From the Driver's Seat: Picking the Right Truck PART 1 (based on personal history)

For close to 30 years I was a farmer in Upstate New York. These were the years that shaped me regarding equipment type and brands.

Like a lot of farm-raised kids, I was driving tractors and trucks as soon as I could reach the pedals. The first pickup I drove in the early 70s was a well used 1967 Chevrolet C10 with a straight 6 gas engine and a 3-speed transmission (3 on the tree). This truck was just about bullet proof. We worked it well beyond its stated capabilities and it never let us down.

In 1983, a month before my 16th birthday, my father bought me my first truck that I would use for personal use and on the farm. It was a 1978 Ford F150 Ranger 4x4. Yes, they were called Rangers back then! It had a 350CI engine, but, unfortunately, a 3-speed authomatic transmission. This was our first 4-wheel drive truck and was very capable in the muddy conditions of New York. This, however, was NOT a reliable truck. Multiple engine failures and a death-wobble on back roads made it a handful to drive.

In 1981 my father bought a new Dodge Ram 2500 2-wheel drive for my sister to use to haul her horses. After a few years, it became a farm truck, and I logged many miles on that truck. It had the 360CI engine mated to an automatic 3-speed transmission. Early on, this truck was reliable, but seemed to age quickly. Mostly small issues (unlike the Ford), but issues nonetheless. One issue with this truck was that it lacked in power. When hauling cattle, it would slow to a walking pace when you encountered any kind of steep incline. Also, even with aggressive rear tires, this truck got stuck very easily. I must mention that the 1967 Chevy was still being used somewhat as a backup to the Ford and the Ram. If it weren't for rust catching up to it (thanks to New York State's salt use on roads), it would still fire up when called upon.

After buying a used 1980 Camara SS (LOVED that car!), I traded it in for a 1994 Toyota 4x4 pickup truck. This was just before they named it Tacoma. It had a 4 cylinder engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. I have to say that this truck was unbelievably great in every aspect. I truly put it through everything, from hauling hay wagons (put the transfer case in low, but didn't lock hubs) to picking up calves at auction. The truck never faultered. I logged over 150,000 tough miles on the Toyota truck with 0 issues!

In 2005 we needed a truck to haul our own cattle instead of hiring this service. We also needed a snow plow to help increase revenue for the farm. We decided on a new 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD 4x4 mated to a Western snow plow. It had a 6 liter gas engine and a 4-speed automatic transmission. This was a great truck. Fuel mileage wasn't the best, but it handled everything we needed it to do. I rectified the fuel mileage issue by using the Toyota for as many jobs as it could handle.

In 2009 I made what may have been the biggest mistake, as far as vehicles go, of my life. Driving past a dealership I saw a 2007 Ford F250 4x4 diesel flatbed. It had a 5-speed manual transmission with a creeper gear. I have always prefered manual transmissions and this truck seemed perfect for our farm needs. After very little research (my bad 🫢), we traded in the 2005 Chevy and my personal Toyota for this truck. We installed the plow hardware and the truck was good to go. It hauled cattle beautifully and plowed snow effortlessly. Fuel mileage was much improved over the Chevy, so I thought I made a great decision. Then the problems began. At first they were small issues that I researched and solved, but then then the issues became larger. Researching this further, I found that the 6.0 diesel engine that Ford produced had major issues (to put it nicely). While the Ford was still running, I went from dealer to dealer, trying desparately to trade it in. Most dealers were well aware of the Ford diesel issues and would offer little-to-no trade-in value. I finally found a Chevy truck for sale at a Ford dealership that was willing to make a deal.

I traded for a 2006 Chevy 2500HD 4x4. Yes, it was a similar truck to the 2005 we originally traded in for the Ford! This was another great truck but had been used for snow plowing all its life and was not washed as much as it should have been. Rust started to show, but it was mechanically sound and ran great.

At this time I moved on from farming. It was time for a new chapter in my life. I used the 2006 Chevy to start my own hot shot trucking company. In 2014 just outside Nashville, Tennessee while hauling a car for a customer, the 2006 Chevy started shaking uncontrollably. I limped the truck to a dealer and discovered that the rust caught up to the front end. While waiting on an estimate I saw a 2013 Chevy 2500HD discounted as a leftover. It was a 2-wheel drive, but I figured that I was mostly highway driving, and the price was within budget. After an astronomical estimate for the repairs on the 2006 Chevy, I pulled the trigger and purchased the new 2013 Chevy.

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2006 Chevy 2500HD

To this day, the 2013 Chevy 2500HD may have been my favorite truck! Yes, even over the Toyota. This truck did everything I needed. When I signed up to transport recreational vehicles, I installed a fifth-wheel hitch. Many thought I was crazy to use a 2-wheel drive 2500 gas truck for this occupation. Even hauling 44 foot fifth-wheel RVs, the truck never faultered. Granted, I didn't have the same power as the diesel trucks, but I continually got the job done over and over again. This truck in particular influenced me greatly on becoming a fan of General Motors products.

2013 Chevy 2500HD

More on this next week!....