Homesteading vehicle, A cargo van??
 

Well, I have always had a truck of some sort. I like a flatbed the best as I tend to ding up a normal bed loading hay and such. I am looking at a cargo van now, thinking it will be useful around the farm. We had a suburban before, but it had a nice interior and was hard to haul anything without messing it up. We go get plants and such and by the time you get them home in the back of the truck they are sometimes beat up. Small goats and chickens, we either pull a trailer or use a cage or box in the back of the truck, but sometimes the temp and weather are factors. I am thinking a cargo van would be maybe handier for this. Rainy days can't work, but can't go get feed, because it gets wet in the back of the truck, not so if we had a cargo van. Anyway, I do need one for taking produce to F.M. and for that kind of thing. I am also planning to use it to haul my pigs to the butcher (in a pig box in the back)just wondering if anyone else used a van for their farm and what other uses it may have. Hard to justify a vehicle anymore that can just do one thing? BTW, I am looking at a Extended version which has an 11' inside cargo area, seems kinda big, but usable. The normal ones just look small inside?? Thanks for any input or ideas for different farm uses or what you do with yours.

I have a full size (not extended) 12 passenger van for my work and sometimes play. I couldn't live without it. I can haul anything without worrying about the rain or wind messing things up. With the front two rows of seats left in I still have almost 7 feet of hauling space. The only downside is the gas mileage. I get about 11 MPG on a good day. I can easily put $100 worth of the gas in the thing quite often. Good luck.

I think it can be a great vehicle for a homestead!!

Hauling things you don't want to get wet or windblown is a biggie. That could be animal feed. It could be produce going to market. It could be building supplies that you just don't want out in the weather. It could be air conditioned or heated for animal hauling if the weather outside is unbearably hot or cold.

There are lots of possibilities.

I believe that there were E350 vans that were even 4WD, probably others.

It may not be what most people see when they daydream about the perfect homestead, but hey, it might be very practical! FWIW, when we bought our last minivan, I did kinda have in the back of my mind that the back of it would work well for hauling produce to market if we should happen to find ourselves wanting to do so.

:)

I have the E350 15 passenger extended van , I use it because i have it , I bought it when my youngest was born I had a standard cab 4x4 truck at the time 2 adults and a car seat were a full bench , the 15 passenger van with 1 seat in still holds 5 and a stack of plywood full 4x8 sheets


I would be looking at a sprinter van like the fedex delivery guys use because you can stand up , they have heavier suspension ton and a 1/4 i think and the doors get out of your way

now for a vans major down fall , 1 wheel drive , you sink one of the rear tires in the mud and you can go fine something to pull you out , not much good for getting into the woods to pull wood out , but if your careful you can go a lot fo places with a 2 wheel drive van

If your just outright hauling lots of stuff pull a trailer with it , but for keeping your tools and stuff dry and accessible it is very hard to beat

dropping a 100 on gas is easy I also get 11mpg so pulling a loaded down trailer and dropping to 8 really doesn't hurt that much more


that said if you already have a truck , a topper is the way to go gets your stuff dry without a hole different vehicle

a few veterinarians have had vans converted to 4x4 but I am not aware of a production 4x4 full size van made any time int he last 30 years

but the vet boxes with heat and cool for medicines got better and now i see them all in trucks again as they are just much more available

A few years ago we bought an extended base minivan and it has earned it's keep. We looked at cargo vans but I prefer the visibility and turning radius of the minivan and it averages 20mpg - much better than the trucks or cargo vans. I can fit full sheets of plywood in it and I forget how many bales of hay. Also has a tow package if I need to add the trailer and if I really have to I can vacuum out the back and put seats in :)

Our Astro passenger van conversion gets between 15 and 18 mpg, 13 to 15 towing. I removed all but the two front seats and fitted it with a removable camping setup. It is the most multi-purpose vehicle I've ever owned. There is a sweet spot between functionality and operating costs, and this choice fits us to a T. It has enough power for a cargo trailer, enough open interior space for small loads, and allows for overnight camping or full rest stops. Even my tiny 4 cylinder Datsun B-210 rarely got 30 mpg, so at a gas cost of less than double a cramped car that wouldn't stand a chance in a crash, I get multiple times the space, more convenience, and greater visibility and safety.

Years ago I bought an 6 year old Fed-Ex box van, 12' box, diesel engine. High mileage, but ran fair. Paid $2300 for it, and put another $1300 into injectors, belts, and misc. Ran great after that.

Drove it as a part time delivery truck for 5 years, and sold it for $4000. Wish I still had it, it would be perfect for sheep.

You might check with Fed-Ex whse and see if anybody's ready to sell. They're independent contractors, and supply their own vehicles.

ETA: Biggest aggravation I had was getting the Fex-Ex letting off the sides, they'd changed logo size & colors so I had 2 layers to strip off.

...............Chevy made a 3/4 ton van with the Duramax 6.6 diesel , with reduced hp and torque ratings but very fuel efficient as well . It is probably available in a one ton , 3500 series . , fordy

We had a 1996 Ford E-250 Extended Body Van for years and now have a 2004 Ford E-350 Extended Body Van (15 passenger). They are both the same size - my understanding is that the difference is in the transmission, engine and brakes are stronger in the E-350. Both work very well. Both are 19.5' long total bumper to bumper. That seems long at first but after a while my wife got used to driving it and now parallel parks it without a problem.

The pig area makes up the back 9'(?) or so up to the middle doors. The back section gets used to haul the pigs and to back haul things like crates of apple pomace from the cider mill and totes of spent barley from the local brew pub. It's big enough to haul two full pallets.

The middle section is for the chest refrigerator and coolers. A bench seat goes in there when we're transporting additional people.

The front section is for the pilot and copilot/navigator.

Here is a post showing the current pig carrier which evolved through several versions to stainless steel:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2014/03/10/s...l-pig-carrier/

Here is what the wooden version looked like before we put in the stainless steel pan:

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/2012/08/25/long-days-night/

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2011/10/11/archimedes-farewell/

The old wood one is under the stainless steel. The wood version had fiberglass and epoxy to catch liquids from the pigs (urine and manure) and then dump them out the back on tailgaters. But that cracked and leaked after several years. The stainless steel assures that we don't get leaking of the fluids into the van body where they could rot the plain steel.

If a pig takes a dump it smells like manure for a minute but then the air clears. Good news is pigs on pasture have ---- that smells better. No joke. I think it is the extra fiber in their diet. It is more like cow manure than the classic pig ----. A drip edge takes fluids out under the doors and over the bumper. Do not tailgate.

Air comes from the front windows. The pigs have air conditioning and heating. This is one advantage of a van over a trailer - they get the same treatment as the driver. In our cold climate this is an issue in the winter as it is a three hour drive to the butcher each week. We give them ice in the hot weather and we drive at night most times or in the cool of the morning. This is important.

The pig carrier is as big as possible between the wheel wells. This means it does not slide in and out easily but rather is permanently installed. The cage is bolted to the body of the van. The pan sits within the cage and is bolted to the cage along the top rim. It is also glued in with spray foam to lock it securely.

Note the strong cage protection on the door inner panels and windows. Otherwise the pigs may rip out the door panels and wiring. This also keeps their noses off the door handle and lock.

Here are more pictures of the various vans and boxes we've used over the years:

http://images.google.com/images?q=si....com+van%20box

As to size, we've wondered if we should have made it bigger. It would be nice if the van were 4' longer. This size lets us take six finisher pigs easily, seven pigs if they're not too big, fewer if we're taking a big sow or big boar. A couple of roasters can be carried additionally. I figure that it costs us $100 to drive to the butcher and back. It is a full day trip - that's just the gas and van cost, not driver time. Thus we want to be taking at least four pigs and six is much better economics for us. Our goal is ten finisher pigs a week plus a few roasters but for now we are bottle necked by transport. If we had to we could pull a trailer but really don't want to.

Cheers,

-Walter

I had a GMC 3500 (1 ton) with a diesel...can't remember what engine that was. I used that van for everything that would fit in it. I paid $750 for it well worn out and used it for a couple years. The transmission eventually kicked the bucket so I scrapped it. I had an Astro/Safari (same vehicle, but can't remember which it was) too, and that was really handy. I think it's a half ton, but the AWD makes it more useful for a lot of things. The 2wd 3500 was horrible on anything slick, especially if it was empty. But I didn't use it much in the winter anyway.

.............most likely was a duramax 6.6 ! , fordy

I appreciate everyone's input, it has been real helpful. I have a 4 door 4x4 ford 1 ton flatbed, and trailers, so not really intending to pull anything. I am mainly wanting one to take my pigs to the next town over (40 miles away) to the butcher, then have room to have a fridge/cooler to bring the processed meat home for CSA deliveries. We have also been taking produce up to the local FM and it is hard in the pickups, even using the back seat to get coolers and crates of produce etc. in. I am supposed to go look at the one I found tomorrow. 2006 Ford E250 with the bigger 5.4 gas engine and the extended body, 260,000 miles. The guy says it has 11' cargo room area to the back of the front seats. He also has 2 extra bucket seats that can be bolted in behind the front seats for 4 passengers. That will come in handy. I do not know how many times I have planned work then it rains and I think I can use this time to go to town and get feed, then I remember how much of a pain it is to keep it dry in the back of the truck to get it home!!
Gas mileage is not a big deal, not that it does not matter, just I expect a large vehicle hauling a load to use some gas. My diesel 1 ton gets about 14 mpg and my wife's dodge pu gets about 16, so never have been used to high mileage vehicles.
BTW I have looked at the Sprinter type vans, and they do look nice, but man are they ever expensive. I can almost get a new ford van for the cost of a used one.

Walter the 250/350 have the same drivetrain only differences may be springs/blocks in the rear depending on optioning. The real difference is some states you pay more for a vehicle registration, insurance, etc if the weight exceeds a certain amount (usually 10,000). This is why they offer the 250 option to keeo you under the weight limits.

I had a van and LOVED. Ford e250 regular length. I really like it had a bulkhead behind the driver seat to keep stuff in the back in the back!! I like the low deck height, security, dryness, can access cargo from the front seats, slider, and rear doors not just the tailgate like a truck. Also had a much sturdier roof and roofracks could carry alot.

I am now in a f250 with cap becuase i needed 4wd. 4wd vans are rare and highly coveted.

If i where you id go to a lot and look at a 2014 e350 (or 250 if your state taxes 350 higher) this is the last year for them and you can find a good deal. Thus model has been made since 92 with only minor changes and has all the kinks worked out. Id much rather grab one of these than be a beta tested for one of the new euro style vans. If you are going to be towing much id get the v10. Cost you about 2mpg empty and get about the same towing as the 8 but will be much easier to drive if you are towing much more than a 3000lbs

I have an all wheel drive Astro conversion van. The gas mileage is not great and I wouldn't want to use it for a daily driver for that reason if I lived any distance to work, but that aside, it is awesome for hauling, towing, etc. Lots of room in there. Seats are removable or you can put them to haul more people. It has two captain's chairs in the second row so there is good space between the seats. I have crammed an incredible number of 2x10's in that space. They slide right in between the seats. :)

Our farm vehicle is an 2005 Ford E150 passenger van that we have stripped the seats out of and added a thick rubber bed liner in their space. We run all terrain tires on it year round and it hauls just about anything we need and what it doesn't hold goes on the 6X12 tandem trailer that we pull behind it. Gas mileage is about 15 hauling the trailer and 18-20 without. We got it for 11,000 as a retired railroad employee hauler and it has earned it's price and then some. We think about trading it in for a truck but then realize that with it, our cargo is completely protected from the weather and our dogs can travel with us when we hit the road.

It has been worth it's weight in gold as we retire, close our second house and business and merge everything under one roof at our homestead.

Its only drawback is that it is a beast to drive in a heavy wind. You feel like you are riding in a row boat on rough water. Other than it's that and it's thirst for gas, it's a keeper.

Quigley does 4x4 conversions for vans. We looked at getting ours done but never did. I've had an extended van for over 20 years. Not only can you haul all kinds of stuff without it getting wet but it also serves as a hard side camper on road trips. We had the last one Rhino-lined.

Ford does have issues with the floor rotting near the welds in between the wheel wells. Check the underneath of any van you look at and if you do buy one, clean and undercoat the welds so it will last longer. Yes, mileage sucks, I get 11 mpg if the wind is behind me.

You can put curtains on the inside of a passenger van. In Ohio the passenger vans are considered cars, which are quite a bit cheaper for license plates. The cargo vans are considered trucks. Just a little tip you might want to check on.

Why not get a truck with regular bed and get a cheap camper shell for it. 4 clamps will hold it on and be easy to remove when you don't need the cover. Best of both worlds, the shell will keep thing dry and enclose the bed. 2 people can lift it off when not needed.

I went from a van to truck with camper top setup.
Downsides;
Tailgate is way higher
Only can access cargo from rear, have to unload everything to get at front of cargo area
Cant reinstall seats and carry passengers
Camper tops leak.... Period

Upsisdes my old van would have had me walking up the driveway alot of times this winter!

The upside for me for a van is the fact that the bed is lower to the ground so easier loading pigs. I also like the idea I can heat and cool the entire space as heat stress on hogs can be an issue. My vet told me there was a truck load of hogs that broke down. he said when they arrived an hour later they had a 70% loss due to heat stress. I already have a truck and I have had camper tops on pickups before and do not care for crawling up into a truck with a topper on it. I have trailers and trucks to tow them, just want something better suited for FM produce and taking pigs to the butcher and picking up the packaged meat. Yes I can haul the pigs in the back of my truck, but then where does the meat go? In the back seat? I intend to mount a electric freezer in the van.

The reason we went with the size van we did was my wife has to make a delivery into a parking garage with an ~8' height limit. Our van touches the bar as it is. I had wanted to get her a higher top but that would have been too high making every week extra work for her. I saw a nice used ambulance that I almost got her for deliveries.

The good thing about those euro style van is that they have been around in Europe for such a long time that they aren't beta test anymore … they are workhorse, have been design as such and are driven across all Europe everyday … the only beta test is not the van but your clue less run of the mill mechanic at your dealership …

How tall are those euro-style vans? We have one at work for delivering mail and packages and it looks taller than a full-size van. I believe they are popular in Europe for camping conversions.

I drove full-size vans for 20 years before down-sizing to minivans. That was mainly for dogsports and camping. I miss the big vans but not the fuel bill.

We can get several adult sheep or a number of lambs in a pen in the back of a minivan. They like riding in style.

Peg

Mine is a Ford windstar, 3.0L engine. Used to be a postal vehicle, for transferring mail between Post Offices . Bars/grates on all the cargo area windows, and a locking door between the driver's area and the cargo area, so the goats going to market don't come up front to help me drive. As it's a former gov't vehicle, it is bare bones - no frills. No radio, no interior lights, no AC. But that's okay. I use the old-fashioned 2-65 Air Conditioning - roll down both windows and drive 65 mph. In addition, one needs the key to get into the rear hatch or the side sliding door to the cargo area. No worries about goats, feed, or lumber being stolen while I'm in the grocery store. It's been a super farmstead vehicle for me!

I would have LOVED to see the look on peoples faces when you began unloading pigs from an ambulance. :D

I bought a used 2002 E-250 as a mobile tool box while I build our house. It has the 5.4, and has been pretty good. I get 18 MPG empty at 70 MPH on my 'commute' from SC to FL. It gets around 15 MPG in town. It will haul a lot- 2000 lbs just smooths out the ride. 10' boards fit in between the seats, and you can snake a 12' if you guide it up past the dog house. In the areas I have lived, used work vans are much, much cheaper than equivalent pick-ups.

One thing I don't like about the 5.4 engine is the coil and spark plug set-up. The coils go bad after 125K miles or so, and Ford wants $300 EACH to replace them. There are 8 of them, which would be $2400 to replace them all. That's more than I paid for the truck! Independent shops will replace them for $100 or so, but I learned to replace my own. The spark plugs are under the coil, so they are a major pain to replace. Luckily, they last a long time. Another weakness is where the spark plug screws into the head. There are only a few threads, so over a long time, the spark plugs can loosen up, and eventually strip out. I've had one go so far- cost $100 to have fixed, plus the cost of a spark plug and a coil. The coil gets destroyed when the spark plug pops out. The noise it makes when it goes, and the resulting engine noise is something you'll never forget.

I don't meant to discourage you; I'm sure the other makes of vans and trucks each have their own weaknesses. All in all, I like my van, and would buy another if I needed one. I'm going back to a pick-up soon, an old one that I know how to repair, as I hate working on computerized engines. I'm done running back to FL, and don't need the enclosed space any more.

Ford vans are now similar to those European vans. We looked at a 2015 today. They have only a v-6 engine and they don't hold or tow as much as the old full frame vans. I want one! I'll probably wait 5 or so years until my current ride is on it's last legs then buy a used one. I just don't have $35,000 cash laying around right now.

Both GMC and Chevy both make 4WD vans.

Well, I bought the van. 2006, E-250 with 260,000 miles for $3800.00. I just had new tires put on it and it does have a shudder while cruising at 45 to 55 with no load, which I am told is a sign of a weak coil causing a misfire. I have priced parts and it looks like you can get a full set of Accel coils for around $300.00 or OEM coils for about $450.00 plus another $100.00 for a new set of plugs. With the high miles and this being the only apparent issue it has I am thinking I will just replace all the coils, plugs and wires and know that it should be good for another 100,000 miles, as far as those parts go anyway.

I bought and made minor repairs to an old Ford cargo van to use as a truck around the place, and it worked great for several years. Think I had about $200 in it, and it was still working fine when I made the decision to sell it and get a "real" truck. Still kick myself for not keeping it, but in our county a vehicle has to pass a yearly emissions test. The old van was getting suspect on meeting that requirement.

Muleman, the shudder might also be unbalanced tires or it might be a tire that has a bulge, a weak spot (dangerous).

Mine would shudder around that same speed when a coil was going bad. It's right after it shifts to the next gear, and the engine is at its lowest RPM. Rainy weather would tend to trigger coils going south.

My '02 has always had a high speed shimmy between 65 and 70. Had the tires checked, rotated, balanced- no difference. I just don't drive it in that range more than I have to.

A shutter at certain speeds can also be a driveshaft issue. Check the u-joints. They aren't an expensive fix if one is loose.

To those who aren't hauling animals, I thought I'd weigh in on our vehicle. We constantly are battling snow, and I also have a dump trailer that I have been "landscaping" with. The land is also pretty raw here. Because of this, we needed something with factory 4wd and good ground clearance. We opted for an Excursion. Tons of space, diesel with mpg averaging 18. I'm sure someone could haul animals with it, but it's similar to a pickup in that it's "deck" is pretty high off the ground compared to a van. It's been great with all my construction projects, and will be awesome when we start taking food to the farmers market, as the back has separate climate control. Just another option for those who prefer an SUV platform.

The shudder is definitely in the engine. I actually found a good thread on this on a ford forum. Weak coils are a common problem with the Ford 5.4 engine. Their life expectancy is about 125,000 miles. I figure at 260 they have probably been changed once and are nearing the end of life again. I wish I would have had this info. prior to purchase. I may still have gotten it, but would have had more leverage to deal on it. I really figured it was just a simple bad plug or wire, but all indications are a weak coil. Parts using OEM Motorcraft parts, which are said to be the best coils will be about $500 as I have found them on the net at a little better prices than I had originally found them.

my 2001 E350 just had the coil go at 189k $132 dollars for my local mechanic to fix it

I dropped it off in the morning asked for an oil change and told him what was going asked him to take a look, i called back late afternoon ,normally he calls me back soon as he knows but they had gotten very busy with walk ins he said it is the coil , i asked how much he said 132 i asked if he had time to do it , he said that was the easy part , it is easier to change it and see if that fixed the problem that try and diagnose it any other way so it was already done come down and pay and pick it up

i think if there is one down fall to the E350 is that the front coil springs sag out and the shocks are left to partially hold the load so it wears the insode edges of the tires out over time , my frst set f tires made it 88k the second got me to 170k and i am still on the third set the may only end up seeing 230

You're getting a lot more miles out of tires than we do. We use a studded snow tire most of the year and a large tread tire the rest of the year - this is so we can always get home up the mountain. This maybe why we don't get as many miles as these tires tend to wear more quickly. Interesting to know about the front coil springs issue.

We use our Chevy Express extended cargo van for everything -- and I mean everything.

We transport our small ponies to competitive and recreational drives, and it could easily handle a Welsh or possibly larger pony. We have a floor protection system involving tarps, plywood and wood shavings, and we've never had a problem with assorted liquids of the equine kind.

We camp in it regularly (after cleaning it, hehe...) and it makes the supreme wimp camping van.

We regularly haul building supplies, plants, feed, fertilizer and just about everything else for our farm.

My husband is a musician and uses it to haul his entire sound system to gigs.

One thing to note: if you are lookin at an extended, be sure that the wheel base is extended, not just the back end of the vehicle. The latter is the cause of many bad accidents.

Ours has no windows in the cargo area, which has its ups and downs.

There are newer model cargo vans with 4WD, including some of the Chevy Express vans (not ours, however).

Prior to this van, we had a Ford Windstar, and prior to that a GMC Safari. Both were outstanding minivans.

This won't directly answer the OP's question, but it might help somebody. You can get away with a pretty small van if you put one of these racks on top:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...01103673_o.jpg

That's me bringing home twelve cartons of oak flooring, plus some insulation. They're too long to go inside the van, but on the rack, no problem. In fact, that's also true for everything from plywood to 2"x4"x16' lumber. Strap it on top, no problem.

(Inside carries about one-and-a-half face cords of firewood, or 48 trash bags of sawdust bedding, or six passengers.)

Is this a SERIOUS farm vehicle? No.
Is it an unbelievably versatile light homesteading vehicle? Oh yes.


(Edit: If money were no object, I'd absolutely drive an E350. I had one for work for a while, and you can basically do everything with it. Loved it. But money IS an object, so this van cost $1600, and the rack was free because it needed repairing, and we get around 22mpg day-in-day-out. This won't be the answer for everybody, but it's definitely the answer for me.)

If it's got 4WD or dual wheels or tandem axles, it will be particularly good.

ETA: that roof rack pictured above - one major problem in usage - it isn't tied or restrained to stop the load shifting forwards or back. You have to do a panic stop, or you get rear-ended, and your problems multiply.

I just thought I would give a little update, as I have been surprised by some of the repair cost, so far. I am gone to work so had my wife take it to the local Ford dealer right after I had 4 brand new tires put on. Their estimated cost for front end alignment a few dollars short of $300.00, Yes, you heard right!! They said it cost more because you had to break the ball joints lose to shim them?? I had her call the Ford place in the next town over and ask them, $34.95, could be more if they needed any parts or ran into problems, would not give an exact cost. Finally called a independent shop I have used before and he said $54.95. She ask about popping the ball joints lose to shim them and they said could be an extra $25 to $50 per side if they had to do that, but the entire job would not cost over $150.00, She made an appointment for Monday.

How can there be such a wide range of coat for the same service in a similar market area??? $300.00, just for a front end alignment, that is crazy!!!

Now I had her price all new wires, plugs and coils and they priced here $1000.00 for the job and parts. I priced the parts on line at retail and it was about $500.00 to $600.00 so $400 labor to put in new plugs and wires and coils??? How long does it take to do this?? Surely it does not take that long?? I mean the coil is on top of the plug. I will not be using the Local dealer for the repairs, I told her to just go pick it up and pay for the time it took them to do the diagnostic and estimate.