Which Kei Truck for Which Job?Match the work to the drivetrain: what each job actually needs, and what it does not

Wants: extra low + diff lock, 4WD. On saturated ground you need to move at walking pace without the clutch slipping, and you need drive to keep going when one rear wheel drops into a rut. The Daihatsu Hijet farming grades and the Honda Acty ATTACK pair a super diff lock with an ultra-low crawler gear as standard, which is exactly this combination. A Subaru Sambar is the lightest of the five, so it sinks less — good where the surface is soft rather than rutted.

Wants: tight turning circle, low bed, compact body. The constraint is the row spacing and the headland turn, not traction. The Mitsubishi Minicab and Suzuki Carry turn tightest here. The Subaru Sambar puts weight over the driven wheels and pulls away well on soft ground, but its turning circle is on the large side for the class, which counts against it on a narrow headland. The Honda Acty is the one to look at for visibility — the mid-engine layout gives the clearest view forward when you are threading between trunks.

Wants: dump bed, 4WD, strong rear suspension. The load is heavy, dense and gets tipped rather than lifted. The Daihatsu Hijet has the widest factory dump availability, and its farming grades add four-leaf rear springs. The Suzuki Carry is a close second and the easiest to source with a dump body already fitted. Both sit low enough to load from a tractor bucket without a ramp.

Wants: part-time 4WD, diff lock, good cold starting. Ex-snow-country vehicles are the ones to look for — they were specified for it when new. A Suzuki Carry or Mitsubishi Minicab with selectable part-time 4WD lets you lock the drive rather than wait for slip, which matters on packed snow. Real Time (viscous) 4WD, as on many Acty models, reacts after the wheel has already spun — fine on the road, less good on a slope.

Wants: 2WD is fine, automatic is nice, a van body may be better. On sealed surfaces none of the off-road equipment earns its keep, and 2WD is lighter, cheaper and slightly more economical. The Suzuki Carry has the best fuel figure of the five and the deepest supply of automatics. If the load has to stay dry and locked, the question is not which truck but whether you want a kei van instead.

Wants: extra low above all, then a diff lock. Gradient is a torque problem, not a grip problem, so the sub-transmission matters more than the tyres. The Honda Acty ATTACK adds an ultra-reverse as well as an ultra-low, which is the one to have when you are backing a load up an incline. The Hijet farming grades are the easiest alternative to find. Whatever the badge, check the sub-transmission lever exists before you buy.