Time to park it?

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

I've had this Ford F250 diesel for going on 26 years now. The darned old thing started to really go down hill when I got my 2007 and started leaving this one outside a few years ago. The fuel gauge was the first thing to go,then the rear fuel tank. The cab corner on the drivers side gave out and I had to wire it ahead so the door would close. Now the rocker panel has dropped down so all that's holding it up is the seat belt. I have to use ether to start it the first time in the morning. About all I use it for is hauling hay or moving cattle around if I need to stay hooked to the stock trailer for a few days. I made a gooseneck hitch for the 3pt on the tractors,so I could just as well be using one of them for those jobs.
I was hauling hay with the old heifer yesterday and ran it out of fuel I guess. That's how it acted anyway. I unhooked the trailer and the wife and I towed it up in the yard out of the way. After all those years,I sure hate to retire it,but keeping plates and insurance on something in that kind of shape seems like a waste. I'd like to find a newer fuel injected gas Ford 4x4 to put that flatbed and the duals on. Maybe if I live without this one for a while,it'll give me more incentive to actually do it instead of just talking about it.
The wife's Explorer Sport Trac is getting pretty thin around the edges. I guess if I bought a better gasser for a farm truck,she could have my 07 F250.

rustyfarmall · Dec 11, 2016

If it was mechanical issues only, I'd fix it. Rust is another issue entirely. Can't ever really get ahead of rust without replacing the entire body.

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

Ya,I've been keeping it going mechanically for all these years,but when I started leaving it outside,that was pretty much a death sentence for it. I was going to build a lean to somewhere so I could keep it under cover,but it's just one more thing I didn't get around to soon enough.

rustyfarmall · Dec 11, 2016

I owned a '71 that my dad bought brand new. I planned on keeping that truck forever, but a tractor project forced the truck to set outside for one winter, and that was pretty much the end of it.

retired farmer · Dec 11, 2016

You probably broke its heart when you started driving a newer truck and it thought you didn't love it anymore. Trucks have feelings too, you know. Poor truck. Probably setting there in the cold crying its little headlights out.

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

Ya,it bothers me too. Heck,it bothers me to have nine tractors in one building and the other two parked by themselves in two other buildings.

jon f mn · Dec 11, 2016

What would it cost to put on a used cab and fix the engine? Probly less than a replacement.

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

The darned old thing would still be an 85 though. I'm past the whole diesel thing. A gas with fuel injection and electronic ignition is the way to go anymore. I wouldn't want one with a carburetor and point distributor,but it's just easier to own a newer gasser.

fixerupper · Dec 11, 2016

I would push sentiment aside and send it down the road.

I went through this with my 79 Power wagon a couple of years ago. I believe I posted some pics on here at the time. I replaced the floor pans in the cab, cab corners, rocker panels, new rubber floor mat with insulation mat under it, new tank switching valve (two tanks), fixed the rear tank ending unit, replaced the mechanical fuel pump with electric, complete new rear brakes, the backing plate is the only original part left back there, new parking brake cables and maybe I forgot something. Oh, I had the seat recovered for $500. Now last summer I put another $1300 in it to replace front wheel bearings, tie rod ends and front end alignment. I had a shop do all that stuff. Whew!

What I have in the end is a tight dependable old pickup that still gets 7.5 MPG and is only driven in the spring and fall during field work. It's a pickup I bought new and nostalga kicked in at the wrong time. To make it look pretty it needs new doors and fenders but the buck has stopped changing hands!

Tech 7 · Dec 11, 2016

Still a better looking truck than my '98 GM 3/4 with the 6.5. as much as I have heard bad about those engines this one keeps on pulling.
It has approximately 250,000mi on it but is dying of road salt overdose. I will run it until the Ministry of Transport wants it.

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

That's an old picture. The rocker panel is almost dragging the ground. I just put a new wiper motor in it this spring. I hate to park it for good,I'll be too tempted to take the 07 out and beat that up.

in-too-deep · Dec 11, 2016

If you really are done with it, I would recommend selling it right away. Don't let it sit around and get worse. If you bite the bullet, bite it hard. Made that mistake with my beloved S-10. Shoulda sold it instead of parking it. Looking back, I shoulda fixed it then, but I didn't know then what I know now.

Also, I recommend a Ford with a V-10 as a replacement. Everything I want for cattle and hay hauling.

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

Trouble is,the flatbed's good,the tires are almost new,those dual wheel adapters are interchangeable to other pickups. I might better strip it for parts and take what's left to the scrap yard.

in-too-deep · Dec 11, 2016

Yep, that's a plan. Or part it out on craigslist. That's a lot of hassle, though.

mj · Dec 11, 2016

You can buy an all-metal carport, installed, for less than a grand. :roll:

tom stalker · Dec 11, 2016

She's been good to you

Time to let her go...we all hate to do it

Would seem like a better investment considering the truck's age

Dave H (MI) · Dec 11, 2016

My two farm trucks are a 1976 Chevy C20 and a 1972 Chevy C50. So I guess I am prejudiced toward old trucks. Realistically, though, insurance has gotten very pricey since the ACA tacked on mandatory health insurance included in the premiums. This is the big beef in keeping around an old truck. Consider, though, that with the new administration there will be a roll back on some of that. Don't know if the insurance companies will do it though. I cannot believe what I pay in insurance now compared to 8-9 years ago. I would offer to buy it, but it has some Dutchman's name on the side. Not to mention, it's a Ford.

Wheres Waldo · Dec 11, 2016

I must be missing something; why would health insurance be on a truck policy? Maybe being from certain parts of Michigan are driving the costs upward.

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

Hey now. If you're seeing a Dutchman you're seeing your own reflection in your computer screen. That's a Swede's name on it.

ericlb · Dec 11, 2016

you could still fix it if the mechanicals are good, just come out here and find a rust free az or nm or tx truck even a half ton and change out the cab and front clip i run all old trucks out here, my 71 is just starting to need some attention in the lower fenders, i may just buy a new fender, its cheap enough

wvfarmboy · Dec 11, 2016

it needs tlc and a few bucks fix it old fords never did chheeper than paymets.

mattwillson · Dec 11, 2016

I have a damn near perfect cab for that ole girl, as well as doors and fenders....a low mileage 7.3 too.....I've been gonna use this stuff on a project or three , but realize that'll never happen.

Leroy · Dec 11, 2016

That has me confused as well.

Texasmark1 · Dec 12, 2016

I had a '91, 350, flatbed dually 4 on the floor OD, with the 460. Loved that old truck. Nothing it wouldn't pull. But it got harder and harder to find a place to get it inspected as I live in a "metropolitan" county where the smog testing is a bear. Course, being what it was, it threw out the anchor when it passed a gas pump and it too had problems with the rear tank so 10 gallons at a time max with the fill spout under the flat bed near the frame....ugh to that part.

Time to park it?

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