trans combo I am looking for.

I want to stay with mechanical system, minimal electronics and NO AFTERTREATMENT. I spent too much time keeping our fleet of logging trucks with the Detroit Diesel 16 liter running. The one box system. Ugh

Might just have to rethink what I am doing here.
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Old 06-24-2019, 11:28 PM   #38
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When I picked up my bus from Yakima Wa there was a few mechanical late 90’s buses they were getting rid of. They’re probably gone now but it’s possible they have more they’re getting rid of. I’ve imported a few vehicles now and it is a bit of a headache but it’s pretty routine for me now. The only big variable seems to be the out of province inspection. It’s kind like a box of chocolates.... you know the rest...
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Old 06-24-2019, 11:29 PM   #39
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When I picked up my bus from Yakima Wa there was a few mechanical late 90’s buses they were getting rid of. They’re probably gone now but it’s possible they have more they’re getting rid of. I’ve imported a few vehicles now and it is a bit of a headache but it’s pretty routine for me now. The only big variable seems to be the out of province inspection. It’s kind like a box of chocolates.... you know the rest...
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Old 06-25-2019, 05:09 AM   #40
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When looking at a list of desirable engines here, the 8.3 tops the list , and the 5.9 sits at the bottom. It's not a bad engine , as you mentioned, it's just not enough for a full size bus constantly on the highway. Usually backed by an Allison AT545, making the motor less desirable than on it's own. I'd like to have an 8.3 in the front of my Genesis.
There's no way the 5.9 is at the "bottom".
How bout the 7.3? its just as weak and overheats much easier.
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