looking for a farm beater

[GaYJ]

I am looking for a farm work truck to pull a gooseneck. Don't want to spend a lot on the truck. I've found a 92 dodge cummins, a 93 ford 7.3, and a 93 chevy 6.5. Don't know a lot about these engines, thats why i came to the pros. All 3 trucks are around the same price. Wich one is going to be the best work horse for my money.

[Stigo69]

the 7.3 is def. a work horse and so is the cummins....id leave the chevy out of it but thats JMO

[Big Angry]

Of those 3, the cummins is the one you want.

[AZdragger]

Originally Posted by Big Angry

Of those 3, the cummins is the one you want.

until mid 98 Dodge used the 12V cummins which is a great motor. Reliable as all get out, easy to maintain and also very easy to add power

About the only real problem with the Dodges and the Cummins is with the fuel pump which can easily be remedied by switching out to an Airdog or FASS system and i think that's actually less then what the new pump costs

the only other real issue is with teh tranny. If it's a manual then they are dang near bulletproof, but if it's an auto you'll want to kepe an eye on it. As said on here plenty of times before, the dodge auto's can be very troublesome. If you go with an aftermarket tranny or build up the stock tranny though then it shouldn't be much of a problem

some good sites if you want more on the cummins:
www.inlinediesel.com
www.dodgetruckworld.com
and then there's the deiselregister or something like that, if you search, i think you'll find that one mentioned a few times on here

[GaYJ]

the ford is a reg cab 4x4 5 speed has 250k miles on truck but 70k on engine. The dodge is ecsb 2wd 5 speed with close to 300k miles

[K5Fury]

I'm going to say the Chevy and I'll tell you why. "93 is arguably the best year for the 6.5td. It is an all mechancal truck in that it has the mechanical IP and turbo and no vaccum pump. It also has the strongest tranmission of those listed in the 4L80E. Nothing wrong with the others but if you can find a '93 Chevy in good shape I would grab it.

[red suburban]

considering the miles on the cummins i'd recommend either the chevy or the ford. like k5fury said, the 93 6.5L is the best year of the 6.5, just need to put the cooling upgrade on it and your worries are gone (fairly cheap to do).

how heavy of a load are you planning to pull?
will the truck sit often?
are you looking to hotrod it later?
is the chevy a manual or auto?

many other questions that need to be asked, check out www.dieselplace.com for the chevy info, there is also a link on that site to put you over on the ford diesel page.

[dozerboy]

A 2WD diesel worthless on a farm IMO you will be stuck on damp grass. There was an old Cummins "53" or something to that affect that was very prone to the block cracking. Any of the big 3 would be fine IMO just do your resurch first, and that means looking on some DC and Ford sites too.

[chevytodd]

Originally Posted by AZdragger

About the only real problem with the Cummins is with the fuel pump

And thier in Dodge trucks!!

[GaYJ]

thanks guys i'm going to look at these trucks good and will still look around before i choose

[Big Angry]

Originally Posted by dozerboy

A 2WD diesel worthless on a farm IMO you will be stuck on damp grass. There was an old Cummins "53" or something to that affect that was very prone to the block cracking. Any of the big 3 would be fine IMO just do your resurch first, and that means looking on some DC and Ford sites too.

word on the 2wd, I'd skip it.

As for the "53" blocks, they were used from 98-2002, so no worries in this case, but I still think 4wd is what you want.
Here is a good read on the 53.
http://www.cumminsdatabase.com/read.php?id=185

[red suburban]

you dont have to have a 4x4 for a farm/ranch. my girlfriends old boss got his 03 dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 stuck just about every time it rained and i had to pull him out 4 or 5 times in my 89 1/2 ton 2wd suburban with the 350 and a/t tires. just depends on your driving skill and knowledge (he would try to idle through the mud, how dumb can you be?)

[dozerboy]

Your right, but in 2WD my gasser would out wheel our neighbors 4WD Cummins any day of the week. And it wasn't the drivers we would switch once and a while.