One of these has definitely hauled more than the other, and i guarantee you it’s not the ford.
You can tow an excavator, etc etc, with a Ford Transit. Hell, they can still drive ok if you stuff enough crushed cars in the back to get a curb weight of 3 tons.
Meanwhile a 1/2 ton pickup looks like it’s struggling with half a ton in the tiny tiny bed.
You are going to want to check your numbers on that transit van.
My 250 has three times the towing capacity of the transit, and the transit can’t pull a 5th wheel.
And an E45 bobcat (which is small relative to some machines I pull )is twice as heavy as the tow capacity of the transit, without considering tongue weight or the bulky trailer needed to haul such a thing.
I get it. Most people don’t need it. I do.
Ok, that’s fair … I guess because the F250 isn’t sold here people have a different attitude. For your needs here people would get something like an Iveco Daily 3.5 ton with dropside deck, they can take a good beating, about the same size as a heavy duty pickup but with more space on the back.
They also do options for a crane, tipper for agregates, and crew cab … seems like a pretty solid work platform compared to a pickup.