Farm Truck

I’ve just purchased a 1984 Ford F250 for . I haven’t owned a car since January 14th, 2006. 845 days. I try not to define myself by what I don’t or won’t do, however.

Our previous work truck was a ford explorer named Butch. It belonged to and . It had been their spare vehicle, but their primary vehicle, Isolda, came down with a terminal illness, which upgraded Butch to their primary vehicle. Alas, it did not last long in this role, being somewhat old and cranky herself. The engine cracked, leaving them down two cars in nearly as many months, and needing to focus on a vehicle that was suitable for the daily commute into Albuquerque.

My major goal for this summer is to lower and level our first irrigated field. Doing that requires removing a lot of trees and moving a lot of dirt. We’re going to need a backhoe or a tractor. We have a trailer to transport a tractor, but we had no truck to pull the trailer. Now that we have a truck, I can focus on finding a tractor. As well, we need to build a bridge over the acequia so we can bring heavy equipment back there. Not to mention getting off my hands and starting the paperwork process for water access!

After purchasing the truck, and I took it down to get gas. I spent $120 filling up both tanks. That turns out to be roughly the difference between the sticker price and what I eventually paid for the truck.

I rode my bike to work today, like I do every day. I don’t need to pay $3.50 a gallon for the privilege of not exercising. After 845 days, I think I’ve solved my personal conveyance problem. But one of the things I’ve learned about owning a farm: There is a lot of very heavy stuff to move around. Until horses are cheaper than beat-up old Fords, I’ll be happy to own a truck.