advice on gas or diesel, etc.

[Surferbum21]

The older I get the wiser I get. I bought an 08 F-250 Lariat to work out of (yes, young dumb and full of...) Well I am not wanting to downgrade and get a straight work truck that I don't have to worry about putting dents & scratches in. I got diesel b/c I pull a trailer 7 days a week and told best option. One of my buddies uses all gas trucks in f-250 and says gets 16-18 mpg pulling (I think bs b/c I get 10 in my diesel).

I am really just trying to get others opinions on gas vs diesel when pulling 18 ft trailer loaded down as well as how many miles is too many miles? I'm looking at a couple 2004 f250 w 125,000 miles for around $13000. I don't mind spending more but trying to get the best truck for the lowest amount but I would rather spend more $ and not have a truck breaking down all the time.

[hosejockey2002]

Yes, I also think your buddy is full of sh&! because I get 10 towing with my Chevy 6.0 if I'm lucky.

If you're looking at Fords in the 2005 age range you probably know about the 6.0 diesel. They pull really strong but there are certain things that are prone to expensive failures. For about $5K you can make modifications to make them reliable. Welcome to the new age of diesels, where if you delete this, modify that and monitor these other things carefully you can have a very powerful, economical and reliable truck. If you don't you may end up with a very powerful money pit.

With gas engines you sacrifice towing power and fuel mileage, but in return you get in the truck, turn the key and drive away without worrying about deleting your EGR or your DPF clogging with soot, or when you can sneak in your next regen.

If you can find a V10 truck in good shape, jump on it. The 5.4 will do the job but you may find it lacking for power, especially compared to your 6.4 diesel.

[LibertyFarmLandscaping]

Depends on how many miles you run, hilly or flat terrain, how much weight your pulling, are you hooking to other heavier loads besides mowers (eg:tractor, mini ex, etc).
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[Surferbum21]

Originally Posted by LibertyFarmLandscaping

Depends on how many miles you run, hilly or flat terrain, how much weight your pulling, are you hooking to other heavier loads besides mowers (eg:tractor, mini ex, etc).
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no mainly 18 ft trailer with one sometimes two ztrs and 3 walk behinds. sometimes three pallets of sod but never overload the 7K# trailer load. On weekends pull a boat but nothing too big. I do pull bobcat in winter when doing snow removal but so far this year no snow in oklahoma.

I'm really thinking of doing one 4x4 diesel truck to do main work out of and getting an extended cab to pull spray rig trailer with. But I have given thought to putting a bed sprayer in too and worry that might be too much load for a v-8 to pull two tanks with.

Mainly I am looking to get out of having a nice truck that I am beating the **** out of so want to get a couple cheap work trucks but like the guy above wrote in about diesels you gotta buy and mod or you've got a moneysucker on your hands

[4 seasons lawn&land]

Id do 50 ish thousand miles. I think diesel is a waste of money without dual rear wheels unless your going for cool factor which is fine. Your buddy is definately full of it. But most diesels do better than the 6.4 on fuel.

[Jbh0724]

I am leaning more and more towards sticking with gas. I would love the power of diesel but I am afraid of the expensive repairs.

[LibertyFarmLandscaping]

Yeah I have a Dodge diesel 2011. I pull 10k plus with it at least once a week. Even during the winter I pull heavy equipment helping my brother who builds metal buildings. I have an old 1993 Ford f250 with a 5.8 gas I have to run the mowing route. If I ran 30k per year or under I would probably have bought a v10 Ford instead of the diesel.

I
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[Valk]

Someone correct me IFF I'm wrong, but making frequent stops favors a gasser while extended towing favors a diesel. Seems there's a lot less to go wrong with a gasser...and this gets my vote - unless you're towing a lot of weight quite often.

[Duekster]

Originally Posted by Valk

Someone correct me IFF I'm wrong, but making frequent stops favors a gasser while extended towing favors a diesel. Seems there's a lot less to go wrong with a gasser...and this gets my vote - unless you're towing a lot of weight quite often.

I would think a gasser would be more suited to a mow and go operation but would like to hear other opinions.

[BrandonV]

Originally Posted by Surferbum21

7K# trailer load.

yall must have some light weight sod 3 pallets is 7500lbs+ here and that's before you add in your trailer.