Why 5 ?

[JeremyB]

Hello,I have a M35 and am looking to move up to a 5 ton. I was wondering what your pros and cons might be? Any advice in my hunting for said elusive beast.
Thank you,
Jeremy

 

[wreckerman893]

Well...the bigger the toy the bigger the parts and tools needed to support it.
One of the biggest pluses of the 5 ton is power steering.
If you get an 800 series it will have the straight diesel Cummins diesel in it...it is going to suck fuel...empty or loaded.
That being said, they will pull Hell's half acre if you can chain up to it.
And for outright cool factor you can't beat a bobbed 5 ton.

 

[54reo]

That being said, they will pull Hell's half acre if you can chain up to it.

WM is correct. If you can hook to it, a 5 ton will move it!

I got my M818/Machine shop trailer stuck (and listing dangerously to the side quite a bit) in a field recently. I hooked the M35A2 to the combo first only to have the Deuce dig 6 holes through the asphalt. The M818/trailer wouldn't budge. I was becoming nervous as the trailer was sinking faster on the drivers side than on the other side, causing the list to get worse.

After hooking the M816 to it though, I was able to walk the whole thing out in first gear low at 1000 RPM. While I was pulling the combo out of the field, I noticed that the tires on the M818 were not turning. (Oh well, not going to stop now!) My helper that was steering the M818/trailer had his foot on the brakes (for still unknown reasons). The wrecker pulled approx. 45,000# out of the mud, with the brakes locked on the pulled vehicle, without me even being able to notice.

Sorry for the cell phone pics, but that was all I had time to do.

While it may not look to be stuck in the pics, the center sections of the M818 differentials were on the ground at this point. We have had A LOT of rain here.