winesalot
Junior Member
Long time 2001 Ram 2500 diesel owner, I've owned a towing company for 17 years, I now own a winery and need to tow heavy loads on my 25k gvw gooseneck trailer.
The 2001 has seen better days and we are looking at getting a new truck. Prices are steep so I want to make sure I get what is best for my needs.
We put about 8,000 miles a year on our truck. 5,000 of that comes during the grape harvest season where we are traveling 3-4 hours each way to pick up grapes and we make that trip 5 days a week for 6 weeks a year. We really work the truck during harvest. We have a dual wheel-dual axle trailer that is 25k gvw but weighs around 4500 lbs so our cargo capacity is around 20k. It is a gooseneck trailer and out load is in 4 ft square bins that pack and stack easily so we are able to pull maximum weight with very little tongue weight on the truck. (Yes, we know enough to have a safe amount of tongue weight. We definitely do not need the weight carrying capacity of a dually and have never felt like we overloaded the 2500 with too much weight. The truck needs to pull hard and that is it. The trailer has very hearty disk brakes on it so the truck isn't doing a lot of the stopping for us.
With the extra cost of the Cummins engine and diesel prices typically being higher than gas over the last few years, I am wondering if it makes economic sense to buy a diesel again?
What kind of empty and heavily loaded mileage are you guys getting in the new trucks both in diesel or gas? I don't mind if the gas rigs are a bit underpowered for climbing hills, I am willing to slow down a bit nd, like I have to do with the 2001, I am also willing to drive the shoulder in 4wd low for the real steep stuff.
I love the Cummins as well as the next guy but I am trying to make a solid business decision and keep pride an ego out of the equation.
Thoughts?
The 2001 has seen better days and we are looking at getting a new truck. Prices are steep so I want to make sure I get what is best for my needs.
We put about 8,000 miles a year on our truck. 5,000 of that comes during the grape harvest season where we are traveling 3-4 hours each way to pick up grapes and we make that trip 5 days a week for 6 weeks a year. We really work the truck during harvest. We have a dual wheel-dual axle trailer that is 25k gvw but weighs around 4500 lbs so our cargo capacity is around 20k. It is a gooseneck trailer and out load is in 4 ft square bins that pack and stack easily so we are able to pull maximum weight with very little tongue weight on the truck. (Yes, we know enough to have a safe amount of tongue weight. We definitely do not need the weight carrying capacity of a dually and have never felt like we overloaded the 2500 with too much weight. The truck needs to pull hard and that is it. The trailer has very hearty disk brakes on it so the truck isn't doing a lot of the stopping for us.
With the extra cost of the Cummins engine and diesel prices typically being higher than gas over the last few years, I am wondering if it makes economic sense to buy a diesel again?
What kind of empty and heavily loaded mileage are you guys getting in the new trucks both in diesel or gas? I don't mind if the gas rigs are a bit underpowered for climbing hills, I am willing to slow down a bit nd, like I have to do with the 2001, I am also willing to drive the shoulder in 4wd low for the real steep stuff.
I love the Cummins as well as the next guy but I am trying to make a solid business decision and keep pride an ego out of the equation.
Thoughts?