Don't kill the Taurus
Given that you live in the vicinity of Lake Ontario, you should be able to find any number of older Jeep Cherokees that are 6 cylinder with automatic transmissions. Check to make sure that it has a 4.0 liter engine. That should give you enough power to tow up to 5000 pounds without too much trouble. As the owner of two I can say that they just keep on going and have the raw power to do what you want. Ideally, you may want one with 4 wheel drive to really power your way up the ramp, and in the winter its good for when the weather is really bad.