Small pickup

Turnip

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
Is this Smart pickup conversion small enough?
2db4680428c51db1b0ad938057b64eb4.jpg
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
If there was a small 4wd pick up I would definitely be interested in a try. Or a smart looking 4x4 van.

I have a 2020 Ranger Wildtrak and whilst I like actually driving it it’s nothing but a pain in the arse for work. Everything is too high, too far to reach or too long to park.
They are a bit long to park in British parking bays, which are ridiculously small for most cars today that have opening doors. One has to choose a space appropriate to the vehicle so that doors can be opened and it doesn’t stick out too far into the roadway. I’ve never found it to be a critical issue and the pickup is not normally used for domestic, non-business use here anyway. If it is a great issue for someone, then they obviously have the wrong type of vehicle for their use.
I always carry three lengths of alkathene in the bed of the truck, plus various load straps under the rear seat to tie loads down in both the bed and any trailer hitched to the back. One of the most important tools is a gaff. A stick with a crook or hook on the end to reach items, without climbing into the tray, over the side mostly. Personally I would never have a canopy on a pickup tray as it restricts loads and access to things in the tray. As you say, access then becomes a big issue and if you stow anything small right at the back, at the first hard braking it will slide all the way to the front and be a pain to reach with the tailgate making it even more difficult. So the rear seats in my Ranger as used for additional cargo, tools, and so on rather than passengers.
Everyone’s expectations and use differs, so what suits me may not suit you or the next guy. However I could not farm without a pickup for both cargo carrying and towing and accessing places on the land which two wheel drive vehicles could not.

As far as vans go, the 4wd VW Transporter can be specified to be an amazing vehicle. I was driving behind one last week that had some VW customisation kit fitted, including a lift kit and off-road wheels and tyres . A friend, a builder, has a more standard version and he loves it.
 

Wellytrack

Member
I know you and not many don’t like Donald trump but he did try to get the USA to be less reliant upon China and keep them at arms length but greed will see we all fall right into their trap ! Take over without a fight. .

If you believe that to be true you should have a google to see where he and his daughter had their products made.
 

Wellytrack

Member
Definitely still a market for a lightweight pickup. Probably not a big one as the full sized pickup is very much a ‘lifestyle’ segment vehicle now.
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
They are a bit long to park in British parking bays, which are ridiculously small for most cars today that have opening doors. One has to choose a space appropriate to the vehicle so that doors can be opened and it doesn’t stick out too far into the roadway. I’ve never found it to be a critical issue and the pickup is not normally used for domestic, non-business use here anyway. If it is a great issue for someone, then they obviously have the wrong type of vehicle for their use.
I always carry three lengths of alkathene in the bed of the truck, plus various load straps under the rear seat to tie loads down in both the bed and any trailer hitched to the back. One of the most important tools is a gaff. A stick with a crook or hook on the end to reach items, without climbing into the tray, over the side mostly. Personally I would never have a canopy on a pickup tray as it restricts loads and access to things in the tray. As you say, access then becomes a big issue and if you stow anything small right at the back, at the first hard braking it will slide all the way to the front and be a pain to reach with the tailgate making it even more difficult. So the rear seats in my Ranger as used for additional cargo, tools, and so on rather than passengers.
Everyone’s expectations and use differs, so what suits me may not suit you or the next guy. However I could not farm without a pickup for both cargo carrying and towing and accessing places on the land which two wheel drive vehicles could not.

As far as vans go, the 4wd VW Transporter can be specified to be an amazing vehicle. I was driving behind one last week that had some VW customisation kit fitted, including a lift kit and off-road wheels and tyres . A friend, a builder, has a more standard version and he loves it.
I have a Defender 90 pick up with a canopy and a Gamic back door (Landrover tailgate removed and stored)

If I had a pick up and with my use, I'd probably have a Gamic canopy with rear door and a front upper shelf and side locker doors. I need a canopy for dogs, calves and keeping other items dry / out of sight
 

oldoaktree

Member
Location
County Durham
Used to run Subaru pickups back in the distance past the were fairly good . Fairly comfortable decent ride not bad off road and you could chuck a dead ewe in the back on your own. Down sides were it only had 4 gears and it was petrol. Mart car parks used to be full of them
 
Best off road goat we had was a Renault 4 van with the opening rear lid. It would run rings round the s3 LR we had at the time and you could scamper down from wherever the 6700 had broken down, onto the road and drive to the dealers in comfort and warmth. :)
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
Used to run Subaru pickups back in the distance past the were fairly good . Fairly comfortable decent ride not bad off road and you could chuck a dead ewe in the back on your own. Down sides were it only had 4 gears and it was petrol. Mart car parks used to be full of them
Why did they stop? They were the coolest pickups in the eighties
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
Quite possibly, but dont see the point in folk (not aimed at you) complaining about fuel consumption/ cost to fill it.
End o the day it's a working motor there to do a job
It was bearable at £1/ litre, not at £1.50
A hilux also used to be cheap to buy new around £10k, not now.
A lot of the time the fwd etc is not needed
 

Bob lincs

Member
Arable Farmer
Best off road goat we had was a Renault 4 van with the opening rear lid. It would run rings round the s3 LR we had at the time and you could scamper down from wherever the 6700 had broken down, onto the road and drive to the dealers in comfort and warmth. :)
I learned to drive in a Renault 4 van , dad and uncle had one each . Now it’s all double cabs and Discos , I don’t know how we used to cope .🤷‍♂️🤔
 

hagar

Member
It was bearable at £1/ litre, not at £1.50
A hilux also used to be cheap to buy new around £10k, not now.
A lot of the time the fwd etc is not needed
That is the problem, fuel cost.
Also new pickups are getting beyond a lot o folks now, myself included.
Bought an ex demo Hilux invinceable just over 3yrs ago for 22800, quite sure I'd get what I paid for it now with 22000 miles.
Same pickup now I'm guessing I'd be looking at another 10000?


Answering the op's post there doesn't seem to be such a thing as a small pickup from any o the main
name brands
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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