1969 LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel)

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I thinks I see armor plate on that one. Gonna be a lot heavier than the wood one I pulled around. I think you figured that out.

Yep it's got all the plating on the front half. Wish I had a 5 ton wrecker or 2 right about now.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

A few more shots of the bridge truck:


So far there has been zero progress with the boat move. Both the big boat movers in VT have said they can't do it. I sent good pictures of it to both. The local hauler here in Colchester kept me waiting for 3 weeks on the fact he wanted to look at it in person. He never looked at it and now says it's too long and too heavy. Of course his website says he can move 18,000lbs and 40ft, and he had the dimensions this whole time. I hate people who BS and waste my time.

Looks like my next options are the two local towing places that have the equipment to handle it. I'll probably have to make a cradle or two to make it work on a flatbed.
At least I've got a good looking engine. Hopefully I'll find someone who can move the boat in one piece. I've got until the end of September to get this done.

 

[NDT]

If you can get your RTFL over there and rent a second one, you can easily pick the LCVP up, one fork truck in the middle of the gunwale on both sides, with a inverted v bridle sling going to the front and rear lift points bow and stern. Lift it straight up and back a drop deck underneath. No cradle required, just a little bit of cribbing. The keel on these things is super strong.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Yeah all the pics of them on trailers on the web show them on a flatbed with very minimal cribbing. It really shouldn't be a difficult task, I just need to find someone willing to do it (and do it at a reasonable enough price). I think the slickest way to get it done would be to have a tow company bring a wrecker and a tractor/flatbed up, then use the wrecker to load the boat and tow the bridge truck down. Drop the bridge truck and unload the boat.

 

[m715mike]

These guys aren't exactly "local", but they do have experience with wreckers and moving boats >>

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showt...couldn-t-do-it-had-to-call-up-an-M816-to-help

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

These guys aren't exactly "local", but they do have experience with wreckers and moving boats >>

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showt...couldn-t-do-it-had-to-call-up-an-M816-to-help

Yeah something tells me they'd be able to move it!

 

[simp5782]

I will be up that way towards the end of the month. Forklift with a stepdeck trailer rental. along with one winch and we could be in business to get it moved.I can always throw my dolly in the bed! Little redneck ingenuity can go a long way.

If I had won the powerball I would have been gone fishing myself.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

You know what B.O.A.T. means? Bust Out Another Thousand... LOL Congratulations

Boat stands for Bend Over And Take.
So far the rate for moving the boat and bridge truck is more than I paid for them both and the step deck trailer... and I could almost buy the boat again afterwards.
Hopefully it's worth something!

 

[ODFever]

My advice, take it or leave it. Start calling museums. Find out if anyone wants the boat. If you get a bite, you can donate the boat with the agreement that they will remove it from its current location by the end of September. Use the donation as a tax write-off for you personally or for your business (if you run your own company). Keep the engine.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

My advice, take it or leave it. Start calling museums. Find out if anyone wants the boat. If you get a bite, you can donate the boat with the agreement that they will remove it from its current location by the end of September. Use the donation as a tax write-off for you personally or for your business (if you run your own company). Keep the engine.

That's something I've thought about. I certainly won't let the boat get cut up, it looks too good to trash. The trucking was reasonable enough, the rate for a wrecker to load it and tow the bridge truck was the deal killer. I'm hoping to hear back tonight from the other tow company that has the equipment to move both, hopefully they're more reasonable. If they can't do it we'll look at having a trucking company move the boat, there's a crane service not far away that is much cheaper than a wrecker for loading.

 

[ODFever]

Do you know any local Steel Soldiers brethren that has the equipment and the willingness help you move the bridge truck?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Do you know any local Steel Soldiers brethren that has the equipment and the willingness help you move the bridge truck?

Nothing that would be ideal, the big trucks are few and far between around here. I think the only somewhat local member that actually drives a truck that would handle it doesn't have a long enough trailer. The trucking isn't too bad, the tow company that said they could do it would be using a 75 ton rotator and that's what hurts. It comes out to $150 a mile to move the pair if we can get it done in 6 hours.
I wish there was a local boat place with a hydraulic trailer that could handle it, going rate is $10 a mile. Or $10 per foot of boat.

 

[Jericho]

Gues Iam not buying a boat, Would an M 931 and your red trailer move it ?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

The red trailer would carry it if it was in better shape. All the tires are old and cracked and I know nothing else about it so I don't want to tow it home with any weight on it. I guess the owner had the red stepdeck for the purpose of putting the boat on it, he had another one that's modified to haul his other landing craft.
Looks like some other options are well within my budget for getting this done, I'll keep this thread updated with the progress.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Looks like the trucking company I've had move the last few deuces is willing to give this a shot. Sounds like it's happening on the 5th, we'll have a crane service load and then unload the boat then we'll make another trip up to get the bridge truck.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

We pulled the bridge truck around so it can be winched onto the trailer and we've got the ramp up on the boat so that should be all set to go.

 

[mdainsd]

Thats Awesome! The bridge truck makes the deuce look like an M37!

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Thats Awesome! The bridge truck makes the deuce look like an M37!

Yep the bridge truck is a beast compared to a 2.5ton, I think it's almost 20,000lbs heavier than an m35. Definitely a cool rig.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Well... it's done. ADM Hauling did the trucking and Guerrina Crane did a great job lifting the boat, both were very reasonably priced too. Much cheaper than having a wrecker company move it all.

We used the pipe truck to winch the bridge truck on to the trailer, it's much easier to move wheeled vehicles (at least on land).

The only issue was the alternator belts failed on the pipe truck on the way home, but that was a pretty easy fix on the side of the road.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

A few pics of the interior of the boat:

After going over the basics we've got the bridge truck running and driving in the yard. The throttle sticks a bit but it didn't take much to get it going after sitting for at least 5 years. The tank was drained so we're running it off a 5 gallon can on the running board.