Using your truck as a tractor?

[bigboreblr]

Little curious nobody has mentioned using one on here? Pulling something a 40 or so HP tractor could pull, some small discs, cultipacker, larger tow spreader, spring or c tine harrows. Even just the tires as a cultipacker itself.

IT's got its limitation, but it has its use too.

I drive around and use it to water, make it a tree planting station with everything in the back.

Im debating buying a 6ft spring harrow or tow york rake for my camp up north.

 

[MRBB]

well I have used and known many folks that have used there trucks as a tractor, from pulling 8 ft gang disc, to spreading lime with a ground driven lime spreader( 2 ton at a time)
I have also seen trucks used for many other things
the issue's I have seen are pretty simple
U joints failures, being at the top of the list, it seems pulling things for long periods of time that have constant resistance(like a disc harrow like wise)
add a ton of stress to the drive train, that a truck just isn;t made for, not to mention the added stress on the differential gears!
also a truck is not really designed to go that SLOW working things as hard as they get worked when pulling things with a constant drag/load!
so you end up with some added cooling issue's and concerns
that and add in pending what truck your using, your using a pretty costly vehicle to do the work of a much cheaper tractor, PENDING TRACTOR of course!, tractors can cost way more than a pick up truck

I once was at one property that was set for a work day, and 3 of our tractors went down for stupid reasons,
and we ended up using a older 3/4 ton gas dodge pick up truck to disc a 3 acre plot, then pulled a rented bulk lime spreader to put down 6 ton of lime, and then re disc'd the plot 2 more times!
the truck worked, to be honest was kinda comfortable too boot, out of the fresh air and dust from all the lime, and running AC a radio ,
but by the end of the day, the truck was about boiling over, and both front axle joints were clicking and ended up being replaced, and not too long afterwards the re drive shaft U joints went
I know all were not NEW, but the added stress and all that LIME dust, that stuck to grease, and then that non stop load on things, sure shortened there life span!
HAD it been a daily driver truck one drove up to property, they would not have been driving it home AS IS<

and again, I have seen this happen several times over the past 30+ yr, when a truck gets used at a tractor!, so it wasn't a once time issue that popped up!

this is why they make tractors, and when you compare a rear end on a tractor to a pick up truck, you see a BIG difference really fast!
and don;t forget trucks have piss poor turning radius , which in it self can add to issues , pending where being used!

 

[SwampCat]

A truck has no three pt lift and takes half an acre to turn. I dont even like using my crew polaris ranger for spraying because of the large turning diameter.

 

[PrairieShadow]

I used my truck to pull a harrow drag (16ish) one year. It worked but the tranny temp gauge was getting up there by the time I was done and it was a fairly small area. Maybe 6 acre. I can’t imagine pulling a disc.

 

[yoderjac]

Like anything else, you can use a wrench to pound nails if you want. I've learned over time that it is often penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Having said that, using a hammer and nails instead of a nail gun my loose a lot of efficiency, but works just fine. I did food plotting on way more acreage than I liked with a compact tractor and small cat 1 implements when I first started. The only thing that took a beating was me with too much time in the seat, but everything worked just fine. I quickly got the message and stepped up my tractor in size. I made too mistakes. First, I bought an off-brand (Kioti) because it was significantly more tractor (in specs) for the money. Poor design meant it has spent a lot of it's life in the shop. The second mistake was buying the size I thought I needed rather than listening to advise. Just like building a barn, what I originally thought was on the big side ended up with me wishing I had gone bigger. You can oversize, but most of us don't.

Thansk,

Jack

 

[Foggy47]

Quite a few old Army Jeeps used to pull a plow back in the 40's and early 50's. They offered a PTO kit and a few types of hitches too....IIRC. Not sure what type of chores were done with the Jeeps....but I do remember seeing one pulling a plow by a good customer of ours. He thought it was the real deal.

I think a small Jeep would still do a pretty good job of pulling a disk or cultivator. They turn pretty short. Those old WWII Jeeps were plentiful and cheap back then. I learned to drive in one of those at about 9 or 10 years old. We used it as a means to deliver things like an elevator or to move farm machinery about....and just run errands.

Even Andy Devine drove a jeep....back in the day....lol.