Accidentally bought a deuce

[teletech]

You know how you are looking at an auction site and sometimes you throw a big on something because it can't possibly be that cheap....
Decades ago, I bought a deuce for a remote welding rig, but I was very young and naive so wound up with a tired gasser REO from 1951. Loaded sand trucks would pass me, uphill. Of course that did *not* prevent me from daily-driving it for like two years, so that tells you something about me I guess.
So, when I saw a neglected M35A2 W/W last week I put in a recreational bid on it... yeah, like that. $500 later (well, more like $650 after taxes and fees) and here I am.
I'm swamped just at the moment, so mounting a full recovery mission isn't possible just now, so I'll be looking for towing and storage near it's location until I can get up there with some tools, spares, a more relaxed schedule, and a sense of adventure.

Needs a steer tire, but the spare might be intact. Needs seats and batteries, and did I mention a sense of adventure? Also a tailgate.
A previous owner added turn signals (of a sort at least) and a pyrometer/boost gauge (hmm, this could be good, or bad).



I welcome comments or observations, it would be neat to know what the unit markings mean.

West Auctions

With more than 50 years of auctioneering experience, and many years of online auction experience, West Auctions offers our clients proven solutions for their disposition needs. We specialize in commer

www.westauction.com

Advice on the location of the serial number or what I should ask the auction house to put on the receipt to help me title this someday is also welcome.

Anyone able to help tow, store, or otherwise triage my folly, please reach out. The thrill of the first start on an abandoned rig is kind of special.

 

[Mullaney]

You know how you are looking at an auction site and sometimes you throw a big on something because it can't possibly be that cheap....
Decades ago, I bought a deuce for a remote welding rig, but I was very young and naive so wound up with a tired gasser REO from 1951. Loaded sand trucks would pass me, uphill. Of course that did *not* prevent me from daily-driving it for like two years, so that tells you something about me I guess.
So, when I saw a neglected M35A2 W/W last week I put in a recreational bid on it... yeah, like that. $500 later (well, more like $650 after taxes and fees) and here I am.
I'm swamped just at the moment, so mounting a full recovery mission isn't possible just now, so I'll be looking for towing and storage near it's location until I can get up there with some tools, spares, a more relaxed schedule, and a sense of adventure.

Needs a steer tire, but the spare might be intact. Needs seats and batteries, and did I mention a sense of adventure? Also a tailgate.
A previous owner added turn signals (of a sort at least) and a pyrometer/boost gauge (hmm, this could be good, or bad).

View attachment 948346

I welcome comments or observations, it would be neat to know what the unit markings mean.

West Auctions

With more than 50 years of auctioneering experience, and many years of online auction experience, West Auctions offers our clients proven solutions for their disposition needs. We specialize in commer

www.westauction.com

Advice on the location of the serial number or what I should ask the auction house to put on the receipt to help me title this someday is also welcome.

Anyone able to help tow, store, or otherwise triage my folly, please reach out. The thrill of the first start on an abandoned rig is kind of special.

.
Looks good to me!
$500 or $650 either or is a great buy.
Especially if it starts and runs...

 

[cattlerepairman]

Whenever you buy a truck that you can flip for scrap for more money than you paid, it is automatically a win!
And, from the pictures, this truck looks half decent. At some point, someone cared for it. It is mufflered and the marker lights on the bumper corner are military (although not in an authorized mounting location). You did very well for an accidental auction win!

 

[teletech]

Oh, I'm totally stoked on the price and overall visual condition of the truck (for the price especially), I'm just worried about a multi-thousand dollar tow and storage bill looming if I can't pull things together.
It's worth a fair bit just for the excitement of what happens when I add batteries and try to turn it over.
I'm strangely fixated on the handful of nuts sitting on the top of the fuel tank, though I realize there's an even chance they are there because it was a horizontal surface nearby something else somebody was working on!
Is that a factory driver-seat frame?
I do happen to have a radio shelter I could slide in the back and also a ERDLator body I could drop on the back if I wanted a really slow combat camper.

 

[98G]

If nothing else, I see a $1k winch at a minimum.

What you call "recreational bids" , i call "token bids". These are thrown just for the entertainment value of doing so. And yes, occasionally they stick, and create a lot more entertainment.

I'd do exactly what you're planning to do - get it into storage locally and then go get it later when you have opportunity.

I think it's a fixer, and not a parts truck.

The simplest recovery is a buddy with a 5ton and a towbar and half a dozen mounted 9.00R20s...

 

[teletech]

If nothing else, I see a $1k winch at a minimum.

What you call "recreational bids" , i call "token bids". These are thrown just for the entertainment value of doing so. And yes, occasionally they stick, and create a lot more entertainment.

I'd do exactly what you're planning to do - get it into storage locally and then go get it later when you have opportunity.

I think it's a fixer, and not a parts truck.

The simplest recovery is a buddy with a 5ton and a towbar and half a dozen mounted 9.00R20s...

Like you, I see a fixer that does happen to have a $1K winch.

It's more of a moral imperative that a generally intact deuce must be worth over $1k.

The back tires look decent-ish in the photos. I forget the process to single out a deuce, but that could a path to recovery until I figure out how many of what size tires I ultimately want.

 

[98G]

Like you, I see a fixer that does happen to have a $1K winch.

It's more of a moral imperative that a generally intact deuce must be worth over $1k.

The back tires look decent-ish in the photos. I forget the process to single out a deuce, but that could a path to recovery until I figure out how many of what size tires I ultimately want.

You can single a deuce quick and dirty simply by going to single wheels, dish out -

 

[NDT]

No luck with unit markings for me.

 

[Adrok]

Nice daily drive big dog!

 

[teletech]

Nice daily drive big dog!

The guys at the local lumber yard remembered me for years the way they set a pallet of concrete on the truck and it didn't move.
Of course, even in the days of gas being under $2, the like 3MPG I got hurt.

 

[teletech]

You can single a deuce quick and dirty simply by going to single wheels, dish out -

Good to know I can go that route at least for recovery.

 

[canadacountry]

@teletech I guess you need to try drive a vintage vw bus? then again they only had like 20-40hp under that rear access panel so you'll likely have the "same problem" with sand trucks passing you while you're driving one of these bus too

 

[msgjd]

it would be neat to know what the unit markings mean.
Advice on the location of the serial number or what I should ask the auction house to put on the receipt to help me title this someday is also welcome.

1: At quick glance the markings are telling me left-to-right, 7th Infantry Division. (although IME should be marked 7ID). Then , 7th (BN? Group? could be anything) of the 155th something or other type (individual unit).. Could be 155th armor, 155th infantry, 155th signal, 155th artillery etc etc etc , you can do your own googling .. The sub-unit markings during my time sometimes indicated the type of unit but yours does not .. For example, there were armor battalions within infantry divisions, and during my time there would've been a triangle between the 7 and 155 to indicate it was 7th BN , 155 Armor. Again, that's just a fictional example... You will have to do some research to find what kind of unit the 7/155 was under the 7th ID

2: On the driver side i will take that smudge to be "HQ" (headquarters company) and the "48" is the truck number for that company . We officially called that the "bumper number". In HQ Co, #48 could've served with the company maint section, Bn maint, the kitchen section, S4 (supply), medics, commo section, transportation section, etc providing support to HHC and line companies A,B,C up to whatever

3: The dash tag will tell you the truck's "s/n" but yikes i see it's missing .. I hope it's laying in the glove box.. There should be a chassis number stamped on the side of left front frame from which you can interpolate the USA Registration number (VIN) of the truck using the deuce database here on SS

4: driver seat: not a good enough pic to tell whether it's mounted on the OEM bostrom-type base, but the upper is not OEM to the truck

5: although you have some logistics challenges, you are way ahead in the game and have a money-maker there regardless which way you go with it

 

[canadacountry]

btw I know they were very unlikely to ever be found anywhere related to the military but I'll still point out that the 'pontoon' mercedes (180d or 190d, I don't recall which this specifically was now) in the early type of long rally was once remarked by someone as "put a brick on the accelerator pedal and leave it there" .. that says something about being very durable to keep running hard all the times as much as they didn't exactly have a lot of power aka speed out of these simple 4-inline oil motors otherwise

 

[teletech]

btw I know they were very unlikely to ever be found anywhere related to the military but I'll still point out that the 'pontoon' mercedes (180d or 190d, I don't recall which this specifically was now) in the early type of long rally was once remarked by someone as "put a brick on the accelerator pedal and leave it there" .. that says something about being very durable to keep running hard all the times as much as they didn't exactly have a lot of power aka speed out of these simple 4-inline oil motors otherwise

I found a guy with some cruise control kits for my Think. I know they work on my F700 and I think they might work on my deuce as well.