am I nuts to consider buying this truck?

[wasabi]

My brother and sister in law bird-dogged a truck for me, thinking I might be able to put it to good use on our farm. My sster in law called it "cute". Although they didn't know much about it they said it was kind of big and has stake sides. I went to have a look...turns out it is an 1983 M35 duece and a half with fold down sides and tailgate....ten wheel drive, good rubber, turbo diesel . It is clean as a whistle and the seller claims it has only 10k miles...says when he bought it from the military the engine was in the bed and he reassembled with new fuel pump and such and it now runs great. We could actually put it to good use for a while, as we have many loads of dirt and gravel to move over the next few years, but would have to make some changes....such as adding a dump bed and power steering, which would add another 3k or so to the price. Purchase price seems fair enough at 8k. Any caveats or advice?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Nothing logical in my opinion...but it sure sounds cool. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Near me many farmers use older (Vietnam/Korean? era) trucks of similar design to haul onions out of mushy fields.

They must work many people have them and apparently keep them.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

they are good work horses

 

[Taylortractornut]

THey make good trucks i worked for an out fit that had 4 one service truck, 2 dumps and a pull out truck to keep them nice Petes out of the mud lol. Tree Farmer skidders used there transfer cases to. I have one if yo decied to buy the truck and need one. I dont think you would need one, they re pretty tough. We used the dumps to haul shot rock and dirt where it wasnt feasible to bring in Moxies or scrapers. THey are too low geared fo road hauling though we did put a 13 speed rod ranger and a cummins in the service truck for quicker trips on the job.

 

[wasabi]

Part of our need will be to haul rock and gravel from the local quarries...about a ten mile trip up a steep mountain road where speeds are low and the low gears may be an advantage. There are a couple of miles of open four lane before we reach that road, but I guess we could just drive slower on that stretch. Next task is to investigate the best way to convert to power steering and make the bed dump.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate the experienced opinions and advice!

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Sorry I missed this thread when it started.

There's something wonderful about a Power Trac owner inquiring about his sanity in the consideration of purchasing a deuce and a half that his sister-in-law describes as "cute."

To paraphrase: "PT owners don't suffer from insanity -- they enjoy it immensely." /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[wasabi]

As the saying goes....Thank you for your continuing support. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You realize, of course, that you are partially responsible for this TBN related condition, having encouraged my zeal to become a "fleet" owner back in the "Best Mountain Tractor?" days....I'll not forget that, counselor! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Best,

Sabi

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I don't know what you consider safe speed on the four lane.

But I'd imagine a little over sixty miles an hour will feel plenty fast in one of those trucks.

You could spend more money for less and not have the capability to go in and out of places your wife would beat you severely about the head and chest for even dreaming about taking her FWD SUV. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[wasabi]

<font color="blue"> You could spend more money for less and not have the capability to go in and out of places your wife would beat you severely about the head and chest for even dreaming about taking her FWD SUV. </font>

Been there, done that WHarv and have the metaphorical scars to prove it. She is still sqwaking about the small scratches that occured when I drove her Land Cruiser up a steep old logging road to fix the spring pipe thingy. The logic of "that's why they make these with four wheel drive" was apparently lost on her....Although I once hauled a pallet of rock in it, I don't think she would sit still for using it for multiple loads of gravel. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Although this particular M35 appears to be in great shape, I'm doing some scouting about in hopes of finding one that perhaps already has the dump bed and or power steering. Would also naturally like to spend less money. Any such leads in the southeast would be appreciated. I don't mind the occasional jog down a few miles of four lane to the quarry, but sure wouldn't relish the idea of a bone jarring drive across country /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Sabi

 

[rdln]

will your loader reach that high? will you have to build a ramp to dump not just to the outside but toward the middle of the bed. will you need to get plates for it and how much will they be?

And if this is just for bringing in material how much trucking service will $10,000
buy?

Id love to have on to just to have it.