Cummins 5.9 with MD3060

[o1marc]

All great points. Thanks everyone! Based on what I've read here, I don't think I will rule out the 5.9/3060 combo for mountain driving, but I also don't think it's my first choice.


Just a quick reiteration from my post above cause I'm real curious on this:

Does anyone know if auctions (govdeals, purple wave, public surplus, etc) dry up when moving towards fall/winter? Is it a seasonal thing? Or is there no rhyme or reason?

Schools usually retire their buses at the end of the school year, or just before the beginning in spring.

 

[Back To Skool]

I looked at one of these last week. 38 footer, type D, 5.9 with the MD3060. It had the "53" stamped on the block. (plus numerous other issues and was way overpriced for the condition).

The 53 made me walk.

 

[WIbluebird]

Based on what I've seen new bus orders are typically placed by February/March with deliveries taking place all throughout the summer and sometimes into early fall. There was one year where we didn't get the new buses delivered until October so the old ones were used for the first month of that year.



Keep in mind that manufacturers like Blue Bird and Thomas require each bus to be inspected and QC'd at the selling dealership so oftentimes that is the hold up in the supply chain. I've heard of some buses requiring over 40 hours of labor by shop techs to fix things that the assembly line workers screwed up.


3060 is massive overkill when it's bolted to a 5.9 (and that's a good thing!). You may want to check the engine serial # on the Cummins parts site to see what HP level it's at, chances are it could be one of the higher powered ones if it was specc'ed with a 3060.

 

[Booyah45828]

I looked at one of these last week. 38 footer, type D, 5.9 with the MD3060. It had the "53" stamped on the block. (plus numerous other issues and was way overpriced for the condition).

The 53 made me walk.

53 block isn't an issue in buses. The motor mounts in a bus are on the flywheel housing and upfront below the damper, which doesn't cause the infamous cracking on the side like you see in pickup trucks.

 

[cadillackid]

with CoVID going on the cycle of bus sales is changed.. districts are running busses that were scheduled to be retired. as the capacity is reduced.. several people i know of have everyone with a CDL in their system driving busses right now.. many schools have gone to a 1/3 capacity on the bus.. so many retired busses are now either active or are spares they want to keep

 

[JackE]

Probably closer to the 19,000 lbs, as the chart I found listed the weight for a 78 passenger at 21,220 (it did not say if that was wet or dry weight, so I estimated closer to 22,000 for fuel and oil/coolant).

The bus in question is an 84 passenger. So I added another 1k lbs for the additional chassis and seats/sheet metal etc., getting me to about 23k lbs.

You reminded me that I forgot to subtract weight for the initial gutting. But I always err on the high side when it comes to weights.

Do the seats and other throwaways really add up to 3k lbs? That seems a bit high for some metal frames and foam padding.

I got my bus mostly gutted. It's a 40' pusher with the 8.3 and 3060. I hit the scale on my way home, front axle was 7,100, rear was 13,600. I have since stripped the second half of the floor and about 20 miles of wire. I'm putting it right about 20,500 stripped down. I'm projecting my finished and loaded weight to be at or over 30,000. Empty like it is, it'll run at 75 without any problem on the cruise control. I don't remember where the rpm's were at that speed, but that is without 6th gear. I'm planning on a run down the road this weekend to check speed-rpm relationship.