Short circuit gremlins are a pain. Could spend thousands having a shop try to hunt it down unsuccessfully, because they can’t replicate the issue when it is there… of course it does it next day you take it home! I’d trot down to parts place and buy a $20 easy disconnect to put between battery and cable and call it a day. If don’t use it often no big deal to pop the hood and connect 'er up before starting. Additional theft proofing! LOL
3 Likes
It is a good layer of theft proofing! I have to admit I hated having to pop the hood and deal with the switch though especially when there was snow/cold…
1 Like
I’m always hesitant to buy a new vehicle because at least with the current vehicle, I know the problems it has and maybe I’m not trading for a bigger problem. I’ve had a lot of friends buy new or barely used, very expensive trucks and have issue after issue. Absurd for what you pay.
1 Like
Timely thread as I’m going car shopping today. I have a 2001 F250 Super Duty with 155k miles on it. I bought it used with 100k miles on it and it’s been a pretty great truck for me. But since buying it, I’ve sold my farm, moved into town, and now board my horse. My house, where I work, and even the barn where I board are all basically “in town”. I may reach 55mph for about 2 minutes a day in my normal travels. My truck has a V10 gas engine (which they haven’t made for years). Needless to say…NOT an economic daily driver around town!
My issue is that my barn is about to change to self-care. I need the truck for getting hay. I also need it in case of emergency for either hauling the horse to the vet or even possibly evacuating (we get hurricanes here). So, the truck is important and necessary for me. But because it’s getting “up there” in age, it’s starting to have some issues. Nothing too major yet, but it’s due for a thorough tune-up for sure. I need it to stay healthy so it can do its job, and I feel like the more daily driving I do with it in town, the shorter its lifespan becomes. It’s totally paid for, of course.
So, in an effort to preserve the old gal so she can continue to do her job as needed, I’m on starting the search for a new daily driver today. I’m going with a small SUV. Prices are absurd for sure, but I can swing a new (or nearly new) little SUV. What I can’t swing is even a used replacement for the truck. Yikes! And forget a new truck! That’d be like taking on another house payment! I guess I could sell the house and live in the new truck, LOL.
I’d keep the truck. At least for now. If you get to a point that you are certain the horsey part of your life is winding down and you have no use for a truck, then sell it.
3 Likes
Another factor to add to the mix… a friend was saying recently that new vehicles which came through the automotive production lines during covid are not up to quality control standards. They were short staffed and shortcuts were taken by stressed out staff with people on line missing etc. So new vehicles that are finally making it out to restock the depleted dealerships (all brands it’s a global problem) are having way more issues than normal. If you have a good golden oldie that works… hang onto it a couple more years!
2 Likes
It sounds as if this truck may be more trouble to you than it’s worth. Is there somewhere nearby that you could rent a truck when you need to pick up large loads? Or could you pay someone else at the self-care boarding facility to get stuff for you while they are picking up for themselves? All this said, if you sell this truck and then decide you still need a truck, used trucks are so expensive now! Maybe try 3 months without using it and see how that goes? You’ll still need to run it regularly, but don’t do anything useful with it.
2 Likes
Some of you might be surprised by how much hay, grain or shavings can be packed in a reasonably sized car. Hay is a PITA because it sheds, but grain & shavings are no problem. I think I got 20 bags of shavings in Mom’s old Taurus. For one horse, that lasts a while. Heck, my trainer uses his VW to pick up grain half the time. He does have access to a pick-up, but the mileage in the sedan is so much better.
If it were me, I’d look into delivery for hay and find a car that you like. I’ve had a horse on & off for 20 years and never had to haul one myself. I’m in a hurricane prone area as well. When I needed the mare evacuated, everyone in the barn went, so she carpooled. Things like that tend to work out. This is coming from someone who has hauled jog carts on the top of a Corolla for years. You don’t really need a truck. It’s a nice to have, but not a need.
3 Likes
20 bags of shavings around where I am wouldn’t remotely fit in my Toyota Matrix. I could fit 20 bags of pelleted bedding, but not 20 bags of even the micro-shavings.
I could also fit a lot of grain, but at some point the weight of it (and bags of pelleted bedding) is the limiting factor over the number of bags.
1 Like
Something to think about is what you do in an emergency. You say the horse is older so may not be applicable. But what if you need an emergency run to a vet or university? Or natural disaster and need to get the horse out?
I just saw a local boarding facility post a few nights ago, looking for someone to haul a boarding horse to a university for colic surgery (also asking about rental trailers… late at night 
) I was baffled that neither the owner, nor facility, nor anyone else at the facility had a truck and trailer combination to haul the horse. Not a great situation.
2 Likes
6 (2 string) bales of hay in my Matrix, without using the passenger seat. I think I got 13 bags of chopped forage in another time (might have used the passenger seat for that one, though).
3 bales in the back of the Prius, as i recall…
2 Likes
I’m in similar shoes, but I want to sell the truck (though she has been my best friend for the past five years) – hubby is not on board. I could fit alot of what I needed into any decent sedan, frankly, and if you’re only driving your truck a couple times a month as it is, it seems to me you could have stuff delivered or hire a friend for those one or two-times a month when you needed to go get big supplies. I may have missed it, but could you store one delivery of big supplies at your house, and then just take them in small loads to the barn as needed?
If your regular car can’t get out when it’s slushy, wait a couple hours for when the roads are cleared or, as someone else suggested, make a deal with a friend who has a beefier vehicle?
1 Like
I fit 6 bales of two string bale hay in the trunk of a civic, 2 bags of grain in passenger seat, and 3 bags of shavings in the back seat. Plus a kid in the back in a car seat. I could have fit another couple bags of shavings without the kid.
2 Likes
I’ve got to know…6 bales of the compressed hay? I could see that, not the regular stuff though! Hay is my only issue; the feed store here will deliver shavings and grain but generally by winter not much left in terms of selection in my area.
1 Like
