My M756 pipeline truck bed

[cranetruck]

This is a series of images missing from the original "Body-Cargo Pipeline Construction" thread.
Starting with a picture of the bed as found by Desert Rat late 2004.
I drove my deuce to Greenville, KY, (March 7-9, 2005) and picked it up.
Some parts were sold to Chris (steelsoldiers) on the way back in Charleston West Virginia.
The original wood was red oak and mostly rotted away. It was replaced with locust lumber, which was obtained from a sawmill, planed and routed to fit. One set was prepared for Kenny Engle and delivered to him at Aberdeen in May 2005.

 

[cranetruck]

More images.
The mounts on the standard M35 frame are different and must be removed as shown here.
The composite tail lights were lowered using a metal extension.

 

[cranetruck]

More images:
Using the knuckleboom made it easy to handle the new bed.

 

[cranetruck]

After priming with Rustoleum primer, the bed was painted.

 

[BFR]

Bjorn,
Thanks for the pics, are your air tanks in their stock location?
Joel

 

[Recovry4x4]

Air tanks on the 756 I have are stock. I'll chop off the mounts from the frame as well for you Joel. I've got a few pics of mountings, just need to find them and resize them.

 

[cranetruck]

In case you'r not familiar with the M756, here is a drawing showing the A-frame in use with the rear winch. The wire rope is guided to the A-frame via snatch blocks.
My version of this variant uses a knuckleboom crane instead of the rear winch plus A-frame.
The M756A2 truck was probably not very practical, requiring a lot of manpower to move the gin poles around and when in place, they could only lift things up and down.
The K-boom makes the truck infinitely more useful.
The pipeline truck bed was made as a separate entity with its own set of tags as seen in the "tool box" image above.

 

[BFR]

Bjorn,
Are the metal strips between the planks identical?

 

[cranetruck]

Yes, they are. After I removed and painted mine, they were installed randomly.
There are 13 boards mostly diferent widths. Of the few M756's we know of they all had 13 boards, but all different widths. The set Kenny has fits his bed only.

 

[BFR]

What is below the roller above the bumperettes?

 

[cranetruck]

Joel, two sets of support rollers. They are part of the bed.

 

[BFR]

Bjorn, do you have any pics of how the mudlfaps are mounted to your bed (wondering how the bracing works out)?

 

[maddawg308]

Those are some really cool pics. What was wrong with the bed you had before? Looks like you had a pipeline bed, and replaced it with a pipeline bed? Either way, the refurbished one looks great!

 

[cranetruck]

Mike, the old bed was homemade. Served me well for about 8 years. The pipeline bed is very heavy, my empty weight (with the crane) is just over 17,000 lb....

Joel, the mud flaps are bolted to the bottom of the bed, don't know off hand how the originals were installed. I'll get pictures later if it helps. The toolbox on the driver's side is the "mudflap" there.

 

[BFR]

I am using the mudflaps from a standard cargo on mine they are not "right" but they will work. Where the top of the flap meets the bottom of the bed is pretty obvious, just wondering if you have bracing like the cargo (2 struts angled up and to the rear)

 

[BFR]

while I'm pestering you about the bed... did you happen to make a rubbing of those light brackets that some scoundrel cut off my bed?

 

[OPCOM]

That's quite a beautiful truck-bed-building episode. The coolest part is being able to use the crane to do the heavy work

 

[No.2Diesel]

That is just too cool!

What makes the bed so much heavier? The perimeter frame does look very beefy. It looks like it also has a greater number of crossmembers too. The Locust wood will probably see the next ice age. White Owl Surplus is selling a Palfinger crane with auger attachment for $11,000.

Does your crane need to be stowed in a specfic position or held down for transit? Can it fold up behind the cab? Have you ever come close to tipping or having some of the wheels come off the ground during a heavy lift. Sorry for the endless questions.

 

[cranetruck]

Mudflap pictures below. Mounting bolts for the struts are sunk into the wood as shown.
Funny thing about the "rubbing" for the rear light locations, I cleaned up the basement a couple of days ago, found it and figured you didn't need it after all and burned it in the wood stove. Helped keep the basement warm.
I can get you all dimensions at any time, so no worries.

The pipeline truck bed is constructed sturdy so that it can support the gin pole crane, which may be mounted on the back or to either side. Also the block anchors in the bed etc. The roller alone probably weighs 500 lb.

The outriggers must be used for just about any lift and they spread to 12 feet from outside to outside when in full out position.
The crane is shown folded in one of the images above. A very useful tool to say the least. Depending on load distribution, I may drive with the crane extended over the back roller or folded behind the cab.

 

[cranetruck]

Makes a handy flag pole on occasion.