Advice on M929 Dump Truck

I am in the market for a heavy duty off-road dump truck to use at my property TN. The terrain is hilly, rocky and steep in places so I think a 6x6 would be ideal for moving dirt, rock, logs, etc. I am making some building pads and my dump trailer is not cutting it. The trailer sits too low to the ground and often gets stuck. The battery operated dump is also under powered for what I need to do.

I am thinking about the M929. Memphis Equipment has some great options for these dump trucks, including the extended wheel base truck that uses a full-sized 15 cubic yard commercial dump body. I am not sure the NHC 250 engine has enough grunt for the larger dump body but it would be nice to have the added capacity.

Please let me know if you have experience hauling dirt off road with the M929. Thank you!

15yds of material is 45000 pounds depending on what it is and how wet it is. WAY TOO MUCH. 22.5 tons on a 5 ton truck.
Don't even consider that please.

FullSpecial said:

15yds of material is 45000 pounds depending on what it is and how wet it is. WAY TOO MUCH. 22.5 tons on a 5 ton truck.
Don't even consider that please.

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Point well taken. There are some great resources online about buying your first dump truck. One thing I learned is the truck’s suspension is very important to safely operate the dump body. For example, over-the-road trucks can be converted with a dump body but it will still have the air bag suspension. When you have a heavy load raised to dump then all the weight is on the air bags. The truck can tip over if the ground is not level, a suspension bag fails or other problem occurs.

The standard M929 can operate safely for long periods of time in rough terrain. It seems like it would be a good fit for me. Thank you for your advice.

FYI - before u engage the pto you"re supposed to drop the airbags before dumping ,

M929 will make a fine farm hauler. You’ll be better off with the nhc250, the 8.3 has a hell of a time getting rolling, overloaded in high range, if it’s soft. You may want the first gen A0 with the dual wheels as well if you’re doing a lot of steep work, and still need to keep your cool and run straight up and down the hills.

The truck loaded will also make an excellent compactor for tracking in your building pads.

The M917 dump can haul up to 20 yards of material but they're a rarer truck to find. They have a unique transmission by today's standards (CAT 7155) which has little to no commercial support and known problems with age. The Big Cam 400 is a strong engine and axles strong too. The issue falls with the transmission, the operator (again, unique transmission), and lack of transfer-case cooler on the M917s. They will cost more to obtain and more to maintain.

The M929s are well built 5-7 yard dumps and pretty tough. They are simple for the operator and maintenance with plenty of commercial support. I've had many M929/M929A1/M929A2 dumps come and go because everyone wants one. It's the ideal military dump truck in my opinion and seems to be commonly agreed upon. The engine debate of the NHC-250 vs 6CTA has been an old one and continues to be asked. The answer is - "it depends". What terrain do you plan to use it on? What experience (if any) do you have with either engine? What is available? What cost? That will give you the truck and engine you need. In the end they're all very similar in capability.

I have a clean M929A2 for sale in Dallas if interested.

The 5 ton truck’s rear tandem is rated at 44,000 lbs.

Thanks for all the advice regarding military dump trucks. After considering several options, I have decided to purchase a reconditioned M929 dump truck from Memphis Equipment.

The M929 is simple, rugged, dependable and should be ideally suited to use in a location that is hilly, rocky, and often muddy. I looked at a few used military dump trucks but I am sold on the process used by Memphis Equipment to recondition the trucks. The trucks are brought into their shop to be mechanically upgraded to include new fluids, filters, belts and hoses. The brake system is completely rebuilt to new. New batteries are installed. Tires 395/85R20 are upgraded to 80% tread and a spare is included. New upholstery is installed along with a new fiberglass hardtop. Finally, they perform any minor bodywork and paint the truck your choice of forest green or desert tan. They offer a 60 day replacement parts warranty is standard on every truck Memphis Equipment sells. Doug at Memphis Equipment was very helpful in the process and explained all the available options.

I plan to keep this truck for as long as I own the property so the added investment of a reconditioned truck works for me. I am also happy to support a sponsor of the Steel Soldiers community. I have a few military surplus items and Steel Soldiers is a great resource so I want to support those who support us. Memphis Equipment is about two hours from my farm, which was also a factor in deciding to buy my M929. I look forward to sharing updates on the project.

Now all you need is some nice tall side boards and to post up some pictures for us!

I have an M817 that belonged to a friend that passed and I bought from his widow for likely way too much. It's had a hard life the bumper is tweaked, the top of the bed over the cab (and the hard top) looks like he hit a tree with it at some point, currently missing the front winch PTO shaft.

It's a 1972 model with a sprag front axle engagement, manual transmission, NHC250. It can be really INTERESTING navigating downhill steep turns on dirt roads. Takes a knack. On road I don't think I've ever gone much over 50mph and hearing protection is more than advised. Bundle up in the winter it doesn't have a heater.

For all this.... character to the vehicle I really like it. It's short for what it is, I have it historically plated so costs me like $120/year and insurance is dirt cheap. For work on my property it's perfect. I may let it go after awhile as I don't use it much and have a smaller 3 yard dump I use more BUT I can see why they hold their value and can be hard to find when looking.

yep. i know what you mean , up north i used to put 100 miles on it in a month , been down here going on 9 yrs and aint put 500 mi on it, been thinking of selling it but it would be like cutting off my arm .

Today, I had the pleasure of touring Memphis Equipment with company president, Mr. Doug Cummings. Doug has been an excellent resource as I considered all the options for a military grade, off road dump truck. I decided to purchase a M929 Dump Truck from Memphis Equipment and the tour was a chance to see their facility and finalize the options for my truck.

There are several reasons I decided on the M929 from Memphis Equipment. First, I like the fact that Memphis Equipment has been in the business of military surplus for over 70 years. They know the M900 series trucks very well. Their technicians recondition the trucks with an eye for typical areas for wear. All Memphis Equipment trucks come with a parts warranty, which is very impressive for a used truck. The trucks get fresh paint, new hoses/belts, fresh fluids, 80%+ tires, new batteries, new upholstery, and they are ready to go to work the day the new owner takes possession.

Second, Memphis Equipment has a very large parts inventory to ensure their reconditioned trucks are getting excellent parts. Their salvage yard is over 14 acres and they have several warehouses of NOS parts. It doesn’t hurt that Memphis Equipment is located about 2 hours from my farm where I will use the M929 dump truck.

Additionally, I am happy to support a business that is a Steel Soldiers sponsor. As a veteran, I enjoy having military surplus equipment. Steel Soldiers is a great resource to keep surplus equipment in operation.

Lastly, I would add that Memphis Equipment has done a lot over their history to repurpose miltiary equipment. I learned on my visit today that Memphis Equipment provides rugged, reconditioned equipment for many commercial applications. That’s a good thing for us as individual MV owners since we get to draft off of the commercial equipment users. The parts and tech support for the commercial surplus users has a direct impact on us as individual MV owners in my view. We are fortunate to have several surplus miltiary equipment dealers as sponsors for our community. I am sure the others do great work too and I hope to visit their shops in the future.