All joking aside, I started this thread because I've liked trucks and trailers for many, many years and I think it's because I've always been drawn to tools and utility, and a truck and a trailer are both for me. In combination they allow me to do something that would otherwise be impossible and they provide independence, possibility and self-reliance, all of which are important to me. It's sort of like a Jeopardy category of "Things I like that begin with the letter T". Trucks, tractors, trailers, tools, tarps .... you get the idea.
I think many of us have had awful towing experiences at some point or another. My F-250 is a good truck that I drive almost daily, but put 12,000 lb behind it in mountainous Montana country and the stress level goes way up. I'll never forget climbing the long grade heading north out of Missoula when I hauled the new (and much lighter) M6060 on the MidSota trailer from Sheridan, WY back home four years ago. I was in 3rd gear with the accelerator to the floor and maxed out at 55 mph. The speed limit on that hill is 70 mph and I think that was the moment that I felt the need for a more powerful and more capable truck. I went over at least four mountain passes that trip, but it was that hill that did it for me. I've hauled heavy loads with the F-250 and had a bunch of vehicles stacked up behind me and that's not a good feeling. Not being able to maintain the speed limit on a given road while hauling a load is not good in my world.
Picking up 8,000 lb of firewood is a twice a year job and the wood yard is 20 minutes away at most, but hauling my tractors and implements around has become a far more regular occurrence ever since I put an add on Craigslist. I have a manure moving job this weekend at a horse property and will be taking the M6060 over with a box blade on the back. Having a really good truck and trailer to use for the task changes the entire experience. Taking my friend's new tractor to him this past weekend was a great experience because of the F-450 and Kaufman trailer. The L47 on the MidSota trailer (which I sold) behind the F-250 would have been a very different experience.
It was almost 14 months ago when I started a thread re a truck upgrade. I was looking for a truck that could pull around 20,000 lb easily and safely since that's about the combined weight of my M6060, RC3715 folding cutter and a suitable trailer. With all the back and forth and advice from numerous knowledgeable members here, as well as talking with friends and neighbors with Super Duty models, I ended up with a superb truck that checks off every box for me.
I have an '02 F250 Lariat Super Duty 7.3L with a chip and programmer and it's a great truck for towing the boat, or trailers with reasonable loads, but last summer it kind of sucked at pulling the M6060 and RC3712 on the 22ft trailer. It got me out and back, and once the TC locked up in 3rd...
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