New Wood Hauler

[country boy]

Just recently bought this for 100$ put in a new clutch and fixed some miner problems . 90 4x4 ford ranger 4.0 5spd. It oughta bounce between the trees nicely . Any of you other guys run these smaller trucks for getin the wood . Pics ?

 

[Darl Bundren]

I don't have a truck yet, but I'd love to have something small and cheap. Good luck with yours.

 

[JeffHK454]

Only thing that I have that gets firewood out of the woods in the $150 range says Redwing on the side...

Good find!

 

[Zodiac45]

Just recently bought this for 100$ put in a new clutch and fixed some miner problems . 90 4x4 ford ranger 4.0 5spd. It oughta bounce between the trees nicely . Any of you other guys run these smaller trucks for getin the wood . Pics ?

Nice score Country! I've got an 86' 5 speed 2.3l (wish I had the 4.0) and I use it wooding all the time. It's good in 4wd and carries a decent load relatively speaking. Mine came with a 7' fisher plow too.
It don't eat and hasn't for years. Mines getting a little "tender" body wise but still runs great and always starts right up. I put an Airlift kit on it too give it a bit more load capacity and it helps with the plow sag too. Check out this site for all you'll ever want too know about Rangers.
http://www.therangerstation.com/ :greenchainsaw:

 

[HUSKYMAN]

My friend in the UP uses a 88 Ranger with a 4 banger for running trails.

The motor finally puked this year. Just make sure you do not put bigger tires on it. The stock 4 wheel drive will hold up ok, but once you put big tires on it is much harder on the drivetrain

 

[Zodiac45]

My friend in the UP uses a 88 Ranger with a 4 banger for running trails.

The motor finally puked this year. Just make sure you do not put bigger tires on it. The stock 4 wheel drive will hold up ok, but once you put big tires on it is much harder on the drivetrain

Good point Huskie but his 90' has stronger drive train and bigger front axel. The older ones have the Dana 28 but his is about 40% beefier and uses a Dana 35.
Here's a couple pix of Tonto on the job.

 

[country boy]

Nice score Country! I've got an 86' 5 speed 2.3l (wish I had the 4.0) and I use it wooding all the time. It's good in 4wd and carries a decent load relatively speaking. Mine came with a 7' fisher plow too.
It don't eat and hasn't for years. Mines getting a little "tender" body wise but still runs great and always starts right up. I put an Airlift kit on it too give it a bit more load capacity and it helps with the plow sag too. Check out this site for all you'll ever want too know about Rangers.
http://www.therangerstation.com/ :greenchainsaw:

Thanks zodiac, I also have a 88 5spd with the 2.3 . That is one little impressive 4cyl that thing will just lug up the hills and hold its own and thats with the truck and trailer loaded. The bodies on my rangers are also trashed but thats what i have them .I have been to the rangerstation lots of info on there great site. The 4.0 truck has plenty of power but uses twice the gas as the 4cyl. truck. I may keep the trailer tied to the 4.0 truck so it can earn its oats

 

[country boy]

Husky man i no what you meen on bigger tires i have done snapped front axle on the 4cyl. 88 ranger a while back . Here is a pic of it in all its glory . I have also noticed in most of the pictures i have taken outside my lil helper is posing in most of them he must not be camera shy.

 

[mayor]

I had a 83 ranger 2wd 2.3 4 speed....great little truck with an 8' bed....I put 248 K on it before she blew....then we stripped the frame of all the drivetrain and added a 9" rear, dana 44 front, 302 with a c-4......but I sold the truck just before it was finished so I didnt get too play with it any!

Here's what happens too the Rangers when they grow up!

 

[Zodiac45]

Thanks zodiac, I also have a 88 5spd with the 2.3 . That is one little impressive 4cyl that thing will just lug up the hills and hold its own and thats with the truck and trailer loaded. The bodies on my rangers are also trashed but thats what i have them .I have been to the rangerstation lots of info on there great site. The 4.0 truck has plenty of power but uses twice the gas as the 4cyl. truck. I may keep the trailer tied to the 4.0 truck so it can earn its oats

Yeah Man, the 4 banger is like a tractor engine (prolly is) the way Ford tunes them. All low end tug. No sense really reving it, just up too the next gear and keep chuggin. Mine's a constant study in me learning to do body work A quick zap with the angle grinder, spread of filler,shot of primer, and a spray bomb of Ford smoke gray. :greenchainsaw:

PS: I've snapped the axels both sides just this past winter! The stubs (outers) going into wheels are the weak points. Lucky it's a an hour fix. I've learned that if I'm juicing it and the fronts not spinning, back off cause somethings gonna give!

 

[EastwoodGang4]

rangers rock

Nice find!! that's like a sore peter...can't beat it! I used to have one with the 2.3. short bed 2wd. man that thing would take a beating helper springs help alot. that lil 2.3 is like a tractor engine!! I miss my mighty ranger ran it till it rusted out from under me. enjoy it!!

 

[country boy]

I had a 83 ranger 2wd 2.3 4 speed....great little truck with an 8' bed....I put 248 K on it before she blew....then we stripped the frame of all the drivetrain and added a 9" rear, dana 44 front, 302 with a c-4......but I sold the truck just before it was finished so I didnt get too play with it any!

Here's what happens too the Rangers when they grow up!

how do you manage to keep the fiberglass fenders on that ole girl beaten through the timber? Must be nice to have a truck that you can pile that much wood on and barely sag the springs if any.

 

[cmetalbend]

My wife asks all the time why I don't replace my POS wood truck. My answer " If I cut a tree and it falls on it, the wood is that much closer to the truck.

 

[Dok]

I've always had POS wood trucks. For years I used a 83 Chevy S10 4x4 long bed. That was a terrible, terrible vehicle. 2.8L V8 with electronic carb and 1000mi of hose under the hood. Slip-o-matic tranny went out several times until GM finally figured a real fix. It was always breaking down and things jest fell apart. I went through a couple 2wd Rangers but 2wd didn't allow me to get to the wood, so I built a 70 Dodge W200 from several doner trucks. The Dodge had 6 different colors of body panel and dents everywhere, you knew it was a wood truck. I take the whole family cutting with me these days, so I have a 2001 F250 4x4 crew cab diesel. Its amazing how much more wood I can cut without all the weekends down wrenching on POS trucks!!!
Dok

 

[gtstang462002]

I had a 1990 ranger 4x2 with the 2.9L V6 loaded given to me by one of my customers because they didnt want to fix the rusted out brake lines. I put brake lines on it and 4 new tires and been haulin wood with it for 3 years now. It is an 8' bed and she will sit down in the back with a full load but will pull it down the road like there is no tomm all the while getting 20+mpg... I can't complain one bit about that truck... When I am picking up large loads I get the flatbed out with sides on it behind my expedition....

 

[AngelofDarkness]

The older Rangers were real troopers, they were a lot better made than the s-10's at that time. I see more of them on the road today than any 80's s-10's but I see way more older GM full size than Ford full sizes from the 80's.

The woods where I get most of my wood has a path too narrow for a full size truck, a Ranger would fit down it nicely though. We use a gas golf cart with a dump box and pull a lawn tractor cart with it, sometimes I will take a lawn tractor into the woods behind pulling another cart. It's kind of slow but it's only 1/4 mile back to the house.

 

[40YearHomelite]

I drive a '93 3.0L 2wd automatic every day. I just rolled past 235k today with no major repairs and still running strong. It's not great to go through the woods with no weight on the rear axle, but it'll haul a nice load of wood. In fact, I split a load today down by the pond and hauled it up to the house.

I also used an old '84 2.8L 4wd 4spd to drag stumps/logs when we were digging the pond a few years back. That mug would PULL!

I will certainly buy another Ranger!