My Picking Vehicles Over The Years

A picker's vehicle is one of the most important tools he/she has. These have been my "pickermobiles" over the years.

Late 1980s - early 1990s (1) late 70s/Early 1980s 4 door Chevette & (2) 1980s 4 Door Pontiac Acadian (Essentially a Pontiac badged Chevette)

I fit 5 to 6 eight foot banquet tables worth of inventory into this car, and even then the inventory was crammed on my show tables. Even managed to haul a 12' long Texaco sign and a gas pump in these cars! The Acadian is shown wrecked after an accident. Walked away from it, luckily, with just bruises...some big bruises, but just bruises.

1990s Late 1980 Dodge Ram Half Ton With a cap on the back, this vehicle served me very well. Did lots of picking in this truck. Again, shown as it was, written off by MPIC, after a kid, driving his father's brand new truck, hit my truck while travelling on glare ice....marooning me & my girlfriend at the time in Shoal Lake, Manitoba for the better part of a week!

1980s Ford E150 Van The first van I bought, and which hooked me on Ford full size vans. Reliable, durable, but rust prone as they age..... But, "pretty" is not what a picker should be after when it comes to a vehicle!

Had another full size passenger van that I used temporarily inbetween these two.

2000s  - Another late 1980s E150 Put the back mounts of the leaf springs through the rusted out floor by hauling too heavy of scrap metal loads...couldn't close the back doors by the time I took it off the road.

Early 1990s Ford E250 A 3/4 ton van, this one cost me a fair bit in repairs, etc, but overall served me well.

1990s GMC Sierra

Used this as a temporary measure, but the 3/4 size box wasn't very utilitarian. The crew cab was ok for hauling stuff you didn't want to get dusty, but overall the truck was limited as far as using it for serious picking went.

2017-2018 1998 Ford E350

My previous vehicle was a 1 ton Ford passenger van with the rear passenger seats, carpeted flooring, and assorted plastic interior trim removed. It was what I was able to find when I needed a van. Being a van formerly used to haul around some of a hockey team's players, it initially had an "odor". The gutting took a bit of time, and got rid of the lingering odor. It was just as good as a cargo van, and it served its purpose. This one was a little more expensive when it came to repairs, but it handled weight just fine. It had the usual Ford body rust issues. which made it not exactly pretty, but it did the job. At the end of its Manitoba life, I ended up selling it to a fellow who ships partial vehicles to Africa. So, the frame and drive train went to Africa, and the rusted through body was likely scrapped in Winnipeg.

I currently run a blue 2009 Chevy Cargo van, which I obtained at auction for a bargain figure of $1000. I put about that same dollar amount into it, but ended up with a vehicle that was worth about $6000 - $8000.

I should note, I owned all my vehicles outright. No leases, bank loans, etc. They also were my "daily drivers", not just my picking vehicles. 

So, what is/was/were your pickermobile(s)?