Does this truck have enough oomph?

I have a two horse bumper pull slant load pondrosa trailer and a huge old 460 v8 ford pickup that pulls it fine but it is old and not necessarily very reliable and only gets about 6 mpg when hauling. My husband wants to buy me a v6 4x4 ranger to pull it so that he does not have to worry about me when I am going to shows this year which are all about 2 hours away.

I am worried that a truck like that would not have enough oomph to pull it without tearing the transmission and engine up. Does anyone know if that would work or should we just look for a smaller full sized pickup?

If you're talking about a Ford Ranger small pickup, I don't think it is enough.

You could pull with it, but you're going to wreck it and it will be a matter of time before you trash your transmission. The same goes with SUV's small and large. They are just not made to pull large things.

Ditto, ditto, ditto!

If you're pulling short distances locally, you can get away with a 1/2 ton truck if it has a *real* tow package, complete with transmission oil cooler, beefed up radiator and suspension (Dealers sometimes call putting a box mount and an electric hook up on the back a tow package - it's not.)

For anything other than short local hauls, I prefer a 3/4 ton truck.

Not only will you wreck the Ranger in a very short matter of time; it's dangerous - remember, pulling is easy, stopping is hard. The Ranger won't have the stopping power to safely bring a loaded horse trailer to a halt.

I agree its going to wear out a small truck like that. Your better off going up to a bare bones F150 with a V8 in it. You can get one without any options for about the same as a fancy Ranger.

That is what I had suspected. I think we have decided to spend the money on fixing our current truck, instead of trying to get another hauling truck.

I have an old farm truck, a 1972 Dodge full size with 3/4 ton rear end on it. Plus a big V8 engine. We had the motor rebuilt, and just about everything replaced. I used it for a long time to pull a horse trailer and everything else.
I think if your wanting something to just haul horses, your better off fixing the old gal.
I love my old Dodge, I don't think twice about dumping a load of rocks or manure in the bed or driving it across a pasture. A new one....not so much

Good for you. I think it will be the best. My old trainer had the oldest truck and she used it for hauling only and it did an excellent job. It was made to pull and it was safe because it could handle all sorts of driving conditions.

Refreshing to see you take the advice given! Instead of do what most people do and argue. Good luck!

I don't see a problem with the truck you are using !

I wouldn't blame you for updating... simply because 460 always = gas. And gas = big bucks (there's a reason why I drive an oil burner...).

And, IMHO, a bare bones V6 half tonner would do a better job than a ranger would. And they're not much more $ if ya delete all the unnecessary junk like mentioned a couple posts up.