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Sarge is still working on his M1031 recovery tale, to which he adds about three words a day, so he asked me to post this one.
On January 1st Sarge made a New Years resolution to not buy any vehicles in 2009. Between then and now he has only bought five, so he is really doing quite well.
Since our last vehicle recovery involved drama, State Troopers, the Fire Department, and took two days to go 60 miles (in other words a typical road trip for us), Sarge decided to buy something nice this time so we could have an easy trip.
His latest acquisition is an M818 tractor, bought from Corey/StreetbikeDepot.
We departed for Oklahoma at 0-dark-thirty Tuesday morning in Sarge’s M1009, loaded to the gills with tools, fire extinguishers, ammunition, etc. I even took my new tow bar pins though we weren’t planning on doing any towing, I simply do not ever intend to get caught without the right ones again. If all else failed and we ran out of ammo, they might prove handy to fight off the Mongol Hordes.
The plan was to drive up, inspect and prep the truck Tuesday evening, find somewhere nearby to stay the night, then head home. We figured the trip back (361 miles) could be completed by Wednesday evening, but we allowed enough time for the truck to catch fire several times just in case.
The trip up was uneventful. We spotted an M656 (serial #5) parked by a shop in one small town. We did a screeching u-turn (Sarge did the u-turning, I did the screeching), stopped and talked to the owner for a while. He is restoring it himself and was not interested in selling. We coonfingered it, took pictures and moved on. We did leave contact numbers just in case he ever changes his mind.
We met up with Corey at Hoopsoft’s place. The M818 appeared to be as Corey had described it, and after examining its minor glitches and a test drive, we decided it was fit for the trip back. The only thing needed were windshield wipers since the ones on it were shot and we forgot to bring any with us (Doh!). One nice blade was spotted on Hoopsoft’s deuce, so we nicked it (Corey gets to explain that) and put it on the drivers side of the 818. I just removed the arm from the 818 passenger side.
Money and paperwork changed hands and we departed southbound. A few miles down the road we found a motel and stopped for some welcome rest.
Pic1: HEMTT. Drooool...
Pic 2-5: The M656 including data plate and markings
Pic 6/7: The M818. Pretty, eh?
Pic 8: Some of the junk we had crammed into the M1009. No rear window means it all comes into the motel room.
On January 1st Sarge made a New Years resolution to not buy any vehicles in 2009. Between then and now he has only bought five, so he is really doing quite well.
Since our last vehicle recovery involved drama, State Troopers, the Fire Department, and took two days to go 60 miles (in other words a typical road trip for us), Sarge decided to buy something nice this time so we could have an easy trip.
His latest acquisition is an M818 tractor, bought from Corey/StreetbikeDepot.
We departed for Oklahoma at 0-dark-thirty Tuesday morning in Sarge’s M1009, loaded to the gills with tools, fire extinguishers, ammunition, etc. I even took my new tow bar pins though we weren’t planning on doing any towing, I simply do not ever intend to get caught without the right ones again. If all else failed and we ran out of ammo, they might prove handy to fight off the Mongol Hordes.
The plan was to drive up, inspect and prep the truck Tuesday evening, find somewhere nearby to stay the night, then head home. We figured the trip back (361 miles) could be completed by Wednesday evening, but we allowed enough time for the truck to catch fire several times just in case.
The trip up was uneventful. We spotted an M656 (serial #5) parked by a shop in one small town. We did a screeching u-turn (Sarge did the u-turning, I did the screeching), stopped and talked to the owner for a while. He is restoring it himself and was not interested in selling. We coonfingered it, took pictures and moved on. We did leave contact numbers just in case he ever changes his mind.
We met up with Corey at Hoopsoft’s place. The M818 appeared to be as Corey had described it, and after examining its minor glitches and a test drive, we decided it was fit for the trip back. The only thing needed were windshield wipers since the ones on it were shot and we forgot to bring any with us (Doh!). One nice blade was spotted on Hoopsoft’s deuce, so we nicked it (Corey gets to explain that) and put it on the drivers side of the 818. I just removed the arm from the 818 passenger side.
Money and paperwork changed hands and we departed southbound. A few miles down the road we found a motel and stopped for some welcome rest.
Pic1: HEMTT. Drooool...
Pic 2-5: The M656 including data plate and markings
Pic 6/7: The M818. Pretty, eh?
Pic 8: Some of the junk we had crammed into the M1009. No rear window means it all comes into the motel room.
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