Does the M35A3 really make a good FD Brush Truck

[MRFD715]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie here and I'm trying to learn about military trucks on behalf of our FD. We recently acquired a M915A4 Line-Haul Tractor through DRMO and when we picked it up our state forestry rep showed us several M35A3's they have availiable and told us that they make good brush trucks. My question is do they really? I've done a search and read lots of threads about build-ups of them, but I couldn't find much info about how well they actually performed.

To give you a little insight as to what we are thinking of doing, we are looking to put a 600 gallon tank and gas-powered pump in the bed. Our terrain around here is mostly open fields with very little hills or wooded areas. What do you guys think? Is there a better chassis for what we're looking at doing? Our total yearly budget is a little less than $40,000 so that's why we're trying to find the most affordable options available to us. Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions you may have!

Josh

 

[bones1]

Welcome Josh, you will find the information you are seeking, here, shortly.

 

[flyxpl]

If you don't mind a max speed of 48mph . Also count on getting a set of new tires . The tires on thses trucks are getting to be old enough to be unsafe , especially haulling a load of water in an emergency .

 

[ratat98]

I'm a local emergency management director and almost every VFD around here has at least one M35A3 for a brush truck. They all seem to like them! Look pretty slick too!

 

[FireFighterHill]

I applaud you for not overloading the truck with 1,200 gallons of water and then expecting to take it off road. If you use it within its design limits it works great. I would make sure you only let experienced engineers drive it. Be careful on how much extra equipment you add as 600 gallon of water already puts it at its 2.5 ton off road limit. Sure it can handle much more but it was not designed to do so off road.

One con of the truck is that it is not the best at weaving in and through trees like a smaller 4x4 pickup. The pros though are its capacity and 6x6 drive.

 

[autigers35a3]

If you get one of the A3's. Remove the cargo bed and mount nothing but your tank and pump on the frame. Something a good welder could do.
I think this may help with the weight issue.

 

[autigers35a3]

If you get one of the A3's. Remove the cargo bed and mount nothing but your tank and pump on the frame. Something a good welder could do.
I think this may help with the weight issue.

 

[autigers35a3]

If you get one of the A3's. Remove the cargo bed and mount nothing but your tank and pump on the frame. Something a good welder could do.
I think this may help with the weight issue.

 

[Maverick1701]

my FD has 3 and we LOVE them.
Shoot me a PM if you have some more Qs.

 

[Maverick1701]

pics for all to enjoy

 

[wreckerman893]

Just remember....anything with a yaller motor (CAT) in it is going to be expensive to fix.

That is my only gripe with them.....well that and they are butt ugly.

 

[NEIOWA]

The M35A3 is the most easily available DOD surplus truck suitable for brush/wildland use. A a great option for a rural FD. Much more suitable for our operations than the older versions. Now is the time to get one as DOD is apparently getting rid og all the duece. There is no other vehicle that will be as well suit for our operations coming thru DOD surplus for a many many years (generations). The LMTV will not be available in any qty and debatable if appropriate, HMMWV will not be available at all.

I'm glad to hear the Karl has some on hand. I started talking A3 to him about 4 years ago.

 

[flighht2k5]

If you don't mind a max speed of 48mph . Also count on getting a set of new tires . The tires on thses trucks are getting to be old enough to be unsafe , especially haulling a load of water in an emergency .

I hope you wouldn't go much faster then that in any brush truck. Including an A2

 

[Ghostrider73]

We have 2 A3's and 2 A2's. Three of them are set up with 600 gallon tanks directly over the axles. The othe is a 1000 gal tanker. Our Dept is so effective with these, that the other dept's in the area turned theirs back in. When set up right, and used right, I wouldn't use anything else for brush and light woods fires. I'll try to get some pictures next time I'm at the station.

Matt

PS. we will probably be getting rid of our 3/4 ton in favor of another A3.

 

[MRFD715]

That's kind of the situation we're in. We've got a 1969 Dodge W200 crew cab that's set up as a brush/rescue truck. We just got a new (to us) rescue so now we're looking to update the W200 and make a dedicated brush truck. We've also got a 1975 Dodge W300 Mini-Pumper that's pretty good at getting into the tight spots, that's another reason we're looking at making a bigger brush truck instead of just getting another pickup. Thanks for all the replys so far, I'm compiling a good list of info! Keep it coming!

 

[MRFD715]

Ok, another question. Does the A3 have a PTO option? I was informed that we have a 500 GPM Waterous PTO pump available to us. If that were useable on the A3 it would make it more of an Interface unit than a Brush Rig and that would be good for us. Maybe its completely impractical, anybody have any thoughts?

 

[Ghostrider73]

I crawled under one of our A3's, and both A2's today, and could not find anything resembling a PTO on the A3.

Matt

 

[R Racing]

The winch trucks have s good size hydraulic pump they use to drive the winch that could also be used to drive a pump.

 

[MRFD715]

Thanks guys. We're probably going to end up using the 300 GPM gas powered pump that's on our W200 right now and using the 500 GPM pump on our tanker that we just got a new chassis for. I think that will be about the best option for us.

 

[stoney_bogg]

Wyoming Forestry has converted several trucks into brush trucks
Give Steve Stowe a call-307-777-5681 he can answer your questions.
His email is sstowe@state.wy.us