What does it take for a truck to be a "farm truck?&quot

[SSS Angus]

Here is the situation, I'm considering buying a new Dodge 2500/3500 which will see occasional farm uses so I'm trying to figure out what it take for the truck to be viewed as a "farm truck" in the state of Texas' eyes? Also any other info that you have would be much appreciated. What would be the advantages/disadvantages in doing this?


Thanks,
Zach

 

[madbeancounter1]

Zach,

depends on what you mean by occassional use... For tax purposes you can go one of two routes... either depreciate it based on the percentage of farm use. (ie 55% of the time you use it for the the farm so depreciating over a 5 year period you would take 55% of the allowable depreciation for each year.) When depreciating a vehicle you can also deduct actual expenses related to the vehicle.

The second option is to use the standard mileage deduction. For 2005 it's 37.5 cents/mile. In order to use this method you really need to keep a written log. Drawbacks... this year with the price of fuel on the rise you will probably be better off to use actual expenses since you cannot take the mileage deduction and depreciate or take actual expenses at the same time. The standard mileage rate supposedly takes everything including depreciation into account.

A little trick we use with some of our clients that use the std mileage rate, especially if their driving patterns are pretty much the same from month to month, is to have them keep track of the miles they drive for a short period of time... say a month and then we use this for and multiply it by 12 for the remainder of the year. If their driving is not predictable then we advise them to keep good records.

Hope this helps you somewhat.

 

[Anonymous]

Madbeancounter - I had a bit of a different thought when I read the opening post.

I thought to myself - well, it has to have a few really good dents from tying cows and horses to it. It should have a big hole in the muffler. At least one of every tool in the shop can be found on the floor or in the back of this truck. Missing at least one side window is good. It is ok to be mising a gear or two from the tranny and every kid in the house should have learned to drive behind the wheel of this truck.

Just shows how a title can be mis-interpreted.

Regards

Bez'

 

[certherfbeef]

It should have a big hole in the muffler. At least one of every tool in the shop can be found on the floor or in the back of this truck. It is ok to be mising a gear or two from the tranny

This sounds about right Bez. Pretty paint job and carpet interior just doesn't seem right. And something newer then a '95 model just isn't rugged enough or built well enough IMO. One farm truck, the one that never leaves the property, is an '87 and has a 454 in it. bed about rusted through and a hole in the floorboard. No insurance or tags and never touches the hard top. All dirt and hollers from one farm to the other.

Other is a '93 road worthy diesel. Has to pull the trailers and get around in inclimate weather.

Good tires are a must for one of my farm trucks.

 

[dun]

It should have a big hole in the muffler. At least one of every tool in the shop can be found on the floor or in the back of this truck. It is ok to be mising a gear or two from the tranny

This sounds about right Bez. Pretty paint job and carpet interior just doesn't seem right. And something newer then a '95 model just isn't rugged enough or built well enough IMO. One farm truck, the one that never leaves the property, is an '87 and has a 454 in it. bed about rusted through and a hole in the floorboard. No insurance or tags and never touches the hard top. All dirt and hollers from one farm to the other.

Other is a '93 road worthy diesel. Has to pull the trailers and get around in inclimate weather.

Good tires are a must for one of my farm trucks.

Glad to see I wan;t the only one that thought that from the title!

dun

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

SSS, if your're trying to save a few bucks on license tags you probably should just contact the Texas Dept. of Public Safety or your local county clerk about the rules for getting farm truck tags. Based on your comment about the limited farm use I'd guess that you're out of luck, if you're honest with the persons in authority.

 

[A6gal]

On my farm trailers, I have to sign a paper at the County Tax Assessors office stating that the trailer will be used soley for the purpose of farm business. I believe it is the same for Farm Truck Tags. If you get caught hauling kids to and from school or doing things that are not farm related in the vehicle then I guess you could possibly be cited for that. Although, I've never heard of it happening. All goes back to how honest you are.

 

[mitchwi]

FYI - 2005 Mileage Rate is .405

 

[certherfbeef]

Does having farm plates on the truck make it ok to run tractor fuel in those old 7.3's???????????????

 

[madbeancounter1]

FYI - 2005 Mileage Rate is .405

Oops... I'm still working on 2004 extensions.

 

[bigbull338]

thats what i was wondering.if you wanted farm tags on the truck or street tags on it.if your gonna use it on farm.go farm taggs they are a little cheaper.ive got a real bad pet peeve.i cant stand to see city slickers in 3/4 an 1 tons.drives me up the wall.

 

[dun]

Does having farm plates on the truck make it ok to run tractor fuel in those old 7.3's???????????????

If by tractor fuel you mean the red diesel that doesn;t have the road taxes on it, the answer is no if you ever drive it on the road . The penalty is pretty hefty from what I've heard.

dun

 

[milkmaid]

I thought to myself - well, it has to have a few really good dents from tying cows and horses to it. It should have a big hole in the muffler. At least one of every tool in the shop can be found on the floor or in the back of this truck. Missing at least one side window is good. It is ok to be mising a gear or two from the tranny and every kid in the house should have learned to drive behind the wheel of this truck.

:lol: Same thing I thought.

If by tractor fuel you mean the red diesel that doesn;t have the road taxes on it, the answer is no if you ever drive it on the road . The penalty is pretty hefty from what I've heard.

I heard it was about $10,000. :shock: Even with diesel at $3/gallon it isn't worth the risk; 'least not in my book.

 

[madbeancounter1]

The fine is right up there with the "get out of jail free" card.

We hear about people getting caught every once in a while. The Motor Carrier patrol people are real active in our area.

 

[Susie David]

I agree with Bez....a dented fender, some manure stuck on the bumber, a pack of haul slips on the dash, hay fines blowing from the bed....oh, you meant the legal stuff...we just depreciate it and run normal diesel...the dot is starting to dip tanks all around here these days....even heard that a few of the big operators had their rigs dipped at the sale.
DMc

 

[bigbull338]

ok guys hold it.are yall saying the DOT is dipping diesal truck tanks.to see the color of fuel they are running in them.i know this you dont get jumpy round DOT.when we was running dump trucks they stopped us ever so often.an went over the trucks good.scott

 

[HatCreekFan]

I'm thinking that a couple of years ago - or maybe last year (?) that DOT was checking trucks at the Farm Machinery Show in Louisville - pulling off the intakes to check for the dye... At least that's what an ag teacher here at school said.

 

[El_Putzo]

FYI - 2005 Mileage Rate is .405

My wife's company just got notification from the IRS that effective 9-1-05, the mileage rate is now 48.5 cents. Finally a little help from uncle Sam.

 

[certherfbeef]

OK, sense I seem to be the reason fot this thread straying a bit off topic (sorry SSS) how bout I try to get back on track here.

There is a lot of strings attached to farm plates. Right down to how far from home you can get with that truck. My opinion, the cash saved is not worth the hassel or headache that comes with the farm plates.

And the fuel thing...how long or how many tanks of on road fuel does it take to get the dye out of the lines, filter, tank, ect? And that is not an admission of guilt, just a simple question. ;-)

 

[fit2btied]

Agree with Bez, dun, cert and others. The farm truck is the one the boys would drive to town on an errand, but never on a date!