I found some in Florida with a 14000 lb gvwr for under $4000, great but if I get pulled by DOT guy with a 14000 pound trailer and my Dodge, I'll, by the book, need to have a CDL because of my combined weight, big time fines!!!! With a farm tag I can run 50k area around my house air brakes and all without a cdl, as long as I have a legitimate farm. I have looked at dump trailers, but I need a trailer that I can gate with (gravel on driveway), and all the trailers I have seen have double swing doors. I can't go with a off road trailer, I will be farm taging it, so it must be road worthy.

It's just real easy to ends up with a pig in a poke these days. Also if it looks pretty clean and the price is right it may last you a very long time. Sounds like it probablyly a real peice of junk by now huh? All these problems could have been fixed by the previous owner and in a single axle dump it may have lead a pretty easy life. The small cam engines also had these issues with the exception that the cam gear didn't walk off to often. If it is a serpentine belt it is a big cam, if it has 2 v belts it is a small cam FFC engine, if it has a single v belt it is a non FFC engine. The easiest way to tell if it is a big cam for someone who has never seen a big and small cam is to look at the water pump belt.

Also see if some one in your area could do a blowby test on the engine, it should only cost you an hours labor and will give a pretty good indication of cylinder condition. Look for oil seepage from the turbo boot and the turbo X-over gasket, indicating a turbo pumping oil. Also look at the area between the cam followers for burnt paint, indicating a spun cam bushing. If it still smokes it could need an overhead set or possibly a camshaft.

All the big cams smoked a lot cold, but it should be running pretty clean after coolant temp is 140* or so. Look for coolant stains down the side of the block from the head gasket area. Some of them had a problem with the cam followers breaking. They have what is called a thin deck block and were prone to cracking in the liner counter bores and bolt holes, causing coolant leaks at the head gaskets, and it takes major machine work to fix, and then they may still leak. They had what is called a thin wall cam bushing that was prone to spinning and ruining the block. I believe a 79 would have a Big cam I 350 if it is the original engine.

Cummins big cam 350