I didn’t find anything brand agnostic since 2019, so starting to research trucks for hauling a 2H BP, often just one horse, not in the mountains, etc., that could also be a reasonable daily commuter. Currently own an 05 Chevy 2500 HD LT for hauling and a 2019 Honda Civic for commuting. Interested to hear about current options and experiences/warnings. TIA!
Anything that will haul will also have terrible gas mileage for commuting.
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One person’s terrible might be my reasonable🤣.
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A friend has a Chevy 1500 diesel, which isn’t so common, and I don’t think many are made (hers is a 2020, I think). It hauls her 2 horse BP trailer and she has a decent highway commute to work. It gets upper 20’s mpg.
I honestly haven’t paid attention to any of the newer trucks, gas or diesel, so there may be better out there. Her truck also isn’t quite as big as other brands 2500/250 or 3500/350 models, which is a plus for parking I suppose.
I think GMC makes a smaller diesel truck too, with alright towing capacity, but I can’t recall the model and years.
Ram has a 1500 diesel now too.
I have a 2015 Ram 1500 Ecodiesel as my daily driver + hauling. Full disclosure: this particular truck has spent more time in the shop than I’d like. But I get around 20 mpg mixed suburbs/ highway. I own one horse and it pulls great (2 horse slant load). I think it’s a decent compromise when you need a 2 in 1 vehicle.
I think it’s worth researching the Ram Ecodiesels and Ford Ecoboost (?? Is that what they’re called??) trucks.
Ps if you spend most of your time city/suburb driving, you don’t want a diesel.
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My Ram 1500 is my daily driver and my vehicle for towing. I stepped down from a 3/4 ton.
I love my truck. I get 20 mpg commuting, which is not great but could be worse. I have never felt under trucked when towing 1-2 horses in my BP trailer. Honestly, I feel much safer towing with a newer, properly equipped 1/2 ton than I did with my aging 3/4 ton.
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Interesting. My 3/4 ton (Ram - not new) gets 20 mpg (combined highway and a little city) just driving around. It’s diesel though, so the fuel is more expensive and whatnot. I went off of what the truck said, and I also hand calculated (I was curious lol). Probably overall cheaper owning a 1500 though.
I get low/mid-20s with my gas 1500 on the highway, but my commute is mostly rural back roads.
Towing, I get 13 mpg I think.
My Ram is a 2015. The only maintenance I’ve needed is routine stuff, knock on wood.
I have a 2018 Ford F-150 V8 2WD. I hate hauling anything with it. I’m not a car person, so I’m sure I’m not describing this properly, but it feels like it isn’t geared properly for hauling despite being equipped with a towing package. Not sure what mpg I get when I haul, but I’m in the mountains and sometimes I swear I can almost see my fuel gauge moving toward empty as I’m going up a hill.
The 2018 replaced a 2003 F-150 V8 2WD, which I loved. I hauled a 16 ft stock trailer and a 2H bumper pull with it and was always happy with the performance.
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Do you really need a pickup bed? I tow a 2 horse bumper pull and was able to exist without a pickup for over 30 years - a couple of Suburbans and a series of truck frame Lexus SUVs. I much prefer the Lexus vehicles to the Suburbans for both pulling the trailer and for commuting. And SUVs are great for road trips when not horsing around.
And if I need to move a bigger load I just hook up the empty horse trailer and use it. A 2 horse with a ramp makes a darn good utility trailer when not being used for horses. I have used it for washers and dryers, water heaters, fence boards, loads of hay and helping friends move. I can even load my Kawasaki Mule inside the horse trailer with the easy to remove center divider pulled out. Plus if it starts to rain, a load of hay or furniture or cardboard moving boxes is enclosed and protected.
Pickup beds have gotten so high that I have problems loading them, and using the horse trailer I can just walk or roll the load right on.
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I prefer a pickup but might consider an SUV if price is reasonable in comparison for what you get! Thanks!
I have a 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 with the Duramax diesel for hauling and commuting. Driving to work is mostly “highway” miles and can get on average 28/30 mpg. I have been very very pleased with it! It hauls my 2H GN pretty well too with mid 20s mpg.
What’s the gvwr on your 2 horse?
I have a 2018 F150 4WD 3.6 Ecoboost and feel the opposite. I wonder if it’s a difference in engines or what.
The commuting part is critical. My situation involved a high rise parking deck at a busy hospital. There were only a limited number of truck size spaces and unless I arrived at zero-dark-thirty they were all occupied by puny little cars. This was a big problem with my 2500 Suburbans but not with the shorter and less bulky SUVs I owned.
It was not until after I retired that I bought a 2500HD pickup, but the SUV gets the vast majority of miles since it is so comfortable and easy to park at Home Depot and Tractor Supply. The truck averages about 9MPG, which is another big reason it is 6 years old with only 8,000 miles.
For horse shows I almost always still tow with the SUV.
I have a big F250 for my trailer. I can’t take it into most underground parking lots.
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About 7000lbs.
Do you know your payload capacity on your truck? I’m aggravated with the cost of parts on my diesel, so I dream of selling it.
7k seems like a lot for a 2 horse!
Payload for mine is 1950.
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Is that the max capacity? I have a 2 horse Adam xtra tall xtra wide with DR and it’s about 3200 lbs dry…
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