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Towed a XM818, drove the M886

Blythewoodjoe

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Blythewood, SC
Well I'm as a busy as an ant at a picnic right now, been working every minute I can for a few weeks, but I spent the entire day driving my trucks. It rained all day so I couldn't dig ditches so it was a perfect day to pick up my XM818 from Ft. Jackson. Sorry to all you guys that wanted me to look at your trucks while I was there, I didn't remember to write down your lot numbers (or I never knew them).

I spent the morning getting the M813 ready to tow the 818 (I hope no one thought I pulled it with the M886). Made up a light bar, which I needed because something is wrong with the lights on the M818. Checked the oil and belts. Was surprised to find the alternator was missing the two bolts on the bottom. Put a couple in there and packed up everything I thought I might need and headed out. Arrived at the DRMO and Tim took me to my truck. I drove up ahead of it so I could have room to hook up the tow bar and Tim cranked up the XM818 and drove it up behind the M813. The new truck runs pretty good. It has a new style Speed-o/tach I have never seen before. What's up with that. It looks like is has a clock on it. It only took a few minutes to hook up the tow bar (thanks, Bro Waller) and few more to put my lights and air hoses on it.

And off we go. The Marine corp truck pulled and stopped just fine. I kept it in low range on the base and it did OK on the interstate on the hills. When I got home I check it over and found, dare I say, a wheel chock and fire extinguisher in the cab. Even better I cut the lock off the box on the back and found even more booty. A jack, lug wrench, air hose, slide hammer (what was that doing in there?) another fire extinguisher and some cool flash lights.

Good times.

Then I hopped in the other oven I have in the yard, the M886. It's enclose so I drove it a little over an hour to Orangburge SC and picked up a mold I bought a while back and decided I wanted at my house instead of at the machine shop that made it. It weights about 700 pounds and would fit in a deuce battery box. And for anyone that knows little about plastic injection molds, it cost over 100 times what I paid for the M886. I arrived back home just in time for supper (that would be dinner for you northern guys). It rained a lot so I didn't get a picture of the dodge in action but here are a few of the 5 tons.

One more thing. Never say never. I swore off anything bigger than a pickup a while back, and now I'm driving 5 tons. I must be crazy.
 

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Green_gator

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Tampa, Fl
If my poor, old memory is working, we used flashlights like that when we were loading and unloading our tracks from rail cars at night. An experience that I never, ever want to repeat.
 

gunboy1656

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Just a guess on the slide hammer, I would bet you truck mostly towed a fuel trailer (forget the numbers) and that was for the grounding of the trailer. Just a thought.
 

doghead

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M38inMaine, is looking for one of those ground rod slide hammers(if you want to get rid of it).

I have one of those cool flashlights too!
 

yetti96

Member
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Fort Myers, FL
Sweet trucks. Sounds liek everything went better than one could ask for.

On a side note, what is the mold for? We use an overhead gantry crane to slide back and forth between molds and the mold repair shop at my work (medical manufacturing).
 

Blythewoodjoe

Active member
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Blythewood, SC
On a side note, what is the mold for? We use an overhead gantry crane to slide back and forth between molds and the mold repair shop at my work (medical manufacturing).
I had it made to make these:
TrapStop
It's a sewer fitting. The guys that made the mold and I have parted ways so I am now looking for someone else to make my fittings. I have several other fittings I would like to make, but molds are VERY EXPENSIVE.
 
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