I have to buy a farm vehicle/truck soon, and I'm unhappy with the current pickup truck offerings from Ford and Chevrolet. The focus is on chrome and pretty, and I need tough and dirty. I had a Chevy pickup truck in the late 70s, and it was fine except that it wasn't 4-wheel drive (a necessity now). What brands of farm vehicles are there over there? I need to haul fruit bins, and firewood from the woods. 4 wheel-drive is a necessity. 10km/l would be nice. And a carrying capacity of maybe 700 kilos or more. Al
When you find that vehicle, please do share. I think many of us would be interested in one of those. I drive a 2012 Ford F150 with EcoBoost (3.5L V6 designed for economy) . It probably gets the best fuel mileage out there for a truck, and will only do 22 mpg if you are REALLY nice to it (no foot in the accelerator, no payload, no headwind). It would carry 1,500 lbs, but sitting low to the ground. My 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 with Cummins 5.9L diesel gets 19 mpg and will haul a good bit, but then the fuel is $0.75 more per gallon. I would not own another diesel in the US for this reason. Good luck, Will
Thanks Will. My 70's era Chevy C10 got 13mpg down-hill with a tail wind. I'm looking towards "work truck" editions, but none of them come with a stretch cab. I may have to suck up putting the groceries and dog on the seat and on the floor. I just wonder if the folks in Europe have held the line on practical design while embracing fuel economy.
Al, I think the Europeans do understand practical design and fuel economy better than most Americans: they drive cars. When I was in Austria earlier in the year, I say but one, yes 1, full-size pickup on the roads. In the cities, it was cars exclusively. As we got out into the rural areas we saw more pick up trucks, but they were more in line with the small Toyota and Nissan sized trucks we have here, none of which I would think are suitable for 1,500 lbs. I wouldn't be surprised if the diesel versions get upwards of 25 mpg. Diesel is cheaper than gas there by the way.
Sighhhhh. I've been hoping someone like Mercedes or the like had taken a fresh look at the old problem and come up with a better mousetrap. I live in Ford country, but I'm only loyal to my expectations and my wallet.
Hard to tell since Europe is so different in both car culture and farming depending on which country we are talking about... A farmer down at the mediterranian has totally different preferences than a farmer up in the cold north, just as a British farmer hardly is comparable to one living in e.g. Russia. Here in Sweden the Japanese pick-up trucks probably are most common probably followed by the American ones which also are pretty popular here. Nissan, Toyota and Mitsubishi. I have a Mitsubishi L200, and it's a good workhorse, though ugly and beaten-up. To meet your preferences I think a VW could be a good choice. They have versions with a large flatbed that easily takes over a ton, single cab and 4WD. And with pretty lean engines. Diesel if you like. We have one at work (not 4wd, though), and it's not an exciting car, but that large flat bed is really nice. A bit high to load, but that also means that there isn't any wheel housings to steal valuable loading area.
In the UK Land Rover is still popular in rural areas (old ones too), but there's just as many (if not more) Japanese pick ups; Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi. Toyota seem more common. Diesel in the UK is more expensive than petrol (gasoline).
Around here it's still series Land Rovers or Defenders for true farmers, but we are within commuting range of London so there are also lots of Range Rover, Discovery and even those horrible Porsche Cayenne - a 4x4 with low profile tyres? I watched one trying to get out of Tesco's icy car park last winter. All the cars were just driving around him. My farmer neighbour swears by his Skoda Yeti. Terry
Thank you all! Not sure what is available here in the states, but I'll do web searches to see what is being imported. My neighbor (and my mechanic) wants me to get a Unimog. Trouble is the cost, and getting them to meet emissions requirements. Wonderful looking beasts!
How about this? Took this picture while in Austria this summer. In the US, a car pulling a travel trailer, or trailer in general is rarely seen. Based on the number of times I saw this same thing, I guess it is plenty doable. Al, seems like a good compromise between utility and fuel mileage.
Will has got something there. If you need to move firewood and stuff then you are better of by a car pulling a trailer and when not pulling you have much better agility and fueleconomy. A Unimog is a fantastic vehicle, we had them in the army and they go everywhere, but doing more daily Things in them would be like having a brick around your leg. Pulling a trailer for 750 kilos and being agile you can use these cheap cars: http://www.armyvehicles.dk/merc240gd.htm rather that than this boytoy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDoRmT0iRic Claus C
I use my car to pull a trailer now, but the Gross Vehicle Weight or a trailer with fruit bins exceeds the pulling capacity of any car that I'm aware of. My axles are taking a beating as it is, and special tow packages to cool the transmission and handle braking are also necessary. This thread is helping immensely! I do thank you all for the links and suggestions
I'm no mechanic so may be talking cobblers, but does the type of transmission make much difference? The US is around 95% automatic gearbox, but here in the UK, where autos are viewed as the realm of little old ladies, it is around 15%. Is the requirement to cool the transmission confined to autos? I've not come across it before. I towed a four berth caravan (travel trailer) all over Europe with a manual car (Mitsubishi Gallant) during the 7 years we lived in Germany with not the slightest issue. The same car also towed a fully loaded cargo trailer from Germany to Cyprus and then, 2 years later, Cyprus to UK. Terry
I'd suggest getting something which has a decent local garage / dealer network. Land Rovers are fine working vehicles, but what's the dealer support like locally? Better still, what support is there from specialist independents? Or are you looking for something you can work on yourself? Because most modern vehicles are getting extraordinarily difficult to work on without access to the computer based diagnostics to deal with all the electronics. I've had numerous Land Rovers over the years - they all have needed work, most of which I could do - some of which I couldn't. My business partner runs a very nice big Jeep of some form - it's hugely expensive to fix whenever it goes wrong, but it is a fabulous long-distance car. Whether I'd use it to haul a heavy trailer on a day-to-day basis is debatable, it's really a large, luxury car which has off-road ability. If you want a working vehicle, get something which is designed for the job and maybe have an ordinary road car for your normal road journeys.
Al: The Toyota light truck series, the Tacoma, known in other parts of the world as the Hilux (or something like that) is probably the best of it's size and weight class in the world. There is probably a dealership within 20 miles of you. The original "Top Gear" from the UK had a running gag about trying to destroy the Toyota truck. In one of the bits I remember, they left the truck on a sand spit, and waited for the tide to come in and completely submerge the truck. When the tide went out again, the truck started with a couple of minutes of work, and drove off the beach. Also see the Toyota Australian "bugger" ads. Quite funny. I have a son in law who is a Toyota master mechanic. He has seen the light trucks come in with 400K to 500K miles on the engines, and running fine. I have 220K miles on my 1996 Toyota Avalon, and I still really like the car. I do not work for Toyota, or own any stock.... Paul
U.S. cars largely have automatic transmissions that are only scaled to towing light loads (if any). Additional cooling and the like are required before using a car with an automatic transmission to tow any substantial load. My Subaru Forester with a 2.5 liter engine has a 5-speed manual transmission. The Toyota Tacoma is on my list of contenders!
