Get a diesel and drive around for awhile before you go to work, and take a long way home. I do that with my motorcycle sometimes, I look for reasons to go to the store.

 

I understand your dilemma, I used to start feeding cattle early and had about a 1/2 mile drive to get to the first feedlot,this was way up north where we would get 30-40' below in January. I had a recirculating hot water heater unit on the truck and the tractor as well as an oil pan heater, this guaranted a warm start.The truck was gas and the tractor was diesel. if it was lower than 10" below I let the truck idle. The tractor had a weather front as well as the truck.Excessive ideling did not hurt the gas motor. If you idle the diesel bump up the rpm to 1200+. Up north gas and diesel motors idle for days at a time, I would recommend synthetic oil after the motor is broke in.When I worked in the NWT"s and the Arctic both gas and diesel motors idled for months at a time,they where only shut down long enough for a very quick oil change with preheated oil. The trick is to keep the truck engine heated if you are parked and shut off for any lengh of time. In your particular situation I would opt for the gas motor, less problems in the severe cold and no heavy towing reguired. Gasoline does not gel in cold conditions. Now I know why I love Florida,diesel fuel does not gel here!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Get the deisel and plug it in and you will be fine . I did very much the same thing you are talking about with my 91 cummins for years with little trouble . I would start it up drive 2 miles and shut it down at the Ford plant and work 10 to 12 hours and drive it home . I put a charger on it in the winter because the battery would not charge up in that short of a drive . Truck still runs great but had to put new alternator and stater last year . I could not plug it in at work just at home and it never let me down . I worked at the Lorain Ohio Ford plant and I think we get just as cold as you would . I even made a little money on the side betting it would start and I always won . I hope my new 4.5 holds up as good as my 91 has it sure doesn't start as good .

 

if you ca afford a new truck, get it!! dont let these guys steer you down the wrong path. the new truck might find you going places you never would have before JUST to put miles on, would you even be NOT considering buying a diesel had it not been for these forums and the excessive idle time factors and what not?

got a garage? keep it in there.

 

I guess us Buckeyes here in ohio are little tougher. Down here at ohio state thousands of people walk to classes in the same freezing weather that ya'll get in PA.

 

I've been in LA, Nevada, PA, Rhode Island. I had to walk 2 miles to school and heck I wasn't even getting paid to do that. I used to ride my bike to work too. It was better than losing 5 dollars in gas every day (lifted bronco, big motor, poor milage)

He did ask for suggestions and to run a diesel and never get it warm (1/2 mile you'd be lucky to get the cylinder to get hot. You can do it, and I'm sure the truck would, but it would be asking for problems. We had choices of a generator for work we went propaine because the engine could sit forever and the LPG wouldn't go bad, like gas or diesel (remote location so you had to bring in the tanks full) pain in the rear.

That short of a drive, go get a diesel, use it on long drives, and buy a 500 dollar car for that drive (that way you can get in it muddy and all and not care about it)

 

I would get it and only use it when needed or when going longer distances. There are a lot of farmers around here that have the situation. Most just buy a 4wheeler or one of those glorified golf carts. You can get them with cabs now. Maybe even a little truck.

 

I have a Suzuki Sidekick that gets used for any short trips or when I don't need a truck....it gets 32mpg, is very dependable,warms up in a mile, 4x4, handles bad roads better than the doolie.....I save the truck for the real work! If you can afford a diesel, should be able to afford a beater! Heck I paid more in sales tax on my truck than I paid for my Suzi....and it ain't even a beater.

 

There you go, go get one of those golf carts, call up Northern tool, put in a 15HP Diesel and you get the best of both, diesel power and smell, and millage of a golf cart. Nobody has to knwo where the smell is comming from, just tell them it's from your work horse

 

I still say get the scooter. I think the joke is " scooters are like fat chicks they are fun to ride till your friends see you doin it" LOL anyways.

 

It seems to take about 10 miles for my truck to get up to normal temp, and a bit longer for the rest of the powertrain. A 1/2 mile commute seems ideal for some sort of electric vehicle, as long as it's not too expensive, as a lot of internal combustion engines just won't get to operating temps.

 

I dunno i saw how the electric vehicle on the Simpsons lasted, I dunno. All in all that would be a great idea. A scooter might be cold in the winter though, brrrrrrrr.

 

Try to find a used electric golf cart. That should do it and your a farmer so you can fab something up for a cab.

 

you won`t even shift the fifth gear

 

IMO if you can afford the diesel and that is what you want buy it. I have the truck in my sig and I drive it less than a mile to work every day and have had no problems. I dont let it idle for extended periods of time though.