Work Truck and Trailer

We purchased some Alpacas recently to mow our lawn and fields.  While a local vet offers house visits, they cost more for trip time, and we would need to buy a chute, which costs over $1000.  Therefore, we needed to get a trailer to haul them to the vet. This also enables us to haul them to a shearer and if the kids want to do 4H.

We found a nice looking two horse trailer on Craigslist for $1250.  Except for needing new tires it was in excellent condition.  The owner barely used it and it parked under a cover.  The trailer was built in 1976 so it is solid steel which makes it heavy, but sturdy.  We ended up offering $1100 because of the tires.

We have been looking for a work truck for a few years now, but decided to save some money instead.  Normally we borrow a truck from someone or rent a UHaul.  While inconvenient it is cheaper for us than paying licensing, maintenance, and insurance on a truck.  I don't have a lot of knowledge about car repair other than simple things; therefore, I was looking for a truck with low miles.  I wanted to get something in the 250 (2500) size, preferably with a diesel.  This way I can haul things like cement and rock with less trips.

Even with the trailer purchase, our plan was to haul it with dad's truck, though, it is a little under powered being a Ford Ranger.  The Ranger also needed an upgrade to a 7 pin plug for the trailer.  While my dad was at the Ford Dealer inquiring about getting the trailer plug upgraded, he took a look around the lot for used trucks.  On the lot he found a 1996 Dodge RAM 3500 Dually with a V10 Magnum.  It had only 96K miles on it and one owner.  The used car manager priced the truck wrong when he put it on the lot for $7900 instead of $8900.  They said they will honor that price for my dad if he bought it that day.

I drove up to Longview that evening and took a look at the truck.  It drove great and was in excellent condition.  It had new tires which is worth quite a bit when buying a truck.  While a bit more power than I was looking for in a truck, my wife and I decided to purchase it.  The Ford dealer was originally going to throw away the canopy because of some paint damage.  I had them throw that in as well.