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I had almost talked myself into a 2wd pickup....

rockyridgefarm

rockyridgefarm

Well-known Member
...And I am SO glad I didn't!

I bought a '99 Ford F350 dually this past summer on an online auction. I had been looking for one with a 7.3l diesel, manual transmission, regular cab, 4wd, flatbed for years. Most of what I had found were 2wd, or extended cab, or not dually. I never could get the combination right. So about a year ago, I starting thinking maybe I could do without the 4wd. I even looked at a few pickups, but just couldn't shake the thought that I'd regret it. Well, when I saw this pickup online, I jumped. It's high mileage and doesn't have a/c or cruise control, but I wasn't gonna let it slip by without bidding. I got it cheap, apparently I am the only one looking for that combination.

Just today, I hauled two loads of hay around town and a skidder to Patch Grove. To back it away from my shed where I plug it in at night, I had to engage 4wd to go up my steep drive. I needed 4wd lo range to get out of the place I loaded and 4wd again to get into the place I unloaded. I needed it on a particularly steep hill up to a stop sign and to get moving again after I stopped. I even needed it to swing around after dropping off the skidder.

Maybe it's different in the south or for a pickup that never leaves dry pavement, but I don't know how anyone survives without 4wd in a pickup truck that is actually used for work.
 
We got our first 4x4 half ton truck a couple years
ago,an 03 F 150 supercrew,never own a 2 wd
again.
 

Half the problem is that it is a dually....I've never owned a diesel dually without 4x4 for exactly that reason.
 
When you get anywhere near the north if you don't have 4Wd don't come
cryin to me. The first I had was a 1996 Explorer. Had no intention of
buying a used four wheeler. No intention of an SUV. Just needed a miny
van or somthing to throw stuff into. Saw this medow green Explorer on
the lot. Price was good enough and next thing you know. The first
humdinger of a 28 inch snow storm driving home at two in the morning.
Well I guess this boy isn't going to ever not have a four wheelie
right?
 
My first pickup was a 2wd 1971 Ford F100. I got by OK with it because I never hooked a trailer to it. Basically just drove it to high school and to neighbors to work. I was always careful to park it so I could get out regardless of what is downhill.

Then I bought a 1989 F250 4wd. Then a 1995 F250 4wd. Then a 2000 F150 7700 4wd. Then a 2000 F250 4wd, and now this 1999 F350 dually 4wd. The line of 4wd pickups is what gave me that nagging feeling that a 2wd dually would be a bad, bad idea. Sometimes going with my gut doesn't get me in trouble!



But most times it does.
 
Yep, you're right Eldon. 2WD dualies are
helpless, especially with all the weight of
the diesel up front. Lock her in and pull
the world. Blew the front axle apart in my
pickup pulling stuff I shouldn't have had
loaded so heavy across a muddy field. Only
had 2wd for a month or so until I had time
to fix it. Was a real terd in the snow
taking it out to cut wood in 2wd until I
got some weight into it to offset the
diesel. Sure missed the 4wd when I didn't
have it.
 
Interesting, I have had a dozen 4x4 and live in Manitoba. In September I found a 2 wd dodge 4
door long box (2005) for $3900. That was $100 more than insurance gave me for the van I wrote
off. I had to have 4 door the rest price only mattered. I wanted 4x4 and wife got a little ticked that I
bought it. I said I had never got the van stuck and would not get the truck stuck, she just had to
learn how to drive. Well I put good winter tires on and added 600-700 lbs behind the fifth wheel
and no issues yet. So I was right ICAN live without 4x4.
 
rocky going with your gut is usually the best way to go, that nagging feeling in the back of your mind is your years of experience telling you wake up :lol: the key statement you made in your original post was not knowing how anyone using a truck for "work" could get by without 4 wheel drive. up here in Canada if all you own is a 2 wheel drive, it's a 6 month a year truck summer only, forget about going to work in a snow storm or freezing rain! of course you do have the option with a 2 wheel drive of chaining up in the winter and many years ago that's how I got around in the winter :wink: but it wasn't much fun.
 
(quoted from post at 18:08:34 01/18/18) Interesting, I have had a dozen 4x4 and live in Manitoba. In September I found a 2 wd dodge 4
door long box (2005) for $3900. That was $100 more than insurance gave me for the van I wrote
off. I had to have 4 door the rest price only mattered. I wanted 4x4 and wife got a little ticked that I
bought it. I said I had never got the van stuck and would not get the truck stuck, she just had to
learn how to drive. Well I put good winter tires on and added 600-700 lbs behind the fifth wheel
and no issues yet. So I was right ICAN live without 4x4.
Click to expand...

We survived snow drifts and gumbo in the hills of South Dakota until 1980 with only 2wd vehicles and tractors. You just have to know your limitations. I think we got stuck more often after we bought 4x4's.....artificial confidence levels LOL!
 
I have a 1994 diesel 4WD F250 with a 7.3 IDI turbo. Extended cab and 8 foot bed. Single wheels in back. I backed it out of
my gararge on a perfectly flat driveway with some ice on it. Once I stopped - it would not move again until I put it into
4WD. Again, flat driveway. I find it amazing how bad many 4WD trucks are in 2WD mode. If my F250 was a 2WD model, the weight
distribution is just different enough so it would have better traction then my 4WD does in 2WD mode.

I rarely, ever own a 2WD anything. That said - I drove a barebones 1985 Toyota 2WD pickup for years in the winter and it got
amazingly good traction. Short wheelbase and even weight distribution I assume helped.
 
It depends on where you live and what you need the pickup for. I have owned only one 4wd in my life, a 79 Power Wagon I bought new because I just had to have in my young days. I did have a need for the 4wd when I pulled wagons and had livestock at that time, or at least I thought I had a need. I still have the Power Wagon and I saw my son go driving by in it today but now the way I live on this flat land with good roads I very rarely need it. Besides that we don’t get much snow anymore. My other pickups are a Colorado 2wd I bought cheap because it was not 4wd, and a 98 Dodge Cummins 2wd dually. There have been times when I wished I had 4wd but I got out OK without being on the end of a rope. The dually isn’t good in snow I will admit but I hardly use it anyway. The roads around here are plowed quickly and if I really needed to get out I have a good sized loader tractor with a warm cab that will get me there.

My neighbor who has stock cows on here different farms utilizes 4wd all the time.
 
farmed for many years in the 70's and 80's without a 4wd pickup.
Not a dually tho just a 3/4 ton reg cab long box.
I only recall it getting stuck once but that was in the middle of a blizzard and dad didn't see that the driveway had drifted over several feet.
 
You would hate yourself if you bought a 2wd a dually especially.
Unless you never ever left the highway and it never snows in your
part of the country I sometimes try to use my dually without 4wd
just to see if it would be possible to do and it isn't I run
commercial traction tires on the rears and good meaty all
terreains up front it doesn't take much off highway use to need
the front axle helping to keep moving
 
I've had 4 x 4's since 2000-1st one was a 2000 F-250 Super Duty with the 5.4 V-8, then the 2004 F-350 Super Duty with the 6.0 Diesel (Big Mistake), then the 2011 Ram 3500 Mega Cab Dually with the Cummins. Also have a 2011 Ford Ranger Extended Cab 4 x 4 that I use to run back and forth to work.
 
My last 2 wheel drive was a 79 Ford F250. I would chain it up and throw a ton in the back and that thing would go about anywhere. But who wants to deal with
chains in a snowbank? No plans to go back there.
 
(quoted from post at 20:06:33 01/18/18) My last 2 wheel drive was a 79 Ford F250. I would chain it up and throw a ton in the back and that thing would go about anywhere. But who wants to deal with
chains in a snowbank? No plans to go back there.
Click to expand...

I'm the only person I know that still carries chains. I have a set in the dually and another set in the 3/4 ton. I also have a set in my wife's front wheel drive Ford Escape (yes, not 4wd, but FWD is almost as good for something like a small SUV).

Better to have them and not need them than not have them and need them.
 
I keep a set of chains on my one ton as well they are worth there
weight in gold when you need em and they are worth even more if
you put them on before you get stuck
 
(quoted from post at 20:22:58 01/18/18)
(quoted from post at 20:06:33 01/18/18) My last 2 wheel drive was a 79 Ford F250. I would chain it up and throw a ton in the back and that thing would go about anywhere. But who wants to deal with
chains in a snowbank? No plans to go back there.
Click to expand...

I'm the only person I know that still carries chains. I have a set in the dually and another set in the 3/4 ton. I also have a set in my wife's front wheel drive Ford Escape (yes, not 4wd, but FWD is almost as good for something like a small SUV).

Better to have them and not need them than not have them and need them.
Click to expand...
so do I, chains in both trucks the dodge 3/4 ton and the dually, haven't used them in years, but I don't go anywhere with out them. both trucks have tool boxes in the back with axe, shovel, swede saw, booster cables, tow ropes, tarps, survival blankets, candles, first aid kit(in cab), and basic tool box.
 
My dad got a 1958 IHC 110 on 61 I think. It
was a rattley slow mover. I thought it was
silly to have it. But I bought a new F100
4x4 in 75. Just in time for those bad
winters in the late 70's. Then got the wife
a new 79 Bronco 4x4. Have a 4x4 f250 and
explorer now. You can't get in my drive
today in 2 wheel drive. I've put my truck
in 4 wheel drive 6 or 8 times.just today.
At Church the other day there were just 3
cars. The rest were suv's or pickups.
Probably 25 or so vehicles.
 
(quoted from post at 20:22:58 01/18/18)
(quoted from post at 20:06:33 01/18/18) My last 2 wheel drive was a 79 Ford F250. I would chain it up and throw a ton in the back and that thing would go about anywhere. But who wants to deal with
chains in a snowbank? No plans to go back there.
Click to expand...

I'm the only person I know that still carries chains. I have a set in the dually and another set in the 3/4 ton. I also have a set in my wife's front wheel drive Ford Escape (yes, not 4wd, but FWD is almost as good for something like a small SUV).

Better to have them and not need them than not have them and need them.
Click to expand...

Out here you better carry chains if you are heading over the pass....nice fine if not chained up when sign board tells you to....a lot of passes require drag chains on your trailer also.
 
I've to 2 running and driving pickups
sitting by the driveway right now, because
the 4x4 went out and when I parked them
they got stuck in the snow, lol. I'm
waiting for warmer weather to fix them.
Can't hardly even drive the roads here
sometimes without 4x4.
 
I grew up in the '60s and '70s, there were NO 4wd pickups. Everyone had and always had a 2 wheel drive pickup. You learned how to drive in mud and slick areas and NOT get stuck, you KNEW your limitations! One of my uncles had a big barn on the top of a steep hill, if there was a heavy dew you probably wouldn't make it IF you didn't know how to drive. By about '75 or so several farmers started buying 4wd, most just got stuck deeper but as time and experience grew they got better. Dad bought a new F250 4wd in '77 and it was like a spaceship compared to the old two wheel drives. But when you got it stuck, you were STUCK. I wouldn't think of farming today without 4wd though, it works so much better. Back in the old days I learned to drive in snow with a rear wheel drive with studded snow tires. Our house was on a hill with a deadman about half way up. If you didn't want to leave the car parked at the bottom of the hill you learned how to make it up that hill. It may have taken several attempts but you made it happen, it taught you a lot about torque, traction, and control, things that aren't known today with all of the AWD/FWD/4WD's around.
 
Should also add -


BUT all my tractors are two wheel drive - 4840, 2 4430s, 2020, 2 60s and a B.

My new-to-me-this-past-fall Gleaner L2 is 4wd, and it was quite a learning experience. One thing I learned right quick - disengage the 4wd for going down hill. You pull back on the hydrostat, and the back wheels stop turning! Wanna know how responsive the steering is when the back wheels don't turn???
 
Every so often I?ll try our dually in 2wd on snow, it?s almost funny how terrible they are even with an 800 lb fuel tank and 300 lb toolbox in the bed. It?s just ok when it?s got a 4000 lb pallet of stuff.
 
Growing up in Minnesota, most folks had 2wd. I started out with a 65 Ford F-100 and got around fine working farm jobs and construction. Used to go out and play in the blizzards, crazy kid and all that. I didn't get a 4wd until 2000. Had a F-350 with a dump on it that was hard on the wallet, so went looking for something cheap to drive to Minnesota for Christmas. Found a 91 Jimmy.
When I was in the military, every thing was 4x4 or 6x6. We went to the field in MUD one year driving M151 jeeps. About half way out, we were halted while the leaders figured out where they got lost at. The fellow behind pulled up next to me and started ragging on me about how poorly I was doing. My shotgun informed him I was still in 2wd.
This week the road to my place got turned to ice. My work van is 2wd. I got around just fine. Neighbor kid with a 4wd struggled. Finally melted today. 4wd is great, don't get me wrong, but if you don't learn to drive right, you are just as bad off as the guy with 2wd, or stuck a whole bunch worse.
 
My actual first "truck" if you can call it that was a '74 Chevy Luv 2wd got it fall of '78. Money pit. But
I did make it to my buddy's wedding, was Best Man, only other 2wd vehiclles there was a new BIG Pontiac
Gran Prix, and a 3/4 ton conversion van. Rest, about 15-18 Bronco's Blazers, 4wd pickups.
Bought a '78 F-150 4wd April of '80, 300-6, NP-435 4-spd, NP-205 T-case, 9" Traction-loc rear, 3.50 gears,
Dana 44 frt, swb reg cab. Traded it for an '87 F-150 same specs as the '78. Traded '87 for '96 F-250 4wd,
7.3L PSD, ZF 5-speed, 3.55 gears, reg cab. Supposed to pick up my 2018 RAM 1500 4wd Hemi 4-door tomarrow,
guess we'll see if it's ready. 38 years and over half a million miles on only three Fords and I buy a new
Ram.
 


As they say - 'On the eighth day [b:9683917d85]GOD[/b:9683917d85] created the transfer case'. :)
 
(quoted from post at 21:31:02 01/18/18)
(quoted from post at 20:22:58 01/18/18)
(quoted from post at 20:06:33 01/18/18) My last 2 wheel drive was a 79 Ford F250. I would chain it up and throw a ton in the back and that thing would go about anywhere. But who wants to deal with
chains in a snowbank? No plans to go back there.
Click to expand...

I'm the only person I know that still carries chains. I have a set in the dually and another set in the 3/4 ton. I also have a set in my wife's front wheel drive Ford Escape (yes, not 4wd, but FWD is almost as good for something like a small SUV).

Better to have them and not need them than not have them and need them.
Click to expand...
so do I, chains in both trucks the dodge 3/4 ton and the dually, haven't used them in years, but I don't go anywhere with out them. both trucks have tool boxes in the back with axe, shovel, swede saw, booster cables, tow ropes, tarps, survival blankets, candles, first aid kit(in cab), and basic tool box.
Click to expand...

Same here, better to HAVE IT AND NOT NEED IT THAN VICE VERSA! :)
 
I have a couple 4WD trucks I use as farm vehicles and around the farm but for an on the road truck I bought a 2WD F550.2WD drives better,has better tire life and about 90% of the
problems I've had with 4WD trucks has involved the 4WD part.I don't need to be on the road with a larger truck in bad weather anyway and that's the reason my 99 F550 is rust free.
 

we never had a 4wd growing up. In winter you had those good old skinny snow tires, maybe chains too, and you added some weight in the trunk or behind the rear wheels in the bed if a PU. I think it's all in what you're doing and what your expectations are. 4wd is nice but it doesn't help the fool that thinks he's got tracks under the vehicle. I seem to bury my 4wd's just as often as I did my 2wd's, just a lot further off the road or in harder to get to places!
 
(quoted from post at 04:50:17 01/19/18) I have a couple 4WD trucks I use as farm vehicles and around the farm but for an on the road truck I bought a 2WD F550.2WD drives better,has better tire life and about 90% of the
problems I've had with 4WD trucks has involved the 4WD part.I don't need to be on the road with a larger truck in bad weather anyway and that's the reason my 99 F550 is rust free.
Click to expand...

The one spot I needed it was the corner of Mt Zion rd and County road K. Mt Zion is moderately steep as it comes up to K and the plow truck didn't do a bang-up job of clearing it. Dry pavement would have been fine, but slushy sloppy road, a hill, a well-loaded trailer, and a stop sign, are a bad combination. 4WD in low, low to get going again.

99% of the time, I'm in 2wd on the road. it's nice to have the insurance of engaging 4wd before I hit spots like that.

I do need new tires, though.
 
This is absolutely hilarious! :lol: :lol: You can't work a truck unless it's 4X4!! :shock: Then wait a day or 2, someone will start a thread claiming that younger people don't know/can't do what you can do.......yer dad and gramps got by and did a heck of a lot of work with 2 wheel drive pickups cause either 4X4 wasn't made yet or was too expensive.......cause they knew how to drive! Kinda like having to have a manual transmission to prove yer a man. :?

Kinda funny but living here in MN I've owned both. The only time I ever HAD to have 4X4 was when I had a snow plow and even then in all but the heaviest of snows I most often plowed in 2 wheel drive. When I had my diesel 2 wheel drive I pulled a tractor home through a snow storm over 200 miles. Saw more than a few 4X4s in the ditch. All of my tractors are 2 wheel drive except the crawler. Guess I just kinda know where I can drive me and where I can't.

Rick
 
were it not for our place in the hills of northern PA i would have a 2WD. no reason to have FWD here in yuppieville plus i am retired. anything can wait till tomorrow.
 
A DUALLY 2WD PICKUP is just like tandam axle grain trucks, really helpless the majority of time, single axle 2wd yea they not bad alot of time but not a dually
 
I haven't had as many trucks but both of mine have been 4wd. I had a T100 5spd ext cab that did fine the majority of the time in 2wd with some weight in the bed. It was pretty well balanced and I kept good tires on it. My current truck is a 05 Tundra double cab. with the tires that it had on it when I got it driving in 2wd wasn't any fun. I changed tires and added a little more weight and it was like driving a whole different truck. Its still not as well balanced as the T100 due to the longer wheel base but it is tolerable now.

Honestly I wouldn't buy a 2wd based on resale alone. In the areas I live you can't hardly give a 2wd away. I know its more to work on having 4wd but I think resale and utility make up for it.
 
I have never been without 4WD, but have also owned many 2WD or FWD vehicles, each having a personality of it's own which must be mastered to operate at top performance. Limits vary.

Since I am down to plowing only here at our place and my Mom's suburban driveway now, I, too, have considered a 2WD pickup replacement, and using a tractor to plow here and a snowblower at Mom's. That rare time when you go to hook on to the trailer parked out back, and just a slight incline and dew on the grass, when you have to grab the 4X4 handle to stop spinning a rear, yes that's the one that keeps me looking for 4WD.

As far as MFWD tractors, I doubt I will ever have a loader tractor without it again. From the tillage/grain hauling I have done for my BTO buddy, it sure is more productive and safer. Someone more familiar with them and the actual numbers can agree or disagree, I am limited in exposure hours, for sure. But, if inventory alone is used as a guide, the dealers and manufacturers are all in on MFWD.
 
Again, my mileage is nowhere near what many of you guys put on a truck, but I have never had 4WD problems, driving a 4X4 since 1981. Couple of U joints. Never a transfer case. Commercial snow plowing for 12 years, two trucks. Transmission issues, yes. Rapid deceleration when contacting an immoveable object, yes. :oops: Oil starvation when slipped off the driveway into an unfrozen field, yes ($$). Rusted, cracked frame, yes. Knocking on my skull, no 4X4 issues to date (jinx).
 
Its funny this post came up. Just yesterday I called to inquire about a GMC 3500 flatbed dually 2WD. It only has 23,000
mi and was very nice. Asking 32K. I didn't realize duallys were worse in low traction situations. I wonder why that
is?

https://evansville.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2015-gmc-sierra-3500hd-crew/6464422548.html
 
Same way putting duals on a tractor keeps it from sinking in soft ground. Your weight is distributed over a larger area so each tire does not have enough load for it to bite in.
Same with all these NEW trucks they have such wide tires they are helpless in the snow.
I have a 1981 F350 dually 2wd and it was helpless until I put a good set of traction tires on it. Made a whole different truck out of it ! I don't run it in the snow/salt though.
 
(quoted from post at 07:46:02 01/19/18) This is absolutely hilarious! :lol: :lol: You can't work a truck unless it's 4X4!! :shock: Then wait a day or 2, someone will start a thread claiming that younger people don't know/can't do what you can do.......yer dad and gramps got by and did a heck of a lot of work with 2 wheel drive pickups cause either 4X4 wasn't made yet or was too expensive.......cause they knew how to drive! Kinda like having to have a manual transmission to prove yer a man. :?

Kinda funny but living here in MN I've owned both. The only time I ever HAD to have 4X4 was when I had a snow plow and even then in all but the heaviest of snows I most often plowed in 2 wheel drive. When I had my diesel 2 wheel drive I pulled a tractor home through a snow storm over 200 miles. Saw more than a few 4X4s in the ditch. All of my tractors are 2 wheel drive except the crawler. Guess I just kinda know where I can drive me and where I can't.

Rick
Click to expand...

Rick,

I'm hardly ever stuck. I guess I just kinda know where I can drive, and where I can't.

Farmers also "Got by" with carburated engines, points ignition, bias ply tires, leaded gasoline, poor brakes, weak batteries, bad lighting, and other various things that I'm glad I don't have to worry about today. You can bet every one of them would have been in the showroom for the most basic model available today, and have thought they died and were in heaven.

I "had to have a manual" because I don't think the auto transmission Ford had for the 7.3l was as durable as the manual. They've come a long ways in 15-20 years. In fact you haven't been able to buy a manual in a Ford for about 10 years. That, and a manual transmission (along with driving junk) is a bit of a theft deterrent. If the thief can't shift it, he can't drive it. You want to attack my need to "prove my manhood" you'd be better off attacking the fact that I had to have a diesel.

My dad had a 1976 F250 4wd, a 1980 F350 4wd, 1986 F250 4wd, a 1988 F250 4wd, a 1990 F250 2wd that I drove to school before I bought my own 1971 2wd F100, a 2000 F250 4wd, and now a 2018 F250 4wd. My grandpa took over my great grandpa's farm in 1979 and he had a square body chevy with a 6.2l with 4wd and a 2000 F150 7700 4wd that I inherited. So no, not many 2wds in the family.

Now, my neighbor has a 2012 F350 and he has diff lock in his pickup. He says he uses the diff lock more than 4wd. That is interesting to me. I imagine he can do about anything with a pickup with 4wd and diff lock.
 
(quoted from post at 13:14:00 01/19/18)
(quoted from post at 07:46:02 01/19/18) This is absolutely hilarious! :lol: :lol: You can't work a truck unless it's 4X4!! :shock: Then wait a day or 2, someone will start a thread claiming that younger people don't know/can't do what you can do.......yer dad and gramps got by and did a heck of a lot of work with 2 wheel drive pickups cause either 4X4 wasn't made yet or was too expensive.......cause they knew how to drive! Kinda like having to have a manual transmission to prove yer a man. :?

Kinda funny but living here in MN I've owned both. The only time I ever HAD to have 4X4 was when I had a snow plow and even then in all but the heaviest of snows I most often plowed in 2 wheel drive. When I had my diesel 2 wheel drive I pulled a tractor home through a snow storm over 200 miles. Saw more than a few 4X4s in the ditch. All of my tractors are 2 wheel drive except the crawler. Guess I just kinda know where I can drive me and where I can't.

Rick
Click to expand...

Rick,

I'm hardly ever stuck. I guess I just kinda know where I can drive, and where I can't.

Farmers also "Got by" with carburated engines, points ignition, bias ply tires, leaded gasoline, poor brakes, weak batteries, bad lighting, and other various things that I'm glad I don't have to worry about today. You can bet every one of them would have been in the showroom for the most basic model available today, and have thought they died and were in heaven.

I "had to have a manual" because I don't think the auto transmission Ford had for the 7.3l was as durable as the manual. They've come a long ways in 15-20 years. In fact you haven't been able to buy a manual in a Ford for about 10 years. That, and a manual transmission (along with driving junk) is a bit of a theft deterrent. If the thief can't shift it, he can't drive it. You want to attack my need to "prove my manhood" you'd be better off attacking the fact that I had to have a diesel.

My dad had a 1976 F250 4wd, a 1980 F350 4wd, 1986 F250 4wd, a 1988 F250 4wd, a 1990 F250 2wd that I drove to school before I bought my own 1971 2wd F100, a 2000 F250 4wd, and now a 2018 F250 4wd. My grandpa took over my great grandpa's farm in 1979 and he had a square body chevy with a 6.2l with 4wd and a 2000 F150 7700 4wd that I inherited. So no, not many 2wds in the family.

Now, my neighbor has a 2012 F350 and he has diff lock in his pickup. He says he uses the diff lock more than 4wd. That is interesting to me. I imagine he can do about anything with a pickup with 4wd and diff lock.
Click to expand...

LOL I wasn't attacking anything. I was making an observation. The points you just made make me laugh even more. I can remember farmers in the early 70's, the old timers, yelling about the young farmers that had to have them modern tractors with cabs! Same guys driving 2 wheel drive IH pickups even though 4X4 was available. In 73 we had an 80 plus year old neighbor carrying bales into his haymow. His elevator had collapsed due to age. At his age he wasn't buying a new one......wasn't sure he'd be around long enough to get the value out of it! Them old guys sure seemed to get a lot of work done with that they had.

What really gets me is the original comment should have been 4X4 makes it easier to get things done. Shouldn't have been acting like without 4X4 you wouldn't have been able to do anything. Back then you would have loaded a wagon and pulled it over with a tractor while freezing because that's what you had that would have gotten the job done. Or had tractors at both locations to pull the truck out to solid ground. Heck I'm over here in MN, 90 miles south east of Fargo. I hardly ever put anything in 4X4. The old timers? 4X4 was a luxury few felt they could afford. I'm kinda the same way. If you have to have it then you should look at what you are doing to figure out what you are doing wrong. Do you need better drainage where you have to get into. Better snow removal? Like with round bales, different storage area? Are you using the right equipment for the task in the current location? Why is it that few big trucks, to include plow trucks on the highway have a front drive axle making them 4x4 or 6x6? About the only big trucks you see with 4X4/6X6 are service trucks used by utility companies that have to get off road in remote areas in all weather conditions and RR service trucks that have to get off road in remote areas in all weather conditions.

Rick
 
Good way to fry your hydro. Turning rear wheels off going down hill. That oil is trying to go somewhere. Use your brakes. G
 
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Bruce from Can.
Bruce from Can.
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