u/VendingMachineScare

Happy Sunday, team. I come to you seeking input on my truck situation.

I'm in the market for a 3/4 or one ton truck, but the catch is: I really only need it for personal driveway plowing in the winter, hauling a dump trailer, or flatbed trailer once a month or so, reliable enough to trailer some snowmobiles up to Tug Hill or Michigan afew times a season, and the usual homeowner jobs (renovations and landscaping).

To be clear, this is not for a business, and will not be a daily. I commute 50 miles a day in a paid off Subaru Forester.

Were it not for the plowing, I'd grab an F-150 and call it a day. But, I have to plow a large driveway for my retired and elderly parents, my own narrow and long driveway, and my brother's driveway.

I know hands down that a gas truck would be more reasonable. However, I live in Buffalo NY, and every gas truck here is either a rotted out fleet lot plow truck, or a high trim crew cab that's north of $40k with 100k miles.

What I do see quite a few of, however, are 04-12 Cummins Rams, and a lot of 6.0 Fords (yeah, I know, trust me) or 6.7 PS Fords.

I know all of the downsides of diesels. Cost to fuel, maintenance, parts, known engine and transmission issues, etc. But these trucks are all in fair body/frame shape, are either pre-DEF or deleted, some have been plowed with/some not. And a lot of them are in the $8-15k price range.

So I'm kind of torn. Do I buy a nicer gas truck, bolt a plow onto it, and only drive it twice a week? Or do I buy a cheaper diesel and do the same thing, while possibly spending more once or twice a year in repairs and maintenance?

Or any kind of other suggestions! Thanks!

Afternoon, all.

Doing some troubleshooting on the family farm's 2019 Ranger 570 crew. We've been having some issues with the engine shutting down when the vehicle is full of passengers, or with a heavy load in the bed. The coolant temp will climb up into the 215-225F range and the Ranger shuts itself down. Pretty inconvenient when moving stuff in the yard or taking the nephews/grandkids on a little woodland adventure.

I took the Ranger out today on my own, ran it up and down the road and around the property a bunch, and really laid into it. Temps would go from 180 to 195, and back down. Never went over 195. Even left it sitting in the yard running, and it got up to 195, and the radiator fan kicked on, and the temps came back down. Outdoor temp was about 80 today, and not too humid or sunny.

Seems like from what the family tells me, they'll be driving it down the road or on the trail, with three or four people, and the fan will come on, and not long after that, it shuts down.

I'm gonna have my father load the bed up and drive it around the yard and see if he can get it to heat up and shut off, and grab any codes that come up on the dash display.

Not seeing any electrical issues, starts and cranks just fine, headlights and brakes are fine. Once it sits for a while and cools off, it starts back up and goes alright for a bit again.

I'm leaning toward maybe a dying coolant temp sensor, maybe? Radiator is nice and clean, engine bay is pretty clean. They don't do any real mudding with it, so it's not all caked up or anything.

Thanks!