• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

 

Wreckers: Do people buy them for hobby or use?

fuzzytoaster

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
4,208
2,876
113
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
2019-01-08 12.42.49-1.jpg

Mainly for hobby use but also useful for those unique situations where you need something moved and the ground won't let you get a forklift or etc in place. They really are a crane with wheels (but are terrible at being on-road wreckers). I bought a 2nd for lifting those larger loads like whole trucks.
 

Ajax MD

Well-known member
1,567
1,414
113
Location
Mayo, MD
Knowing my luck, if I owned a wrecker it would break down on the way to recover my broken down M813. :roll:

That 10 ton wrecker is very interesting!
 

LCA078

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
193
59
28
Location
Austin, TX
You guys are posting some great pics and really making me want one (or two like Fuzzytoaster!). The only wreckers I dealt with in the Army where the HEMTT ones that had the crane right behind that massive tow boom. I vaguely remember FMTV wreckers with a knuckle boom but maybe I'm getting them confused with LMTV/FMTV cargos that had the knuckle booms. I'd be more interested in one of those since I'd be using the crane for general lifting, not recovery ops, and still have a cargo truck.

I also forgot the crane portion on the previous style wreckers was able to pivot 360 degrees and extend to about 20' feet but that makes me wonder about it's lifting capacity. What's the lifting capacity on a Duece or 5-ton wrecker? I'm assuming it's fairly low if the crane is extended or positioned directly to the side of the truck. The M939 TM says to look at the placard on the crane...but I ain't got one!
 

LCA078

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
193
59
28
Location
Austin, TX
Thanks for the nice pic, Coffey. Definitely a crane, not a knuckle boom. And you're right, it is badass.
 

fasttruck

Well-known member
1,265
622
113
Location
Mesa, AZ
I bought a vise and the truck came with it. Not too good for lift towing without an under reach. Army has an add on to a fifth wheel tractor to provide an under reach capability. Holmes once sold the Army a fifth wheel sling wrecker with a 24 volt motor than plugged into the slave receptacle. If you need something to lift stuff around the house they are good for that.
 

AMGeneral

Well-known member
2,299
92
48
Location
Connelly Springs, NC
Knowing my luck, if I owned a wrecker it would break down on the way to recover my broken down M813. :roll:

That 10 ton wrecker is very interesting!

It's official designation is Wrecker, 10 ton, 4x4 M553, a variant of the GOER vehicles, they pre-date the Hemmets by about 20 years, all manufactured by Caterpillar, here are 2 videos of it running after I traded it to Papabear,

Articulated in roll and yaw, and believe it or not, AMPHIBOUS!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkxS1tTeSMg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Q_5X8-lnQ


These are downright huge, 1800 x 33 tires, 30 mph top speed ,and the wreckers weigh in at around 39,000 lbs ready to roll.

The cargo area was designed to haul an M60 MBT complete power pack and be able to change it in field.


Back when I owned it, I had big plans of restoring it and towing it to shows behind my M123E2 on a M15A2 trailer, but plans change, now the only MV I own is a M151A1!
 
Last edited:

redrustyhill

Member
128
3
18
Location
scobey montana
I bought my m936 because I thought I had to have one. Used it around the farm for lifting stuff and unsticking stuck equipment. Fired it up today to recover a stuck dozer at the county landfill.


Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 

Csm Davis

Well-known member
4,151
376
83
Location
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Honestly don't know how many wreckers I have owned, still have 3, won't ever be without at least one. If you have more than one 5 ton, you need a wrecker if you do your own recovery. Plus they are chick magnets!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

redrustyhill

Member
128
3
18
Location
scobey montana
Honestly don't know how many wreckers I have owned, still have 3, won't ever be without at least one. If you have more than one 5 ton, you need a wrecker if you do your own recovery. Plus they are chick magnets!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Chick magnets huh? Maybe I need to go cruising around town more often.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 

SimplexCoda

New member
18
0
1
Location
Ruidoso, New Mexico
I have thought a lot about picking up a wrecker to make some money lifting heavy stuff. I live in an area with lots of timber being cut on personal property. Plus, I could keep it busy lifting and moving hot tubs at the vacation homes around here. But, I think it would come most useful during the winter to recover vehicles and tractors slipping off the road. But, I’d have no clue how to go about tractor recovery. Anyway, I guess my answer is, I don’t have one, but if I did, it would be a workhorse.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks