Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite - View Single Post

tamangel · 03-20-2008, 21:18

had to wait for the ebay auction to end: (sold for $1034.99 w/ 21 bids)

description from auction:
1942 International K5 Fire Truck / Pumper Truck, originally used as a US Army Air Force vehicle...

-Only 6,014 original miles.

-4-speed transmission.

-Flathead 6-cylinder engine.

-Original 6-Volt electrical system.

-Original Siren and Light on fender...

-Approximately 300 gallon holding tank.

-Fairly new rear tires, and good front retreads.

The original color was army green. The present red paint is fairly poor...

It appears that this truck first saw duty at an Army Air Force base in Washington state. Later it was used on one of the Indian Reservations in Montana. Still later, it was used by the Neihart, Montana Fire Department... For the past 12+ years, it has been used as a standby pumper/water hauler for the ghost town retreat of Virgelle, MT.

This truck is in good mechanical condition, except for a leaky brake cylinder (Every spring we need to add brake fluid to the master cylinder). Otherwise, it is roadworthy...
It has been well maintained and cared for, since coming to Virgelle.

The pump on the front has been added sometime since the truck was new. This pump does not work (quit working last summer). The grill has been modified (cut) to accommodate this pump. The buyer should be aware that this pump is driven by a drive shaft connected directly to the cast iron pulley on the front of the truck engine crank shaft. This cast iron pulley is wobbley on the crank shaft...

The original pump is located mid ship, and is a Hardie 3-cylinder high pressure pump... This pump supplies the original hose reels on top of the truck behind the cab. When running this pump, there is good pressure at the the hose tips, but lots of water is wasted as blow-by from the one bad cylinder...

The original Hardie pump needs at least one cylinder sleeve, as the original porcelin enamel sleeve has deteriorated and allows water to blow past the piston cup, when operated. I have removed this cylinder and its piston a couple of times, attempting to fix it myself. Otherwise, this pump is in good shape...

The parking brake needs new shoes...

This truck is not perfect by any means, but the steering is tight, the transmission is tight, and overall it proves to be just what it is...a low mileage, well-cared-for old truck.

*********
research from a friend:
The truck is the first model of the CLASS 125 4x2 fire/crash truck used by the AAC in the US. My research says it did not go overseas until Korea. The first and second models are shown in the attachments (above message). As you see they used both the John Bean and Hardie multi piston pumps.
*********
another comment by another:
I worked on both models of the Class 125 HP CFR vehicles. The most popular was the "Bean Pumper), which you have the spec's. The other was the "Hardie Pumper" (manufacture of the pump & assembly of the truck. Both had mid-ship mounted HP pumps, but the pumps were quite different. The pumping cylinders on the Bean were encased inside the pump. The pumping cylinders on the Hardie were cased outside (exposed) to the pump. Both had porcelain cylinder walls that the pistons traveled up & down in. This feature made them extremely venerable to serious damage to debris in the booster tank, i.e. sand, pebbles, rocks, etc. A good water refilling source was a must. The other major difference was the handline nozzles. Both had a h_ll of a kick back upon stream discharge. The nozzles were adjustable from fog to straight stream. A 150 gallon water booster tank and a protien foam tank provided the fire extinguisher agent. Two CO2 handle extinguisher were mounted.

*********
Mike