Small, but perfectly formed

pretty much sums up the new truck I have bought. Those who know me well, when asked “what truck would Graham buy?” would probably choose something between a Ford Ranger (number one selling vehicle in NZ) and a Ford F350 or Dodge Ram 3500!

Instead of either of these trucks, I have opted for one by Honda – the mighty Acty Attack! 656cc of raw power =28kW and 54Nm of torque. (My motorcycle has 955cc, 115.5kW and 107.4Nm). Now you may be wondering why have I opted for such a low powered weakling, one aspect is cost – the Honda was $5695 (NZ) for a 1995 model – the Ranger would be around $14,000 for a 2008 model that has been around the World several times (325K) and a F350 would cost ~$70,000 for a 2004!

This little beast does have some merits to it, aside from being relatively inexpensive and very fuel efficient. It has a flat bed, with drop down sides and tailgate – something the two pickup trucks above don’t have. It also has permanent 4WD, and the ‘Acty Attack’ model also has a differential lock at the rear and features Ultra-Low forward and reverse gears (UL/UR) – perfect for our little farm with muddy paddocks and a few steep hills.

As you can see from the pictures with my motorbike on the back, it is very small! The bike had to go in at an angle. But so far this truck has been fantastic for us, able to manage decent size loads and drives through muddy areas with no spinning at all. Apparently these trucks have quite a cult following, and are referred to as ‘Kei Trucks’.

Looking further down the line at what modifications I might want to carry out in the future, I am thinking about a 2” lift and adding spacers to the wheel hubs to widen the track a little. Also some wider wheels and aggressive tyres will be perfect for when the paddocks get really muddy, or I need some more grip to get up and down some steeper terrain.

My usual farm vehicles are a Ferrari tractor and a heavily modified Nissan Safari / Patrol. These are below, and whilst awesome they should be used less and less, now that I have this Honda.

For now, the next step is to tidy it up a little bit, put a deck liner in to protect the rear flatbed and sides, add a nudge bar so that I can open gates the easy way and keep an eye out on some off-road wheels and tyres.

I have a little poll up on Twitter to name the vehicle, the choices are Henry or The Honey Badger, get involved here: Twitter Poll

UPDATE 23:/05/17: Ok, the results are in! Looks like the truck is to be referred to as ‘The Honey Badger’.