i'll probably sound like one those 13yr old kids that talks a bunch of crap about their dad's truck but oh well.. im 21 yrs btw..haha
my dad has a 93 F350 1 ton diesel 7.3L dually.. non powerstroke non turbo but an aftermarket turbo was added before we got the truck... anyhoo its got plenty of power and get up and go when its empty or with some weight in the back..
my dad uses the truck to haul the camper (10.5ft okanagan) and it weighs like 2000-2500 lbs or something and it hauls it fine, he also tows the 8'x16' tandem axle cargo trailer with goats or lawnmowers.. my mom shows goats and my dad and i race lawnmowers. with the camper and trailer its 52ft long, but it does struggle up the hills and it shifts a lot cuz its an automatic. lots of overdrive is used.
diesels are expensive to fix and maintain. but they are nice. if your not doing a lot of towing its probably not worth getting a diesel but its preference too right.. haha..
my sister's boyfriend's parents have a late 90's dodge cummins and its a nice truck, heated leather seats, cd player etc..its a 5 speed, the owner ploughs as a hobby, and him and i went out of town for a couple days and we towed a flatdeck (weighed prolly 2800lbs), a 2 bottom trailer plough (800lbs) and a 1950 Cockshutt trailer (5200lbs) and the dodge towed it fine, no problems at all.. its also 4wd. its geared pretty low, you can go drive through town in 4th gear 2wd at 40kms an hour slow down and get back up to speed with no problems..
its a toss up between the old 90's cummins and the 90's 7.3L.. i dont like chevy, and the duracrap is garbage and even though the 6.0L is ford its garbage too in my opinion..
i used to work in a lumberyard and i've a driven a chevy 3500 reg cab 4 speed 1 ton dually flatdeck with the 6.5L turbo diesel to delivery stuff and it was gutless... couldnt get out of its own way if it tried.. they company sent it on a delivery about 30mins away from the yard and the thing caught on fire, the driver of the truck had to borrow the customer's 100ft garden hose to put it out.. you had to be doing like 40km/hour in 1st gear just so it wouldnt bog out.. complete junk in my books..
those are my experiences with these engines, take em or leave em haha
i should add that i've driven my dad's F350 not just ridden in it.. i also know a couple of people that have 1997 7.3L powerstroke diesel F350 crew cabs 4wd and they love them..