What truck would you buy?

[wheelman1991]

If a cheap durable truck is what you are looking for, I would look at the obs fords (1996 and older f150, 1997 and older f250 & f350) specifically with a stickshift and the 300 straight six.
The 300i6 is well known for being practically bulletproof, while having it's torque down low like a diesel.

 

[jongies3]

It's really a tossup for me. But I'd probably go with either a 5.7 iForce Tundra or 5.7 Hemi Dodge. Both are beastly engines with gobs of power, a 2 horse trailer shouldn't slow them down much. Only thing that wont slow down is your fuel consumption! They are thirsty empty, but are dehydrated towing just about anything. That is where a diesel truck would be your friend, but diesels aren't daily driver friendly. I have one and it's strictly used for work, I wouldn't even consider daily driving it and don't see how people do it unless they just want to show off.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: horse123
Ram only shares the 5.7 I believe.


6.4 is an option in HD RAM trucks, then they have 2 diesels...

 

[horse123]

So there's no way a 3/4 or 1 ton diesel would have a GVWR of under 8500 right? At least nothing built in the last 20 years? Living in portland now, any diesels under 8500# GVWR need to be emissions tested, and I'm sure it adds another massive cost to try to keep emissions nice on an old diesel like that.

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted By: horse123
So there's no way a 3/4 or 1 ton diesel would have a GVWR of under 8500 right? At least nothing built in the last 20 years? Living in portland now, any diesels under 8500# GVWR need to be emissions tested, and I'm sure it adds another massive cost to try to keep emissions nice on an old diesel like that.


I highly doubt it, My old gas '85 C20 Suburban had a 8,600 GVW, Add in a newer heavier newer truck, With a heavier Diesel engine, At 8,500 GVW....There wouldn't be any Payload left over.....Not enough too even call it a 3/4 ton truck anyway. My 2500HD has a 9,200 GVW.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Gm had a few light duty 2500s with the 6.5 diesel...basically, they were heavy- halfs with a 2500 badge. The giveaway is 6-lug wheels.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: horse123
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
I've towed a two horse trailer with a Tracker... With only 600lbs of goats and sheep in it, but it was surprisingly easy on our small hills.
Personally I'd look at a manual Frontier because I like that size of truck and I prefer a manual, and Tacoma's are usually over priced and the back seat headroom is a bit cramped.
For big 3 full size, I'd just shop on condition, which ever brand shows up with a responsible owner and a set of reasonable maintenance records will do the job. Probably I'd slightly prefer the GM 5.3 trucks for mileage I guess.

What kind of two horse trailer and 2 horses gets up to 7000lbs?


I have no idea why you're only arguing against yourself but...

2500 pounds is a HEAVY 2 horse BP if you don't have a dressing room or anything. Unless you're somehow fitting 2 draft horses into a standard 2 horse BP there's no way it's breaking 5000 pounds generally. Add a small dressing room or anything above a very basic trailer it might weigh 4000, still you'd have to put extremely fat horses in to break 7000. I was making a worst case scenario based on the limits of what could happen.

You don't ever just plan for what you expect to happen, that's very stupid to do. You plan for the worst/most extreme that's feasible.
My daughter has a 1180 lb 14 year old quarter horse, a 1380 lb 16 5 year old something warm blood and a 1500 lb 17 ish hand 9 year old warm blood . The trailer she has is all aluminum, not a living quarter trailer weighs 4.600 lbs

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Gm had a few light duty 2500s with the 6.5 diesel...basically, they were heavy- halfs with a 2500 badge. The giveaway is 6-lug wheels.


Those trucks are really rare and cool. I think they were actually badged as 1500s. Some were even built with Sportside (step side) beds, and I think it was technically available on the K1500 full size Blazer (later known as 2-door Tahoe) as well. If you see a GMT400 with 6 lug wheels and two big rectangular holes in the front bumper, it's likely one of these. I'm not even a fan of the 6.5, but I like what GM was doing with these trucks.

 

[clinebarger]

The 6.5L turbo diesel was not very heavy.....Or Heavy Duty for that matter, They were also available in any GMT400 configuration from a Shortbed Singlecad 2wd 1500 all the way up to a 4x4 Longbed Crewcab 3500.