Yeah, on the Stout it looks way too small to do much good.

You would think out here in farm country work trucks would be easy to find but the lots are full of show trucks they look at you like you’re crazy if you ask to see a 2 door work truck.

Because, last I checked, they don’t come in 4x4.

We can license about anything that rolls down the street here our scooter plate covers most vehicles if it meets lights, mirrors and a horn requirements. The reason we don’t use some smaller option is distance traveled on the trapline. We have UTVs, Kia trucks, dune buggies, 4 wheelers running the streets here.

Personally for small trucks I like an extended cab with a six foot bed. I had a couple 80s regular cabs and while they got around great, if you had somebody riding with you there wasn't room to throw a lunch box in the cab with you, so the extended cab was a nice compromise, a little more room to haul stuff dry in the cab, plus a little more leg room for taller guys, without sacrificing bed space or getting too big to fit a lot of places. I also used to spend a lot of time hunting/camping out of those trucks, I can lay the seat down in an extended cab and sleep comfortably, in the regular cabs I always had to either open the doors and stick my feet out in the weather or drive the front end up on a bank to tilt the seat back and try and sleep upright.

On the other hand I've never understood the point of a shortbed one ton unless it is a dedicated towing rig. I like being able to throw a stack of plywood in the bed of my Dodge and close the tailgate, don't have to fool with trying to strap stuff down. I can haul a cord and a half of firewood on it comfortably, won't being doing that with a six foot bed.

You can't buy a full size pickup with a manual transmission any more, that right there tells you they aren't making work trucks, and I doubt anyone is making them with manual windows and locks. I was excited when I found my 08 Dodge with manual doors and windows. Bounce a truck around enough on trails and potholed logging roads with dust coming in everywhere to boot and those electric windows and locks always quit. Plus windows freeze in the winter, I don't know how many people I've seen burn up their window motor trying to break a frozen window loose. First thing I always did with my 90s Toyotas was remove the lock from the gas tank door, they would get water in them and freeze and I never liked holding a lighter that close to the gas cap to unthaw them so I could fuel up.

I like the 61/2 foot box extended cab.
The extended cab allows you to lock stuff up in the back,also the fold down seat platform with a roll out mattress makes a great bed for sleepin on long trips or overnighting on the trapline.
There is nothing you can haul in an 8 foot bed that you cant haul in a 61/2 foot bed.

Doesn’t hurt to have a trailer if you run a smaller bed truck I run a 12 foot PJ trailer that’s the right size for my Tacoma.

I dont think 35 MPG mmmaybe 20-24

Coon will never come back enough to make it worthwhile and just like now very few are saleable for a profit

I think some of those vans come in AWD. Not much ground clearance, though!

Yes some mini vans have all wheel drive. I wanted that but it was not worth the extra 8k to buy the van with it over the one we bought.

I honestly really like mini vans. I didn't at first then I took over my wife's old one and after driving it a while came to appreciate how handy it is.

wow-beautiful cat!

When we get rid of the EPA.
So the first of NEVER!

That might have been what killed the mini trucks back then the EPA regulations it was hard to figure why when gas was high nobody was making the little trucks but they kept pumping out V8 all the while. Back then Toyota and others car makers were getting 30 miles plus mpg and the EPA rules killed that.