Trapping trucks , a small rant

Small rant.
Finding a half dect like truck for trapping is such a friggen pain. I just decided to stop trapping till I find a good lil truck because trying to get toe the spot I want tand do the things I want in my car just ain't worth it . So past the little bit I've been doing here and there out of bordum ,testing and to fill a few orders I've just hung stuff up. But man tryin to find a truck for trapping is ridiculous . Either they want too much , they have everything except one little thing you really need ( 4x4 , be an automatic ect) or they look good and when you start talking to the guy you can tell it's getting sketchy and it's probably going to need a lot of work after a few months , and personally I hate mechanic work I just really really dont like working on vehicles especially ANYTHING new I can ,I will ,heck I spent probably a 1/10th of my life working on tanks ,humvees ,PLS's ect but I had millions worth of tools and facilities at my disposal. Kinda enjoyed that. Busting my knuckles under a pecan tree in the Mississippi summer not so much.
At this point I'm just going to go find something that I like the looks of take it to a really nice 4x4 shop when I can find one and just tell them " make it bullet proof and set me up with a payment plan".
Seriously is it too much to ask for one of these companies to drop a bare bones little automatic 4x4 ? Like seriously it can't be that dang hard to make something that doesn't have and extra $10000 worth of electronics wizz bangs and Gizmo's. Don't even need it to claim to be military grade ( btw that one of the stupidest selling points imo because mil spec stuff usually requires A LOT of fixing on and constant maintenance) Just set it up like a AR-15 where you can get it bone stock and make it easily modifiable on a plug and play type deal. Small to run around the woods ,decent size bed for hauling , lil 4 banger up front , 4x4 half dect shocks , roll up winders and just the most basic A/C you can get and I'll be good . Heck ! Make it like the old jeeps where they can pack down into a crate and you and FedEx that crap to my place . Its not like you'd have to reinvent anything And the EPA needs to go take a hike on this crap because as much as I care about the planet and love the idea of treating it better , Until they get on China and India, especially when China produces over 30% of the emmison ! O but you look it up noooo it's the US , even though we arnt the ones just dumping millions of tons of trash into the ocean making literal friggen islams of trash floating around and causing the collapse of multiple ecosystems along with literal colonialism and land stealing.but that the same time China can't even making buildings that are worth a crap half the time nor innovate just steal and copy any and everything just look into fake china and toufu dredge construction ..... But we're the bad guys of the pollution work.... .Anyhow rant over I fell slightly better .. slightly more irritated

Amen bro........................................


prices for used stuff is stupid....................................most anybody who dont need a pickup truck for any reason buys a pickup just cause they think its a safer vehicle
unfortunately the vehicle dont make a crappy driver better and the same applies to the SUV crowd too.
All its done is drive up prices for used trucks

Does it have to be a truck? There's lots of 4WD/AWD cars and SUVs available too. You could always get a Subaru.

I wish they made a basics 4x4 with water proof interior you can pr pressure wash out when you go to the car wash. Ac is nice and fm radio
But I don't need the radio or ac.

It's just like anything else...how bad do you want it?

Find one....buy one.

If I could buy one off a lot and pay monthly on it along with having kinda warranty or at least a discount at the places shop I'd do it but that's looking like it's not gonna happen, been too a few dealerships and they said the chance of them find somine like I want is pretty dang low. Unless I got to one of them sleezy used places and yeah no, seen too many do that and it's just a money pit. Last one I did what your saying with....I had to sell it and the guy who has it now is in 3k with of new parts and stuff but he's with vehicles the way I am with most things so more power too him.

Also I'm not about to go drop 20k or something on one of these new ones just so I can go and complain how I can repay it off it's the few coon and what not im catching

Id prefer it because live coyotes and fox in the back of an enclosed vehicle...... fleas, I e consider a jeep because I have a few friends who made rigs out of jeeps and love them but they seem to keep their value frkmt he day they get off the lot...and also seem to have constant problems with some

4x4 will just help you get deeper in the ditch if you don't know what your doing ...don't get me started on 6x6 in desert sand

If your looking for something just for trapping then a side by side (I recommend a Honda) and a good trailer to haul it on. Then, you don't have to put your highway truck in the woods and tear it up.

Find a job you enjoy, work 7 days a week for 4-5 months. Take a month off,,,,,,don’t blow your wad. Go hunting/fishing/trapping

Then do it again and again and again

Eventually, you buy what ever you want

Gas went higher and they about stopped making working trucks and smaller trucks but pumped out V8 and V10 engines after that it seemed crazy.

Auto companies don't want to make, or sell a modest, simple and inexpensive truck...dealers don't even want to stock the more basic models of the new stuff. Used stuff is still through the roof money wise.

Keep looking but don't hold your breath while doing so...

Problem with that is I'd still need a tuck to haul it around . All I got right now is my car lol

This.
Lots of truth there.

Lol I work 20day on 10 days off on this boat

Gotta do what you gotta do buddy. Need to make priorities.

Lay off ALL spending for a year and pile it all in savings. Live on beans and rice and you ain't buying a bag of chips or a single thing you don't NEED. Dave Ramsey stuff. Then look for a vehicle and use your nest egg or go see a bank and borrow the rest.

Just need to look at the big picture. Do you need a truck to trap? Does the need justify what you have to put into it, money and time wise? Need to pile up the fur to pay off a $20-30k truck.

My daily driver been getting long in the tooth so I been looking for a simple truck too.
I have settled on a 95-05 Chevy WT. You can find them with the old school standard cab and a 8 ft box. Because of this the vast majority of buyer will pass on them as most trucks are just for mail crawlers anyways.
Prices range from $8K to $15K. The WT series is a relatively plain jane version.

Spoiler alert

You’ll never get ahead working 50% of the time

Do 200 days - take 10 off

I honestly have a hard time take Dave Ramsey seriously, and this is coming from a guy who studied dhin pretty hard for about a month. Half of his stuff is honestly just common sense . O you have massive credit carr debt ? Don't use credit cards. But all of the other stuff ...nah just no. Been there tried go got kicked in the teeth , had to educate myself on current financial stuff. Work work more hours make more money only does so much. Thats a different conversation though Ill just not have because...it's gets .....yeah... So I'll refrain from it right now
Anyhow
I'm ahead of my plans already put a new roof on the house , got my raise three months ahead of time , car works , averaging about 2k extra a month after bills 3/4 of that goes to savings leaves me like $500 in play around money for the whole week I'm home .
Could I buy a 20k truck and still be pretty stable...yeah but again they never have what I want and honestly it's just plain stupid for me to pay that much for a truck with the amount of trapping I do . Especially for one that's not what I want exactly.It's like when people say by the best scope you can afford...like yeah I could drop 2k right now on a NF , ziess , or March but ....why ?

Idk I look at vehicles how a lot of people look at guns

Didn't you have a ford ranger awhile back? If you look hard you can find a 90s ford ranger or s10 in good shape for 2-$3500. Or buy a used atv and get a small utility trailer and pull it with your car.

Yeahhh ..don't get me started with that thing

The used truck market is crazy right now and has been for several years.

A tree feel on my Tundra back in December and the insurance company totaled it. I've been looking to replace it since.

I mostly use saved searches on Autotrader and CarFax to see what's available in a 75 mile radius. I use Facebook Marketplace to a lesser degree, there a lot of scams going on there. I reported some of them but Facebook says scams don't violate their community standards. Or they just don't know a scam when they see it.

Anyhow, after looking a dozens, maybe hundreds of trucks I finally found one that checks most of the boxes for what I'm looking for. It's two-plus hours away and I just put $1,000.00 down on it so it will still be there in two days when I go to look at it.

Well, shucks. We just traded in our 2010 Ford Explorer on Monday. V-8 4-wheel drive. No rust 158K miles. The thing looked as close to new as a 2010 could. They gave us $3500 for trade-in. Terrible gas mileage, but a good rig, other than that. I'm sure they will try to get $10K for it.

Everything around here is high but I I live in the mountains and trucks are almost a basic need for many of us.. I got lucky two years ago and bought a 2002 4 wheel drive long wheel base f150 for $2500 off a farmer.. 93K original miles but driving it through manure every day did a number on the bed and frame.. Luckily Im a welder too with a good shop and Ive rebuilt most of the frame and am now almost done with a flatbed.. Ive had to do a lot of work to it but I know what Ive got and I can work on it. So Im sticking with it as long as I can..
5 speed, standard transmission, no power anything.. just A/C , rubber floor mats and bench seat.. perfect for my needs. farm work, hunting, fishing, trapping

Why in the world do you want an automatic for a trapping vehicle?

the thing is auto companies are in the business of making money

not providing sensible well thought out , durable and dependable trucks that fit your needs.

Although I do think there would be a market for such a truck we could base it on a decent existing truck chassis and make parts for it and call it a Kit vehicle so you can avoid a bunch of regulation.

Wolfdog,

Real men don't drive trucks with automatic transmissions,

Get yourself a real 4 wheel drive truck with a standard transmission
or we'll have to take away your man card !!!!

w

And just when you start moving when stuck in the mud it's time to shift and you loose just enough forward moment to get stuck again. Yep drove standard 4x4 most of my life. 94 sr5 Toyota, 98 f150, 04 Jeep Wrangler , 67 m 715, 88 Isuzu trooper and I'm.sure I'm forgetting something. O 91 f250. But autos have some advantages.

Standards are less likely to be stolen because the youngsters can't drive them.

Yeah and apparently real mean don't bake and hunt with AR's , hope you have fun doing whatever with that man card while I'm not cussing trying to get my trying to shift in a mud hole ,while I'm snacking on brownies I made and a out to go kill something with my custom AR that cost me half of a pre 64 model 70 and shoots circles aroudnnit because it actually fits me

I don't get why anyone wants one for anything past being able to brag about having one and getting to stoke their ego lol.
Seriously though just not my thing, no real benefit to me

It's funny though you say you can't find a 4x4 auto. Everytime I see a 4x4 that looks interesting the stupid thing IS auto. Maybe we should start comparing notes. You tell me where the small, cheap 4x4 sticks are and I'll point you to the automatics, lol.

I just put a 97 Taco 4x4 back on the road for some of the same reasons Wolfie is talking about. In two weeks, have had 4 guys try to buy it, one offered dang near what I paid for it 20 years ago.
Twice the fuel mileage the big Chevy has been getting, no electric windows, etc. 5 speed. Only amenities are A/C and a radio. I've had that little truck in places that the big trucks won't go due to length, width, etc., but dang, it sure does ride rough compared to a " big" truck.

cheaper to repair, last longer, better control on bad roads, dont wear out your brakes or get them hot going down big hills, put in low low you can idle slowly

i am sure mississipi mud is no worse than ks mud. i dont get the need to shift in mud and if you do whats the big deal? we have dirt roads here too. county only runs a maintainer on them once a year. farmers are not happy when you rut them up even though they are public. same with pastures or row crop ground. tires and ground clearance make the difference in snow or mud either one. when your tires are spinning you lose traction and steering

i dont know anything about the competition guys. rock crawling and hill climbing. do they use automatics?

I gave $1500 for my Chevy W/T 1500 4.3 V6 5spd. Gets similar mileage to any 1/2 pint truck like a Ranger, S10 or similar. I drive it daily and will take it anywhere you would drive a $20K truck. They are out there !

It's worse up here in the mid west because everything with any age on it is a rust bucket.
I sold my 03 ranger 4x4 because it was rusting into a pile and I thought I better get rid of it while
it was still worth something. After trying to find a replacement I wish I had it back.

Several years ago bought a 99 Ranger super cab 4.0l, new front end parts, transfer case, new BFG KO2's. It's about perfect for me for a hunting/trapping/and daily driver on the farm except pulling stock trailers. It gets around anywhere I need to. 234k miles and no plans to change. I figure if the motor goes down, I'll just repower and keep it.

'99 S-10 paid $2,000 for it 16 years ago. Just put $1,100 into it, clutch, exhaust and 4 tires. Has almost 300K on it now and get way over 25 MPH on level roads, but not many level roads here so 25 is real. No complaints, oh it is standard shift with AC and I hit a deer a few months ago. Still have bent hood and fender, had to change the grill ($85). Works for me......jk

maybe you could buy coonman's truck ?

I found Cargurus to be quite useful. You can set your specs for make, engine, transmission, mileage, distance and price. Even color preference. You get updates if you want.

Ramsey is all common sense, but people who desperately need his advice lack just that.



Sounds like you know what to do then

Yeah, That's a great idea, checks most of wolfie's boxes,
& coonman dave has already replaced most of the parts
on that legendary Colorado & it's been undercoated
with fluid film spray for maximum truck frame protection !!!

w

geo tracker or Suzuki samurai. cheap to buy. tuff as nails. parts easily found. basically a street legal sxs. rig up back plate to isolate cab from the bed an for not much invested you've got a great lil trapping rig

X2

I'll never own another automatic if at all possible (may not be, only ones making new standard transmissions now, that I know of, are Toyota and Jeep. That will make the future used market kinda thin). From personal experience I can tell you that stick shifts get around MUCH better in the snow, and better in the mud than automatics, plus you don't burn up tranny's. If you smoke something in a stick shift it is usually the clutch, which is $150 worth of parts and you can replace yourself in a day, with hand tools. Most people can't rebuild an auto tranny in their back yard and it is several grand at a shop.

have you thought about a trapping Tractor?

how far do you go trapping from home and the farm?

you can buy a used tractor for not all that much like a Farmall

here is an A for 2K
https://www.facebook.com/marketplac..._picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

it won't go fast but I bet it will get places your little pickup wouldn't

put rack for supplies and catches and go trapping

And she'll think you're tractors sexy.

I can tell u from being from Louisiana and living in central/south east Kansas the last 14 years... that mud is two different animals..lol... and yes we do use auto when playing in rocks and various terrain..

can 200 old guys driving tractors across Iowa with their wives riding jump seat or some very comfortable looking trailers be wrong ?

With all this automobile confusion , i would go with a good mule heck festus did it.

Best comment yet. You win!

DirtyD, what do you do? Pull the transmission into low so it won't shift? How do you get it to idle along? Aftermarket torque converter?

P.S. I have spent time in LA. Not trapping but trucking. Mud is mud. If you dont sink far enough to get high centered greasy is greasy.

Have you checked into the Mahindra Roxor? About 20k, 4 cyl diesel, does have manual trans, all steel body & frame. Getting quite a bit of after market stuff for them.