My 03(April) 1/2 ton just rolled 100150 miles. I know I'll get atleast 150,000k before it turns into a headache, but I am curious. Those of you that have deisel: does the longevity of the engine make up for the price difference? Does the feul consumption make the pennies more deisel cost worthwhile?
I had to put 3/4 ton springs on my truck to get it to carry the load, and the engine still struggles, as in tacks up to 4.5 or better up hills. Would a 3/4 or 1 ton with a v8 or a deisel do the work. My truck with the little six has dropped back to 11 to 12 mpg since it hit 97,000. I have done ALL the maintenance, wires, plugs, filters etc. Dry gas, injector cleaner, high octane..no difference.
I also hate the idea of dropping $30,000 grand into a truck that will have 120,00 miles on it in three years. Would a deisel last long enough (200,000 miles) without headaches to offset the price of two little 1500 work trucks?(about $16,000)
Has anyone used the purchasing plan and does it save any money?
Thanks,
Jason

Jason out of the 28 yrs I've been shoeing I have used the smaller trucks. For three years I used a 3/4 ton. Right now I'm in a Colorado with a 5 banger and getting right at 20mpg. I can also get inside alot of barns in bad weather so that means I'm not loseing work due to the weather. MY tools are just what I need, Forge with a swing out arm, anvil and stand, tool box and stand and a few small tool boxes with hand tools, pritichels and punches. Nails are also kept in tool boxes and a hand angle grinder, and a shoe rack with a couple days supply of shoes. Now after listing all that as an established Farrier I know the horses I'm going to be working on everyday so I carry what I need for the day. I have seen guys with their trucks loaded down with the kitchen sink and run around in it to trim all day, same goes for trailers. I know a guy that drives 2hrs to trim and pulls his trailer????Sure I like to be prepared in case I have an extra horse to shoe or have some barstock on hand if I need to build a shoe,but I'm not hauling around abunch of extra stuff that's there so if I happen to run into another Farrier out there we can look at each others rig's and wish. Gas is my number one expense as is everyones! Work Smart and you might be able to profit alittle more that you are now. Would I like to have a fancy bells and whistles all alum rig with everything at my fingertips? It would be to big to get into some barns so there goes a day of work that should be makeing the payment on that big rig! When I first started driving gas wars made gas as cheap as 12 cents a gal. When I first started shoeing gas was 35 cents a gal. WHO knows what gas will be tomorrow or this afternoon for that fact? Gary

Well considering I got 400k + out of whiteee (Ford f250 w/ 5 speed diesel), and dad is now hauling hay with it at the ranch in Oklahoma and has rolled it up to 500k, and the fact that I didn’t have a truck payment for about 5 years, and considering the fact that ruby (Ford F350 automatic) carries a load and still averages 16 miles a gallon and while I have to agree with Gary’s point that if you just carry the essentials (Forge anvil grinder etc) you can get good mileage out of a gas truck, but the instant you carry any inventory at all you’ll see your mileage dive, which was the problem with my Ranger.
Considering the fact that you seem to put the same or more miles on a rig as I do, I think your money ahead by going with a diesel, even though every knucklehead with an RV or a boat now has one.
Even with the payments I think I’m money ahead.

I'm with Gary on this one. I have a S-10 with a V6. It get's at best 18-20 mpg loaded. I carry all my extra supplies ie nails, pads, extra hand tools, hand drill, hoof repair etc.., in rubbermade tubs. I do carry my usual stuff like: anvil, stand, hand angle grinder, forge, Arc welder etc.., I carry about eight to ten pair of each shoe from size 000 to size 3. That usaully lasts long enough for me to stock up when I need to from my supplies at home. I f I have to doing anything special I usually plan ahead or reschedule if I need to. My truck is paid for so I have no payments. But I will have to buy a new one next year. (166,000 miles) I like being compact. I may not be able to do somethings that the guys with the "BIG" rigs can do but I don't have to worry about a huge payment and gas kicking my arse. Plan ahead and work smart. You will come out ahead in the long run. It's been working for me for the last 15 years.

I drove gas engine trucks for much of my career. Never drove a hal-ton, always a 3/4 ton. Gas was cheap but since I was loaded heavy, my mpg was never any great shakes. Also drove a Ford van and a Dodge van for a while and again, because I run heavy, not only was my mpg only 'fair', but I had a lot of repair expenses because neither the engine nor the transmission was stout enough to do what I wanted.

If I was not so anal about carrying anything and everything I might need, I could probably get by with a smaller truck. But thats not me. So, back in '97 I bought my first diesel(actually, I had to because I wrecked my truck and needed something right away and the deisel was all that the dealership had). I've never looked back. Now its not a small truck, its an F-350 crew cab dually with a 4:10 rear end. I would have preferred a 3:73 rear end because my fuel economy runs about 12 mpg at 70 mph or above, and about 13-14 mpg below 70 mph. That first diesel had a few 'issues', but they were covered under warantee and , at that time, fuel was more reasonably priced.
I drove that truck for 200,000 miles with the intention of going at least 400,000 miles before I got a new truck. My plans changed when Ford decided to scr*p the 7.3L diesel and introduced the 6.0 liter diesel. I didn't want to be bothered worrying about some new engine, so I looked around and found a 2002 7.3 with low miles. I bought it and I am ever so glad I did. Its the same basic set up as the first one--crew cab dually, and it still gets the same kind of fuel economy. Its much roomier inside and I have had no problems with it(knock on wood) to date. I just turned 107,000 miles and plan to drive it until it disintegrates out from under me. To cover the increased fuel costs, I've just added a fuel surcharge to my fees. To date, no one has complained. This truck too has a 4:10 rear end and thats the thing that keeps my fuel mileage low. But, and its a big but, I don't have any transmission and real axle problems, which, considering how heavy I'm loaded(there's that damn obsessive/compulsive thing again), is better than if the gearing were different and I was tearing it up all the time.

In the end, its whatever one feels comfortable with. I never thought I'd be driving a diesel, but I am. I never thought I'd be driving a Ford, but I am. In a bit of irony, the guy who convinced me to not only drive a diesel, but a Ford to boot, while he still drives a '97 Ford Diesel, has replaced his other truck with a Duramax Chevy diesel. And he swears by it. He has routinely driven his diesels to 300,000+ miles so their durability is not in question(at least for me its not.).

By the way, that first diesel I drove is in semi-retirement with a flatbed instead of a regular PU bed(I sold the original bed when I put the Stonewell on it) and is in regular use as a farm truck and boat hauler. Its got over 210,000 miles on it and the only thing that needs replaced is the rear main seal(and its needed that for a while). I'm too lazy to get it done and its not leaking too much oil yet.

Since I fully expect my current truck to take me most of the way on the road to retirement, perhaps my final work truck will once again be a gas one. By that time, hopefully I'll be less O/C and my practice will be more constrained to where I won't need the advantages my diesel now allows.

Diesel, diesel, diesel, diesel. In my not so humble opinion it is the only option. With a half ton truck you don't have enough a$$ for what you need, with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck, you don't have enough power to get your a$$ where you need to go unless you have a V10 or diesel, and if you want to spend alot of money on fuel go buy a V10. Both our trucks (farrier and horse hauler) are Fords. The farrier truck is a 2002 F250 4X4 extended cab diesel short bed (need a long bed). The horse hauler is a 1999 F350 crew cab dually 4x4 diesel with 170,000 miles on it and going strong.

Dave

Getting rid of the 7.3 liter Powerstroke was the ******est thing Ford ever did. I have a 99 F-350 regular cab with the 7.3 PS diesel, 5 speed. BEST truck I've ever had and also the most powerful (I had both Dodge and GMC previously). I get about 22 mpg. I drive all over the place and only have to fill it once per week! It has 80k in it and has only needed maintenance work, like clutch and ball joints, but nothing major. I hate the 6.0 and have been debating on trying to find a newer F-350 w/ the 7.3, but the Ford people say I'll get at least 250-300k on mine if I treat it right!

Amy

Built Ford Tough

With a small truck(I used a s-10)you stock daily and do the brakes alot and the milage isnt that great if you drive over 65(or more hehe),15 to 17 isnt much better then a half ton and you got ****py brakes. I miss the car drive feeling of a small truck but I like sitting up high better anyways.

Now I love my dodge sprinter van carries everything and more gets 24 mpg avg and i set the cruise at 73 on the highway and I walk inside to to all my work except at the anvil(like a trailer). Im out of the weather rain or shine at at under 40k working it was well less then a 3/4 ton diesal truck with a stonewell body(which id stll get wet here in oregon). The mircowave is nice for lunch and the space heater was sweet in Dec. when it was 20 degrees out,plus its the only way ill ever drive a mercedes to work since thats what it is with a dodge name on it.

If i lived in a sunny area I wouldve gone with the big truck and body,or if i didnt live in residatial and parking was an issue maybe a truck and trailer, but Im glad those thing brought me to my van I really enjoy it.

Scott

PS hope this helps and I love my van

I have a 2004 F-250 6.0 deisel automatic 4x4 crew cab short bed and can't be any happier than fly on ****. I get on average 16 mpg in town and 19 mpg on the highway. It has all the power I need to haul my work tools every day and haul hay or pull a 4 horse trailer anywhere I want with very little loss of mileage. It has plenty of room up front for me or the family but I would like to have gotten the long bed for a little more storage space.

The last truck I had was a Chevy 1 ton dually crew cab 4x4 automatic with a big gas sucking pig under the hood. On a good windy day down hill I could get 8 mpg. Switching to the deisel gave me more power, better mileage, and a longer time in the same truck (I hope). The gas one was stolen so I don't know how long it could have gone. Most people I know are getting 200,000 to 300,000 mile out of the deisels if they are well taken care of.

I feel the extra cost is worth it and the difference in fuel is a wash, but since it is higher, like Rick, I added a fuel charge and nobody said a word.

Ben

I have a Ford f-250 diesel. Two of my buddies have them also. One has 490,000 mile and the other 550,000. They have both had to replace their transmissions a few times but the engine is still working fine.

I think it was an additional $5,000 but I plan of driving it for quite a while.......

My $0.02.

Morgan

I bought a 06 f350 diesel a few months ago and went with an automatic. After driving a stick my whole life it was hard to go with the auto- however living in southern california i dont miss the manual transmission at all. After putting my stonewell on my mileage dropped to about 14 but i could live with that. I've already got two recalls, first one on the tires, and second one on the emissions- nothing serious. My first pickup was an 87 f250 460 engine which i drove all over doing the rodeo thing in and i think that scarred me for life towards gas engines. i stopped at every gas station in california in that truck.
-Mike White

This is my 1994 mitsubishi TRITON 2.5 ltr turbo diesel duel cab 4x4 ute and shed
shes a lill ripper and weighs in at 2.7 metric tonns fully dressed for work
the shed is very quich demountable [under five minutes on my own ]
the shed is fully self contained so once its off the ute or table top is clean ready for whatever
I average around 600 to 650 klm per 70 ltrs tank of fuel at about $1.34 per ltr

I use 1.5 to 2 tanks per week sometimes less sometimes 3 tanks when I do the east coast run

I would have a new one tomorrow just luv em

Red,

At $5.00/gallon +/-, are you adding a fuel charge/trip charge to the bill? If not, why not?

At that price I for sure would have to "mind how I go"

Red, how is the shed secured to the bed. I getting ready to put a top on my Dodge Dakota and lliked the idea or being able to pull of the shed and have a flat bed when needed.

Up close pictures of how it secured to the bed would be nice.

Thanks

Gary

A few years ago we were pulling a load of RR ties in a stock trailer with my old 76 F-350 (What a pretty truck ), and right in the middle of a 4 way in Des Moines the transmission decides to quit.

So after truck goes to transmission shop, we borrow a friend's Dodge 3500 w/C-ummins & Standard Trans. to get stock trailer home.

Not long after, hubby's Chevy was replaced with a Dodge 2500 w/ C-ummins and Standard. He was getting about 20-21 Hwy. My Ford was replaced with a Dodge 3500 with a C-ummins and had over 350,000 miles on it when we sold it and was still pulling strong. We only replaced that because the children were getting bigger and I needed a quad cab. With my 3500 (which is a dually) with C-ummins and a standard trans, I get about 16-17 mpg unloaded.

Hubby now has a Jetta diesel out in Portland for commuting. He's a gear head as well an an egg head ( I say that with affection) and he really has fallen in love with the diesels.

So my point was that while we have experience with gas engines, we really prefer the diesels. We do believe that they pay for themselves with the long mileage.