Real Relic: 1965 Seagrave Pumper Truck
While old fire trucks are not rare to see rotting away in open fields and parking lots, it’s a bit more unusual to see one sitting in a side yard of a house somewhere in Louisiana. This classic 1965 Seagrave Pumper Truck is in need of complete restoration, and details are sparse in the eBay listing. The asking price seems steep, with suggested bidding opening at $7,650 and a Buy-It-Now of $10,400. No history is offered other than the tale told by the pictures of a long-idled fire apparatus. Find it here on eBay in Gretna, Louisiana.
Seagrave is still in operation today, doing what they do best and building world-class emergency and rescue vehicles. They might shudder to see what’s happened to this 1965 model, which may be a 900-KB model – but that’s my best guess after some quick internet sleuthing. Does anyone have a more definitive answer on which model it is? We’ve seen plenty of these end up at salvage yards as they’re worth a fair amount in scrap, but the price of metal currently isn’t enough to justify scrapping it – at least not yet.
It’s hard to tell if it’s all there or more of a parts truck at this point. One would think for the asking price it was close to complete. These came in a wide array of specifications, from different lengths to escalating capacities as it relates to tank sizes, ladder heights, and other equipment. The actual powerplant also varied, and the seller vaguely throws out to this being a Chevrolet in the listing – perhaps this is in reference to the origins of the motor?
I’d love to know which township or city this Seagrave once serviced. But more to the point, I hope the seller adjusts the opening bid to encourage some actual activity on this listing, as I believe the suggested price right now may scare some folks off. A project like this requires a major effort, from moving it to sourcing the parts necessary to restore it to OEM correct. However, there’s a fervent fan base of vintage fire trucks that should help you get it back on the road. If any of our readers can help fill in the details, please do!
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Comments
Clearly, another for the “you’ve got to be kidding” dept. Quite the dreamer, here, you can’t get that for a nice one. What is it with old fire engines? Do we look at them as heroes and just can’t bear to shoot them? And Seagrave has nothing to do with Chevrolet, may be an Ebay thing. Pretty sure these used that boat anchor 903 Cummins motors. Get the cutting torch out.
agreed I know where they are 8 newer models that run and drive for a fraction of the price
Run…..the other way as fast as you can at any price.
I would be hard pressed to pay any more than $500 for that truck. 3 months ago I bought a 1992 PIERCE from the Memphis Fire Department, running and complete for $5500 and drove it from there to Florida without a problem. AND they have 7 more for sale there also still for the same price. The cost of removing this truck and restoring it to just a running condition (getting the motor to start and to move) could easily go well over the buy it now price. Some people live in a dream world and that is what the seller seems to be doing.
What a dreamer. Probably a Hoarder.
Somebody somewhere who is restoring one would love to salvage some parts, but that’s it. Where do sellers get the idea that since a running driving one sold for X dollars, my junker is worth the same?
I think it is the same ones that rode the short bus to and from school. Or had to wear a bike helmet all the time LOL
Not making fun of anyone because I had a son that had to ride the short bus (of course it was a 1 room school in Northern CA and they all rode a short bus because they only had that many kids)
I realize the post on this 1965 K model Seagrave is over a year old, but I would love it for parts for a project I am working. Wondering what the location is and if still available?
Cut off the windshield about a foot below the glass and use for another project.
( that curved glass is cool!) And the rest is just scrap. Too heavy to use for anything resembling useable.
My Goodyear rep. told me about a local fireman had just returned from picking up their new truck from the manufacturer. His first stop was the bathroom. As he was sitting on the camode he heard this horrendous explosion followed by 5 more in quick succession. It seems the the person ordering the chassis did not order the correct ply rated tires. The manufacturer made sure that the tires were inflated to their correct “normal” pressures before the truck left the plant. But the severely overloaded tires managed to last the few hundred miles home before giving up. The concussion of the first one letting go caused the others to follow. ( This is in the day of bias-ply tires, so the ” wallow effect” was not noticable as it would today, and the driver had never driven a fire truck that heavy before. So the handling was new to him. Having the correct pressures for the load would still have looked ok. Evidently the fire department wanted Goodyear to pay for the considerable damage to the fire station. Which is how he was involved. He passed the claim to the ” ordering chassis “company.
You might say that it scared the cxxp right out of him!
How about call the scrap guy over and make a deal .
It could be used as lawn art but I am not liking the view now .
I agree buy a running one if you have such desire .. couldn’t someone of joined a frat like the Pikes similar to my Uni back in the day to get over fure truck need ? I suggest bank the 7500 and join a volunteer fire department 👀👍
Remember be proactive on “large” purchases with the spouse to avoid drinking from the “fire hose” 😜😆🙃
Obviously the guy’s wife said something like, get that damn thing outa here – NOW. But he liked it so he listed it for sale at a price he knew no one would ever pay. Many of us have been there/done that – and lived to tell the tale.
Opportunity may be collectively looking us in the face here… If the single work boot, toilet plunger and bucket are included in the sale, might be time to reassess this offering!
It is my studied opinion that all of those items have been carefully placed around the base of the truck to make it as un-appealing as possible, including the glass bottle of cloudy urine carefully placed on the front bumper. The guy really, really wants that truck to stay right where it is.
And so it should, until it turns to dust a very long time from now.
Just looking at the sellers backyard if not the truck tells you everything you want to know about this “relic”. Gretna is across the river from New Orleans…….a humid hellhole in the summer. The seller clearly wants to keep this pos. People are crazy thats all there is to it
Shift the decimal point on the price to the left one, buddy. BiN price of about $1,000 seems good.
I love the old fire trucks, but I think there is a very nice example at a decent price out there available for each of the 23 potential buyers in the USA….
As Helen Reddy once sang, “Livin in a World of Make Beleive”. Seller must be named Angie Baby
i agree with Howard and Mountain Woodie. I know where Gretna is, too, and believe me it’s a nightmare in the summer. The truck: Folks in this part of the Hobby know better unless there is something special about this one which I doubt. The front of the Truck says FB Fire Dept. and I’m trying to remember where in Louisiana there is a place with the initials FB………
I think it has found its final resting place. It goes with the house if ever sold )
$76.50 seems reasonable to me-
I’d love to see What they have parked in the back yard, a DC 10 maybe?
Well, all of it they found, minus one engine and a piece of tail fuselage. :D
I would love to bring this thing to life, but getting it out of there would be expensive by itself, not to mention whatever else it needs. But man, check out the patina! You can’t fake that!
I wouldn’t even offer $500, cause it can’t be moved without at least tires/wheels. Then, where it is likely has it rusted into one biiiiig #32k chunk o’oxide
Pine Bluff F.D. in Louisiana, been for sale on and of on the SPFAM site.
He is missing money, or that with wife want it gone is right.
If not, why now?
It has stay there for +20 years
If you wanted a nice fire truck, as David said, you can buy something, complete . for 5k or so, and most of the fire companies include the radio, lights, hoses, etc..you are right, the guy doesn’t really want to sell. Junk
Cheers
GPC
Saw it awhile back….think it was a lot cheaper….same pictures.
PBFD : maybe it’s Pelham Batesville Fire Department, South Carolina ?
We can find find the same Fleur-de-lis on their site as on the front of this poor old Seagraves > https://www.pbfd.com/
Engine could be Cummins diesel, but gas were still popular. Most likely a 817 Waukesha straight six. I had a 66 Seagrave with the same engine. Ran like a champ.
Love the coil of toilet hose on the front seat in case you want to go fight some fires!
picky picky picky LOL
All I see in the pictures is a reason for a tetanus shot.
“Clean my yard, plez.”
“Gimmie some money.”