This 1968 Ford F-600 grain hauler is about as far removed from a vintage mini bike or snowmobile as it can get, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like it as much or want it as much as I want some of the little oddball vehicles shown here on Barn Finds. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Fort Morgan, Colorado, and they’re asking $3,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mike F. for the tip!
If I had a nickel (do they still make those?) for every time I’ve driven through Fort Morgan in the last two decades, I’d buy this truck and have it nut-and-bolt restored. Fort Morgan is in the heart of agricultural country in Colorado, so it makes sense that this cool truck would be located there.
Driving around the U.S. as much as I do every year, I sometimes fantasize about having a truck like this, a bigger-than-usual medium-duty truck. These rigs aren’t made for speed, but they just look cool to me. I love the up-sized look of them compared to all of the poseur jacked-up trucks that a lot of “tough guys” drive. Then I see them ahead of me at a Starbucks drive-thru as I’m about to order a brewed coffee, and I can hear their order. It’s invariably “Yeah, give me a venti, skinny, caramel oat milk latte with…” and I just roll my eyes and realize that even tough guys need to come back to earth sometimes.
I would never need a grain box on the back, and I’d want to shorten the chassis a bit to a regular pickup-sized wheelbase. Speaking of that, if you haven’t noticed, the fifth-gen Ford medium-duty trucks used the hood and cab of a regular pickup, but with wider fenders for the wider stance. The wider grille helps make it a cohesive appearance from the front, rather than if they had used a regular light-duty grille, and it really gives it a bold look compared to the fourth-gen medium-duty trucks.
The fifth-generation Ford medium-duty F-Series was made for the 1967 model year, way up until the end of 1979. If you’ve got actual work to do, this is the one you want. In case you’re wondering, here’s what it looks like inside that grainless bed. A couple of the cab clearance lights are broken, but that’s the least of your worries, as this truck needs a radiator and isn’t currently in running condition.
I believe this truck has power steering, and that would sure be a welcome feature for a big truck with what I’m guessing is the longest wheelbase of 194 inches, especially when it’s loaded with grain or other crops or just general stuff. How about that seat! It’s a thing of beauty, much nicer than I imagined the seat would look in this tough farm truck. I believe the little switch under the left side of the bench seat is for an auxiliary gas tank?
You can’t see it in the photo above, but in this one, I believe that extra switch on the 4-speed manual shift lever is for the 2-speed axle that was standard on the F-600, and also on the F-700, F-750, F-800, and F-8000 trucks. The underside looks good, with just some regular surface rust on the heavy frame components and other parts. A solid front axle was used in place of the Twin-I-Beam suspension on light-duty F-Series trucks.
I assumed this truck would have the 300-six, but this appears to be Ford’s 330-cu.in. OHV V8, with 190 (gross) horsepower and 304 gross lb-ft of torque when new. The seller says it currently isn’t in running condition due to needing a radiator, but it sure looks like this nice truck could be back in action again without a lot of work. Hopefully our Ford and/or truck experts (Bob, Howard, Geo, Dave, Stan, etc.) will chime in about anything I’ve missed on this $3,000 F-600.
I’m with you, Scotty. Up here in Michigan, we’re in sugar beet land, and I see old mediums getting awakened from their slumber every fall for harvest time. Invariably, they have exhaust leaks and wobbly rims, but I love seeing them out on the roads. I’ve often thought about buying one just to commute in every once in a while, just to take up 15 spots in the parking lot for fun.
Aaron, I never knew Michigan was sugar beet land! I went to college in Fargo (NDSU), and there were horizon-to-horizon acres of sugar beets. I don’t know if anyone would notice you taking up extra parking spots; most people don’t pay attention to driving anymore, let alone parking lot lines.
this in a parking spot would be no more offensive (actually cool to park near) than the trendy F350, Rams and some Chevy/GMC beefed up daily driver/shopping cart versions that the “tough guys” seem to think deserve the same space as a SmartCar. Typically persons driving a rig like this realize and respect there are others on the road and “share the space” with consideration. Yes, I would love to have it, every 81yo dude needs one that gives him a rolling protective shield of steel while competing in traffic or the parking lot. The old city dude with country aspirations.
Ha! For several years we lived in northwest Wyoming, and we didn’t even know sugar beets were “a thing” until living there. Aaron your phrase “awakened from their slumber” is absolutely correct. Plus, their drivers… we had an 80+ year old friend who was annually pressed into duty. I learned to give them a wide berth.
Aaron!!! We MUST carpool together if you did that!! That would be a blast. Nothing to add to your write up Scotty other than a huge thank you and I enjoyed it. It would be a blast to get this up and running again. ( wait…… Scotty …….. no crew cab?.? No drop top??? Lol just kidding . Thanks again Scotty!! I enjoyed it!!!
I’m ready! I’ve thought about it a thousand times. :)
Ha! They actually made a crew cab, Dave, I think?
https://classicbroncos.com/forums/attachments/img_1688-jpg.359788/
https://forddaily.net/attachments/1979-ford-f-600-factory-crew-cab-4×4-2-jpg.13721/
Good Grief Scotty!!! I didn’t realize. Here ya go Aaron, we can carpool with Scotty too now!!! We have to pick up Bob….. Stan…. Howard…… Geomechs……Nevadahalfrack…….. If I missed a name please forgive me. This is fun!!! Wonder if it’ll fit thru the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts???
Road trip! Where are we goin’?
I can’t say I know much about this generation of medium duty Ford trucks, other than to say that I think they are very cool. They were around, doing oil field and farm duty, but I just didn’t have much opportunity to get first-hand experience around them.
I always liked their clean, I-mean-business look. I do remember when this generation arrived, thinking “where are the integrated turn signals?” The answer was, of course: the fender-mounted units get the job done just fine.
Looks just like the truck 🚚 you’d see on a farm back in the day SG. Workhorse. V8, 3 pedals, 2 sticks, huge steering wheel👍.. as for coffee and donuts Dave… Medium black ☕️ , and an old fashioned 🍩.
Nice old truck! Mid-West cattle/grain combo body would make a small farmer like me a real nice truck!
Not much use for a grain body, but I’d bet there’s a PTO provision on the trans. Then you could put a roll back wrecker body on and haul projects home. The wife would be so pleased with all the money saved versus hiring it done.
Our small town of 800 ran 9 school busses from the local Ford dealer, 7 of them had this nose. I was a bus crazy kid dreaming of someday being the driver. Never did drive a bus but did eventually become a truck driver.
That ol’ girl just needs a few touches to be perfect:
A whole bunch a them chicken lights over the roof and down the bed sides, then twin 4″ chrome smoke stacks, with tip outs, about cab height, for sure some a them chrome girly mudflap weights, gotta have some chromium pointy lug nut covers, and tint them winders extra dark so as nobody gonna see ya in it…
Better get the shifter that rubs on the headliner while you’re at it. And a big cowboy hat.
Its splitting hairs what was more popular, this or the Chevy C60. These trucks were on the low end of the HD models, as F500s were considered top of the lighter duty trucks. This thankfully does have PS, that corny looking unit with a cooling coil around it, and represents what 90% of smaller farms had. Typically, used only in Spring and Fall, they generally have low miles. These are the trucks, the kids took out on Sat. night when the folks went to town, to see how fast they could get it going. Loaded, it was a slow ride, but in farmer lingo, “what’s the rush”? Something missing, however, a hoist. Certainly not rare, every farm had one, and in many cases, still do. They had a bit of pride, as I think that shiny grill was extra, most I saw were painted.
Even though there is a V8, It is hard to imagine how sluggish these trucks are. And that empty! The size of the box is far bigger than what the truck could carry in dirt of other heavy material. Perhaps brush?
They are very utilitarian and handy to go to the dump. However I dont see any provision for a dump bed, no PTO lever. Perhaps electric/Hydraulic on the column? The unloading process is much worse than the loading part and greatly reduces the usefulness of this truck. It has a small gate in the back for grain, but I cant see how it would be dumped… Perhaps that is why it survived, not much it was good for?
Nice example, pretty clean. Old tires are going to cost a grand to replace if you can find that size still.
Don’t know about the price, cant figure out what it could be used for.
Hey Jay and Howard, if you look to the left of the steering column you’ll see an orange knob, that’s the cable for the hydraulics, all the way out for up, halfway to hold, in for down. On the right of the column is a heavy T handle for the PTO and what looks like a brake controller for trailer brakes. Depending on who installs the body a lot of trucks like this would have 2 cables side by side under the edge of the dash, one for the PTO, the other for the hoist. These Mid-West and Knephide combo bodies are common as dirt around here, barley in the spring, corn in the fall, put the slat sides in the pockets on the side boards and haul cattle the rest of the year.
I don’t know how many grain buyers still have them, but many had a hoist you drove the front wheels of the truck onto and it lifted the front of the truck to unload.