Real thoughts/experiences with military trucks

[MossRoad]

8-2000# bales is 16K. The truck was designed for 10K. Will it do what you want it to do?

 

[MossRoad]

This is the model that I found for sale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M939_series_5-ton_6×6_truck

Yep. That's the article I got the starting info from. When I was driving for AM General, it was the rebuild program started in the early 80's. They contracted with the government to take old M809s, completely strip them down, repair/replace/upgrade into the M989 models, and return them to service. As I recall, the government basically got a brand new truck for 2/3 the price of a new one. It was a great program not only for tax payers but for the local economy here. My mother in-law worked on that line for a while between stints at the HUMVEE plant over in Mishawaka.

As I recall, and this is 35ish years ago, they were 5 or so speed automatics. None had cabs. Everything was boxed up for shipping. There were flatbeds, troop carriers, cargo carriers, dump trucks and wreckers. There might have been more.

The exhaust stack was removed from the muffler for transport.

We'd go out into the field, find out lot of trucks, pick one out, hop in, rip the duct tape plastic covering off the dashboard and the duct taped cap off the exhaust. We'd turn a switch for glow plugs, wait until a light went on or off (can't remember) then crank the engine. Black soot and water would shoot into the sky from the muffler and soak the guy downwind from you. Then you'd let it idle until the air pressure came up enough to release the brakes. We'd flip a little lever (I think to the lower left, but again can't remember) to engage 6x6, put it in gear and drive out of the fields and over to the fuel pump. Put in enough fuel to get us to our destination, and off we'd go in a convoy of 6.

Summer was fine, just a motorcycle helmet and summer clothes. But winter was brutal. Dump trucks were the worst, because they had that large safety shield from the dump bed over the cab to protect the driver/cab when loading. The faster you drove, the more air is scooped in and actually would blow you forward against the dash. Try that at 55mph in sub-freezing temps. Brutal.

Anyhow, as I mentioned, that was AM General. The company that made the one you are looking at I'm not familiar with, but it appears to be a very similar truck. That price seems to be a point where if it didn't work out for you, you could still get your money back out of it.

 

[MossRoad]

Pardon my gibberish.

 

[ptsg]

Import one of these bad boys and put a bed that suit your needs.

Around 23 metric tons of payload, 400 HP 10.5L Man engine, 6x6, AC, etc

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Do they get out on the roads? Mine would have to do short OTR trips. Last one I saw was loud. You knew it was coming.

The brown one in the picture in post #1 is made by BMY

Yes I'm in AR and they drove the deep waters of Katrina in New Orleans.

 

[4570Man]

8-2000# bales is 16K. The truck was designed for 10K. Will it do what you want it to do?

That’s more of an extreme off-roading payload capacity. Also it’s probably not changed since the 30s or 40s. My single axel 750 is rated to haul 8 tons.

 

[4570Man]

Import one of these bad boys and put a bed that suit your needs.

Around 23 metric tons of payload, 400 HP 10.5L Man engine, 6x6, AC, etc

Almost every state over here is going to limit that truck to 55,000 pound gross weight without a tag axel. I doubt the laws on your side of the pond allow that much either. If you had a tag axel you could run it to 74,000 gross in my state and that’s among the highest of the 50 states.

 

[ptsg]

Almost every state over here is going to limit that truck to 55,000 pound gross weight without a tag axel. I doubt the laws on your side of the pond allow that much either. If you had a tag axel you could run it to 74,000 gross in my state and that’s among the highest of the 50 states.

Why would you even doubt that that truck can carry that much payload on this side of the pond is beyond me. It's perfectly legal the way it is. If it was required to have a tag axle, you would see the tag axle mounted on the truck, but it's just not the case.

That truck has a gross weight of 73000 lbs the way it is in the picture. These usually are fitted with a crane and a dump bed, which still allows it to haul around 18 to 20 metric tons, depending on the size of crane used.

 

[4570Man]

You can legally run 73,000 pounds on a tandem truck over there? I thought you were in general more regulated over there and no state here will allow 73,000 on a tandem truck. I have no doubt the truck will handle it but being legal is another set of problems.

 

[ptsg]

You can legally run 73,000 pounds on a tandem truck over there? I thought you were in general more regulated over there and no state here will allow 73,000 on a tandem truck. I have no doubt the truck will handle it but being legal is another set of problems.

Yes, it's perfectly legal on most Europe. Few countries are a little bit more restrict and may require another axle, usually towards the Scandinavia area.

In my country, a tractor trailer setup can have 97000 lbs gross weight with only 2 axles on the tractor and 3 on the trailer, other countries is up to 88000 lbs, if I recall correctly. It's also possible to have a permit, mostly used by loggers, to have 132000 lbs gross weight for short distance trips but in this case the truck will have an extra axle. This last one is specific to my country though.