Diesel Trucks

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#22  
Thanks for all the input...

Sorry about keeping you up all night Egon. More coffee!!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

From what I'm gathering so far, given that I don't have to pull anything like the Queen Mary /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif, I'm thinking that I'll ponder this some more and keep my old beater '87 GMC that I bought for $500. I does the job for picking up supplies, etc.. it just isn't the kind of thing you want to use to cruise for chicks.. but I'm married anyway. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I'm also gathering that perhaps I'm a bit too paranoid about my tractor engine. Picture this.. it's a warm summer day.. or if it isn't I've used the engine and hydraulic heaters for at least three hours.. I start it up, let it stay at low idle for a minute or two, then bump it up to maybe 1200 RPM and let it sit for another few minutes. Then I put it in low gear, mid-range (just barely moving) and ease it out of the garage. I'll continue at this speed to the spot I intend to work in. Then I'll bump the idle a bit higher, maybe to around 1400, get off and have a cigarette (is it really true that those are supposed to be bad for us??) and won't do any work at all until the temp guage reads in the normal range for the machine. I thought this was the generally approved approach (well, perhaps minus the cig.) During the cig break I'll occassionally work the hydraulics a little to get them warmed up as well.

But with a diesel (I have trouble spelling it too!) road vehicle you just start it up and off you go, eh? What RPM does a diesel automatic pickup normally shift at? Seems like gently accelerating a pickup up to normal road speeds would be putting more load on than I do with my creeping slowly out to the work area with the tractor.

Correct me if I'm wrong.. the whole point of a warm up is to get the oil flowing properly, at the right viscosity, and to get various parts up to temp so they assume their normal relationship to other parts (e.g. piston and cylinder walls, etc.) ? Aside from that, you're good to go ... yes? But lacking that warmup, you're going to do some damage? Albeit perhaps only minimal damage, but it isn't great for the engine?

Thanks for helping this newbie along!

Bob
 
   / Diesel Trucks #23  
I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong Bob but I just start mine and let it idle for maybe a minute and I'm off doing the work I've got to do. I've got 1600 hours on that 4600 of mine now and I just had the oil analyzed and no problems. No problems with hydraulics either. What you're doing isn't going to hurt it one bit and probably will help it a little but personally I don't think it hurts them to get in and get going right away either.

Now with that said if it's below zero or something that's a different story. After awhile of running equipment though you can tell just by running the levers if the oil is right. If it's not I'll let it warm up some more but otherwise I'm off doing what I started it to get going.

With regards to paying for a diesel you have to consider how long you are going to keep it. If you're going to keep it a long time and put a 100k or better on one you will break even IF you are towing. Not towing and not keeping one for very long I don't think it pays a person at all to have one. But then again if you just like them then why the heck not. The other thing too is that as a general rule a diesel will always bring quite a bit more than a gasser as well. I guess if you have to make things work out on paper then you need to look at it some more. But if you're just buying one because you like it who cares.

Egon I'm not sure of the color for the new one. I really like that King Ranch edition but I do too much work with mine to buy that and get it dirty. Probably will be arizona beige.
 
   / Diesel Trucks #24  
<font color=blue>But then again if you just like them then why the heck not.</font color=blue>

And isn't that what life is all about? Live a little! Get what you want... you won't be happy with anything less. In my case, I do a considerable amount of towing and that was the primary reason for buying a diesel truck, but I also got one because I have wanted one for a long time and I finally got to the point where I could afford it so I went for it and have never regretted it for one second. I love my diesel truck... wish I had two of 'em!
 
   / Diesel Trucks #25  
I'd buy a diesel if....

1. We towed our horse trailer more than once or twice a week.
2. If I used the truck as a daily driver.

I used to drive our truck back and forth to work (30 mile commute). However, since my wife got a new car (2000 VW Turbo Beetle) I started drving her 'hand me down' 1994 Geo Prizm to work. The truck has been relegated to strictly those things only the truck can do, with the occasional commute if it's snowing. In the past year we put a total of 1,634 miles on it.
 
   / Diesel Trucks #26  
<font color=blue>I started drving her 'hand me down' 1994 Geo Prizm to work.</font color=blue>

Mike, you need a bumper sticker that says "My other car is a New Holland"
 
   / Diesel Trucks #27  
Good one, hazmat! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 
   / Diesel Trucks #28  
Hey Mike, You don't find that not driving it regularly causes it to "rot?"

I also have about a 30 mile commute and use the diesel Jetta mostly, butI make it a point to take the truck out at least once a week.

Trev,

I've been contemplating a diesel pick-up too. Those online configurators are fun aren't they? They're just so pricey - no way I could afford one right now.

My dilemma is that I need a vehicle to do the pick-up truck type stuff around here, and also to be able to make about 6 trips per year up to our cabin. It's remote. The last 30 miles is dirt, travelled by logging trucks. This creates a nasty washboard surface - not to mention the dust and gravel. If you take an old vehicle, you're praying that it stays together. If you take a new vehicle, you're cringing at every stray stone that gets whipped out of your nice new tires.

I'm even more confused since I heard about the Unimog (thanks a lot guys!) I'm thinking I could get a pretty decent 416 Doka (double cab) with a diesel for around 20k.

My head hurts. Thank goodness I don't have the cash right now.
 
   / Diesel Trucks #29  
<font color=blue>Hey Mike, You don't find that not driving it regularly causes it to "rot?"</font color=blue>
Yep, I have noticed that. I think the truck has aged more in the past 2 years since it was relegated to sitting outside at the barn than it did in the first 6 years I owned it and drove it regularly. I just noticed the passenger side rocker panel underneath the extended cab has some rust spots. /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif So, next spring it might need some body work.
 
   / Diesel Trucks #30  
!!!WARNING!!!

The following links may cause you to drool on your keyboard and spend lots of money!

!!!PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

In case someone isn't familiar with the Unimog, here's a nice picture http://www.unimogvideo.com/
 

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