I don’t think I will ever get tired of all the great old farm trucks that seem to be coming out of barns all over America. From pick ups to flatbeds to dump trucks and more, these are great pieces of American iron that were almost always well cared for by small farm farmers who needed to preserve their investments in the machinery their work relied on. They often have low miles on them, having spent much of their time just going back and forth to town or from farm to grain mills or other day to day journeys. Even in areas where vehicles usually rust away from road salt and snow, farm trucks seem to have survived pretty well.
So here we have a very solid 1949 Ford F-5 for sale here on craigslist in Mayville, western New York state (very far west, Mayville is northwest of Jamestown.) Not many pictures in this ad, unfortunately, but what’s presented shows a solid truck in very decent condition. I really like the large grille guard on the front, and the condition of the stakes on the bed make me think this truck has been used in the recent past, despite it being claimed as a barn find. Maybe not necessarily long term storage in that barn in this case.
Very clean dashboard. How is the seat though? F-5’s are 1 and 1/2 ton trucks that in 1949 were offered in standard and cab over configurations. You could get either the 226 ci or the 239 ci flathead V-8 (a six cylinder engine was not available, at least according to the sources I have found) and either a 3 speed or one of two different 4 speed transmissions were available drivetrain choices.
Mileage on this particular F-5 is claimed at a low 33,000 miles (less than 500 miles per year of its long life!), it’s V-8 powered too, with the ever popular flathead aboard.
The seller says that all the trim is present, the glass is good (not cloudy as so often is the case with old trucks) except for a broken wing window. Not much rust is visible. This last picture, a bit muddy, does show a pretty clean view of under one wheel well.
Seller says this is a dump body, and also a stake truck, no picture of any dump mechanism or description of it, so that part is a bit unclear. Does it run? How are the brakes, electrics, clutch, etc.? No clues in this very sparse ad. Which engine and transmission it has are also not mentioned, and will have to be learned about by calling the owner.
Here’s a similar F-5 in more or less restored form. The asking price does seem quite a bit too high at $6,000, even with its very low miles and clean, original appearing condition. Unlike pick up trucks, you can’t use an F-5 for everyday cruising, so the market for these bigger trucks is much more limited, and the cost to refresh or restore the bigger trucks is much greater too. These trucks have plenty of fans, and this is a nice looking truck, so I hope someone out there will be getting it back on the road sooner than later.
“Need cash, make offer” tells me the first guy to show up with a fair offer drives it home. Very nice truck, and I don’t see any reason it could not be an every day driver.
i too think seller would need to post more photos/text to get people interested. could be a interesting project. interesting find.
This is a great find. Seems, as older folks pass away, these were in the barn, and the next person see’s gold. Maybe, but it still is an old farm truck, and yes, those are the shift points on the speedo, which indicates, high gear starts at 27 mph, making anything over 45 on the speedo useless. It seems to have a dump, very popular, fact is, I rarely saw a truck like this without one, as the frame of the bed is not attached to the truck frame, and the controls are probably on the floor. As stated, these lived sheltered lives, only being used when needed and put away, so I believe the mileage as true. Years ago, these were $100 trucks ( I bought a ’53 like this, running for $100 in the 80’s) as every farm had one (or 2). It bums me a little, seeing what these folks are trying to get out of these, but clearly, it’s not the 80’s anymore, and I suppose it’s justified, just limits my chances of ever finding another cheap one. While a gear change would certainly be in order, if you ask me, you have no business going over 45 mph with this truck anyway. Very nice find.
More interested in what I think is a 50 ish silver streak travel trailer in the background.
There was a pair of these just down the road from where I live, a green Ford like this and an orange GMC. Someone finally bagged the Ford a couple of years ago but the GMC remains.
Our region was crawling with trucks like this for many years. The only difference was the vast majority of trucks here were equipped with the 2-speed Eaton rear axle. You would find the (very) odd one with the single speed stump-puller like the one featured here. There are still some in our region that are used regularly today. My friend uses the F-5 his dad and uncle bought new back in ’49. It has 38K miles on it today. It seems to me that from ’49 on you could get the 255 engine as an option in the F-5 and up. It also seems to me that, from ’49 on, the six cylinder engine only went as far as the F-4. I can still hear the howl of that Warner T-9 transmission…
The reason that F5 is six thousand is because its a Marmon Herrington. This means it was converted to a 4×4 by MH. And that F5 can easily be a daily driver. I drive my F6 all the time. Nice clean truck though. Would love to find one that clean.