Steering radius of a 5 ton long wheel base army surplus truck

Woodchuck53 · January 08, 2009, 03:54:37 AM

Morning all, the seas have started to pick up a little and the temp dropped so flying is fog clear. Thank goodness. We lost a bird this week and a lot good guys. Pray for all who try to get it out of the ground and to the local filling station. My quest for cheap and repairable alternatives for my hobby's and stuff has led me to a fellow that has M820 and M813/14 5 ton tactical surplus trucks. I have a need for a bed design with my knuckle boom mounted on the rear. That way I can drag a log trailer for longer stuff or my lowboy with my tractor/loader. Also with our frequent storms I am getting more and more calls for cleanup as well as tree removal. In the past I would cut it down to cover expenses only due to the fact I use all my own product building up my place. Just cut and go. No cleanup or grinding or digging of stumps. Is the turning radius that bad on these machines? What is the general condition of the beds for our kind of fun. I always thought the trucks were more for palletizes or boxed cargo so maybe not enough iron under the deck for tree debris. Any thought is always app. Have a good one Chuck

underdog · January 08, 2009, 07:19:45 AM

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/

stonebroke · January 08, 2009, 08:21:35 AM

The older trucks did not have a really good turning radius,I don't know about the new ones. But with a powered front axle it will never be very good. You just learn to accommodate.Army trucks are the best offroad though.

Stonebroke

ksu_chainsaw · January 14, 2009, 09:22:38 AM

The 800 series 5 tons are a very heavy truck that does not like to turn. They do fine in the open or on the road, but a grain truck has a better turning radius- the front drive axle does not like to turn. The normal cargo bed on one of those trucks is heavy enough for tree debris, as long as you aren't dropping it a long ways onto the bed. If I remember correctly, the frame rails are about 2' apart. I do know that they will haul more than their weight limit- that 5 ton rating is for off-road travel- usually the limit for on road travel is around 10 tons of cargo. But, they usually have the ability to pull LOTS more than that.

The only drawback to a military vehicle is the DOT weight restrictions. When you add up the empty weight of the vehicle, it can be fairly close to the max allowed weight already. And since you want to add a boom to the back end, you might have to add another axle on the back end to allow for a heavier weight load.

Just my 2 cents.

Charles

Woodchuck53 · January 29, 2009, 04:08:46 AM

Morning Charles, I was thinking about that 3rd. axle. maybe an air drop type to get the limit up. The one I found hooked up like I would do it is quite a rig. And cheap. The mileage is low on most that i have looked at so that's a plus. thanks for the response. Chuck

RSteiner · January 29, 2009, 06:50:57 AM

My cousin has one of those trucks, I think his is a 6x6 built in the 1950's. I don't think they would turn on a dime although he never complained about that. The one thing he didn't like was the gas milage, around 3 or 4 miles per gallon empty.

Randy

sawguy21 · January 29, 2009, 10:02:13 AM

:D Those things are geared like tractors, convoy speed is 35mph max probably 50. Fuel economy was not an issue for the military.

stonebroke · January 29, 2009, 12:19:46 PM

Yeah, They like 30 MPH you can get them to 50 with a downhill run with a tailwind.

Stonebroke

Ironwood · January 29, 2009, 08:52:06 PM

I always look at those and say HUMM....... then my better sense kicks in and starts thinking about parts availablility, and my tendency to want to travel at 60-70 mph. So, I just pluck usable stuff from the military that I can modify to accomadate my needs. One problem is the competetion for the used parts via Gov Liq, were many parts are in high demand by forgien governments. Not worth fighting over IMHO. Here are some of converts: Bed on the white truck is the same throughout, just configured differently. This bed was from a 5 ton that from what I gather was a special type, the flip sides were missing, I chopped that one down 2 feet in lenght. The M-105 trailer (last pic) was chopped up and made into a dump trailer with a new frame and 8 bolt axles. The one black bed is a fixed sides is an unused duece bed that I have yet to do anything with. The green bed is for a connex container moving truck that evidentally never got off the ground (havent ever seen one and these were unused as well)

Papa1stuff · January 30, 2009, 05:56:41 PM

That black trailer with the green body on it .looks just like one I made from a moble home fram for my new paving business in 1979! ;D

Ironwood · January 30, 2009, 10:37:34 PM

Yeah, that axle assembly under that one is a peice of @#$%, I have taken it off the road awaiting an axle swap for a set of tandem 8 bolts.

Ironwood

Mooseherder · January 30, 2009, 10:56:34 PM

Is that Deuce Bed for sale ???
If so, let me know.
Shrek ain't had a bed since the Fire Dept. got a hold of him.

Papa1stuff · January 31, 2009, 07:21:30 AM

That's true ,but it got me by untill I could afford something better! ;D

Ironwood · January 31, 2009, 04:03:57 PM

I suppose I could sell the black duece bed. It was very clean when it got here and looked to have the original skids. I put some black paint on it until I could get it blasted in a few areas. It is a standard duece bed w/ fixed sides. I was going to make a tandem dump trailer w/ it, I could let the 10 ton sissor go with it too if you want to make yours a dump. I'll PM you.
Ironwood