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Canadian Deuce?

ErnieL

ErnieL

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I caught the last few years of them in the CF, late 70's to early 80s, drove them constantly, never gave me a lick of trouble, never got me stuck or stranded, not once. Being a bigger guy, I was tasked to drive deuces everywhere we went, because they thought I'd have an easier time with the steering. I actually got a speeding ticket in one for 67 mph, (don't ask me how), and I've always wanted one...

Are they still out there? I saw a few in wrecking yards back in the late 80s, and they were pretty much trashed by then.

My eventual want would be a stocker with good bows and canvas, a winch, and not much else. Just like I drove back in the day...
Sort of curious, I guess...
 
m1010plowboy

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Build em or buy em,

What part of the world were you in when you drove them? I'm always looking for guys that have stories about the Early Deuce off road abilities and experiences. All adventures are welcome!

Did you service them too? Operators had a lot of responsibilities up north here but I haven't seen the American version of the Op manual. That'd be a cool read.

I'd say the good deuces are hiding in barns, the best ones are being driven weekly, stored on blocks out of the sun, fluids rotated regularly!

This deuce worked on a very special project between late 78 and the early 80's. The current owner bought it from gov surplus after it caught fire, feeding military members searching for a Soviet satellite! Project Morninglight began really in the fall of 7' but didn't roll out hard until January of 78'.

I was going to try and make this one whole again but the owners stripped the axles off it so the "Flying Kitchen" project is on hold for now. Being in the CF you may have eaten from a truck just like this!


Flying Kitchen.jpg
 
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ErnieL

ErnieL

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The Reserve unit I first joined was in Saskatchewan. Then went Regular, and spent plenty of time in Lahr. Most of my early Deauce time was in the Army Reserve. I had a full time spot then, so even though I was a RadOp by trade, I did the supply runs, etc, anything to keep a guy busy.

I had plenty of off road experience, and quite honestly, with the cargo bed single wheel tandems, I never once got one stuck. EVER. If the truck "stopped moving", out went the winch cable, and pulled it free. We had wheel winches as well but I never used them. Going through the bush in low range was part of the big grin package that came with running these. About 20 gallons per mile that way, but who cared, right? This farm boy loved the big truck, small engine brag factor.
One day in some town I had a greasy long haired smart ass kid pull up beside me in his ratty early 1970s Camaro. He looked up at me and said "wanna drag?" I just looked at him and said "Sure, let's get out the chains and see who drags who." Yeah, I was an A$$hole back then, but I didn't care.

A different story with the DRW hard box CP trucks, though. I got more than one of those things so bloody buried that we thought we'd need the big old Chinook sky hook to recover them. I wasn't all that popular with Brigade HQ when that happened, but screw it if they can't take a joke. They were the ones who insisted on crappy DRW instead of the go anywhere tall singles.
 
m1010plowboy

m1010plowboy

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ErnieL

ErnieL

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Which base?? Alsask? Dad was a Radar Tech during the heyday of the Pinetree Line. I grew up on those bases.

Winter driving. One sticks in my mind. Driver training, actually. A young female Private was my trainee, and while coming north into the city from CFB MooseJaw, back then, the highway split into two separate one way streets. There was almost immediate long downgrade, and this young lady decided to lock the brakes at 25 mph halfway down the hill. The road was a smidgeon icy, it turns out. As is expected in February in Southern Sask.
Well, we did at least two complete 360 degree loops on the grade until fading to portside. We bounced over the curb into a schoolyard, mashed a bike rack, and stopped about a foot from the front door. I think I loaded my drawers but was busy wrestling the wheel away from her. This happened right before the afternoon dismissal bell. The Principal came out, I filled out the report, placed her on the right bench, calmly backed out and went home.
Feeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!
 
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eaw46

eaw46

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ErnieL

ErnieL

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Yeah, I hope to eventually find the SRW version with the wheel wells in the bed. The troop carrier.
Dang! 10K! But it is ready to go with a pumper, so I expect it makes sense.
 
ErnieL

ErnieL

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I’m wondering about getting these across the border. Would it be considered an antique truck or a “weapon of war”?
 
ErnieL

ErnieL

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Yup, saw that. But I’m looking for the hardtop M135 Canadian. Doesn’t the M211 have a different cargo bed? Will an M135 cargo bed fit on the 211 frame?

What I CAN attest to was how happy one one hand, yet pissed off when they took our Deuces and gave us the MLVW. Yeah, power steering was ok, and at first I liked the diesel, at least until I saw one grenade after some putt had started it and set the hand throttle to a higher idle for it to warm up.
I have no clue what happened other than the engine just started revving up slowly until it was screaming, then it nuked itself. I was on the other side of the vehicle park and saw the whole thing. The truck was brand new and none had been in service over a year.
I saw them run away a few times, butt hat was the only one hat grenaded. Never did hear what caused that phenomenon. It seemed to be related to what RPM you set the throttle for. 1000 or less, it was OK, 12-1300, it’ll overspeed.
 
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m1010plowboy

m1010plowboy

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CD EMO Deuce

ErnieL said:
Which base?? Alsask? Dad was a Radar Tech during the heyday of the Pinetree Line. I grew up on those bases.

Winter driving. One sticks in my mind. Driver training, actually. A young female Private was my trainee, and while coming north into the city from CFB MooseJaw, back then, the highway split into two separate one way streets. There was almost immediate long downgrade, and this young lady decided to lock the brakes at 25 mph halfway down the hill. The road was a smidgeon icy, it turns out. As is expected in February in Southern Sask.
Well, we did at least two complete 360 degree loops on the grade until fading to portside. We bounced over the curb into a schoolyard, mashed a bike rack, and stopped about a foot from the front door. I think I loaded my drawers but was busy wrestling the wheel away from her. This happened right before the afternoon dismissal bell. The Principal came out, I filled out the report, placed her on the right bench, calmly backed out and went home.
Feeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!
Click to expand...
Those are the stories that we can only find on Steel Soldiers! We've heard about ridiculous weights being hauled with the M135 and other stories about logistics knowing the weight of every load. What was your experience with max. weight loads?

I'd say you and your Dad are part of the reason we're here today so Thank You, to both of you, for your Service!

Alsask fell in to our laps last year and this year we're taking the first steps to lock our Continental Defence Story under the Dome! Any stories you can contribute, without busting the official secrets act, he whispers, would be saved to perpetuity!...or longer if I have my way!
Alsaskcleanup18.jpg
Canada Day will be our first subtle tribute to Canadian Civil Defence and the three forces that once existed in Canada. Our anthem will be played in French, English and a heart grabbing instrumental followed with a unique blast from a Civil Defence siren.

The kids on our museum board keep that facebook thing open to the public so you can look at the latest pictures and info without joining or signing in.
https://www.facebook.com/CanadianCivilDefenceMuseumAndArchives/
 
ErnieL

ErnieL

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Well, tet's just say that we never once were concerned about weights and never once did we even think to wonder.
We'd be loaded up to the rails with ammo, plus a full water buffalo trailer on behind, and it didn't even break a sweat.
I'll say it again, they were my favorite vehicle in all my military experience. yeah, the 113's were cool, but the old deuces were real soldiers.
 
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ErnieL

ErnieL

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I'm sure I have one or two of our old deuces. But we didn't go around with cameras snapping random pictures of ourselves or our equipment. Pretty much all the old pics I have were sent by others who ran across them. I do have, somewhere, a few pics of some of our M211 CP units, but I'll have to look to find something of the cargo trucks.
 
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