On my first job after high school, I worked at a large construction site that had both a first gen Bronco and International Scout. Got to drive both in demanding and extremely muddy situations. The Bronco was best for light work and tight spaces. Seemed more nimble but fell down in heavy mud. I can remember pulling the Bronco out of a mud pit with the Scout. One time I got totally bogged down in a mud pit with the Scout and the Bronco came to pull me out, only to get totally mired to the point the doors wouldn't open. We both got pulled out by a D8. Took hours to wash off the sticky south Texas mud.
I favored the Scout for its better A/C, standard shift transmission and seemingly better 4WD system. I liked taking the Bronco home when I could as it was a better driving truck on roads, had an automatic and a decent radio.
One oddball thing with the Scout was the gas tanks. There's a switch on the floor controlling which tank gets the gas. The first week I drove the thing, I ran it out of gas because that little detail was left out when I got instructions on how to drive the thing. It was quite embarrassing to have to be rescued by the maintenance guy who merely flipped a switch and the engine started again. Never made that mistake again.
Both trucks were tough and strong. Both were useful on the job site and both could take a lot of punishment by a teenage idiot (me), and dozens of others.
