Work on the baby HEMTT grinds to a start.

While rooting around in my rack of left-over pieces and drops, I found a couple of pieces of 1 1/2" X 6" bar stock. Cut, shaped and drilled, they'll be my new rear shackle mounts. The old brackets and shackles get pitched and their space will be occupied by new mounting brackets for the taillight assys. More on them later.

You can bet you won't tear up the new brackets!

Those are some massively thick brackets on there. Guess the shackles are going to be pretty huge as well!

Great pics, Jones. Your skills with fabrication amaze us, and give us inspiration for our own projects!

Here's the latest. The mounts and supports are done and ready for the arrival of the crane and outrigger assy. sometime this month.

Looks very overbuilt Leonard. Guess you don't plan on losing the crane eh? Are you using a Grove like on the M977?

Yep, Kenny. The Grove MHC977 to be precise. It's the first generation and slightly smaller than the current Groves, but it'll do everything I'll need it to.
I got my hands on the original drwgs and copied the mount slightly re-proportioned to the deuce frame, plus the cut-outs for the rear spring perch. The original mounts are 3/8" plate throughout; mine's only 1/4" plate construction-- hope it's not too flimsy.

On a similar note; After wrestling the heavy stock around for a while it's nice to tinker around with some lighter gauge stuff.
I got my hands on some 14ga. and started on my dropside bed parts. I kinda like the looks of the ISO bed so armed with some excellent detail shots of dma251's bed, this is what I'm coming up with.
The bed is purposely shortened to clear the crane in the rear and the hydraulic tank and future air pig in the front. Panels will next get vertical stiffeners made out of 3" X 2" box tubing then hinges and end plates. Next I'll start on the headboard (bolted in) and tailgate (lift out with stakes into pockets like the deuce sideboards).

Man, every time I see pics of the baby HEMTT, I feel like "I gotta' hop a plane to California one day just to see this thing".

So with a rear crane, can you use this as an ersatz wrecker?

Come on and take a peek, Clinto.
As for it being an ersatz wrecker... why, did you recently wreck your Ersatz?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I could probably come up with an assy. to attach to the rear shackle mounts that would carry a whiffletree but I really just figure on it being good for self-loading.
Having been around and in the M984 wreckers, I think I'll leave that stuff to the pros.

As usual Leonard, great workmanship!
How is this stress area addressed and what will the new tongue weight be?

Just a thought on that-
The rear spring hangar is moved WAY back on the frame from the original suspension attachment. Any weight applied to the frame will split at that point between there and the front spring hangar. The front hangar can't be but a few inches in front of the original pivot. That in and of its self (other components aside) should strengthen the toungue capacity as far as the original frame rail is concerned. Since the origiinal frame is still there, and by all appearances, uncompromised, I'd think that as of the last picture, going with the factory rating would be quite conservative.

Now, once the crane is attached and you add the static, and more importantly the dynamic forces there, you have an undetermined chassis load, based on it's height, weight, it's own independant center of gravity, storage position, etc. It is an unknown for sure. Not having experience with either one, given only the information in this forum, I don't think this is going to tax the frame any more than your well proven approach of having a HIAB mounted at the front of the bed, where the frame is supported by the axles at both ends, but with a much, much larger span.

I don't know enough about either crane to figure out how that actually works out with numbers, I'm just thinking out loud, cursing the rain, and admiring a project that i only wish I had the time and resources to take on for myself...

"Fishplate" reinforcing inside the frame rails as well as the fact that I don't plan on lifting anything without having the outriggers deployed (their CL is behind the crane CL).
As for tongue weight; I'm purposely deleting the rear air lines as I don't plan on towing anything larger than a deuce trailer-- if that.
Again, I'm building this to do everything I want it to; not to do everything under the sun a wheeled vehicle could ever possibly be asked to do.
Worst case the crane doesn't work out and it gets pulled in favor of a dropside bed.
Wasted effort? So what, it was MY time and energy... and I had fun doing it.

Good points Jake.
The crane should be on the light side comparing relative shipping weights. Parked, it's only 44" above the tops of the frame rails and sits centered so as to be balanced side to side. All and all, pretty low and compact.
I'll know for sure once it's in place and bolted up... "One test is worth a thousand expert opinions".

Sweet mother of God, you've put some effort and engineering into this thing. Looking good!

cool

All this armchair speculation on workmanship by a member that has more then demonstrated his engineering and fabricating ability seems a bit much.

How could anyone doubt that the father of the "Baby-Hemtt" would build anything less then OD perfection?!?!?

Who would not want this truck in their driveway? I know I would!


Good work Leonard!

Well we did get an explanation didn't we? That's what it's all about asking and getting answers, nothing should be taken for granted. Often we learn from others and questions may remind us that we are not perfect..I wish you would answer more of my questions to you since the HEMTT is rather unusual for any of us to keep around the house.
I invite anybody to ask me about my projects.

"All this armchair speculation on workmanship by a member that has more then demonstrated his engineering and fabricating ability seems a bit much."

I think I'm qualified to speculate, I worked for Boeing on the SST before you were born (probably)...as an engineer no less.

jones, is the fuel tank you used on your truck off of a hemtt?? a friend of mine has 2 tanks at his house that look just like the tank on your truck and we are trying to figure out what they came off of.

I thought the question from crane was decent. If a simple question is asked that can prevent an accident, ask away.