tow vehicle

G'day Barb and John, Wow ! A startracker ...never seen one in the flesh only pics. From what I saw at Cania there are plenty of Toyotas and Patrols pulling BT's. I was a little biased towards the F250 especially after towing a BT with one and really didnt consider anything else. I might just add I have a little Subaru for around town. If I had to only have one vehicle I would honestly consider the Cruiser TD now after seeing the admiral job they do (post Cania) even with a 21fter. As far as fuel goes when hooked up my F250 is using around 22lt per 100 km with the BT at 3000kgs. I think the Crusiers do slightly better at around 18-20 lt per 100 km albeit a bit slower ...sorry still cant resist a dig ..[smile] BlueMountains BT will have some figures for the Cruiser TD and with BT on as George and Helga went from BlueMts to Cania and back with a newie. Welcome to the Group. Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ... Do it Easy ... Tow a Bushtracker

We have a 21ft BT and used to tow it with a 4.2 L T/D Landcruiser and it used 25litres per 100 km travelling at 95 to 100km/h. We now tow it with a F250 7.3lt twin cab and get 20lt per100 km. When not towing the Landcrusier got about 8.5 Km/Lt and the F250 gets about 7Km/Lt. We also have a second car a Corolla to do the shopping in. Power wise and tow stability wsie the Long wheel base and big motor, makes the F250 in a class of its own when it comes to towing. The Landruisers and Patrols do the job well, its just that the F250's do it a lot easier. We wouldn't be without our shower and toilet and full van, and a 21 ft Bushtracker makes a great motel or second home on wheels. Brian

Dear Barbara We purchased a 18 footer at the end of August and our choice of tow vehicle was the Ford all 7.3 liters of it because. I have always beleived my foot was destined to sit on top of V8s. But the real reason was the economics (we are primary producers & I am led to believe that it also applies to other legal registered business) but the Ford F250 is legally capable of carring in excess of 1 ton which legally exempts it from GST, all running costs including fuel and is not subject to Fringe Benefits Tax. Added to this Ford Australia gave us a considerable Fleet Owners discount (again because we are Primary Producers) resulting in the veheicle purchase being well under the price of the larger 4+4 waggons that do not legally qualify because they are not 1 ton rated. It is also interesting to note some of the fuel figures quoted from time to time through these columns which backs my arguement of horses for courses and that there is no subsitute for cubic inches when you want to put the foot down or in our case pull some weight. It has taken a while but I starting to get the hang of how to correctly put a message into these dicussions. It was far more stressful with communications back in the days of party lines. Someone might like to comment as to whether we have it all correct re BOG name etc we know that was not the case to start with. Roger & Cherryle

Roger, It looks pretty good to me. You will now have a lot of people wishing that they were primary producers. When I bought my F250 because they were very new to Australia and there was over 3 months waiting list on them so Ford weren't too keen on giving many discounts. Brian

Barbara,
I have recently contacted Bushtracker as we are thinking of getting a 19 or 20' van.
We have a GU Patrol 4.2TD and I asked them about it and they reckon that model Patrol is the 2nd most popular towing vehicle.
When I was up in North Qld this year we came across a cab chassis towing a 20ft Bushtracker so I got to talk to them (at Cairns) I then saw them again at Laura and asked them which way they came.
They had done the Cape Tribulation Rd towing the bushtracker!! (for those who haven't been on that road it is pretty steep and narrow).
They said power was never a problem.
Will

Brian Our Ford is a late December 2001 plate purchased early 2003. Maybe we were lucky because it is a single cab, but this is what we wanted and we did not have to sacrifice anything for a subsitute in the order, it was delivered as requested. It looks as if we did the about thing, bought the vehicle first then the van. I might add that we are over the moon about both