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My working deuce-and-a-half

cranetruck

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Meadows of Dan, Virginia
I use my deuce for work and made another delivery yesterday.
Some stats:
Fuel: 20 gallons of home made biodiesel (unwashed), 5 gallons of cooking oil and 20 gallons of petro diesel
Loaded weight: 22,000 lb
Empty weight: 17,000 lb
Driving loaded for 134 miles resulted in a mpg of 6.7.
Driving empty for 134 miles (return trip) the fuel-milage was 7.5.
Cruising speed on the interstate: 55-62 mph

The images below were taken by Adrian, who came along for the ride.
 

cranetruck

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PS to Boone, NC delivery.
A few days ago I replaced all brake shoes on the deuce. Now, during yesterday's trip the left front brake drum got really hot, we could smell the hot steel.
We stopped at a truck stop, lifted the deuce on the outriggers and found that the left front brake shoes didn't release after use.
Got set up to take the wheel off and found that the Campbell/Housefeld 3/4 impact didn't work. The trigger was jammed by a pin from somewhere. Okay, so we proceeded with "manual" tools.
Everything checked out, so, I guess, it must be the wheel cylinder that needs to be replaced.
We put things back together and it seemed to work, at first anyway. At a later stop the drum was still getting hot, but not too bad.
We drove on. Next we come to the mountain climb. With the custom radiator cover in place, it got up to 215F (never had it that hot before), but again everything seems in order after the climb.
When we arrived at the destination, we had to drive up a bouncy slope to turn around and when finally parked, Judd, the customer, pointed out that "you have a radiator leak" and sure enough, cooling fluid was dripping off the inside of the bumper.
Again a bit of a heart stopper, but it turned out that the bouncy drive on the grass slope tossed cooling fluid out the over flow. A sigh of relief.
While operating the crane I noticed another leak under the truck. This time it was the real thing, the high pressure hydraulic line from the pump had a pin hole squirting fluid 4 feet away. Not a short term problem. Off-loaded the lumber without a hitch and shut the pump down for the return trip home.
Used the exhaust brake a couple of times and the back pressure gauge showed only about 10 psi. That will need some adjustment too.

The roller on the M756 pipeline bed is on a level just above the bed of the truck.

a) It is great for manually on/off loading logs if only the one log you are dealing with is resting on it.
b) One time I had 1/2 dozen logs resting on it that were not yet secured (at the saw mill) and when I moved the truck forward, the entire load rolled back a foot!
c) The roller is not safe to step on when jumping off the back of the bed. There ought to be a lock...

Everybody gets a kick out of the smell of french fries when the exhaust blows in the right direction. :)

The highest turbo boost registered during the trip was 9 psi and the EGT never got over 1,100 F. Probably time to change fuel filters, although the biodiesel could have something to do with it. Fuel consumpton is higher with biodiesel, maybe by 1 mpg or so.
 

Albin

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Your the guy with the +16 MB fording video, right? I've been sending that video out to everyone at work (using the company server, shhh, don't tell the IT guys!). Everyone gets a big kick out of it.

Did your truck come with that desert paint job or did you do it? If you did it, what paints did you use?

Thanks,

Al
 

cranetruck

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Al, glad you'r enjoyng the fording video! Next time I'll wait for more water :devil:
My deuce was won at an auction almost exactly ten years ago from DRMO, Camp Lejeune, NC. It's an USMC truck. Paid $3,300 for it, later the 1,200 gallon stainless steel tank was sold for $1,000. A tanker is a good deal with T-case PTO and auxulliary governor built in, which is perfect for the hydraulic crane.
The image below shows the Navy International Loadstar, also 1968, with the 1972 HIAB crane, which I moved to the deuce.
As you can see, the original pattern on the deuce was a 4-color, MERDC, desert pattern. The current 3-color, "NATO" color scheme was done by yours truly. The colors are "Sand", "Field Drab" and "Earth Yellow".
 

cranetruck

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Here is another image of the new deuce. The vinyl top is draped over the "bikini" top when parked. The turbo was added later. Note the M756 truck bed. (The yellow cord is for the Chargetek 500 battery maintainer.)
This truck has been driven some 6,000 miles since the fording experiment last September.
 

cranetruck

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The winch was taken off because of too much weight on the front axle. The HIAB adds almost 1,000 lb to the front axle load. The winch adds more weight here than a full rated load on the bed!
Using 1100's tires also help the front loading situation. 900's would be close to overloaded.
The winch was sold.
 

cranetruck

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The outriggers are also very useful for bending/straightening metal. :)
The outriggers have been used to make a heavy lift when the boom is extended to capacity. Tilting the truck with the outriggers can move the extended boom up a couple of feet.
 

mangus580

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I sure coulda used one of them tonight!! :hop: Was pulling an engine out of my old pickup to put in my boat.... I hate engine hoists, especially on gravel... :banghead: :banghead:

It sure looks like it would be handy.... I think I might need one...
 

Albin

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Location
TN
Bjorn,

Thanks!

Great looking truck! I especially like the 3 color desert. I've got a thng about the desert, dunno why.

Thanks,

Al
 

Albin

Member
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18
Location
TN
cranetruck said:
Al, the camo pattern as per TB 43-0209. It's work in progress (low priority) may get it done for Aberdeen next year. /DotNetForum/emoticons/smile.gif
Working for a large defense contractor has it's benefits: I just downloaded the latest one from the Company on-line library.


Thanks,



Al
 

Albin

Member
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Location
TN
Elwenil said:
Albin said:
Working for a large defense contractor has it's benefits: I just downloaded the latest one from the Company on-line library.



Thanks,



Al
We get those benefits too, lol. [thumbzup]
https://www.logsa.army.mil/etms/welcom1.htm



Straight from the government.
MIL/Logsa is only one of many. NFPA, Rail, FAA, FCC, ASTM (e.g. Biodiesel spec), IEEE, NRC, DOE, ad infinitum, pretty much anything to do with aircraft or any electronics or industial processes. Can't distribute or share it, but I don't have to fool around looking for it.

Glad you can get the mil-specs, too.

Now, what are the M-105 spec & drawing numbers so I can download that next?

Thanks,

Al
 
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