...Point being, you can get 3/4 ton results from a Tundra for very little money and their reliability is way better than our Ford/GM/Ram options.
It depends on the location and use. Where I mostly spend time on ranches on the west side of South Texas in what is/was known as the Wild Horse Desert near Laredo, 1/2 tons just do not have adequate cooling capacity. I use a F250 diesel not because of towing capacity, but for the cooling capacity and payload capacity, as well as the extra room. Overwhelming, F 250/350's and GM 3/4 and 1 tons are the vehicles in use on all of the ranches. I've seen Dodges off pavement only twice in many, many years. Zero Toyotas or any other 1/2 tons. Occasionally, a company exec will show up in a F150, but inevitably ends up riding in someone's 3/4 or 1 ton around the properties.
Sand, dust, and sustained heat push equipment hard. Putting three or four people with gear in, there is extra room and plenty of suspension to handle it off pavement. The bigger diesel engines hold 15 quarts of oil and have larger radiators as well as coolers for the oil and transmission which make a major difference. Even the gas engines in the 3/4 and 1 tons are better able to handle the heat, dust, and sand.
An "average" year will have over 75 - 100 days of 100F+ days, with peak temps over 110F for two to four weeks depending on the year. In the summer, I leave my truck running all day with the A/C on max. We will work for a while, then sit in the cab to cool off and chug fluid. 1/2 tons just cannot endure that heat load on them while idling all day and the A/C does not have adequate capacity to keep the cab cool in the peak heat in the afternoons.
I hunted for a few years with a fairly high ranked Toyota exec on one ranch. He drove Toyotas on the weekdays, but drove a F250 diesel on the ranch were we hunted. He was very up front that the Toyota 1/2 ton just was not designed for that environment. Again, we are comparing vehicles available here in the US. If I could have one of the small diesel engine pickups available in Tanzania, I'd love to have one, but it is not available here for reasons already discussed.
I do also have and use a John Deere Gator that has a 3 cylinder Yanmar diesel engine and love it. It goes all day long and only uses 3 to 5 gallons of diesel running around all day long. It is an amazing engine and buggy. It does not have A/C, so on the hottest days, the truck with the nice big A/C blowing cold air is the go to choice.
