February 07, 2004
Woohoo!!!
Help us welcome the newest member of the farm crew!
After a couple of months of looking, we bought a 1996 Ford F-250 this morning. It has an extended cab, a V8 diesel engine, a full 8 foot bed, and four wheel drive. It is an absolute beast of a vehicle. As our mechanic Gary said, "You should be able to drive straight up a tree with that thing."
We needed this truck to replace our 1988 Ford F-150 that kind of died this fall. I guess it didn't really die as much as it ran out of useful life. It had some problems that we ended up deciding were not really cost effective to address.
Why such a monster truck? Well, it was cheap. Really cheap. Why so cheap? It has lots and lots of miles on it. I mean, lots. Like an amount of miles that makes you stop and think hard before handing over a check for any amount.
But the miles are (hopefully) not bad miles. The guy we bought it from had a house in Mass. and a house in VT, and he was an electrical contractor for Wal Mart. So he spent his weekends driving back and forth between MA and VT, and he spent his weekdays driving to different Wal Marts all over New England. He needed a F-250 because he had this small to medium-ish size cart of electrical gear that he towed behind the truck for work.
The truck is presently in excellent shape. The guy took care of it, and there really isn't a thing wrong with it, at least not right now. We didn't have much money to spend, so we decided to take a calculated risk on the mileage. It is conceivable that everything falls apart on it tomorrow, but for today, it is great!
Posted by peter at February 7, 2004 03:16 PMBefore I moved back to the southwest last august, I was in western Massachusetts trying to become somewhat semi-self sufficient. There were several locals, some at one of the collages and one guy up in the hilltowns, doing great stuff with bio-diesel. This would be a great vehicle to veggie power!
Check out this site: http://www.yellowbiodiesel.com/
Posted by: pungent drought resistance at February 7, 2004 06:39 PMActually, there is an organic farmer I know up here, Carl Benson, who is in the process of converting his whole veggie operation -- tractors, trucks, greenhouses -- to bio-diesel. An excellent suggestion!
Posted by: peter at February 7, 2004 07:00 PMYou're going to need a lot bigger truck soon, if New York is any indication.
The new AOL Time Warner building just opened down the street at Columbus Circle and 59th Street. The first three levels are fancy shops. And in the basement they have a humungous, almost-all-organic market with fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and processed products. It must cover a half city block.
Last night they had all 36 check-out registers going, but the waiting line was still a couple of hundred yards long!
Keep those veggies growing!
Posted by: Mike, pgg's dad at February 8, 2004 05:50 AMyahoo on the truck.
you can go to veggievan.com for more info on the bio diesel stuff. the guy has a book so you can make your own too.
though you may attract some raccoons looking for french fries.
Your new truck looks to be in great shape. I bet it's wonderful to drive, too. I think you'll have good luck with it.
Joe
Posted by: Joe at February 8, 2004 08:17 PMsweet fancy moses...its a beast!
Posted by: mark at February 9, 2004 03:08 PM