Thinking about getting a farm pickup

[sd455dan]

An old Dodge will be a rust pile and wouldn't hold anything!

I forgot to tell mine that.

Bought a 2005 Triton V 8 Ford F 150 4x4 yesterday for 1K think it will make a good farm truck. Pulling any weight will continue to let a Dodge with Cummins do the work.

 

[Jstpssng]

One of my family members has a fairly new maybe like 2015 GMC canyon. It only gets 14mpg local mileage. He never takes it on long trips so idk what it gets on the highway.

Ouch! I have a 2018 Colorado and it gets 22-24 unless I'm just running short errands with a lot of starting and stopping.
It also drops when I get on the interstate doing 70-80.

Everybody has their opinions but I would not buy a 1/2 ton GM pickup. It's almost a given that it will need a transmission at around 130k, that's a $6000 repair bill. My Colorado has 114,000 on it now, I'm trying to decide if it's time to trade or start saving for the repair.

 

[Tomtint]

Ill add this to the thread.. We have 5 trucks.. A couple F450s A 1999 F150, A 2024 Tundra and a 2024 Raptor F150.. I bought the 99 about 6 years ago from a friend who bought it new.. It came up to the north east with zero rust zero body damage but had 140K on it and needed 1 of everything.. I bought it for 2K at the time and in hindsight I should have parted it out. As of today it has 190K on it +/-. And I'm into it for close to $18K.. Its super reliable at this point.. But inn so tipped in a old truck.. I have to keep it for 10 more years to get my moneys worth.

 

[yanmars]

For my farm a regular cab, long bed in a 150 works well, would also for you I think. I got my 2004 Ram 150 4wheel drive with under 40,000 miles in 2008 for $7900. Still have it over 200,000 miles later. No real problems with it but 15 mpg at best but far cheaper than a newer truck with better mileage.

 

[Jstpssng]

For my farm a regular cab, long bed in a 150 works well, would also for you I think. I got my 2004 Ram 150 4wheel drive with under 40,000 miles in 2008 for $7900. Still have it over 200,000 miles later. No real problems with it but 15 mpg at best but far cheaper than a newer truck with better mileage.

For reference; at 15 mpg you burn about 833.33 gallons per year. If you traded for something which got 19 you would burn about 657 17/19 gallons/ year. (I'm not sure what realistically gets that, until you get into the smaller sized truck which are only sold with a short box.)

So if you traded for something with better mileage, at 3$/gallon you could be saving a whopping $526.20 on gas every year!!!!

Of course you would spend a lot more than that on the upgrade...

 

[sd455dan]

Ill add this to the thread.. We have 5 trucks.. A couple F450s A 1999 F150, A 2024 Tundra and a 2024 Raptor F150.. I bought the 99 about 6 years ago from a friend who bought it new.. It came up to the north east with zero rust zero body damage but had 140K on it and needed 1 of everything.. I bought it for 2K at the time and in hindsight I should have parted it out. As of today it has 190K on it +/-. And I'm into it for close to $18K.. Its super reliable at this point.. But inn so tipped in a old truck.. I have to keep it for 10 more years to get my moneys worth.

Wow if this 05 gives any real problems will just sell it for whatever I can get as a parts truck for another Ford owner, what caused the big dollar headaches with the 1999 F 150?

 

[zoedog2012]

Why such a ridiculous comment?
Dodges are no worse about rust than any other brand. What if he gets a southern truck?
“Wouldn’t hold anything”? An 8’ bed on a 3/4 or 1 ton Dodge will hold plenty and with a 5.9L it could run 500K + miles and get about 20MPG.

I’d love to have an older manual Cummins 4WD

Buy one!

 

[Hay Dude]

Buy one!

Well, I already have one. Have greater needs than a second Dodge/Ram right now

 

[deserteagle71]

An old Dodge will be a rust pile and wouldn't hold anything!

My Dodge/Cummins will be 21 years old next month. I defy you to find a spot of rust on it!

 

[MossRoad]

I've never owned a pickup, but I'm thinking about getting one. It wouldn't be a daily driver, just for around the farm* and getting things to and from the farm. Going to the lumberyard or Home Depot for building supplies, going to the dump once a week, occasionally transporting goats or sheep. Moving mulch or sand. The ability to pull maybe 3500 pounds in a trailer, for moving hay equipment and boats, and sometimes rented equipment. I'd definitely want to be able to carry a full sheet of plywood in the bed.

So I'm thinking a small pickup with cap and roof racks. Probably 4wd would be good because we do get snow, although I use the tractor to plow. Since I can't imagine putting more than a few thousand miles a year on it I could see getting something older.

So what should I be looking for?



Don't laugh, but I currently have a 2012 Honda Odyssey minivan that I use for all those things.

*(I'm just a pretend farmer but I call my place "the farm.")

Cap and roof rack and mulch and sand are not compatible unless you want to shovel it in or out. You'd have to remove them for loading with a tractor bucket.

An old Suburban checks all your other boxes. A Suburban with a trailer is optimal.