Ho Ho Ho Santa is alive and well

Floyd · Unread post by **Floyd** » December 20th, 2007, 11:09 am

It just barely fit in his bag. A new, well almost M36A2 with 2512 miles. It sure made my Christmas. I still have to do the EUC thing but thatâ€™s just paperwork. Hope all on the 838 have a wonderful and joyous Christmas and a fantastic holiday season.

Floyd

Cobra5 · Unread post by **Cobra5** » December 20th, 2007, 1:00 pm

Floyd,

Nice truck! Did you get it from the auction?

Tim

Unread post by **rickf** » December 20th, 2007, 1:30 pm

That deuce fit's nicely in the back.

Rick

Floyd · Unread post by **Floyd** » December 20th, 2007, 2:50 pm

Tim, I did. I should never have made that trip out to the DRMO at Barstow. What a place, the fever hit me.

Rick, I'm going to need a shoe horn it's soooo long. Those vehiciles are on both sides of the road,

I kept drooling all over myself.

Floyd

Cobra5 · Unread post by **Cobra5** » December 26th, 2007, 1:32 pm

Floyd,

I'm sure you know about this website. Not sure what your feelings are about PDF manuals but I downloaded every manual, I believe, needed for the M35 series. Might be worth checking out.
https://www.logsa.army.mil/etms/index.c ... F914346838

Tim

Floyd · Unread post by **Floyd** » December 26th, 2007, 4:48 pm

Tim: Thanks, normally I use both, paper and PDF. I have most of the PDF files for the M35 and I'm working on the published manuals. I just finished getting all the EUC paper work in today with all the holiday stuff going on.

Floyd

Unread post by **rickf** » December 26th, 2007, 4:52 pm

How are you going to get it home?
Rick

Floyd · Unread post by **Floyd** » December 26th, 2007, 8:25 pm

Ya had to ask that question?

I dunno!!! I'm thinking with 2500 miles and a good looking engine, It'll start right up. Maybe a jump, perhaps new battries. I have a huge pre pick up check list that should help. The good news I'm only about 50 miles away. AAA tow? I've got a good military tow bar and maybe a friend with another Deuce.

Floyd

mrdibbles · Unread post by **mrdibbles** » December 29th, 2007, 10:43 am

Floyd that is outrageous. Where are you going to store that? If I had it my way, and I had storage to suit, I would do either exactly what you did or buy myself a vintage Fire Truck. Problem there is once I do that my sights will expand and next thing I know I'll be traveling to Arizona to buy a retired 747

Truly though... you have my envy... slick wheels without a doubt!!!!

Joe · Unread post by **Joe** » December 29th, 2007, 12:19 pm

Floyd,
Wow!!! You MUST have been a good boy for Santa to be so NICE to you this year. Congratulations!!! That is one gorgeous truck!!! And you have to wonder why only 2,512 miles on it when it hit the DRMO sales lot. It'll be interesting to be able to find out the history of the truck, if you can. Glad to see that you saved the big beast. Good luck on getting her home and then enjoying it! I think we're all envious as hell.

And Matt,
Not to sidetrack this thread but check out Jay Leno's 1941 American LaFrance fire truck video on his website:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/vid ... vid=187714

The truck is beautiful and his acquisition story is equally as interesting, but you'll need a BIG garage for that one .....

Cobra5 · Unread post by **Cobra5** » December 29th, 2007, 12:23 pm

Floyd,
Did you bid online and was there a bidding frenzy with the surplus guys? I got my eyes on two coming up for auction in Jan. They are just M35's but I'll probably get beat out by the surplus guys.

Tim

Floyd · Unread post by **Floyd** » December 29th, 2007, 3:34 pm

Matt: Thanks, I can just picture you in that wig behind the controls of a 747. I think itâ€™ll fit in the driveway but itâ€™s going to be goodbye neighbors. Theyâ€™ll adjust.

Joe, I think the little Deuce is going to be fun. Why the 2500 miles? Well it has a rebuild tag of May of 1989 where it had a complete overhaul at Tooele Army Depot in Utah. The bumper markings say it belonged to the Nevada National Guard. All the indicators point to about that mileage. My guess is the weekend warriors just didnâ€™t want to drive the M-36. Iâ€™m sure it was a PITA trying to go where they took the M-35â€™s. The XLWB and no power steering made it the designated hangar queen. Just from reading I knew they were long but until you walk up to it ya just have no idea. I wanted something different and I think I found it. Itâ€™s unique but all (most) the parts are interchangeable, so itâ€™s a win win thing for me.

That was a very cool video of the 41 American LaFrance. Other than these Military trucks, the fire trucks are a fantastic value. I still think they are the best bang for the buck. Almost all departments do every thing they can to insure they are always in top running order, and the low mileage is another factor. Iâ€™m also a bit biased in that my dad retired as a Crash Fire Chief.

Tim: Just keep trying. Good luck on the bidding. Mine was a slow bid thing, the last day it picked up a bit. If you watch some of these auctions they go into overtime, after the bid closes, last 15 minutes. Thatâ€™s where it goes crazy.

Floyd

bogoble · Unread post by **bogoble** » January 12th, 2008, 5:19 pm

Floyd,
you have a wife????
If so, you must be a real talker