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Ball hitch

JWAMGENERAL

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I bought a 1993 M35A3 a few months ago and it has been an absolute joy, working on it with my son and driving it around town but we are fixing to move and I would love to be able to tow my vehicles to the new property using The Deuce.

I would rather not weld or harshly modify anything (although I understand that may be unrealistic) and it would be awesome to have something that fits into the existing equipment.

I have seen a few threads similar to this but I thought I would ask more directly. Any thoughts, comments, and or pictures of your set up would be welcomed and appreciated.
 

Mullaney

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I bought a 1993 M35A3 a few months ago and it has been an absolute joy, working on it with my son and driving it around town but we are fixing to move and I would love to be able to tow my vehicles to the new property using The Deuce.

I would rather not weld or harshly modify anything (although I understand that may be unrealistic) and it would be awesome to have something that fits into the existing equipment.

I have seen a few threads similar to this but I thought I would ask more directly. Any thoughts, comments, and or pictures of your set up would be welcomed and appreciated.
.
Well, I am guessing you don't already have any sort of "hitch on the back" unless you just happen to be incredibly lucky. The Deuce can pull most anything you want to drag to the new property. Is there any chance that you could replace a ball hitch on the front of a trailer (or whatever) so you don't have to modify your truck?

Maybe some pictures of whatever you want to pull down the highway?

There are lots of creative members here.
With a little better idea of what you are hoping to do might get you some better answers.
 

JWAMGENERAL

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Excellent point. The deuce comes with a pintle hook on the back and as far as I can tell there is no such thing as a tow dolly that uses a Lunette ring. I’m trying to tow a 2007 Ford Escape which has hooks that I could potentially hook tow bars to but I’m really trying to tow without needing someone to steer the towed vehicle. Additionally the pintle hook is not a “standard” towing height so I figured I would need some type of drop down ball hitch receiver that could potentially bolt onto the existing framework.
 

Attachments

glcaines

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Why not rent an equipment trailer that has a lunette and load the car on the trailer? I've done this in the past with my M35A2 and M35A3. I replaced the bulbs in the trailer with 24 volt bulbs and made a jury-rigged connection from the trailer wiring to the deuce. You can also buy adapters to convert the military socket to the civilian plug. This is a very inexpensive option.
 

davidb56

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I would rent a equipment trailer as stated by glcaines, if you didnt want to fab one up. But damn, there is so many bolts back there it would be easy to fab one and have it properly braced to where the tie down area is at.......all with removing bolts and replacing them with longer ones at your brace and mounting points.
 

JWAMGENERAL

New member
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3
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Location
Florida
Why not rent an equipment trailer that has a lunette and load the car on the trailer? I've done this in the past with my M35A2 and M35A3. I replaced the bulbs in the trailer with 24 volt bulbs and made a jury-rigged connection from the trailer wiring to the deuce. You can also buy adapters to convert the military socket to the civilian plug. This is a very inexpensive option.
honestly I cannot find anything like that anywhere. Is it possible that you could send a photo of what you’re talking about or a link? I really wanted to use the pintle hook but I just couldn’t find anything other than tow bars. Plus I’d love to see how y’all account for the height of the deuce when getting a trailer.
 

zebedee

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Like DavidB56 said, there are loads of bolts to use. I made this for a M931. Since a tractor has little overhang, positioning braces from the frame is not possible so I picked up the nut on back side of the pintle bolt and used the lift/tie down shackles for a quick detatch solution.

M931 Hitch.jpg

This was the rendering I made prior to fab.
 

davidb56

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Like DavidB56 said, there are loads of bolts to use. I made this for a M931. Since a tractor has little overhang, positioning braces from the frame is not possible so I picked up the nut on back side of the pintle bolt and used the lift/tie down shackles for a quick detatch solution.

View attachment 853035

This was the rendering I made prior to fab.
my apocalypse fixed V snow plow is fastened similar, and I remove it every spring. Its in the front of course.
 

SCSG-G4

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Found the Curt reference - it's a CURT 15530. Works because the frame is a standard width.
Main reason I found this is that guyfang, mullaney and I are working on database of the TM's, both on SS and in our private collections to expand what is available to the group AND provide a search engine to help locate the 'right' manual for each undertaking. We are currently being hampered because the military has moved manuals to 'the cloud', but have restricted access to those who have class "B" privileges or higher, because they do not have enough bandwidth to support the public and DOD both. Case example, TM 10-412, The Armed Forces Master Menu. I can send you the link to where you can see it, but 'the public' can only download the cover, while those signing in on a DOD computer can access the whole thing - from that same link! Everyone who has received my MKT-INFO USB drive has the full copy.
 

glcaines

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honestly I cannot find anything like that anywhere. Is it possible that you could send a photo of what you’re talking about or a link? I really wanted to use the pintle hook but I just couldn’t find anything other than tow bars. Plus I’d love to see how y’all account for the height of the deuce when getting a trailer.
There are a lot of guys with equipment trailers moving backhoes, tractors, dozers, etc. I simply stopped a guy hauling some equipment on a trailer behind a dump truck and asked if he would rent me his trailer for a day. He had a spare that he rented for $100.00. The next time I needed one, I called him and he had his trailers tied up with work, but sent me to another guy that charged me $125.00 for two days. Also, check with rental companies that rent heavy equipment because almost all of them own trailers to move their equipment when rented.
 
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