75% of truck owners tow 1/year or less?

[Sprinkler Fitter]

We have three Chevrolet’s, a 1 ton, a 1/2 ton and a S-10. The one ton is always hooked to a trailer and the bed is full, the 1/2 ton is hitched to a trailer a couple times a month usually to go atv riding. The S-10 is just a hot rod to go get an ice cream cone or drive to a car show.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have always viewed cars/trucks/etc same as trailers. No one type can do it all. It's what works the best based on what you can afford. For me, my E350 suits my needs. It's an eleven passenger but I keep the two of the three back seats in storage so there is room in the back for coolers, my wife's wheelchair, a half a dozen bags of grain, etc. Every now and then I remove the passenger seat, coolers, etc and take a load of "stuff" to the flea market.

It pulls my 10k trailer with 100 bales of alfalfa/orchard hay just fine. I have pulled a 20' 14k trailer with a Kubota backhoe and I did have to watch the swaying but that was a once and done deal.

The traction is pretty lame but we don't get much snow and I don't have to go out if I don't want to. If need be when I need to get a load of hay to my barn when the ground is soft then I just chain up.

While I still have my CDL, my van with windows is plated as a passenger vehicle and I kind of fly under the radar so to speak.

The commercial weight fees sure add up over the decades.

As an aside… the lightly used pickups retain a high percentage of purchase price often topping the vehicle list…

 

[Hay Dude]

We have three Chevrolet’s, a 1 ton, a 1/2 ton and a S-10. The one ton is always hooked to a trailer and the bed is full, the 1/2 ton is hitched to a trailer a couple times a month usually to go atv riding. The S-10 is just a hot rod to go get an ice cream cone or drive to a car show.

That’s cool, too!

 

[lostcause]

In some posts I feel like I can sense the contempt for people who don't "need" or "use" the vehicles (generally trucks) they own... Really, I suspect that hardly anyone who posts on this site "needs" anything they have. In my country, nobody holds a gun to your head and dictates that you will grow crops, or that you will raise livestock. Those are all choices we make as we go through life, based on what we see as the best path for us and our families. Nothing prevents anyone from selling the farm, so to speak, and moving to suburbia to work a 9 to 5 and commute in a Prius, or even use public transportation, for that matter.

I own a truck (and 4 cars and 3 trailers) because it is convenient and I use it to haul everything I need after the 9 to 5 is over. I have zero interest in being involved in full time farming and I don't want to be my own boss - I grew up seeing what that is about, and decided it is not for me. I do, however, live in a rural area, grow a small chunk of my own food, and perform 99% of my own maintenance, construction & fabrication needs. Those are the choices on how I want to live my life - I did pay a barber for a haircut this morning and occasionally I pay someone else to cook for me, but aside from that, I take care of most everything else that I possibly can. I respect everyone's right to choose how they want to live and what they want to own. Anyone who believes in living in a free country, but has an opinion about how others choose to live and spend their money might want to take a step back and reflect on that concept of freedom.

 

[paulsharvey]

So,.maybe contempt isn't the right word, but we all see and know the type; salt life stickers, ray bans, blasting rap-country mix, squatted, straight piped, 24" rims w low profile mud tires, and hasn't seen anything but asphalt. It's each person's own money, and if someone wants to drop $80k for the country boy illusion, that's fine.

There are also tons of people that are somewhere in the middle; it is 4wd because 4wd trucks always sell well, and maybe they go to the mountains every couple years, they want the bed cause the wife makes them go to the flea market or garden center every now and again, and a truck is the modern luxury vehicle. You see the F150 Platinum or Chevy High Country, and never see anything in it; but who cares.

I think now, 4wd, is probably smart money just in resale. Maybe $3k upgrade; but it's going to sell faster and for more money when you sell it. Maybe not a full $3k more; but

 

[Jstpssng]

The move toward truck based vehicles started when government mandates started pushing toward smaller vehicles. People have voted with their wallets.

 

[dodge man]

One advantage of a pickup is hauling bulky items. My son just bought a house and we used my truck and I bet it never had 500 pounds on it but it sure was full.

 

[5030]

Up here in snow country, 4WD is a requirement dictated by the weather mostly. Of course 4WD (unless it has limited slip differentials or lockers) isn't really 4WD, it's 2WD one wheel in the front and one wheel in the back. Our farm is 1.5 miles off the pavement and a lot of times in the winter, the vehicles are in 4WD just to get to the pavement.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I'm frequently hauling & towing with my pickup, and take it off road 2 or 3 times a year. I also like driving a heavy vehicle for safety reasons. IMO, the more iron you have around you in a wreck, the better.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Up here in snow country, 4WD is a requirement dictated by the weather mostly.

4WD is useless - until you need it. Somewhat like a winch.

I've used 4WD exactly one time on my '17, and that was because it wouldn't make it up to a 10,000' pass in 2WD. Which I thought was a bit odd since there was very little snow on the road.

Getting close to the crest where the wind had blown the snow away I understood why. Under the snow was very shiny ice. No wonder the rear had kept wanting to step out in every curve, and that the pass was officially closed.

The very twisty descent was interesting, and once off the hill on the northern side there was no snow, just ice. Shifted to 2WD and continued, very glad that the 3500 has 4WD for when it's a must.