Trailers are Pretty common to landscapers around here that I have worked with for everything and not just mowers. If they are fortunate enough to have the funds to afford any truck they want, not having a trailer till they need may make sense. Otherwise, having a junker truck, especially if it’s and old Ranger, alows you to work with much more weight then you possibly carry. This is a job, not a convenient trash hauler. You must meet your appointments. I have a hitch on all my cars for that reason. I used a private flooring contractor whose wife needed his SUv ( he never used a truck) and he showed up in his wife’s minivan, towing a trailer with his gear to finish a job.
If you really want to PO customers, be unreliable. If you want to be unreliable, buy a junker truck with no back up plan. It isn’t like trailers are that expensive. An all aluminum 2000 capacity ATV trailer with ramp weighs only 225 lbs itself. You can reworked it for hauling with sides. Mine was less then $1000 new. My wife’s 10 year old RAV in a pinch could take 1500 lb anywhere.
If your’re a contractor and can’t back up a trailer, find another job. Agree with MarkM. It’s easier to find any tow vehicle that looks acceptable and not going after just a truck for a couple thousand with rust everywhere…Heck, you even have the option to get a trailer first and use the vehicle you have…if it’s more reliable then a junker truck.
As you have found out, a $2k truck May last you a couple of years. A $1k utility trailer lasts indefinitly with minimal care.
Like the idea of a trailer ,simply because it gives you so many options,leave the nasty stuff on the trailer,load up your goods and leave em loaded without toting around deadweight,saves on your vehicle tires,lower deck height,easy to customize,the list goes on,you can get an older short bed,adequately powered pickup for reasonable money and empty its probaly going to be fairly economical and to save gas leave the tailgate up-Kevin
A junkyard rear axle can be had for a couple hundred bucks. Any truck you’re going to get for $3000 is going to have some kind of issue or high mileage or both and probably won’t be any better than your current truck (bad rear end notwithstanding ).
I bought a 1997 F-150 about decade ago, for around $8300 at the time. It still only has around 70k on the clock, and I put about 1k miles on it a year. So far I’ve only had to put a set of new tires on it (it had the orginals when I got it), new brakes, and oil changes. It hasn’t required anything other than regular maintence really. If you’re going to use this truck on a regular basis, I wouldn’t go too cheap.
I agree with the trailer and a decent looking truck. Around here the mowers go on a trailer and they have side racks for the edgers and blowers and so on. You can’t get a zero turn mower into the back of a pick up very easily but a trailer works great for winter and summer equipment. I’m talking about an open flat bed trailer not an enclosed one. They are cheap and dependable.
I picked up another Dodge Ram. This one is an '05. Pretty basic. Stick shift. Doesn’t even have power windows and locks. 115,000 miles. I got it for $5,500.
Quad cab should give me more room and better access for tools inside compared to my old extended cab.
4.7 instead of 5.9 engine hopefully will save me on gas.
Still have the 4x4.
Got a tow package so a trailer is an option in the future.
It was more than I wanted to spend, but I think it’s a really good fit. Now I just hope the thing runs for another 200,000 miles.
If you still have both of them, the fastest and most accurate way to find out is to pull an old wheel off the 1997 and try it on the 2005. The bolt patterns have to be the same and the 16" rim has to fit over the brakes on the 17" hub.
The 16" tires are 3.14159 inches shorter in rolling perimeter than the 17" tires. Yes, that will make your speedometer less accurate.the transmission and rear end gears won’t change so it won’t mess with them.
Check your speedometer against one of these posted speed checkers and keep it in mind,if you dont mind the loss in ground clearence the smaller wheels and tires will make her a bit more peppy,if the diameter of the tires is shorter(JT is throwing Pi around likes its free(I wouldnt work in a Pi shop-math never was my forte) I dont know how much trouble it is to change the speedo gear now(if thats how they do it nowadays,I havent changed a speedo gear in years.
A 4.7 isnt such a bad engine,it will give you about the same mileage as the v-6 and have noticably more power.
Kev. I have had six Toyota Tacoma and regular intermediate pick ups, four four cylinders and two six autos, one 2 wd and one 4 wd. They were all great trucks in their own way. If you could find a six 2wd which is hard to find, assuming you don’t need 4 wd, they are economical and will blow the doors off many unsuspecting cars. They actually ride and handle decently in 2 wd. The 4 wd are back breakers.
The fours are reliable and economical. The sixes are down right fun. There is a reason why no one else came close for ten years in it’s class. A six 4wd does 0 to 60 in 7.7 seconds while a two wheel drive starts pushing the 6 second range. A ten year old uses the same great motors as the 2015 and there are a gazillion used ones out there.
All but one of my Toyota trucks bought have been used. They were a little more then competing brands…but for good reason. They had better motors and are structurally stronger for more rugged use which means fewer problems for lighter use…then ANY of the vehicles in it’s class. Just crawl underneath and compare. They are the best used buy bet out there, even if you have to pay a little more. You can pay a thousand less for a used Ranger or Colorado five to six to 10 years old then put much more then that in repairs later. Then when you sell it…you can give it away. Take care of the body in a Toyota, and some one WILL be there to buy it, for the same reason you did. You get what you pay for.
This is one reason that even though the new model Colorado has been out for 2014/ 2015, the old 10 year old model designed 2014/2015 Tacoma, still outsells it on a monthly level nearly 2 to 1. It is outclassed by some on road peformamce numbers of the Colorado but it is still stronger and more reliable and will be worth more used in five to 10 years.
@jtsanders. You are the man. The math man ! You need a break now from all that effort " computing" pi out to five places. Pour yourself a tall one.
I quoted pi out as far as I remember it. I don’t calculate that stuff, just use it at work occasionally. Hey, just wait for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. My posts will be ARRRRGuably the best that day.
@dagosa if the Colorado is still anything like the one I test drove before I bought my Mazda, and, knowing GM, it still is, then I would have zero trouble buying the Toyota over the Colorado any day.
Agree with MarkM. It’s easier to find any tow vehicle that looks acceptable and not going after just a truck for a couple thousand with rust everywhere…Heck, you even have the option to get a trailer first and use the vehicle you have…if it’s more reliable then a junker truck.