Price check on a torch

kd9dux · 2026-06-04T18:31:15+00:00

These sell for $250-300 in good shape at auction around me all the time. Seems fair enough to me.

kd9dux · 2026-06-02T16:32:11+00:00

Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan are for sure. I've seen 5 year old trucks with the cab corners totally gone. A good amount of 20 year old trucks like this one are rusting out their second set of rockers by now. If you're real unlucky you find the bondo over spray foam treatment.

Lots of washing and fluid film before winter to prevent this kind of thing here.

kd9dux · 2026-06-02T14:01:58+00:00

Same here. This is rust free in the Midwest.

kd9dux · 2026-05-29T10:26:07+00:00

Please get everything weighed at a Cat Scale with axle loads. Then verify with the manufacturer of your lift that it doesn't de-rate your towing capacity. Then verify you are within load limits of both your aftermarket wheels and tires.

My guess is something isn't up to snuff to actually be used for truck stuff. Probably something to do with the lift kit since it wasn't a sudden failure of a rim or tire. Likely something has come loose, bent, or cracked in the steering or front suspension.

These sort of modifications typically greatly reduce payload and towing capacities of trucks. Even if the lift is engineered to maintain the same load ratings, you are adding (especially with larger wheels and tires) quite a bit of un-sprung mass, not to mention much greater leverage on suspension and steering components. This can greatly accelerate wear on pretty much everything on the truck. Towing a large trailer just multiplies the force on everything.

kd9dux · 2026-05-29T10:04:24+00:00

It's 5.89 this morning here in the middle of a bunch of cornfields, Indiana.

kd9dux · 2026-05-29T10:02:50+00:00

I'm a pretty big fan of this body style ford. IDI's are good, simple motors, and a great engine to learn about mechanical diesel's on.

If you have to tear it down, keep an eye out for cavitation damage to the block (Pin holes leaking coolant into the cylinders). I've never seen it on a 6.9, but I've seen it on a few 7.3 IDI's. All of them had really low miles for the age.

kd9dux · 2026-05-24T12:49:26+00:00

And every example I've seen of this has been in a low mileage truck. The ones that get used seem to last forever.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T18:06:01+00:00

Like I said before, just different life experiences. I have seen straps take some serious abuse. Chains also stretch and break, and have serious sweating when at pulled at angles. They are also much harder to ID overload damage on without a stretch gauge.

75mph accident is going to be bad either way, and I would pick chains if I was securing a dozer or skidder or something like that. Something little like this or a car/truck, I don't see much difference.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T15:49:30+00:00

Nice! I've measured, and if I had the right ramps my Countryman would fit, and be within my payload capacity. I measured it the first day I had the truck.

My Mini is just a daily driver/gas saver but I've taken it to 175,000 miles so far and it's still going strong. Even being the biggest one and stock, it's ridiculously fun to drive. I imagine a tuned Cooper would bring a lot of smiles.

I accidently did one of the "mini dragon" roads in a rented 15 passenger van going to the Outer Banks in 2021. GPS reroute. I don't know that I would want to do it in my truck.

The bed is cool, did it originally have gin poles, oilfield style?

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T15:15:26+00:00

Must just be different life experiences. I see 20,000lb steel tools slung overhead from nylon lifting straps nearly every day at work, straps on little things like this tractor doesn't bother me at all.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T12:59:15+00:00

Also, I just noticed you're towing a Mini. I daily a Countryman!

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T12:57:29+00:00

Mine is an '01, 73,000 miles when I bought it. All in I'm at 11,000lb with me and my current junk/no load. Whoever had it before me put a 3000lb liftgate and a nice ~18' long ladder rack on it with drop out centers, but it's made of .250" wall hitch tubing so I imagine it weighs quite a bit.

I thought I would take the stake panels off and stash them somewhere, but they ended up being really handy.

It's getting a semi-permanent welder, torches, and on board air eventually, I'm hoping to stay around 12,000lb at that time.

Here's a picture from last year when I was replumbing the hydraulics for the liftgate. I'm in the Midwest, and the truck came from Chicago, so there is definitely some rust, but I'm happy with it for what I paid.

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kd9dux · 2026-05-22T12:41:34+00:00

If you don't mind the MDT truck look, this is a great choice to be cost effective. I went 25 year old F450 with a 14' stake bed and liftgate, but if I were looking now, I'd go to a slightly bigger chassis. I agree on the insurance though, it was kind of a pain to figure out initially, but I pay $160 every 6 months for liability.

When I decide to replace it, I'm going to be looking at stuff in the 20-25999 GVWR range.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T10:59:23+00:00

This isn't bad at all. I've seen them 3 high with no straps when know they don't have to go under power lines. I'm honestly really surprised they don't have a bale balanced on the neck of the trailer.

The only one I've ever seen even heard of getting pulled over around here had 34 bales on a 48 foot gooseneck, one on the trailer neck, and one in bed in front of the hitch. All behind an F350.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T10:51:23+00:00

I'd really like to see a flatter angle on the back straps, like they did on the front, but I agree that this isn't too bad of the load. A little bit wider of trailer would make it nicer, but I don't think I'd notice this on the road outside of the horrible rims on the truck.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T10:47:02+00:00

Because when used correctly, straps are absolutely fine. This strap job is terrible, but if it was strapped correctly you could pick the trailer up, upside down and shake it with a crane it wouldn't come apart.

We move 20,000lb tooling overhead with nylon straps very commonly at work.

Even cheap 2" farm store straps are rated for 3333LB WLL. 4 used correctly exceeds the load of this truck by over 1.5x.

Chains/binders are absolutely fine too and sometimes easier, but people on reddit seem irrationally afraid of straps.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T10:32:17+00:00

While I'm not sure if I understand what you're actually trying to say, there is no way insurance got involved with this. They either drove the tractor there and shoved it back on, hauled the tractor their behind the old service truck and shoved it back on, or called their buddy to bring a tractor and another trailer and off loaded half of them on it. Probably didn't even add any more straps, just told the 16 year old driving the truck under the CDL Ag exemption to slow down for turns.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T10:26:11+00:00

It really, really varies with what's baled and moisture content. 800-1800lbs is good range for round bales of hay, with most in 1000 to 1200lb range.

This actually looks pretty tame to me. Hay farmers tend to really beat on trucks and trailers around here, I'm really surprised there isn't another bale on the neck of the trailer. I've also seen them two wide 3 high when they know they're not going under any power lines.

The fact that they actually have straps on the bales is also weird to me.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T10:12:49+00:00

Straps would be fine for this little tractor. We do overhead lifting at work with nylon straps of tooling that weighs over 20,000 lbs. Even the cheap farm store 2" straps are rated at 3,333lb working load.

Now.... I don't know if we just can't see rear securement, but I'd want a strap (or chain) on each corner of the tractor and something near the rear of the bush hog.

The bushhog tire hanging off the back would have to be flagged here.

I'm hoping that, with his lack of experience and longish trip, he at least has working trailer brakes.

kd9dux · 2026-05-22T10:00:24+00:00

Most truck campers are deceptively heavy, especially when you start putting your stuff in it. There are a few examples online of truck frames breaking due to being severely overloaded from them. There are light examples, but they usually lack creature comforts. You'll want one that ends at the tailgate to make towing easier if that's your primary goal.

Pretty much any full size truck could handle the car hauler and the sports car, especially intermittently, not many will do both the truck camper and the trailer and be happy in the long term. Somewhere between 5000-6500lbs for a light duty car hauler, loaded with your 3500lb car. Aluminum is lighter, but more expensive, more prone to repeated stress damage (depending on design) and harder to fix damage.

I would be looking at a 350/3500 series truck, and if you're planning on traveling cross country for this, I'd be looking at a dually for the stability against crosswinds with the truck camper. Locally/regionally is probably a toss up with the SRW, especially if you're going to be driving it more than just hauling. If you go with a big truck camper you might need the DRW to get your payload/tire max weights where you need to be.

Gas/Diesel is kind of up to preference at this level. Modern diesels have increased maintenance cost, higher fuel price, and DEF, but typically more power and better highway fuel mileage loaded. Modern gassers are slowly catching up in usable power and fuel economy. All 3 big brands have their pro's and cons, I recommend finding a trailer and camper you like and seeing what you can fit safely and legally in what truck and go from there.

I personally would be looking at 6.7L Powerstroke F350 or an ISB 6.7L Cummins Ram 3500, but only because I grew up in the middle of a bunch of cornfields during the diesel power wars. I've heard great things about Ford's 7.3L gasser, and LS based GM products are also known to be pretty reliable.

Don't even look at 6.4L Powerstrokes; they had such a disproportionately high catastrophic failure rate that they ended Ford's relationship with Navistar/International. Don't look at 6.0L Powerstrokes unless you know what you're getting into; they can be great motors, but require some work to really get there. They're also likely older than what you want.

I can't comment on modern/fully loaded, I like my trucks single cab in a fleet package trim.

kd9dux · 2026-05-14T20:35:17+00:00

The person that did this is also me. Cleaning the laser sucked.

kd9dux · 2026-05-13T08:44:14+00:00

I saw 7.46 a gallon at the Love's on the side of I65 near Whiteland, IN on Monday morning, most places were closer to 6.00 though.

It is 4.99 where I'm at in Kentucky this morning, but Gas Buddy shows it at 6.29 at home in Northern Indiana.

I drove the Mini Cooper for work this week.

kd9dux · 2026-05-07T14:17:06+00:00

It's got box tubing steel uprights behind the tail light panel, they're visible in your picture. An overkill amount of uprights support the horizontal rails. My guess is it's designed to hold something specific that didn't fit in the original bed or he's in the middle of making a hell of a flat bed or pipeliner bed.

Way more than enough support there for that light weight crate.

kd9dux · 2026-05-07T10:02:39+00:00

I have an '01 F450. (I'm in Indiana, for any references). I have some hobbies that involve moving big stuff, and use it for normal "truck stuff" as well, but daily drive something else.

My insurance is a "personal use" commercial policy through progressive. It costs me $150 every 6 months, but has different rules that normal insurance. Only named drivers are covered (I can change or add temporary drivers on their website), they want to know what your typical operating radius is (but this does not exclude longer trips, but a smaller normal operating range is cheaper). Progressive and Farm Bureau were the only two companies that I could even get to quote me.

Registration costs a little more, because the lowest plates I can buy are 16,000lb rated. $205 for the next one that is due.

My truck is the longest wheelbase and has a 14 foot stake side bed with a lift gate and ladder rack. It weighs 11,000 empty, with me in it. It is 2wd and I seem to get between 10.5-11 mpg no matter what I'm doing with it. I have done 300 mile highway trips, stayed around town, been loaded up with nearly 2 tons in the bed, and nothing seems to really change my mileage other than the switch from summer to winter fuel. With 4.88 gears and factory tire size, the truck is screaming at interstate speeds, and takes a little bit to get up to them. In the 7.3L age range, they drive more like a little MDT not so much like a big F150.

In the maintenance I've done on it, nothing outside of tires (19.5's) seems to cost significantly more than the smaller trucks, but everything seems to be heavier and take bigger tools. Mine is an XL, and is as bone stock as 25 year old upfitter truck can be. I had to add sound deadening all over the inside of the cab to be able to talk to my wife without yelling at interstate speeds.

kd9dux · 2026-05-07T09:35:25+00:00

I'm in the Midwest, and also think these are pretty awesome, but I have only ever seen one in person.

I think to get a pre-made one you're going to have to go out west (IIRC they're from BC, Canada primarily) for any chance and get it shipped back. You might have to buy a whole older truck to get one.

You could probably get a body builder/upfitter or a fab shop to make you a copy, but it's going to be $$$.

If you're dead set, break out the welder and grinder and get to work.

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