M103a3 recovery from Wright Pat

[TACTICAL6]

The boy and I went to recover the M103A3 from Wright Patterson/GovLiq this morning. We made it back in one piece, but not before Murphy's Law visited. Trailer brakes were froze solid. Thankfully, Andrew was willing/and had the equipment to drop the 103 in the back of deuce. After some rearranging of equipment of course. Then, after doing a quick check of the truck prior to redeployment, I discovered the rear main seal had like a serious class III leak. The gennies were not quite in the shape I expected. I think they will be parted out. Too many parts missing. All in all a good outing with the Boy and I. And thanks to Andrew for the assist at GL/

 

[davidkroberts]

glad you made it back safely, ive never heard of a m103a3 i should probably google it or something but thats a new one on me. good to know about the GL rep. I usually use redstone or ft campbell for my stuff but ive never run across a bad one even in the other sites ive used. Ft Sill OK, Jefferson Mo, Little Rock Ar, and Ft knox Ky have all been super and I have no complaints with the site reps....... now GL corporate is another story entirely

Glad everything worked out and good to know I now know someone who has parts for a military genny.

 

[gunboy1656]

Just wondering why you didn't take the bows off the trailer?

 

[TACTICAL6]

I did look rather unsightly, but it was low enough 12'3" so just left them on. Now unloading here at home may be a challenge........

 

[davidkroberts]

when i unload I use the ramp at a local heavy equipment rental agency. They dont mind and dont charge anything for it. I think im such a novelty that they like seeing what weird stuff im going to drag up. You could always just hire a rollback wrecker. Drive it to the wrecker lot and let them unload it for 30 bucks and drive it home behind the m35. Guess your going to have to fix the brakes.......

 

[DieselBob]

Now unloading here at home may be a challenge........

Looks like it might be time to bid on a forklift.

 

[NDT]

That's the same Doosan "annihilator" forklift the DRMOs have down here. Never met a driveshaft it couldn't bend or fender it couldn't crumple. I guess the government couldn't afford an american made forklift. Thought there was a law about that.

Glad your recovery went Ok after all.

 

[FireFighterHill]

Please tell you strapped or chained the load down in the bed. If so great job.

 

[TACTICAL6]

Yup, it was strapped in.

 

[mistaken1]

Even with the emergency air the brakes did not release? Nice deuce by the way.

 

[TACTICAL6]

Unloading wasn't so bad, we just backed up to the bank out in front and winched it rite off. The brakes even loosened up a bit. Now to remove the bows, push it in the garage and strip it of the dead generators...... I was hoping they would be reparable, but they were stripped of too many parts. I think the end use on this trailer is going to be for an S-250 shelter.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Let me know how much you might want for a gen head. I should be up in Kip's area this Sat. Gimme a call if your not too hungover.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Find pics in this thread, http://www.steelsoldiers.com/conversations/8711-shelter-question.html of my M103A3 with an S-318 on it.

 

[TACTICAL6]

Thanks for the link Recovery, I like the way that looks. Did you make a camper out of it?

 

[Recovry4x4]

I t was a camper, crude one though! I'll have to dig up some pics. Basically the interior was like a restaurant booth by day and folded into a bed by night. The 318 is smaller so you need the whole interior for a bed. I added a 5000BTU window shaker to the nose for A/C. With the shelter beign 6' and the trailer deck being 10' (Yep, the 103 genset decks are 10') I could move it around depending on what cargo I was hauling.

 

[Green_gator]

Be prepared for the bows taking a bit of work to get out of the pockets. I am still waiting to see one of these with the cover for the bows.