[rescue] What a load of...

[Kevin Fitzgerrell]

Francois Dion wrote:
<snip>
>
> The avalanche is a truck tough... What's a normal capacity for a full
> size pickup truck? 3000 lbs? I've asked around and several thought
> their pickups were only rated for 1500lbs in the bed, surely that cant
> be right.
>
My last truck was an old ('51) Ford F5 stakebed.  I was sad to sell it
when I left Alaska, but couldn't really take it to New Zealand...

The F-5's carrying capacity was truely staggering.  It was weighed
around 5000lb and was rated 14,000lb GVWR.  I seem to recall it was
also rated to tow a couple of trailers for a GCW of around 28,000lb.
It had a 100hp 239 cubic inch flathead V8.  It wouldn't go very fast
fully loaded, but it would go.  My recollection is that in first gear,
low range it would go around 2mph with the engine nearing redline.
When I bought it, it had been sitting for 15 years, and a stand of
aspens had grown up around it (and through it).  After getting it
started and getting some air in the tires I just drove it out - pushed
the aspens out of the way like they weren't even there.

I brought home scads of Sun gear in this, helped a friend bring home a
PDP11, drove my mini-stock car to the track on the weekends in the
back, hauled firewood, etc...  Great truck.

Not much of a story for rescues, because it's just not very hard to
get really big things in the back (especially compared to passenger
seats in a sedan).  The challenge was always getting things back out
of the bed without a loading dock or forklift.

Cheers,

Kevin Fitzgerrell