ida34
Well-known member
- 4,120
- 35
- 48
- Location
- Dexter, MI
Before leaving for the Clare MI swap meet I happened to see an ad in my local newpaper. It was under the heavy equipment catagory and was for a hi-lo lift. At the end of the ad was the notation that a"deuce and a half army dump truck" was also available for $6000. I immediatly started convincing my wife that we needed a dump truck. She did not believe that there was a deuce dump truck in the paper. Sunday I called about it and he was only a few minutes away from me. Asked what the actual model of the truck was and he did not know. He said it was a 76 but he was not sure. It did have a winch. I then asked if it had the multifuel engine in it and he said no. He said it was a diesel engine and it got better gas mileage then a multifuel. He then asked me if the multifuel was the one that burned gasoline too. I said it was then stopped asking questions as it sounded like he was guessing.
Today I went to look at it. As I approached it I saw that the bumper markings were upside down. It obviously did not come with a winch originally. I then saw that the bolts used to attach the frame extensions were common bolts. Not grade 8 or 5. The dump bed did not look right. It looked like it could have been an m47 bed on a longer frame. It was also painted blue while the rest of the truck was camo. I checked the data plate and it said it was a plain jane M35A2. I looked the truck over and it did have a dual output transmission PTO but the dump mechanism was micky mouse at best. The lever used to actuate the dump cylinder had been cut out with a torch and was not ground down. The bed was attached with regular bolts with no grade 5 or 8 hardware in sight. It did have a hard top but no heater. It looked like he had replaced the stack with 2 1/2 inch exhaust pipe with flex pipe at the bottom for the J pipe.
I thanked him and said I was looking for a real army dump truck. He then told me all the ways that this was better. I thought about how I could just make mine a dump for alot less then $6000. He then told me that he had scrapped the original bed but I could probably get one to replace it. I did not have the heart to tell him that the only way the truck was worth $6000 was if it was a stock deuce dump. He had at best a runner that needed alot of work. I should have slept in.
Today I went to look at it. As I approached it I saw that the bumper markings were upside down. It obviously did not come with a winch originally. I then saw that the bolts used to attach the frame extensions were common bolts. Not grade 8 or 5. The dump bed did not look right. It looked like it could have been an m47 bed on a longer frame. It was also painted blue while the rest of the truck was camo. I checked the data plate and it said it was a plain jane M35A2. I looked the truck over and it did have a dual output transmission PTO but the dump mechanism was micky mouse at best. The lever used to actuate the dump cylinder had been cut out with a torch and was not ground down. The bed was attached with regular bolts with no grade 5 or 8 hardware in sight. It did have a hard top but no heater. It looked like he had replaced the stack with 2 1/2 inch exhaust pipe with flex pipe at the bottom for the J pipe.
I thanked him and said I was looking for a real army dump truck. He then told me all the ways that this was better. I thought about how I could just make mine a dump for alot less then $6000. He then told me that he had scrapped the original bed but I could probably get one to replace it. I did not have the heart to tell him that the only way the truck was worth $6000 was if it was a stock deuce dump. He had at best a runner that needed alot of work. I should have slept in.
