On Jun 23, 2008, at 10:09 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Peter Frederick wrote: >> You need a pickup to haul stuff... > > In Europe they do just fine without. Trailers instead of trucks > mostly, > Exactly. I have a $600 "Snowbear" utility trailer I bought from Home Depot. It has a 3/4 ton capacity, a 5 X 8 bed, and you can lower the headgate and tailgate in 15 seconds and have a 12 1/2 x 5 flatbed trailer. The tongue tilts and the axle can be moved to multiple positions. It's light and tows easily. You can haul a vast amount of stuff in it--much more than a pickup, as it's lower and can be stacked higher, plus that 12+ long bed. Plus, it's much lower to the ground and easier to load, and more maneuverable--you can hand- maneuver it in all kinds of places, then either hand-push or hook-and- pull it out. Mine moves many, many tons of everything from used asphalt to fine furniture to machinery to brush to firewood per year, and costs me virtually nothing. It's been from Iowa to Maine 4 times. I pull it with either a turbodiesel vanagon westfalia (70 hp) or an 86 S-10 (92 hp). You don't need lots of power or a large, fuel- gulping vehicle to haul huge amounts of stuff--torque and gears do just fine. The trailer and vanagon have an unbelievably large capacity when used in tandem--easily 3 or 4 long-bed pickups worth, and still gets in the low twenties with both packed to capacity (and the vanagon is rated for a ton). When you're not using it, it costs nothing in fuel or insurance. And, you can leave it where it's needed to be loaded or unloaded, unhitch, and avoid carrying stuff around with you that you don't need to.
Dan _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
