Americans have big toys. A lot of hunters pull big camp trailers or big boats. It takes a 3/4 or 1 ton to handle the load. During hunting season I see a lot of 25+ foot 5th wheel rolling hotels in the woods. In my case, I use pack llamas. My camp trailer is a 30 year old 20'er. When I put a steel stock rack on the truck, load in 4 llamas, and pull the trailer, a 1/2 ton doesn't cut it. In many places, you can get a smaller vehicle about anywhere in the woods. Here in the Rocky Mountain west, however, in many places you can't get a vehicle off the road. It's just too steep and rocky. You hunt it on foot.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
Here's my diesel with the Rhino behind it. This combo let's me go pretty much anywhere I want. The truck gets around 14mpg in town and as high as 19 on the highway with no load and setting it for about 60mph but it needs to be level ground and no head wind.
Just curious, but why something as big as an F350 or even F250 for hunting? Do you need the cargo capacity say for carrying an elk carcass or all the stuff for a tented camp?
Just wondering what the attracion is given their size limits them off road and the running costs ect..
It's not the same here as in UK. For instance during antelope deer and elk season, one friend pulls a 3-axle 5th wheel toy hauler with living quarters and filled with 4wheelers or 4 seat rhino. There's wife and kids, guns, ammunition, 100gal of water in the trailer and enough stuff for 4 days in the middle of nowhere. Behind that there'll be a Sidekick. He'll be towing around 18-20K pounds........ up several long mountain grades then mountain dirt roads. Altitude will go from 4,000' up to 8-10,000'. You couldn't even think of doing this with a 1/2T truck much less anything with a gas engine. The truck is an '07 Dmax with lift and big tires.
Americans have big toys. A lot of hunters pull big camp trailers or big boats. It takes a 3/4 or 1 ton to handle the load. During hunting season I see a lot of 25+ foot 5th wheel rolling hotels in the woods. In my case, I use pack llamas. My camp trailer is a 30 year old 20'er. When I put a steel stock rack on the truck, load in 4 llamas, and pull the trailer, a 1/2 ton doesn't cut it. In many places, you can get a smaller vehicle about anywhere in the woods. Here in the Rocky Mountain west, however, in many places you can't get a vehicle off the road. It's just too steep and rocky. You hunt it on foot.
I can see where they would be useful when towing or carrying a lot of stuff, but they would not be my first choice as a hunting rig unless they met a particular need as in your case..I can also see a farm or work truck doing double duty as a hunting rig..
In TZone cases, I was just curious what his motivation was, and why not another vehicle?
Poor confused kooknic, can't keep thing straight from one post to another. A few real dopes on this board and you're up there with the dopiest. Again....keep quiet when you don't know what the h#ll you're talking about.
It's not the same here as in UK. For instance during antelope deer and elk season, one friend pulls a 3-axle 5th wheel toy hauler with living quarters and filled with 4wheelers or 4 seat rhino. There's wife and kids, guns, ammunition, 100gal of water in the trailer and enough stuff for 4 days in the middle of nowhere. Behind that there'll be a Sidekick. He'll be towing around 18-20K pounds........ up several long mountain grades then mountain dirt roads. Altitude will go from 4,000' up to 8-10,000'. You couldn't even think of doing this with a 1/2T truck much less anything with a gas engine. The truck is an '07 Dmax with lift and big tires.
I can fully understand there use in those circumstances, and no, there's not really any similar circumstances in the UK, hence my question.
As a comparison, each year around the end of November, three of us head up to Scotland for a weeks stalking on the Red and Sika hinds..We have made the trip in a crew cab pick-up and a Discovery with all our kit plus food and drink. ect. Accommodation is normally a rented cottage not too far from the stalking area..
Which ever vehicle we use is normally normally pretty packed for the 8 hour journey, but not uncomfortably so. Once on the ground, we have the use of a quad for carcass recovery from the more remote locations.
If we needed to take anymore, we'd need take a second vehicle or alternatively a small trailer, but at the moment we haven't needed to do that..
The moment you come up with just one thing that sounds intelligent, I will shut up. Till then, you are just a self proclaimed expert talking out your ass.
I think the difference is what you think of as a hunting vehicle is one you will hunt out of and use offroad. In the states, what many people consider as a hunting truck is a vehicle they use to drive several hundred if not over 1000 miles to approach hunting grounds and then travel in either on foot, horseback or a vehicle they towed with their hunting truck.
Very few people use 3/4 ton diesel trucks for offroad use. That is typically done with a 4 wheeler or a smaller truck or SUV with lifted suspension and larger tires.
I think the difference is what you think of as a hunting vehicle is one you will hunt out of and use offroad. In the states, what many people consider as a hunting truck is a vehicle they use to drive several hundred if not over 1000 miles to approach hunting grounds and then travel in either on foot, horseback or a vehicle they towed with their hunting truck.
Very few people use 3/4 ton diesel trucks for offroad use. That is typically done with a 4 wheeler or a smaller truck or SUV with lifted suspension and larger tires.
Yes, I suspect your right..
The video clip below shows one of the "green lanes" in the hills above my home..It about typical of the tracks and lanes you might find in any of the upland areas of the UK on a typical stalking lease. Its not extreme off-roading by any means but really just business as usual..Interestingly, in this case its been driven by a Wrangler rather than the usual LandRover!
A diesel can be reliable, it just costs money to keep it that way. $100+ oil changes, $80 air filters. $60 fuel filters.
You need to learn to do your own basic maintenance, those numbers are shop prices & if you pay that you're getting ripped off. An oil change for my dodge diesel costs me $45 for oil & filter. An air filter is around $20 & the fuel filter is $15.
That is doing my own. I need to learn where you all buy your stuff.
Wal-Mart for the Rotella T 15W-40, 11 qts. for my truck. Local Cummins dealer for all the fleetguard filters. For some reason the Ford filters are a lot more expensive, but if I bought mine at the Dodge dealer I suspect they'd be about the same price. Fortunately I can buy the same filters from the cummins place for a lot less. Mine is an older truck, non CRD. I imagine the fuel filter(s) would be more if I had a later model CRD truck.
I'm considering an oil burner for just a hunting rig if the commtute isn't long enough to get it to operating temps.
I don't alway tow enough to need one, hell, I rarely tow enough to need one, but for longevity purposes, I think it would be great.
Currently, a mid-late 90's F250-350 is what I'd like to have for hunting/fishing/camping.
Just curious, but why something as big as an F350 or even F250 for hunting? Do you need the cargo capacity say for carrying an elk carcass or all the stuff for a tented camp?
Just wondering what the attraction is given their size limits them off road and the running costs ect..
I don't actaully hunt out of it. The fuel mileage of the smaller trucks here isn't much better than that bigger ones, to make me want a smaller vehicle. I do and can use the carrying capacity of the bed and cab space for my gear and that of my kids.
Yeah, Americans have big toys. Then they need a big truck to move the crap around. Funny stuff. mtmuley
Big toys and long distances, 2.5 liters just won't do it. Every Friday afternoon the highways are full of people towing travel trailers, toy haulers, boats, etc, all with fullsize diesel trucks. Even the slow lane is doing at least 65. And struggling up grades with an underpowered tow vehicle is no fun. We're lucky to live in a country that has the kind of vehicles we have.
Just curious, but why something as big as an F350 or even F250 for hunting? Do you need the cargo capacity say for carrying an elk carcass or all the stuff for a tented camp?
Just wondering what the attraction is given their size limits them off road and the running costs ect..
I put on just under 3K mi (5K KM) to go moose hunting and got home 10 days ago. I've got an elk hunt planned that will be another 2500Mi, a deer hunt that'll be at least 1500mi, and during my normal in-state rifle and muzzle-loader deer hunting I'll put on 2K more. The weather can vary wildly here on the northern plains as well as on the front-range of the Rocky Mountains. It's not uncommon for hunting weather to be in the teens/low 20'sF in the AM and approach 70F during mid-day. It's not uncommon for my hunting partner and I to each have 2 "hockey bags" just for clothing. Start throwing in 120-150qt coolers to get elk home, a 2nd spare tire, tire chains, high lift and hydraulic jacks, a rifle or two, maybe a shotgun, perhaps my bird-dog and you can see how things fill up quickly. Where I hunt, there's very few places a guy is allowed to drive an ATV/jeep/smaller rig that you can't just drive a 3/4 ton pickup. There are very few places a guy can drive off-trail on public land, most parcels don't even allow off-trail travel for downed game recovery. It's also fairly arid where I hunt, my biggest off-road-getting-stuck threat is not mud or tight trail conditions, it's snow. A big heavy vehicle bucks the snow a LOT better than a smaller one. I could and have do pretty much all of that with a 1/2ton pickup. But, then there's summer where I'm towing a boat ~500mi/weekend............................
Last edited by horse1; 09/19/13.
I can walk on water.......................but I do stagger a bit on alcohol.
Wyoming cowboy, what kind of 3/4 ton gasser do you have? First off, let me be clear i'm not questioning your info, just want to compare brands.
my needs are met perfectly by a 3/4 ton gasser, only complaint is fuel mileage sucks. my 2005 chevy 2500HD is a 4x4 with the 6.0 motor, 4 speed automatic, and 4.10 drive gears. extended cab, long bed. I get 14 running empty on the highway at reasonable speeds, never got above 15, and i usually drive 65mph.
i have no complaints about towing fuel economy, hardly changes with a 5,000 pound travel trailer on flat land, and i got 11 mpg pulling a 10,000 pound 24' enclosed trailer from OK to NY. Pulled a huge toy hauler to Sagauche area in colorado (about 13,000 pounds) and got 10 on the flats and 8 pulling passes.
About 15 years ago Popular Mechanics tested the diesels from the big 3 along with heavy duty gas 3/4 tons. They considered initial costs, upkeep, fuel costs and fuel mileage. At that time the break even point was 350,000 miles for a diesel to cost the same.
With today's greater cost of diesel engines, fuel, and the worse fuel mileage diesels are getting I don't ever see anyone breaking even on costs.
That doesn't mean they don't have their place. There are times where one is the only real option. But the vast majority of folks are better off in 2013 with a gas engine. Probably 80% of the diesel trucks I see on the highways are pulling loads I could pull with my Tacoma. 90% or more could do just fine with a 1/2 ton set up for towing, and 95% with a gas 3/4 ton.
Most people don't really want the truth.
They just want constant reassurance that what they believe is the truth.
^ This is true, but it misses something. I would guess 95% of the cars on the road today are performing a function that could just as easily be done by a cheaper, lesser car. Does anyone need a Corvette, Cadillac, or a Tahoe? The majority of these cars could be replaced with a smaller, cheaper car and the owner would not notice a difference in function.
Diesel HD trucks are probably hard for most folks to justify based strictly on need and cost. On the other hand, diesel trucks are much easier to justify based on desire. The same reason you might buy a Lexus instead of a Toyota or Honda. I do think a 3/4 ton gasses is the most practical choice for most folks who haul and tow light trailers. I drive a 3/4 ton diesel and love it, even if it is hauling nothing heavier than me and a couple of rifles as I go to the range.
Having a 98 Cummins Dodge and really liking it a lot, the only pros are when I need the pulling power. Good mileage at 22-23 MPG empty 14 when hauling 15K GVW. Reliability to 300K +mile should be good.
Other than that it is more expensive to run and own.
If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles
I've never driven a road vehicle with a large petrol engine, but do they offer any "engine braking" in the way a diesel does when going down steep hills?
I've never driven a road vehicle with a large petrol engine, but do they offer any "engine braking" in the way a diesel does when going down steep hills?
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