Rice fields on one side, Ozark switchbacks on the other: Arkansas needs two kinds of truck

Eastern Arkansas is rice, soybean and cotton ground, cut by long section-line roads that shift between pavement, gravel and dirt. Dust in August and slick mud after a March rain are both normal. Trucks here carry feed, fuel tanks, tools and trailers, so payload and towing ratings get used instead of sitting on a brochure.

That is where the Ram 2500 stops being overkill. The 6.4-liter HEMI V8 is standard and rated up to 17,740 pounds, and the optional Cummins High-Output turbo diesel, available on every trim, is rated up to 20,000. Payload reaches 4,580 pounds with the $835 Payload Upgrade Package, which brings a 3500 frame, leaf springs and an anti-spin axle; Ram lists these figures as preliminary. A Tradesman starts at $48,040, and the plain trim with the 8-foot bed is a sensible place to stop for farm duty. If the trailer is a tall grain hauler or a flatbed loaded to the limit, the Ram 3500 with the diesel is rated up to 37,020 pounds.

Arkansas sees tornadoes, ice storms and river floods in the same decade, and the 2019 Arkansas River flooding around Fort Smith and Dardanelle is a recent example. Buying a used farm truck means inspecting the bed floor, hitch receiver and frame rails and asking for service records. Trucks have no hour meter, so worn pedals, a sagging driver's seat and a battered tailgate tell you how hard the work was. A farm truck with a clean maintenance file can beat a lightly used one with none.

Arkansas hunting leans on two landscapes. Waterfowl hunters work the flooded timber and rice fields of the Grand Prairie around Stuttgart, and deer hunters head for the Ouachita National Forest and private leases across the state. Both need a vehicle that gets down wet field roads, carries wet gear and does not mind scratches.

The Jeep Gladiator's bed measures 60.3 inches with the tailgate up and 81.3 with it down, and 4x4 is standard on every trim starting at $43,895 for the Sport S. Its best tow rating, 7,700 pounds, applies to the Sport and Sport S; the Willys, at $49,040, adds an electronic locking rear differential and a trailer-tow package with a 6,000-pound rating. A four-door Wrangler gives up the bed but offers up to 72.4 cubic feet with the seats folded. If you want a full-size box, the Ram 1500 Warlock, from $53,415, pairs a 5 ft 7 in bed with a locking rear differential, skid plates and tow hooks.

North of the Arkansas River the roads turn into curves and long descents. Highway 7, which threads the Ozarks and Ouachitas, is the classic example, and the winding routes near the Buffalo National River are another. Downhill driving is the part that wears on a vehicle: brakes heat up, and anything behind you pushes at every corner.

Use a lower gear or a tow mode on long grades instead of riding the brake pedal. Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 trucks list a Tow drive mode among five selectable settings, and the Off-Road Group on the Ram 2500 Warlock adds hill descent control. In the Fayetteville to Bentonville corridor along I-49 the problem is traffic rather than terrain, and the Wrangler's 2.0-liter turbo, rated 20 city and 23 highway, uses less fuel than the V6 at 17 and 22.