M818 for business

[USN_Green_Addict]

I've been looking at buying a M818 for helping my family business when they get some not so smart drivers.

My extended family owns a lot of carnal rides. Due to the locations where they set up a lot of the drivers have issues getting the rides stuck in soft ground. I know I will hear others say to buy a purpose vehicle or get insurance. However I'm looking at it for a money aspect and if an M818 can pull the ride and tractor out with tow capacity and such. The thought I'd it won't raise insurance and sense time is money and it would take less time to already have the truck on site just in case.

What y'all's opinions? Also would another platform be cheaper?

 

[simp5782]

818s are slow, have an unreliable brake system unless it's been gone thru for starters. Unless you are hauling this carnival ride across the Prarie with the 818 you would be better suited in a 915.
915a1s sell in the 5k and under range. At auction and private hands.. More suited for road use. More powerful, quieter and quite reliable

 

[Mullaney]

I've been looking at buying a M818 for helping my family business when they get some not so smart drivers.

My extended family owns a lot of carnal rides. Due to the locations where they set up a lot of the drivers have issues getting the rides stuck in soft ground. I know I will hear others say to buy a purpose vehicle or get insurance. However I'm looking at it for a money aspect and if an M818 can pull the ride and tractor out with tow capacity and such. The thought I'd it won't raise insurance and sense time is money and it would take less time to already have the truck on site just in case.

What y'all's opinions? Also would another platform be cheaper?

.
Not sure how fast the carnival rides travel. Might not even matter so long as you get to the next location. Isn't a very fast mover.

The M818 will pull hard. No discussion about a winch and something to hook the "ride tractor" to the MV tractor and by default, the M818 doesn't have a rear winch.

In my opinion (for what that's worth) would be keep your truck on "good dirt" when trying to pull the other truck. That isn't always possible but if you call out a commercial wrecker they will be using a winch or two for sure.

As I was writing this post, simp5782 posted about a much newer truck to think about. The M915 might be worthy of consideration by moving you ahead by 20 years.

 

[USN_Green_Addict]

818s are slow, have an unreliable brake system unless it's been gone thru for starters. Unless you are hauling this carnival ride across the Prarie with the 818 you would be better suited in a 915.
915a1s sell in the 5k and under range. At auction and private hands.. More suited for road use. More powerful, quieter and quite reliable

I agree. Perhaps I should be more specific. It would be in western NY not very steep terrain. The idea wouldn't be to haul rides all the time. It would be used to get anything unstuck only. 99% of the time the rides are set up in dirt areas. For cases where a ride sunk down in the dirt/mud been having a lot of rain this year. As well as using it to draw attention to get more customers when not in use.

 

[USN_Green_Addict]

.
Not sure how fast the carnival rides travel. Might not even matter so long as you get to the next location. Isn't a very fast mover.

The M818 will pull hard. No discussion about a winch and something to hook the "ride tractor" to the MV tractor and by default, the M818 doesn't have a rear winch.

In my opinion (for what that's worth) would be keep your truck on "good dirt" when trying to pull the other truck. That isn't always possible but if you call out a commercial wrecker they will be using a winch or two for sure.

As I was writing this post, simp5782 posted about a much newer truck to think about. The M915 might be worthy of consideration by moving you ahead by 20 years.

Do y'all think a M800 series wrecker would be better suited for the task?

 

[Karl kostman]

818 is a good truck but in stock form its not going to do much for you as far as pulling other trucks out of the mud. In todays world if your going to actually use it to pull a ride who are you going to get to drive it, who today even knows how to drive a manual trans? In theory your idea has legs but I think in real life Mullaneys idea of a 915 or even a 920 would be a lot more capable in the long run and the 920 also comes with a huge winch on the back already.
Good luck!

 

[Mullaney]

818 is a good truck but in stock form its not going to do much for you as far as pulling other trucks out of the mud. In todays world if your going to actually use it to pull a ride who are you going to get to drive it, who today even knows how to drive a manual trans? In theory your idea has legs but I think in real life Mullaneys idea of a 915 or even a 920 would be a lot more capable in the long run and the 920 also comes with a huge winch on the back already.
Good luck!

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Or if you want something to draw attention - the M936 is pretty cool.

I seriously doubt you will need the rotator boom on the M936 for pulling a truck out of the mud. The big monster winch on the back should drag whatever you want to pull. And this truck has Ground Spades to dig into the ground to anchor the pulling truck to the dirt. The M936 is also heavy, so sheer weight might give it a big advantage when pulling.

I mentioned "attention". A flag hoisted up in the air to attract attention. A big boom sticking up in the air helps attract attention. Not as tall as a ferris wheel or a bullet, but taller than a lot of stuff...

The other really big plus might be using the M936 as a lifting device. There has to be plenty of things that need to be picked up and put somewhere in a carnival setting. A machine with multiple purposes has to be good (maybe?).

So, what we just did with all this discussion is that we went from 5k or 8k up to a 13k and up machine...

 

[fuzzytoaster]

My extended family owns a lot of carnal rides. Due to the locations where they set up a lot of the drivers have issues getting the rides stuck in soft ground.

M915A1 is immediately out especially on stock tires. Even with 395's you've got all your weight on the front axle that isn't powered so more reason to pass. If you're wanting something that's ready to go a M816 or M936 (preferred) would fit the best. It has the weight, weight distribution, winches, and low 6x6 to get things out if they've really screwed up. If that's just not in the budget then a 5 ton cargo would make due with weight in the bed. M923 comes to mind if not M925 for the winch "just in case". Be safe, be smart, go with a M925.

 

[NDT]

Lemme look in my crystal ball . . . yes here you will be ...

 

[USN_Green_Addict]

Looks like I'm going to start shopping for a M936. New question about this truck is it better to keep duels or super singles for weight distribution and pulling?

Damn that's stuck

 

[simp5782]

I've got a 916 that needs a home and has rear 45k winch on it and 15,000lb MK15a1 crane on it and the 5th wheel plate. 400 cummins and has the cat 16 speed in it

 

[US6x4]

Just an anecdotal story here but growing up in the Columbia Basin i would watch farmers harvesting potatoes that had M813s and M814s mixed in with their fleet of KWs, Peterbuilts, and Freightliners. These 6x6s were able to climb the hills that the civvy trucks couldn't (no mud, just 1 to 1.5 feet of soft dirt) and they would often be used to tow the civvy trucks up hills while they were loading. The 5 tons were right at home being the beasts of burden off-road like that and they always impressed anyone watching the show.

As you can guess, once out on the county roads all the truck drivers wanted the 10 speeds, A/C, and air ride seats...

 

[Mullaney]

Lemme look in my crystal ball . . . yes here you will be ...

.
Without offending anybody, at what point in time do we stop digging a hole in the dirt and getting "more stuck"?

Thank goodness for cell phones maybe? (gold shirt, behind the truck under the boom winch)
Back in the day, you would have to hike out to find a pay phone or a paved road to get help.
Having to hike might have altered the thinking?

Getting buried to the axles can't be fixed with a pickup truck for sure!

 

[Mullaney]

Looks like I'm going to start shopping for a M936. New question about this truck is it better to keep duels or super singles for weight distribution and pulling?

Damn that's stuck

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Hopefully some of the guys will check in with opinions, but I think the Super Singles idea came about because of our involvement in the sandbox wars.
Super low pressure in the rear tires in sand had a better chance to "float" on top of the mess you could find yourself in.

 

[swbradley1]

813 or 818 will both do the job of pulling out a stuck truck. 915 will too if the truck is stuck on dry pavement.

I'd go with an 813 with a cargo cover to haul long pulling straps. There is a guy about a mile from our house that moves his huge tub grinding outfit around his area with an 818 and he got it specifically for moving that thing on dirt. Gets it clear of the dirt for the road tractor to tow it. Can't imagine an amusement ride weighing more than that tub grinder. I've pulled stuff out with an 813 and even with NDTs I didn't notice it and I was still in soft stuff.

 

[Nomadic]

Get a wrecker so you can lift and drag and not just drag in cases where the feet of the equipment are sunk down into the ground.

 

[M37M35]

I'm surprised nobody has asked just what kind amusement rides we're talking about here...

My extended family owns a lot of carnal rides.

I say get a 936.

 

[USN_Green_Addict]

I'm surprised nobody has asked just what kind amusement rides we're talking about here...





I say get a 936.

This one got stuck.

 

[USN_Green_Addict]

I'm surprised nobody has asked just what kind amusement rides we're talking about here...





I say get a 936.

 

[Jbulach]

If you plan on hauling trailers with it, talk to Wes about his M916. If not, and you think you will use the crane get a M936a2, but if the ground is soft remember they are very heavy themselves. If you have several tons of dedicated equipment that can live in the back of a cargo truck, I would get an m925a2. If the ground is soft air down to sand mode. If things are getting stuck drop down to emergency mode.