New to the stable. M-54 gasser

[Joe Bertram]

Great barn find, hadn't ran in at least 10 years. Jerry can fuel supply, new batteries and coil-points it roared to life and drove into the trailer. Had a friend lowboy trailer it home the 125 miles.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Looks darn good for a "barn find".
Knowing next to nothing about the Continental R6602, how are they to work on? I know they have Holley carbs and there are upgraded Zeniths for these engines. Fuel mileage is apparently a cool 2mpg or so.

 

[Joe Bertram]

Looks darn good for a "barn find".
Knowing next to nothing about the Continental R6602, how are they to work on? I know they have Holley carbs and there are upgraded Zeniths for these engines. Fuel mileage is apparently a cool 2mpg or so.

This is our 3rd 6602 2 of them holleys and 1 zenith. So far we've been lucky keeping them going with eBay parts finds. They're beasts and definitely love gasoline. But they start nearly every time no matter how cold lol

 

[SCM35A2]

Good looking truck!

 

[cattlerepairman]

All I ever find in a barn is trash!

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk

 

[NDT]

Joe do you think this truck has been restored in the past or is this still paint from military service? I suspect someone repainted it after leaving service as usually there are stars etc..

 

[Joe Bertram]

Joe do you think this truck has been restored in the past or is this still paint from military service? I suspect someone repainted it after leaving service as usually there are stars etc..

The fella I got it from did a paint job 10+ years ago. Over tri color camo. Appears to have been in service till at least 89 by the applied tag assuming seat belt provision

 

[msgjd]

nice to see it has the original cargo bed for gassers (driver side stowage box)... the last unit i was in had two late-50s IHC gasser m54s set up as T&P units , hauling diesel for the BN's m48s and m60s .. what make is yours?

 

[G744]

The 5-ton gassers were not short on horsepower. One of our club members had one and it could keep up with everything but a Mutt...

Even if he did get 3 MPG.

 

[msgjd]

The 5-ton gassers were not short on horsepower. One of our club members had one and it could keep up with everything but a Mutt...

Even if he did get 3 MPG.

that is for sure!! My M51 will roll 62mph and pull hills better than any multifuel 5T I have .. In the army, same thing , we called them road-runners or brush-burners depending whether they were on blacktop or narrow tank trails .. The M52 gasser tractors rolled pretty good empty but fully-loaded OTR they would lose on the hills next to a M52A1 (mack power) but they would fly right past the A1's on the downhill side .. Had plenty of "races" over the years , complete with fire-extinguisher fights if we had a rider

 

[Guyfang]

Those were the days my friend, I thought they would never end........................................... But they did.

We had a bucket loader in the unit, to emplace the HAWK ADA system. At night on site, we would push a "little dirt" into a ramp, and see how far trucks or tracks could get off the ground. Had a good time till we broke both final drives on a Hawk missile loader.

 

[Joe Bertram]

This one is a Diamond T and last night we put fuel tanks and reels in it that we've had since the 1990s new refurbished and never used. Sorry for the pic quality I had to nab a picture of it going across the tracks the parking is a bit short lol

 

[Mullaney]

Those were the days my friend, I thought they would never end........................................... But they did.

We had a bucket loader in the unit, to emplace the HAWK ADA system. At night on site, we would push a "little dirt" into a ramp, and see how far trucks or tracks could get off the ground. Had a good time till we broke both final drives on a Hawk missile loader.

.
Wow @Guyfang , That Hawk had to beat you half to death too...

We used to ride up and down Davidson Street on a M4 tractor on Street Treads. I remember the first time i pulled back a little harder than I should have on the steering clutches - and banged my head against the "roll cage". Thank goodness I had on a hard hat! Even with that I saw stars for a few minutes!!

Yep, definitely back in the good old days

 

[msgjd]

This one is a Diamond T and last night we put fuel tanks and reels in it that we've had since the 1990s new refurbished and never used. Sorry for the pic quality I had to nab a picture of it going across the tracks the parking is a bit short lol

Now THAT's a T&P to surely have !!

ps: look out for the one driver (every outfit has at least one) who doesn't know any better to put diesel from the pods into his empty mogas tank when stranded way out on a desolate tank trail many miles from "home". ... He miraculously got a ride back "home" late in the evening with an evaluator who decided to take that particular trail as a short cut , otherwise we woulda never known where he was or where to begin to look. He wasn't supposed to be out in the Area he was at , but then again, it wasn't the first time he took the wrong road or trail

 

[Guyfang]

Now this is hearsay. I would never break the law like this.

But some "scoundrels" in my Hawk unit, about 1973-or 74, in the winter, stole a jeep. They were probably interested in doing something illegal, like consuming Hash, or some other forbidden thing. Anyway, they took off into the great unknown, outside of Schweinfurt, at Area S, (Area Slime) and kinda got lost. They decided to hide the jeep, and drove it into some bushes. It was late December. They parked in a small clearing. Lit up the bowl and heard a crack. Than another. All the sudden, the nose of the M151A1 was pointed up in the sky, and the ass end was under two feet of water! And getting deeper. The scoundrels scrambled out, soaked from head to foot, in below freeing weather. They had parked on a water filled hole used to hide tanks, Hull down. The water froze a few inches thick. Held for a wile, or so I was told.

If not for a passing German M88 rendering a helping hand and tow cable, they might still be there.