HDN's Military Vehicles (and other military-related stuff)

[HDN]

I'm finally creating a topic here to feature my military vehicles and other military-related stuff. I only have one right now (1995 AM General M35A3), but I have no doubt I'll be getting more. As long as this forum exists, I will be posting stuff here featuring my stuff. Not only am I into vehicles, but I'm also interested in air raid sirens and other Cold War-era Civil Defense-related stuff.

This is my only truck, a 1995 AM General M35A3, number 246 out of around 5,800 built in four different flavors (M35A3, M35A3C, M36A3, M109A4). It's the first Army truck I've ever owned, and I'm its third private owner. All its registration and unit numbers are painted over, but they can still be read. It came from Fort Lewis, WA, and its registration number was PS-220. I have no idea where else it went in its service, other than it was sold at auction at Fort Drum, NY in August 2010 to its first owner. In November 2010, it was sold to its second owner, who intended to have it sit until it qualified for historical plates. By the time it qualified for historical plates, the second owner decided he was too old to be crawling under such a big truck and then sold it to me. So after mostly sitting for 10 years, I've put it back on the road, driving it about once a week and tackling some projects with the truck. It is show-worthy as-is, though. The only thing that would make the truck better would be if I could take my whole family for a ride in it. But that'll have to wait until I get a second truck!

Some pictures...



Some videos...

And sounds to relax to!

I'm currently trying to convince my wife to sell our Chrysler 200 and buy a HMMWV in its place. Besides a HMMWV, these vehicles are on our wishlist:

• Late 1980s M35A2 with split brakes
• M54A2 multifuel 5-ton (wouldn't complain about a wrecker though)
• DUKW
• HEMTT
• Some kind of FMTV
• Leopard 1A5 MBT (a stretch goal!)

Yeah, I'll need another job or three, or win the lottery

 

[m715mike]

You definitely have the Green Iron Disease, which means that you are in the right spot.

I’m looking forward to seeing more in this thread.

 

[Mullaney]

I'm finally creating a topic here to feature my military vehicles and other military-related stuff. I only have one right now (1995 AM General M35A3), but I have no doubt I'll be getting more. As long as this forum exists, I will be posting stuff here featuring my stuff. Not only am I into vehicles, but I'm also interested in air raid sirens and other Cold War-era Civil Defense-related stuff.

This is my only truck, a 1995 AM General M35A3, number 246 out of around 5,800 built in four different flavors (M35A3, M35A3C, M36A3, M109A4). It's the first Army truck I've ever owned, and I'm its third private owner. All its registration and unit numbers are painted over, but they can still be read. It came from Fort Lewis, WA, and its registration number was PS-220. I have no idea where else it went in its service, other than it was sold at auction at Fort Drum, NY in August 2010 to its first owner. In November 2010, it was sold to its second owner, who intended to have it sit until it qualified for historical plates. By the time it qualified for historical plates, the second owner decided he was too old to be crawling under such a big truck and then sold it to me. So after mostly sitting for 10 years, I've put it back on the road, driving it about once a week and tackling some projects with the truck. It is show-worthy as-is, though. The only thing that would make the truck better would be if I could take my whole family for a ride in it. But that'll have to wait until I get a second truck!

Some pictures...

View attachment 806438 View attachment 806439 View attachment 806440

Some videos...

And sounds to relax to!

I'm currently trying to convince my wife to sell our Chrysler 200 and buy a HMMWV in its place. Besides a HMMWV, these vehicles are on our wishlist:

• Late 1980s M35A2 with split brakes
• M54A2 multifuel 5-ton (wouldn't complain about a wrecker though)
• DUKW
• HEMTT
• Some kind of FMTV
• Leopard 1A5 MBT (a stretch goal!)

Yeah, I'll need another job or three, or win the lottery

First Class Truck HDN ! Very nice. You absolutely have got to set goals to aquire more trucks and toys!! Maybe you need to consider a HET. They have plenty of room for passengers

 

[HDN]

You definitely have the Green Iron Disease, which means that you are in the right spot.

I’m looking forward to seeing more in this thread.

I got it from my dad. He grew up in a time where a bunch of WW2 and Korean War stuff was cheap! In the mid 70s he paid $300 scrap value for a driving halftrack I'm just going to have to shop a lot smarter!

I'm going to get some stuff together about my air raid siren next.

 

[HDN]

First Class Truck HDN ! Very nice. You absolutely have got to set goals to aquire more trucks and toys!! Maybe you need to consider a HET. They have plenty of room for passengers

I'll need a HET for that eventual Leopard!

I'm pretty sure the next truck is going to be either an M35A2 or a HMMWV. My wife would love to have a tan slant back, and it would give the rest of the kids something to ride in!

 

[HDN]

Sweatshirts to wear to car shows in cooler weather:

 

[HDN]

It's about time I get pictures of this thing on here! Here's my air raid siren:



This siren came from Lockport, NY, and was one of four in the town's civil defense system. It was mounted on the roof corner of a former elementary school where it was literally blown off the roof during the spring 2017 windstorm that went through the area. It was mounted to the roof on a short wooden frame that was nailed into the roof wall corners. The wood frame deteriorated enough that it was dislodged from its mount and fell two stories into the lawn top-first. The lifting A-frame below the top half of its shroud absorbed the entire impact of the 350-pound siren and got bent. Because of that, the siren still rotates, but not as well as it should. The motor needs to be torn down and cleaned. All nuts and studs on the siren frame and stator are rusted to smithereens, so they will have to be cut off and replaced.

From what I could gather from the manufacturer's tag, the siren was built around 1950, which was before Federal Enterprises changed its name to Federal Signal. It is a very inefficient motor compared to the ones sirens use today. Modern air raid sirens can run on a bank of car batteries and are typically 48-volt systems. They can also output more sound for the power. Many of these Model 5 sirens are still in service with fire departments and civil defense services across the US.

I don't have enough room right now to work on it, so it's a whenever project for me. The motor is 5 horsepower and 3-phase, so I don't even have the power to run it. I'm hoping some day to mount it on a trailer alongside a genset to tow behind my deuce for car and air shows.

Here's a video of me manually spinning it up with a rubber wheel:

 

[HDN]

Thanks to @CARNAC for providing me a tip about UICs, I think I finally figured out where my truck came from!

Instead of Googling WYT5Y4, CARNAC suggested Googling WYT5AA, which brought me to a July 2020 US Army Corps of Engineers document that has some UICs and tells what they are. WYT5AA's unit name as of 2020 is 316 TM (MIL MAIL TERM (Military Mail Terminal)), which is consistent with the 316 AG marked on the bumper. Unit type is MTOE, which apparently means the unit is deployable. Googling 316 AG (again) shows a vetfriends search term for 316 AG CO POSTAL - FT TOTTEN, NY. Fort Totten is located in Queens.

So my M35A3 was an Army Reserve mail truck. Now I'm wondering why it has a shipping sticker on the door from Fort Lewis, WA...