I am wanting to purchase a truck for hauling 6 horses in a goose neck trailer. However, I want either a 2500 or a 250. I do not want a dually and would like a diesel. Any thoughts or suggestions on the truck with the best towing or hauling capabilities?
Yup. You’ve already ruled it out.
You don;t want to go with the minimum here. You want something that’s going to be very stable.
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But I don’t haul over 200 miles and anything bigger would just be overkill. I have done A LOT of hauling over the years and if there isn’t any reason to be bigger than there is no reason to go bigger. It will only be at maximum 6 horses and that a rare occasion usually it would be 2 horses in a bumper pull. I just want a mid-engine size for the just in case moments.
Sounds like you’ve already made your decision. Test drive them and see which you like best. Just be sure you get a tow package on it.
You are hauling 6 horses plus trailer. How far you go does not matter. How infrequently you haul that many doesn’t matter. If you haul that many at all, and you’re driving it on the road, you have a responsibility to yourself, your passengers, your horses, and the rest of us to do it safely. The trucks you want don’t cut it for hauling that much weight around.
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2 horses and bumper pull can be handled by any mid size gas or diesel in a 3/4 ton truck. If you try to pull 6 horses a 1 ton dually with a diesel is what you will need.
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Pulling six horses is one thing
STOPPING SIX HORSES IS ANOTHER ! Even with trailer brakes, you’d better buy ALL of the truck you’ll EVER need,
not MOST of the truck you might need.
I think Ford and Chevy still offer one tons in single rear wheel configurations. Would probably be better than a 3/4 ton.
Are you shopping for NEW truck or a used truck? Budget??
I suggest you consider a Ford F-350 or F-450. You might also consider a Chevy/GMC Silverado 3500. Any cab configuration will do. The main thing is that you and your horses are safe. You are worth far more than the few thousand you might save between a 3/4 ton and 1 ton-plus configuration.
“Best towing or hauling”
The May/June Truck Trend magazine lists specifications on the new diesel trucks and picked the Ford F-350 Super Duty King Ranch ($59,675) as “Best in class 2012”, “Topline power puller”. Runner-up; Dodge Ram HD 3500 Laramie Longhorn.
The current power wars;
Ford 800 lb-ft @ 1600 RPM
Dodge 800 lb-ft @ 1500 RPM
GM 765 lb-ft @ 1600 RPM
Single rear wheel 3500’s have been available from GM, Ford and Dodge for 10 years and may be a better choice depending on your trailers pin weight.
Personally I would be happy with “acceptable” and leave “best” for the wealthy. A ten year old diesel truck (450-500 lb-ft torque) will get the job done.
Personally I like the Duramax/allison combo in the GM better then the others. Ford has had issues with the power stroke since they took it in house and international stopped making them (although they seem to get better every year)… I LOVE The cummins in the Dodge, but again there weak spot is the trans and its getting to the point where they cant keep up with only 6-cyls…
The current 6.7L Powerstroke is the only in-house diesel Ford offers in North America. The previous powerstokes. the vaunted 7.3L, the shameful 6.0L and the none-too-great 6.4L were all Navistar/International designed and built. Interestingly the current 6.7L doesn’t have any real chronic problems so far. Ford has only been producing the Scorpion 6.7 for about 2 years now though.
$12,000 is the budget. I would love an allison transmission. I know they tend to last the longest. Of coarse with the budget I have it would be a used. I did find a Chevy 8.1L Allison Tranny. Which peaked my interest. However the work was not done by a mechanic. Which I know that some people are better around cars/trucks than some mechanics, unfortunately. But it did make me a little un-easy since he converted it to a 8.1L himself.
I also know that the older model of a dodge like 2006 and earlier tend to have less issues with hauling than the new ones. Since they did their remodel they have not been the same. Once again newer Fords I find tend to break down quicker.
That all being said this is still going to be a farm truck as well. It would not be my daily driver because lets face it with the price of diesel who would want to drive that gas guzzeler around!
I really do appreciate the help guys thanks!
The $12k budget is going to be problematic. The thing is that you realistically need a diesel and finding a diesel 3/4-1 ton truck that’s in good shape for $12k is a big ask. Even one with the larger gas engine (8.1L GM, 6.8L V10 Ford) will be hard to come by.
Hey maddysmazda check out gsaauctions.gov/ You mite find what you want there at a good price. I see good deals on there from time to time. Buy the way they have everything from from war ships to bikes for sale.
@oldbodyman Did you see the stealth boat that was up for sale this week on GSA?? I cant belive they are scrapping a boat like that…
Our tax dollars at work. To bad it has to be scraped. It make a grate party boat.
It’s been for sale for a long time. Unfortunately, the buyer also has to buy its floating storage dock, which tacks on an extra $1M, and there are other restrictions to ownership, including that you have to agree to scrap it after you buy it, so you don’t even get to turn it into a cool yacht.
But the Sea Shadow wasn’t really much of a waste - it was a concept ship that Lockheed built about the same time as they were working on the F117 stealth plane for sea trials in an attempt to get the government to order a fleet of them. The government passed.
The Allison transmission seems to be about as good as anything else out there, and it’s possible to get a dud, I suppose. I know a guy in sales who bought a new (at the time, around 2006 or so) Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0L and Allison combo to tow a 6X12 enclosed trailer. He traded it and the trailer for a Dodge Sprinter when the Allison kicked the bucket at 60k miles.