Seabee M35

Does anybody have any photos of a Seabee M35AX? I think I have seen them on Coronado before.

There's a few pic's on here. Do a search. I think Recovery and Cranetruck had good pic's quite awhile back.

Current list of Seabee vehicles

Now I am leaning toward making my M35A3 into a Seabee vehicle. It would be kind of neat since I am USNR now, and it seems the marines don't use them anymore. Of course i could go with any paint scheme, but the truck is so new i would like to make it something up to date that would compliment my HMMWV.

I found some of the Seabee pictures here, but maybe some of you have more current pictures. I am having trouble finding Seabee M35 pics. If you have any, please post. Thanks!!

RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

Not an M35A2 but it is a deuce. Best I can do right now!
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v460/Recovry4x4/M756A2/

RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

Recovery thats a sweet pipeline deuce. you fixin or parting it?

RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

He better restore it. Those beasts are hard to find in complete shape anymore!

RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

Its been shredded. All the goodies were sold off to complete other pipeline trucks. The rear frame was rotted badly.

RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

Puerto Rico's Sea air = good for vacation spot = 0 preservation of exposed metal

Re: RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

Recovry4x4 said:

Its been shredded. All the goodies were sold off to complete other pipeline trucks. The rear frame was rotted badly.

Click to expand...

Oh well - but at least the parts and other components will live on in other pipeline trucks. Good job, Kenny!

RE: Re: RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

found this awhile ago, Seabee use what ever laying around, the NCF didn't buy tatical vehicals when they rob or steal 0r borrow from other sources. they did buy alot of six pack and funky civilian conversions but this may help

We have a 1987 Dodge minivan painted at the factory shiny OD (made in
Canada1); US Navy serial number still on the doors and the tailgate;
Battalion numbers on the bumpers and the yellow seabee stencil on the front
doors below the vehicle numbers. Has anyone ever seen another?
Cheers!
Ian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bones" <mailto>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mailto>
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2005 10:22 AM
Subject: Re: [MV] Deuce Color?



> Howdy Kenny,
>
> Hope that things are well for you and yours down there in FL... I am still
> eternally grateful for the CUCV -10 manual PDF that you were so kind as to
> email me many moons ago.
>
> For the time period that I was in the Seabees (1985-1993), ALL of our
> vehicles in NMCB 5, RNMCB 15, NMCB 24 were painted the Vietnam era gloss /
> semi-gloss dark OD Marine Corps color with yellow Seabee stencil and
> serial
> number below it on the doors, horizontally-oriented red diamond-shaped
> sticker with white battalion no. on front bumper passenger's side, rear
> bumperette driver's side (called a "beep" sticker, if I recall correctly).
>
> The vast majority of our rolling stock appeared to have last been painted
> during the Vietnam era, as well. They were horrendously oxidized with the
> gloss long gone. We quite frequently went and got trucks from the DRMS
> that
> the Marines had driven until they were untenable to repair after they
> having
> got them from the Army when they had oulived the Army's usefulness, and we
> would make a truck from 2 or 3 DRMS hulks. SOP.
>
> The vehicle serial number was sometimes alternately painted in black, but
> the Seabee stencil was, with only one exception, invariably
> yellow.(Exception: in Operation Desert Storm, all our vehs were
> overpainted
> on the exterior with Sand CARC, all lettering and stencil was black, all
> matte finish. Interior was still dark OD.) Also, when the CUCV era began,
> some had matte black stencil and numbers on the doors.
>
> The front bumper tips on all M35s and 5-tonners, outboard 12" or so were
> also painted yellow, with an approximately 24-36" piece of re-bar welded
> vertically to each one for corner identification when manuevering in tight
> quarters. Most often, they had orange re-bar caps used on the tips of the
> re-bar to prevent / reduce accidental impalement to hung-over Seabees
> doing
> their morning vehicle inspection / prestart. With or without the
> safety
> orange re-bar caps on the corner markers, the top 6-12" of the re-bar was
> painted yellow as well.
>
> M715-series vehs, as I recall, had the corner re-bar markers as well. M880
> series did not, nor did our CUCVs when they came along later in my tour.
> When they started to arrive and replace the M715 series (called "weaps"
> regardless of configuration except for ambulances), our CUCVs were
> delivered
> in 383 CARC, some were left that way, with matte black stencil and serial
> numbers, many were subsequently painted the USMC dark OD later, yellow
> Seabee stencil and serial number. Yellow tow shackles and bumper tips
> applied as well.
>
> Front and rear towing shackles on all vehs were always painted the same
> yellow color, as were rear bumperettes on the M-series quite often...
>
> During my stay in the KTO, we somehow inherited (heh,heh) many HMMVs,
> which
> grew artifically-weathered Seabee stencils and "serial numbers"overnight,
> though they were not at all a part of our TOA . Hope the statute of
> limitations permits me to reveal that... lol. After the hostilities
> ceased,
> the Marine MPs came by, checked the serial numbers, and retrieved the
> HMMVs.
> They seemed, to me, strangely accusatory, but in the end, no one was
> arrested.
>
> Remember the huge Iraqi supply convoy that our flyboys caught out on the
> open road, bombed both ends of to prevent escape, then bombed to
> smithereens
> like sitting ducks? Well, there were scads of nice Mercedes diesel cabover
> cargo trucks, replete with AC and all. Strangest thing, within a few days,
> (nights, actually) , we had a fleet of Sand CARC Mercedes with black
> Seabee stencils and "serial numbers" on the doors. It took us about 3-4
> bombed Mercedes to make one useable truck. Whole lotta night runs with
> deuce
> tractors pulling a lowboy trailer and a RT forklift for loading. They
> remained with us until we left for CONUS, don't know of their eventual
> fate.
>
> One ABSOLUTELY mandatory accesory for ANY Seabee vehicle is a set of wheel
> chocks, 4X4" for lighter vehicles, 6X6" for deuces and up. Gloss yellow,
> sometimes with red tips, hemp rope connecting the wood pieces. This was a
> BIG thing with the Bees; failure to place your chocks if you left the veh
> for even a nanosecond, or failure to remove them when driving off from a
> parked position resulted in the offender wearing the chocks around their
> neck all day long, a most unpleasant reminder of their transgression, both
> physically, and for all the harrassment and ridicule one received from
> fellow Seabees.
>
> On deuces, the chocks were most often hung from the tarp tiedown loop on
> the
> driver's side directly behind the cab while in motion... on deuce and
> 5-ton
> dump trucks, they were hung from the tailgate lever located in a similar
> area.
>
> Hmm, let's see... what else?? Oh, yeah: on all gas-powered vehs, located
> in
> the fuel filler area or on the fuel tank on our older deuces,(Yup we had
> gas
> deuces still yellow stencilling proclaimed MOGAS or MOGAS ONLY, same
> same for DIESEL or DIESEL ONLY on the appropriate vehs.
>
> Well, sorry for rambling, hope that this info is useful to you in what
> appears to be a quest to restore an M35 as a Seabee truck. I am honored
> that
> you remember us by doing this; few people even realize that we ever
> existed,
> much less what we contributed to the war efforts for the past nearly 60
> years.
>
> Please send me pics as the project develops, or post them where I can
> enjoy
> them, if you would be so kind. It would mean a lot to me.
>
> I would be glad to clarify or elaborate on any of this info if you wish,
> but
> I seem to already have made this novel-length, so I will sign off for now
> and waste no more of your weekend.
>
> My very best regards to you and yours,
>
> T. "Bones" Morris
> recovering BU2, USNMCB5, 15, & 24
> "Seabees Can Do!"
> Subject: [MV] Deuce Color?
>
>
>> Does anybody lurking out there in cyberspace happen to know the correct
> color
>> used on Seabee trucks. Its dark, but not exactly sure what the numbers
> are.
>> Thanks,
>> Kenny
>
>

RE: Re: RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

Southdave, where did you find that? I was searching my laptop the other day for that and thought I had lost it forever. Pretty cool.

RE: Re: RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

I've got some pics of a Navy/ seabee deuce somebody did up that i saw at a show, I'll post pitures later this afternoon.

RE: Re: RE: Current list of Seabee vehicles

Thanks, Southdave, for the great info!

Southdave: Thanks for sharing a great story. Really enjoyed it.

Re: Current list of Seabee vehicles

jpinst said:

Now I am leaning toward making my M35A3 into a Seabee vehicle. It would be kind of neat since I am USNR now, and it seems the marines don't use them anymore.

Click to expand...

Marines never did use the M35A3 nor did the Navy, not to say the Seabees never will. I've been to Coronado several times and just saw the Navy using M35A2s.

My friend Kieth Boda's M756A1

Doesn't Rick Larsen offer a Seabees stencil?

Yes, he does.They're really nice, but they're not quite authentic.
The rope border isn't right.
Eric
CBVET

We have a 1987 Dodge minivan painted at the factory shiny OD (made in
Canada1); US Navy serial number still on the doors and the tailgate;
Battalion numbers on the bumpers and the yellow seabee stencil on the front
doors below the vehicle numbers. Has anyone ever seen another?
Cheers!
Ian

Click to expand...

When I was with NMCB 74 at the Marine training base at Camp Fuji in Japan we had a Dodge Dakota painted the same as your minivan. Really strange driving a left hand drive vehicle on the wrong side of the road. Don't remember taking the M35 we had off base much, probably wouldn't fit down the roads.

67Beast here on SS has the authentic style Seabee truck markings.

Here are some pictures of some seabee 5 tons taken this summer. They a Marine Corps hand me downs. This unit was from Gulfport, MS. They were particapting in a Joint Excercise with the Army, Air Force, Marines that was taking place in Peru. The Seabees helped us load our 7 tons due to the lack of manpower at the port (there were maybe 2 people from every branch of service at the port). Nice Bunch. The Air Force was kind enough to leave thier maintence truck unlock so thieves could use the bolt cutters to break into our contact hummer.

Also, everyting from the frame on down was painted black. Looked Sharp!! They a paint both at their disposal and kept the trucks looking new.