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Joined the 5 Ton Club (Times 2)

m715mike

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Yesterday I bought a M936A2 and a M810 and it turned into a day I'll remember for a long time to come. Also, I have a feeling that Wes Simpson won't forget it any time soon either.

A friend of mine is selling his MV collection. When I expressed interest in his wrecker last July, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse for both the wrecker and the water truck. Although both trucks were only 35 miles away, it took me almost a year to get the deal done and get the trucks home (that’s where Wes came in).

The Wrecker: The dash plate on the wrecker says M936A1, but it’s an A2. My friend purchased it from GL 5 years ago and, except for leaving once to pull fuzzytoaster out of the mud, it’s been on his ranch ever since. The wrecker was not used much. In recent years, it had to be jumpstarted (the batteries are shot) and Wes confirmed last night that the alternator is not charging. Apart from the batteries/alternator and a broken cable on the boom, the rest of the truck was in pretty good working order until late last night.

The Water Truck: My buddy bought this truck from GL also. When he got it, the radiator was leaking and the tierod had GL forklift damage. He pushed the truck into his barn, pulled the radiator and had it rebuilt. Then he didn’t touch the truck again. Hopefully it won’t take much to get it running. The truck is mostly complete and looks to be in good shape.

The Recovery: Plan A was to use the wrecker and tow the water truck up to the county road for Wes to ‘quickly’ load them. We gambled on the weather as the forecast was for thunderstorms and heavy wind from 13:00 to 16:00. Wes as due to arrive at 12:00. For once, the weather man got it right.

Plan A failed. We couldn’t get the wrecker started. Not to worry, Wes showed up on time and he pulled the water truck up to the front.

M810 Towbar from Barn.jpeg



So far so good. Then the rain hit and we took an hour break to let the first squall blow over. After the rain delay, it was back to work and we got the water truck moved.

M810 Loading in Rain.jpeg
M810 Loaded on Trailer.jpeg


After discussing the potential for a second wave of the storm and doing further damage to my friend’s road and pasture, we decided to go back for the wrecker. Wes swapped two batteries in, the wrecker fired right up, and he drove it on the trailer (almost seemed to easy…).

M936 Loaded on Trailer.jpeg


Then the fun began. The wrecker is heavy. All of that weight broke the roller on the back of Wes’ truck while winching-up the trailer neck. This turned into a perfect opportunity to use the wrecker, which turned into the perfect opportunity to blow at least three hydraulic hoses on said wrecker. So now the crane is inoperable, but we still needed to fix Wes’ truck and get the wrecker loaded.

Working on Simp's Roller.jpeg


Several hours later, we were done and on the road again. After a 15 hour day, the wrecker got home with no further issues.

Now the fun continues. I'll focus on the wrecker first. It needs to be serviced (fluids, filters, etc.). It needs batteries and an alternator. And hoses... lots of hoses! I'm sure there will be more. I'm going to tuck the water truck away for a future project. It looks great, and would make a great parade truck!



Wes – It was great to finally meet you in person, and thank you again for your help yesterday!
 

Karl kostman

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Congrats M715Mike some days things just seem to fight you all the way, it sucks but sure makes us appreciate the good ones! And having a truck driver like Wes there to help goes a long ways, he is a very smart patient friend to have at time like this!!!
Karl
 

fuzzytoaster

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Fort Worth, Texas
Welcome to the club! That M936A2 is a clean truck and looked unused since RRAD when I saw it last. The M810 came from Ft. Sam I believe. You'll like the wrecker but we warned..now people know you have one and you'll be that friend "with a pickup" that everyone asks favors from. :p
 

simp5782

Feo, Fuerte y Formal
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Worst part that caused everything was the soft road. Wrecker pushed the trailer pads almost a foot in the ground. That made it alot more difficult to pick up. I am not unhappy about the roller breaking. It did what I intended for it and that was break the bolts if it's too heavy over trying to tear or bend the frame off. Double framed trucks it's hard to do that. On a single frame 915 it would happen

Yes the rain sucked but atleast it wasn't August
 

NDT

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Camp Wood/LC, TX
Next time drive the load all the way over the trailer axles before you fold the gooseneck and couple and then move it back afterwards.
 

simp5782

Feo, Fuerte y Formal
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Next time drive the load all the way over the trailer axles before you fold the gooseneck and couple and then move it back afterwards.
Usually is done but we used the batteries from my 915 to run the wrecker. So I was trying to not play musical batteries and wrecker wasnt holding air pressure well to let it roll back on its own so was trying for a 1 time thing

On another note. It won't be a further issue as I will finish the hydraulics for the trailer this weekend so the neck can do its own lifting with two 4inch cylindersall with a wireless remote from the comfort of the cab
 

71DeuceAK

Well-known member
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Fairbanks, Alaska
Welcome to the five ton club! I actually don't think I've ever seen an M810 before, how uncommon are they?

I feel you on the wrecker thing- they are heavy and can be a maintenance nightmare at times, but are still absolutely worth having.
 

Mullaney

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Charlotte NC
Thank you, Sir.
The tarp worked great. And call me crazy... but I like how it looks over the windshield.
Heck yes! Just need to work on the left and right sides so you can see out. You aren't looking for airplanes - so a slightly covered front window just might work. :)
 

m715mike

Well-known member
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Location
Montgomery, Texas
This post is largely a copy/paste from the July 2020 MV of the Month thread.


I'm the third owner of the M810 water truck. My friend purchased it from Government Liquidation in 2010 out of Carson City, Nevada and I bought it from my friend. He has rural property here in Texas, and I believe his intent was to have a water truck for fire fighting (should the need arise). The truck had a bad radiator (which was visible in the GL auction pictures) and showed up with a bent tie rod (fork lift damage?). After taking delivery of the truck, my friend backed it into his shed. In 2011, he pulled the radiator and had it rebuilt. Then the truck sat untouched for nine more years until Wes pulled it out of the shed and hauled it home for me. My friend has a wide variety of interests and many projects. The M810 water truck just didn't get any attention.


To take a trip down memory lane, here are some of the GL auction pictures:
GL Auction 1.jpeg
GL Auction 2.jpeg
GL Auction 4.jpeg
GL Auction 5.jpeg
GL Auction 3.jpeg



Awe, the radiator:
GL Auction 6.jpeg
 

m715mike

Well-known member
2,797
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Location
Montgomery, Texas
Mike any under the hood pictures??

@Tracer, although I can’t commit on timing, I do promise to post under the hood pictures.

@Tracer as promised, here are some under the hood pictures of the M810 water truck. I did not intend to make you wait the better part of a year for these pictures... but hopefully it gave time for your anticipation/excitement to build! ;)


These pictures were taken yesterday before I gave the truck a bath.

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