Military Fire Trucks

[Cooltex24]

RE: 1953 Studebaker Fire Truck / Also 1028 Fire truck threa

Hey Guys,
Just a FYI, the 1966 AM Gerneral Brush Truck pictured above is now serving very well as a first out brush truck for Hamilton, TX Volunteer Fire Department as unit 308, and it looks GREAT. I will try to get some pics downloaded this week of it.
Scott

 

[Jetnoise400]

RE: 1953 Studebaker Fire Truck / Also 1028 Fire truck threa

Hey Guys,

I have what I believe to be a roof monitor for a M530C that I'd like to part with. No pics at the moment, but PM me if interested. BTW, it's big and heavy.

 

[tamangel]

WW2 International 4x4 fire truck...also M35A3 FD build

thread transfers:

WW2 international 4x4 fire truck info request w/ pic's..

http://old.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=26281

Also, 1994 M35A3 FD w/ discussions on build up

http://old.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=24858

Mike

any pic's from new sources or personal collections w/ stories always greatly appreciated

 

[texas-5-ton]

I did not post our truck on here because it was not originally a fire apparatus and thought you guys might be getting tired of seeing it on here. But after a request from a fellow member, i feel honored to show you the specs.
The last pic was taken about 2 weeks ago showing the new steer tires and wheels
There are also some video links on this post of this truck in action.

1971 Kaiser M813 5 Ton with winch and roller
Whelen bumper strobes and LEDS, Unitrol 80K siren
Driver side Unity spotlight added

(2) 600 gallon fuel pods
(1) 35 gallon foam cell
(2) 1" whip attack lines at front of bed (one straight bore, the other adjustable)
(1) 1" booster reel with 150' of "stay hard" attack line
(1) booster reel with 150' if 1.75 attack line

Fire pump is a Hale electric start HPX200 (bad dude!!)
5 gallon tank for pump fuel, with 5 more gallons in the jerry can

 

[milfireguy]

Built at the Motor Transport Shop, Holabird Quartermaster Depot, Baltimore, MD. is this 1938 USA, Class 750 pumper. Carrying USA 50148, the rig served at the Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, NJ. One of several types of Army fire trucks constructed at the Depot from 1930 thru 1942.

 

[tamangel]

1953 REO 6x6 Fire Truck w/pump Military deuce

1953 REO 6x6 Fire Truck w/pump Military deuce,
ebay item # 110300290062 , sold for $817.00 w/18 bids...

Mike

Just returned from Maine and VA..
Went to the US Army Womens Museum (my MIL was a WAAC, later a WAC)
http://www.awm.lee.army.mil/
and the U.S. Army Quartermasters Museum:
http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/

both at Ft. Lee in VA.. no time for the Tank Museum this visit:
http://www.aaftankmuseum.com/

 

[tamangel]

1952 GMC FIRETRUCK

ebay item # 150305940219
sold for $560.00 w/ 2 bids

1952 GMC 6 WHEEL DRIVE TANKER FIRETRUCK

 

[boomer]

(Work) Horse of a different color

O.K. all you owners of military fire trucks- what were they, red or olive drab, while in military use?
Inquiring minds, want to know.

 

[FrankUSMC]

RE: (Work) Horse of a different color

Both...
I was in Crash Crew for most of my 20 years in the Marines. Air station crash trucks were red, and deployable ones were green. I have early Viet Nam photos, and the crash trucks were red in the photos. One of my fire trucks (a 1944 FFN-3, International M3-4) that has MWSG 27 on it, and that is a deployable unit, but she is painted red.
One of the few, Frank USMC RET

 

[boomer]

RE: (Work) Horse of a different color

Hi Frank,
Thanks for the quick reply. That's a nice truck you have. As for my answer, while an O-11, being a crash truck, is red. An M-530 would be green. A 530 with the water canon- would that be considered (or used as) a crash truck, or deployable, or both? Boomer

 

[tamangel]

1942 Chevy Military Fire Pumper 1/2

1942 Chevrolet Buffalo C-100 Military Fire Pumper *Corps of Engineers*

ebay item # 230303618150
start bid $2135.50
Buy-it-now price $ 5135.50
did not sell zero bids

description:
"This listing is for a 1942 Chevrolet 1 1/2 Ton Fire Truck, Chassis # 1MS12, Master # 4296, Load Master Engine # BG327975, which was built for and delivered to the Army Corps of Engineers in December of 1943. Gross weight 11,280. Payload 4,500. Pumps are a Buffalo C-100 unit with a vacuum type priming pump, serial # A-2373. Rated output over 300psi. Rated at 326 GPM through a 1 1/2 inch line with 50psi nozzle pressure. Up to 1,000 feet of a 2 1/2 inch line with 303psi at the pump. Maximum Road Speeds in MPH; Low = 7, 2nd = 14, 3rd = 29, 4th = 50, Rev = 7. (She has a stiff suspension and these original tires are not balanced very well, so anything over 35 MPH without a load will shake your brains out.) This information was collected from tags on the vehicle. (This was my personal observation.)

When this truck retired from the military it was put to work (not very much) by the Ogilvie, MN Fire Department. Until 1972 tax exempt vehicles were not required to be titled in the state of MN, so the city has no record of the vehicle, even though their name was on the hood. The City of Ogilvie later sold it at auction to one of the local law enforcement officers, who stored it in his pasture for a number of years. He sold it at auction, when he moved to Nevada, to the owner of the local campground who stored it in his pole barn. (I was never able to establish where it was stationed during the war, or exactly when it was retired.) This information was collected from people in the Ogilvie area, and the DMV.

On June 12, 1993, I purchased the vehicle with 5,196.2 miles on the odometer, from the owner of the campground at Ogilvie, MN.

The paint layers that I found were - black (factory), olive drab (military), red(unknown), yellow (Ogilvie), and now primer."

a friend commented on the vehicle:
"Some research results. Buffalo built fire apparatus in Buffalo NY from a
about 1900 to 1948 when its last truck was rolled out. There appears to be
no group interested in this fire truck builder so the pump info I seek is
not
available. I have contacted The Fireman's Assoc. of the State of New York
who have a museum with some fire trucks (a Buffalo among them) and some sort
of Historical operation. Hopefully I can get some info.

Now to pump in question. He mentions two pumps
and in that he is correct. Then he mentions a vacuum primer pump in which I
believe he is incorrect.

Look at the pix of the right side of truck opposite the pump control panel.
In the lower left corner of the area you will see a small metal container with
tubing coming from it. This the oil reservoir for the oil bath primer pump
(most likely a rotary gear that primes the big pump). This arrangement is
common on mid ship mounted centrifugals."

Mike

**********
video essay by Bill Moyers:
"....Just before election day in 1968, a fellow in advertising who worked for Nixon wrote a newspaper ad that began, "It will be quiet on Tuesday. No speeches. No motorcades. No paid political announcements. It's a very special day, just for grown-ups. America votes Tuesday…and . . . on Tuesday, the shouting and the begging and the threatening and the heckling will be silenced. It's very quiet in a voting booth. And nobody's going to help you make up your mind. So - just for that instant - you'll know what the man you're voting for will do a thousand times a day for the next four years. Now it's your turn...."

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10312008/watch3.html

 

[tamangel]

1942 Chevy Military Fire Pumper 2/2

2/2 pic's...

 

[tamangel]

WW II Army Fire Truck Colors

my friend (1st web link on first message of this thread-he is having problems with posting himself) wanted me to post an answer to the folks asking about Mil colors on Mil fire trucks:

" Would like to reply to the party with questions on WW II fire truck colors.

To: The party asking about WW II fire truck colors
From: James G. Davis, Member/Historian
1204th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon
North Africa - Italy - France - Germany
World War II
Subject WW II Army Fire Truck Colors

My observations in the countries above were that everything Army from axes to towels to ration packages to tanks to bathroom tissue to trucks to WAC's bras to fire trucks were OD in color.

In the port and harbor areas with a Navy presence their support vehicles (Jeeps and Weapon's Carriers) were painted Navy Gray. No Navy fire trucks in those areas I knew. Marine Corps fire trucks in the Pacific were probably OD.

Aloha,
Jim

********

thanks Jim, anyone with additional questions can check his site
( http://www.maui.net/~r11/firetruck-id/index.html ) and contact him there if you wish... or I can forward..

Mike

 

[lbt]

Have you ever run across a vehicle like this IHC, M3H4. It has an American LaFrance body with a built in CO2 system?. From what little info I can find there were only 110 ordered by USN.

 

[tamangel]

from Jim Davis ( http://www.maui.net/~r11/firetruck-id/index.html )

"The truck is a Navy/Marine Corps 1-1/2
ton 4x4 International, apparently principally a CO-2 rig. The presence of
the booster hose reel up top suggest it also carried water and had a pump of
some sort. The Navy/Marine Corps also had a fire truck on a 3/4 ton 4x4
International cab and chassis about which I know nothing. As bad as the
Army was in gathering and keeping info on their WW II fire trucks they were
rank beginners alongside the Navy. How many of either were built I have no
idea The original photo is probably a factory photo taken before an HVIN or
unit was assigned."

no further info at this time.. lbt: any more info and/or pics of the 2nd truck (pump, rear, drivers side, controls, etc..) ? Is this your rig?

********

Mike

 

[lbt]

This is mine. I finnished it to the picture on the right about 6 mos. ago. The only picture I have been able to find of them is the one on the left. The Navy or the National Archives have not been able to supply any info. The rig weighs 15k so I am guessing that it came from around here even tho no NSA or ANAS with in a 800 miles of me has any record. It has about a 300 gal. water tank with a 90 GPM Viking pump. I also have some pictures of an add on foam system that could or was applied to some of these units. The weight of them leads me to believe that they were ordered for large installations in the States and probably not sent overseas. The info I have from a reputable source states that only 110 of this type were built. That being the case, this may be the only one around.

Larry

 

[tamangel]

1973 AM General Model M45A2 1/2

ebay # 260318308321 auction ended
no bids start price $$3,500.00
location: Houston, TX

Military 6 X 6 Fire Truck 1973 FT-750 2 1/2 Ton Duece
Vehicle Description
Military 6 X 6 Fire Truck - 1973 AM General Model FT-750 M45A2 Frame (N.S.N. 2320-00-077-1622)
Trucks starts and runs well. All lights work as should. Body in good shape. Tank holds water.
Work Needed - Pump needs reworking, it does pump but poorly.
Motor: Multifuel LD465 6 Cylinder
(Correction: White - Multifuel LDT-465 (Turbo Charged) Engine)
Front Axle: Selectable ON - OFF
Tank: Water - 400 Gallon / Foam - 40 Gallon

 

[tamangel]

1973 AM General Model M45A2 2/2

1973 AM General Model M45A2 2/2

Mike

 

[tamangel]

1943 Chevrolet military firetruck (Army 4x4) ebay-maybe not)

ebay auction item # 320319154052
auction ended sold for $5900.00 w/ 17 bids
located in Perkasie, PA

labeled as: 1943 Chevrolet military firetruck (Army 4x4)
described as:
"1943 Chevy airfield crash truck. NO rust, very good interior, wooden steering wheel, good seat, glass, tires, etc. Spent most of it's life in a museum. Currently not running. Easy restoration"

my friend ( http://www.maui.net/~r11/firetruck-id/index.html ), who is heavily into Mil Fire trucks made the following comments re this truck:
"The truck is not a CRASH truck. All WW II Army Engineer Aircraft Crash Fire
Trucks, regardless of size of truck or pump, have at least one commonality.
That is their pumps produce low water output (GPM) at very high pressure
(PSI). The pump on the eBay truck is high GPM at low PSI.

I am not sure that this truck even started life as a fire truck. As Red
Skelton's Clem Kadiddlehoffer used to say "it just don't look right to me".
The sure way to know is to get the USA Registration Number (USAREG#) or what
I call the HVIN from the hood. If it starts with a 50 the truck started
life as a fire truck. If it starts with a 3 it is a Model G4100 or g7100
series 1-1/2 ton 4x4 military Chevrolet that could have had any of a number
of body types. Fire Truck CLASSES 110, 135, 300, 325 and 525 were on the
same cab and chassis, but with the 50 number.

So, what is the truck, three possibilities:

1. The truck was not a fire truck in origin, but a Cargo Body onto which a
water tank was installed and a Darley F Series pump installed poorly on the
front bumper.
2. A CLASS 325 fire truck from which the fire truck body was removed and the
tank installed which I question.
3. A CLASS 525 fire truck from which the fire truck body was removed and the
tank installed which I question.

Why do I question 2 & 3? Look at the attachment CLASS 325 4x4 D that is a
Darley built truck (black and white photo enclosed). Notice the pump installation which is the way the pumps
were installed in WW II. The hole in the bumper was for the suction hose
and the bumper was straighten not bent on the ends like the eBay truck.
Also notice the water piping coming from the water tank to the pump on the
eBay truck compare it with the Darley built truck.

I believe the Darley pump is a F-500 (500 GPM at 120 PSI). The clutch
assembly (front center of the pump case) does not appear to be complete (see
attachment Darley F Series Pump).

To confirm this vehicle and its CLASS as a fire truck we would need:

1. from the builders plate on the pump, the pump's GPM, make and model #
2. the number and location of booster hose reels. (see my website for
this).

In summary, I believe this truck likely was a Cargo truck someone built into
essentially a water tender (nurse tanker) and not a fire truck in its
beginnings.
"

Mike

*******

hope everyones Turkey Day was great..

 

[tamangel]

converted: 1961 M291A2C to fire tanker

ebay item # 170282286983
auction ended, item sold for $2349.00 w/29 bids
location: Jackson, New Jersey

5 TON MILITARY WATER TANKER--FIRE SERVICE--1000 GALLONS
Vehicle Description

1961 M291A2C SHOP VAN CHASSIS CONVERTED TO A FIRE TANKER--5 TON--HERCULES LDS-465-1A--TURBO--5 SPEED--2 SPEED TRANSFER CASE--6X6--11.00/20 TIRES 85%--POWER STEERING-- 78 GALLON FUEL TANK--VERY LITTLE RUST--5111 MILES AND 438 HOURS--24 VOLT--1000 GALLON WATER TANK WITH NO PUMPS--STARTS EASY AND RUNS WELL --TRACTS AND STOPS STRAIGHT--ALL GAUGES WORKING--SEATS FAIR--BODY GOOD--TANK GOOD--SMALL HOLE IN AIR RESERVE TANK--SMALL OIL LEAK AT THE FRONT OF THE OIL PAN--EXHAUST IS CLEAN--THE TAIL LIGHTS ARE MISSING--WIPERS WORK--BRAKES WORK--PARKING BRAKE WORKS--HORN WORKS--FRONT LIGHTS WORK--ALL GLASS OK--DOORS GOOD--WINDSHIELD FRAME GOOD--TITLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT COSTS $75 AND I SHOULD HAVE IT IN 5 DAYS...

Mike

**********