2020 7.3 ford

[nativewolf]

Hoping to have the issue this year...lots of things that would make life easier.  First I need 8000 blueberry plants and a new irrigation system.  Then a new retail barn/event place, then a greenhouse...then maybe new SUV for the farm...a model X   ;D.  Thats a long list.

dont you know the only place real blueberrys are grown is maine? on the news last summer they interviewed one of the bigger outfits. they were going to harvest 25000 ac so i would assume they own at least 50000. since they harvest every other year. the off year they used to burn the fields now some use fail mowers. when i was in  high school i worked for a blue berry co before it was time to rake we did what they called kill bushing. spray the brush in the fields with herbicide and fuel oil lots of oil. today the fields are just as green as ever

I grew up close to blueberry fields of NC.  Organic matter on sand will grow good berries!  NJ, MI, ME, and NC used to be it but now FL is a big force with rabbit eyes specially breed to flower and set with little cold.  
Mine will be three highbush species with about a 6 week harvest period.  Hey got to take advantage of being close to DC, upick prices are more than the grocery.  

[mike_belben]

My brother is on a sandy mountaintop in central mass and has a very productive little blueberry patch with epic delicious berries.  Im jealous of his pancakes.  They beat my wild blackberry pancakes hands down.   Thinking theres got to be a way to sweeten up the blackberries. Theyve got a very short window between unripe, bitter and past ripe, bitter.  Maybe 1 or 2 days of sweet flavor. 

[snowstorm]

the berry biz has changed a lot here. the days of raking by hand are about over. the rocks got taken out so they can mechanical harvest. and with a tractor they can out run the bears. bears love berrys.  

[firefighter ontheside]

.What kind of mileage is a 7.3 gas engine gonna have?  Will it be better than a diesel?  I doubt it, but maybe.

I had a 2002 F250 with a 7.3.  I Loved that truck, but needed a bigger back seat.  Then a 2008 F250 with a 6.4.  That as a great truck.  New injectors at 150,000.

Now I've got an F350 with 6.7. Wanted a bigger truckk to pull my camper and logs.

[barbender]

nativewolf, if you want to go into CTL logging, you better dig deep and find your inner mechanical inclination!😁😁

[nativewolf]

nativewolf, if you want to go into CTL logging, you better dig deep and find your inner mechanical inclination!😁😁

:D I did...it is called service contract.  For small things like hoses, etc that is ok, for more important repairs it will be a purchased service contract...and new equipment.

[snowstorm]

be sure and let us know how that works out for you

[Skeans1]

nativewolf, if you want to go into CTL logging, you better dig deep and find your inner mechanical inclination!😁😁

:D I did...it is called service contract.  For small things like hoses, etc that is ok, for more important repairs it will be a purchased service contract...and new equipment.

Time is money and if they need to drive out to you from where ever two or three days can kill quick. New equipment is great till that payment is looking at you saying feed me or I'll eat you alive, a low hour used machine is going to be just as good or better plus no reason you can't get a service contract on one either.

[nativewolf]

Yep time is money.  I don't know..we have crap for mechanics locally.  I'm a forester/consultant not a mechanic.  My operators are not mechanics.  It is what it is.  I have to move faster, much faster if I am going to hit numbers i would like to see.  I was fortunate to get to see an emergency repair go bad and get resolved.  That was helpful, being there in the field when it was happening.  I know I might be down a day or two but I think I would be down a few days or months waiting on some local yahoo.  Right now I am missing my good buddy that recently passed away far too soon. But he's passed and I haven't found anyone else like him.  

We are actually looking at slightly used demo stuff, a hundred hours, etc. Anyway, back to the ford 7.3  the reason i am interested in the older low miles diesel ones is that they are reasonably trouble free in major components.  But they no longer look so cheap.

My old 1990 Hino looks better and better.  

[mike_belben]

Vehicle wise, sometimes the devil ya know is better than the one ya dont i guess.  No guarantees in life, just gotta keep chippin away at it anyhow. 

[Bruno of NH]

I read an article in the Yankee magazine that most of Maine's blueberry go in frozen food products and dry cereal. 
I plowed snow with a F350 first year 7.3 with stick shift for many years.
It would push some snow across the big parking lots and sream some hammering back in reverse .

[firefighter ontheside]

Biggest problem I remember with the 7.3 was the cam sensor, but that was an easy fix on the side of the road.

[snowstorm]

Biggest problem I remember with the 7.3 was the cam sensor, but that was an easy fix on the side of the road.

there is still an open recall on that

[ohiowoodchuck]

I got a 2000 model 7.3. The block cracked at the cylinder wall around 276k  I found another motor that was in a fire with 175k put some gaskets in it and set it back down in and fired it up. I done it on a weekend in the backyard. Wasnt a big deal at all  truck has 340k on it now. I think the drivetrain is going to outlast the body  oh well. This new 7.3 is a big block replacement for the v10 they discounted a few years back. Not everybody wants to own a diesel and are completely happy with a gas truck. I've had diesels for the last 16 years and I can tell you I've just about had enough. Between the dead dual batteries to the hard to start when it's cold out to the cold drive to work because it takes 45 minutes to get warm heat in the cab  the double the amount of oil and the to small of a unit bearing for the weight up front  I dont think it's really worth it anymore. Diesel use to be way cheaper then gas but now since every soccer mom owns one to haul groceries   it's always more expensive then gas. 

[nativewolf]

@ohiowoodchuck I hear you on the diesels.  In fact a large gas engine with good torque would likely be more than fine for me.  However, i wouldn't want to be owners int he first year or two, then I need for them to sit out and get tested for 3-4 years then I'd know if it is a dud or not and then I'd be willing to buy a new or used.  That puts that out 5 years or so and I need a truck (or two) this year.  I'll keep looking..

[ohiowoodchuck]

Everything I read about it sounded like a very durable engine with minimal maintenance. I believe they went back to pushrods and a timing chain instead of the overhead cams and timing belt. I'd try one but I'm not paying 70k for a truck. That's just ridiculous 

[firefighter ontheside]

Biggest problem I remember with the 7.3 was the cam sensor, but that was an easy fix on the side of the road.

there is still an open recall on that

I knew it was a problem with the truck, so I bought a cam sensor from an international dealer and carried it in the truck.  The sensor went,out at about 100,000 miles.  I bought another sensor at the IH dealer.  These 2 sensors were about $100.  A while later the recall came out and like a miracle the cam sensor could be bought for less than$30.

[Cub]

Talking about the 7.3 diesel I had a 94 f250 5 speed stick. Non turbo non di. Had the mechanical injection pump.  Truck burned with 252,000 on it. Guy bought the truck. Parked it for a year. Had problems with his 7.3. He  Pulled mine off the frame put his rebuilt heads on pump injectors intake and glow plugs on. That was 13 years ago. Still runs it every day. Last I heard he figured he's got about 800,000 on it. Still starts great and doesn't use any oil between 3,000 mile oil changes. Darn good engines. I miss that truck. 12 mpg no matter what you were doing with it. I actually found a few trucks with the same engine I'm considering looking at. 

[Cub]

All that aside it sounds like the 7.3 gas jobby they are coming out with sounds a lot like the ford 460 that they made for almost 30 years. Those were dynamite engines also. Just liked their gas. But like they say takes gas to pull stuff. No replacement for displacement!! :D

[ohiowoodchuck]

All that aside it sounds like the 7.3 gas jobby they are coming out with sounds a lot like the ford 460 that they made for almost 30 years. Those were dynamite engines also. Just liked their gas. But like they say takes gas to pull stuff. No replacement for displacement!! :D

I had a 460 in a 79 ford truck  its true you could pass and pull anything but a gas station. I remember kicking in that 750 Holley and watching the speedometer go up as fast as the gas gauge went down.

[BargeMonkey]

Local boneyard down the road has a stack of 7.3s there, engines outlive the trucks. The LLY in my 3500 has been the biggest money pit possible, never again, I'm in "headgasket denial" right now. 
 The 6.7 we have now goes down the road in a few weeks, I'm honestly impressed with that truck, it's got the power and brakes I wouldnt hesitate to go down the road with a 440 / 450 on the trailer. 

[ohiowoodchuck]

Local boneyard down the road has a stack of 7.3s there, engines outlive the trucks. The LLY in my 3500 has been the biggest money pit possible, never again, I'm in "headgasket denial" right now.
The 6.7 we have now goes down the road in a few weeks, I'm honestly impressed with that truck, it's got the power and brakes I wouldnt hesitate to go down the road with a 440 / 450 on the trailer.

Is it the 6.7 ford or cummins  I dont have experience with the 6.7 cummins  my buddy has a 6.7 powerstroke and I'm here to tell you it's the real deal  I had him go pick up my 440 since I was having trailer brake controller issues. It hauled it down the road like it wasnt even back there  he has even moved a couple jd 450 dozers with it  he said you could tell it was a load but the truck took it down the road like it was suppose to. 

[mike_belben]

If theyd have put 10 or more gears in any of the gutless ton trucks 30 years ago no one woulda had to wait this long or mortgaged a house to get one.   Its not like an auxiliary range gear is that hard to do.


370 gas jobs moved plenty of single screw paystars and old farm junk up and down these mountains since before asphalt.  If youve got the time, all it takes is more gears to go up and more brakes to come down.  

[Bruno of NH]

The 460 ford one ton bought new couldn't keep brakes or manifolds on it.
Dealer would put new manifolds on in one week it would crack and Leak.

[mike_belben]

Was it the back left corner shearing off bolts? I just read about this last night considering a 460 swap and i guess it was 2 different iron expansion rates.  Headers with a segmented flange or oversized holes was said to be the cure.