2006 Ford F-250

We live on a working ranch and having a dependable, rugged pick-up is a total must have. For us there is only one choice, the Ford F-250 series. We run over 400 head of cattle on 10 different properties covering over 7000 acres. We need to be able to go anywhere on the property at any time usually hauling a load of gear or a couple of head of cattle and the F-250 deliver every time. Having run a ranch for over 30 years we have tried a number of different trucks as have our hired hands. I feel confident in saying that the Ford trucks outperform the others at least two to one. We are also not known for being gentle on the trucks, but they take the punishment and keep right on rolling on.

The newest member of our fleet of three is a 2006, F-250 4x4 with an 8 cylinder turbo diesel engine. We bought it with just over 4000 miles on it in like new condition. The previous owner decided to switch back to a gasoline engine. The truck is a no frills model with cloth seats, basic heat and air and a stereo with a CD player. In the two years that we have owned it we have put over 30,000 miles on it mainly just running around the ranch or to haul cattle trailers to town. About the only drawback I can find with it is that it can be a bit hard to get started on really cold mornings, but given a few minutes it always fires up.

I know that the truck is rated to carry a couple of tons of cargo, but we have pushed well past that on more than one occasion. The most memorable being when we had to move over 50 head of cattle ahead of a rising creek that would have cut them off for several weeks. We ran three full grown steers up into the bed with a panel cage set on it and hauled another 15 head in our big trailer. I really can say what the total weight was, but I know it had to be close to 10,000 pounds on the tail of that truck. It dug in the mud and plowed its way right out of there not once but twice.

The truck’s frame and body is also strong. We regularly hit potholes and small ridges in the fields at night and rarely need to have the alignment re-set or anything replaced on the suspension. Although she’s not beauty queen the body had no rust or bare spots despite going through hedgerows, having cattle rub up against the side or even kicking the sides of the truck.

The four-wheel drive works great as well. Mud is a constant for us and in all the time we’ve owned it we only got the truck stuck once and that was when we ran into a snow bank and high centered the front wheels. Two of my guys are die-hard Dodge fans, but even they admit that when things are really tough they prefer to get in the Ford to head out on the ranch.