Farm Truck people, need your advice and opinions please!

[Chickerdoodle13]

If you are looking at hauling that much I would go with the dually. Our F-150 worked fine for hauling until we got a two horse slant with a tack room. It pulls it but it has a difficult time of it.

Big trucks are different when you first drive them, but you'll get used to it in no time. However, I don't really think you NEED the dually feature. We turned it down in a new truck because it doesn't really do much for what we use the truck for, which is about the same as you will be using yours for. It also makes taking it common places a lot easier. Duallys are truly a pain in the you-know-what to park!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Dually's are awful trucks. You do need the larger truck in the future when you get the bigger trailer, but for now, for what you have to haul NOW...I'd seriously go with the Chevy. just my opinion

 

[theoldchick]

Although I never had a problem parking a dually (unless it is one of those stretch limos long bed with quad cab), I learned the hard way that you never take one through the bank's drive - through.

A funny side note is to be very careful where you take your well-used farm truck. After dropping off a tractor in Pauline I drove to the Office Depot in Spartanburg. We know how most customers who visit those type of stores are usually the office nerdy types-and so are the clerks.

Well, I bought several pieces of office furniture which had to be loaded by a clerk. I purchased my furniture which was neatly packaged in space-saving boxes. The clerk was worried about fitting a particularly long box in the car.

"Is your car big enough?" the clean-cut feller asked as he steered his box-laden hand truck.

"Should be," I replied with a smile. "It's a Dodge."

"Neon?" he asked and grew worried. "Maybe we can stick this long box through the window."

"My Neon has a big trunk," I revealed and continued to walk across the pavement.

He followed with Adam's apple bobbing in worry.

I stopped at the truck. "But I didn't bring my Neon."

The young man stared at the mud encrusted truck. "You driving that?"

I looked at my glorious work beast and smiled. "Yeah. Think you can load that long box in the back?"

Careful of migrating mud and stray strands of fescue, the clerk loaded the boxes. He kept looking at the truck as if it would bite him as he placed the boxes in back. To avoid touching the mud, he contorted his lanky frame in a manner that would have made a Yoga teacher green with envy.

When the job was complete I thanked him, and he backed away to watch me climb into the cab. I settled in the seat, closed the door, and looked in the side mirror to make sure he was out of my way. I turned the key and fired up the diesel motor. That poor city feller nearly jumped out of his perfectly creased slacks when the throaty grumble of the diesel motor reached his eardrums. When I put the massive truck in reverse and pressed the gas pedal he did an impressive 100 yard dash back to the store. I had to resist the urge to chase him down.

Poor feller had never seen a country gal driving her favorite farm truck.

Bless his little ol' heart.

 

[lotzahenz]

Just have to add girly truck story here:

We had a Chevy.......once. It was pretty and red and it caught on fire, often. After buying our new red truck, our neighbor had the same one in blue. He was pulling cattle home from the State Fair one year and the dang thing caught fire and burned the truck completely up. Our truck did the same, but we were wary and it didn't burn up. We were hauling our boat to the lake. The problem was the truck's tranny would overheat and somehow the overflow spout would flow onto the exhaust. It resulted in a huge fire. This happen to me with a 2 y/o in the middle in her car seat, my friend squeezed in beside me and my EX driving. He pulls over to the curb, jumps out of the truck and starts to frantically unhook the boat, never thinking to turn off the motor nor tell us to get out, oh yeah, I was about 7 mos. pregnant too. Did ya catch that, EX part? Yep.

Also, we had a brand new 02 F-250 that gave up on us pulling our 4-horse gooseneck at 46,000 miles and got another new 06 F-250 that was ok. It was 100 feet long at least, with the long bed and quad cab, and very hard to park. It pulled that Sundowner 4-Horse like a dream though, you'd forget it was behind you and it would go as fast as you'd like to go with ease. I don't care for a dually though, as it is so expensive to maintain with all those wheels. It is your best bet for hauling lots of weight, as I did jack-knife a dump trailer hauling a skid-loader once, NOT fun. That load was so heavy, it shoved me round like a Fiesta. Tire blew out on the trailer, not exactly my fault.

In my choosing, I suppose the best for now is a Ford. The Dodge is pretty, that is for sure. I do understand the newer Ford diesels are not all that great. I think you should try and find a 7-3 Diesel if possible, supposed to be the better choice.


HenZ

 

[first time farmer]

I drive a 1994 f150 it has 190*** on it runs like a top. I just replaced me rear brakes. It has the 5.0 with an up grades suspension (to add height and towing capacity) I also up graded the gearing (it is technically an f250 with the gearing and suspension) i love my truck i bought it for 1800 and i have put about 1000 in it. It has no rust on it fords are good american trucks you can always find parts for them(im sure you could do this with a chevy or a dodge) I have never owned a chevy but i had a dodge ram charger it was the biggest waste of money ever in the 3 weeks i owned it i had to replace the ujoints in the drive shaft 4 times

just my 2 cents fords are awesome very very reliable!

 

[baltimoreharps]

Love reading all of the stories!

I know that I can't fit 100 bales of hay at one time. I'm talking about multiple trips from the field to the farm.

We're going to have horse boarders so we need to have a steady supply on hand.
Dh is unsure about both the trucks now.

Now he's talking about selling the van also and getting a nicer extended cab for everyday use and not just for the farm work. We've looked at so many I think he's just getting burned out. I know I am right now,lol.
Gotta tell this story that happened today. Went to look at a 74 F250 that someone had for sale, just needed a new battery and he could start it up no problem. An hour after we got there, the truck just would NOT stay cranked and then the engine started smoking and wouldn't stop trying to crank itself! Needless to say, we got out of there fast...I couldn't believe that someone would try to even attempt to sell a truck in that bad of shape!!

 

[WIChookchick]

The newest truck I have ever owned is my current one, it is a 1991 ford f150 4x4, extended cab, automatic, tow package and it has a funky way it starts and stops...
BUT I have cruise control, a cd player, and my DH who can't drive a stick can drive my truck.
It was in an accident in Feb last year, all we did was replace the radiator, front bumper and a head light.
I haul a 4 horse stock with it locally, a 2 horse normally to ride, and a 3 horse stock up and down the steeper areas, fairly easily.

I LOVE diesels, I highly recommend them, but don't recommend a dually. I have friends who have one, and theirs has spent more time in shops, then
being driven.
I have had 2 wheel drives, and do not recommend them at all. Even in nice weather, on grass that is wet, if you are hauling OR just trying to get up a small rise...
You ain't going no where.

IF you can have a mechanic look at the truck before final purchase. Not a friend that works on cars, a paid mechanic that works on that type of vehicle.
Have them check the drive train, the gear boxes, the oil... all the things that can go bad, could be messed with to make it sound and look good...
Even just a farm truck needs to be reliable, because you never know when you are going to need it.

Carol

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

"but don't recommend a dually. I have friends who have one, and theirs has spent more time in shops, then
being driven. "

You do know that both the single wheel an the duel wheel trucks have all the same parts. The dually just has different wheels +2 an long lug studs & spacers.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I thought I would point out to the people that think duallys are to wide in the back, there are two types of duallys.

There is the factory body trucks. They are built to fit a factory truck bed. That means the inside tires must fit in the fender wells of the truck bed. That puts the outside wheels out wider than the rest of the truck.

Then there are the "Cab an Chassis" trucks. They are sold without a bed an the bed is put on the truck elsewhere. Because they dont have a bed they come with a shorter rear axle option that puts the inside tire very close to the frame an the outside tires at about the same width as a factory single wheel truck. Then the beds built for these trucks are built around that fact.

So you can have a dually farm truck without it having big hips. Just not with a factory truck bed.

 

[baltimoreharps]

Let me get some opinions here. I, in general don't trust mechanics long story, the ex was a mechanic and told me stories of what could be done and what actually was done by himself and others, and just not having a great track record with getting a good relaible one. ( And before anyone yells at me, I know that there are a lot of great mechanics, I just have rotten luck finding one)
FIL has a mechanic that he just LOVES and urged dh to call him today to find out just how reliable both trucks in question were. Both in his opinion were a no go and that we needed a F 250 or 350 just not a diesel since the deisel engines from the 80's were crap. (His words, not mine.) And the Silverado wouldn't do because of it having a diesel engine then having that replaced that we'd have a hard time finding parts. And he just happened to have a 250 that he's had for about a year, imagine that.

It was supposed to be running perfetly, it was just ugly in the body. We get all the way out there and I can't even test drive it because he forgot that the tranny has issues. Granted he has a lot of cars for sale, but, really?? It was supposed to be running perfectly and now it needs a quick fix that should cost 100 and then jumps to 200 in the next sentance....
I already know the answer to this, just asking for dh since he's unsure and not a car guy at all. He's a computer guy and a total geek.

What do we really need and how full of it is this guy?