Which do you prefer ?

You know Joe i which you just get a truck instead of boring us with all those wannbe dreams .

The truck for Huck is a TK there 100's of farmers out who use them and have made lot of money out of them just go to a cattle sale near you and have look what most farmers are driving and the answer will there . Dave

I wish I could - I would also like to win Lotto!

Joe

Well Huck i drove a TK for many years and i didnt have lot go wrong it ,it had a 466 deisel and would do about 90 k's on the highway i sold the last one to a farmer for $4000 with a 18 ft tray ,900 x20 pay load of 8 ton have look in Just Trucks they are round . Dave

Keep dreaming, Joe. If I had've stopped dreaming, I would never have got into old trucks and would never have owned a B61.

Huck, I guess by your choices in the poll, you've narrowed it down to this lot? Even though I am biased towards the TK, and have voted as such, I would also throw the ACCO into the mix assuming you could find a non-rusty one and assuming you haven't already disregarded it.

The Boxer is known to have a rust-prone cab (more so than the others, I reckon) and I've been told the D-series is nowhere as well built as the TK. Craig Dodd from ACW Bedford gave me a good description of this as he recently restored a D-series. As you might imagine, he's pretty familiar with the TK. He found the D was a lighter build and a lot of the fittings within the cab easily broken. Having said that, there's still plenty of D-series around but perhaps not as many seen on the road (compared to TKs).

After all that, a good one of either example will serve you well. On that note, ACW have had this cracking girl for sale for quite a while. I've had my eye on her but now have no money!
www.acwbedford.com.au/Bedford%20tk%20emt.html

I've only driven the TK as well so nowhere near an expert. Just my observations.

Thanks Andy, that's helped a lot. I've always been a bit biased towards the Bedford Tk, but I wanted to compare other brands that will do a similar job. Quality is very important as I would like to keep it for a few years after a restoration. Even though they perform well, I just can't see myself restoring a Japanese model. I think your hearts got to be in it.

I did really consider an Acco model, particually the ex army 6x6 version which would be handy on the farm. I'd like to find out more about their highway performance and load capacity. I wouldn't imagine they would be that comfortable to drive, but I'm sure I could modify that to a point.

Cheers

Joe,
you can see what I drive at the moment, cost and parts and economy all came into the choice... perkins/ 5 spd o/d box 'n 2 spd 100 kph diff... I'm making the cab comfy. Have lots of bedford experience, not much between then choices, but an ex army 4wd???
Atki pete will correct me but I think you will find it a slow beast and near impossible to change the diff rates in. At least with an ACCO or TK you can re power, stick a RRanger box and faster diff into it if what you buy does not work out.

I drove a nice tk with a 4 cyl 2 stroke UD motor Road ranger 910 and 2 speed diff.. could get fit just changing gears in the driveway.

Sarge :-X

Funny how all the Bedford owners vote for a TK . I could say to look for a Commer but I wouldn't be that cruel. There is a neat looking 1969 International with a 160 Cummins in the Jan issue of Just Trucks for $4500 in Qld, running and straight. Get it for $4000, $1000 to ship it to Vic, 2nd hand tray at a clearance sale and a lick of paint. Happy days! Something like that gets my vote.

And Joe, I'm with Andy, keep dreaming but to make it more fun, get married and then buy an old truck. It's great to see a womans look of disbelief at least once in your life...............

Thanks guy's it's all very helpful.

But to make things interesting, if you voted for any of the above trucks what modifications would you do to make them more highway friendly ? No one likes to travel 3000 kms at 80 kph. On a cattle truck, your just keeping in front of the smell.
Like for example can the bedford 308 be upgraded to a 350 with a twin geared diff ? Can a better gearbox be installed that complies with a upgraded engine. Would you forget petrol and drop in a turbo diesel ?
I'm not looking to run the quarter mile, just cart 3-6 tonne at a comfortable speed. A Ford D series interested me because of the 351 over the 308, but the bedford is better quality. The acco isn't comfortable but it's hard to kill and reliable.I like the basic design of the ex army vehicles and the comfort part can be fixed. The Leylands a bit of everything and it comes standard. (Perhaps not as long living).
Looking for a near perfect farm / medium truck with some style that comes with age. I don't but new car or trucks, as they all look the same.
Cheers
Huck

The TK and the D-series in particular are well known for the variety of engines and gearboxes etc put in them. Same for the ACCO (most trucks really but since we're talking about a select few).

I'd go diesel if you can. My TK has a 308 and I've yet to figure out her fuel consumption as haven't been anywhere of note in her since buying her but I suspect she might be a little thirsty (Hey Dave, got some extractors!). Having said that, I guess if you keep your options open to popular petrol motors as well, you might run across exactly what you need with a gas conversion.

I'll leave the engine/gearbox/diff combos to the guys who have done the hard work but on the point of fuel, down here I've noticed diesel is roughly 10 cents cheaper than petrol. First time in a long time!

Thanks Andy,

With diesel prices cheaper in Victoria, maybe the government is giving consideration to those fire trucks and transport suppliers.

And rightly so.

Cheers

Check this out Huck.....

www.truckhub.com.au/DesktopDefault.aspx?...D=3007717&TabID=3443

Drive her for a while then install a V6/53 GM.............awesome!