Pickup traction: what should I put in the bed for winter?

1992 Ford Ranger.
I live in an apartment so firewood is out.
Something which will not be stolen.
Bags of road salt in waterproof bins?

Southern Ohio and winter may be nasty; need weight behind rear axle. Looking for ideas taking up only width of bed but less than 2' front to back since I want to use most of the bed for day to day stuff.

Rocks? Quarries around here but want something multi-purpose.

What would be better for me? Ford Ranger or Ford F-150?

I'm 15 and I can get my permit in a week. I know its earl but I've been looking on Craigslist for 4x4 trucks just to get an idea.

All I would use it for is to go from school to work to home, haul my dirt bike or four-wheeler to my friends house once in awhile.

I'm putting my price limit at $4000 dollars.

Did I destroy my trucks clutch?

I have a 1996 ford ranger 2wd 5 speed. I was pulling out of a slightly muddy field onto a road, so I started my truck in second to prevent my tires from slipping. I was surrounded my dogs and was trying not to hit them. I thought I had my foot all the way off the clutch but apparently I didn't.
The truck started to rev really high as I rolled onto the road, so I thought I was just in neutral. So I put the truck in first and it did the same thing, accompanied by a burning smell. I quickly realized it was the clutch and pulled over. I turned the truck off for about 10 minutes.
I put the clutch in and she started fine. Put it in first and she drove away like nothing had happened. Went through all the gears like before with no grinding, and the RPMs were the same as before the incident. Only thing different was that the clutch peddle felt "different". Like it didn't extend all the way up. At red lights I would put the truck in neutral and pump the clutch and it felt fine. Other then that the truck drove just like before.

So my question(s) is/are:
1) Is my clutched f***ed, or did I just mess it up a little
2) Is my truck okay to drive (only vehicle so it has to be driven at least to work).

Ford ranger hopping/studdering when turning in 4wd?

So the roads are really icy and slick and have snow on them. I always turn my 4wd on cause I have no chance of any traction in 2wd. I know never to use 4wd on pavement, but these are ice covered roads. Still, whenever I make a tight turn, there's a weird like groan noise, and te vehicle hops and studders forward. Why is this happened on even icy and snowy roads? I can't just put it in 2wd cause my tires will just spin.

My truck gets 23mpg, is this good or bad gas mileage?

My daily driver is a 2003 Ford Ranger single cab, great truck and al for mel. It's a 4 banger, and I recently decided to calculate and find out how many miles per gallon it gets and it came out tp 23 miles per gallon, and I rarely drive on the interstate either. If that matters. Is my truck good on gas or is it a guzzler in your opinion?

How long will my truck last?

I have a 2001 ford ranger and it's slipping out of gear. I'm not exactly sure what the problem is. I'm thinking the valve body gasket, but I shop I took it too saI'd it would cost about $2500 to fix. What it does is when it tried to go into second gear it'll slip sometimes and go back into first. And when it finally does get into 2nd gear it's usually at a high rpm and jolts the whole vehicle. The check engine light is on and I'm not going to put $2500 into it I'm just gonna drive it until it dies. But I don't know when that will be, any ideas?