10 Ton Arctic test

[majortom]

Saturday the high temp was -7 and she got down to 20 below last night. Perfect weather to find out how good your truck runs, I always like to try to operate a truck under severe conditions so that the day i need it i know it will work, if your not familiar with ten tons its 9' 1/2' wide 30000+ pounds and has a 8cylndar Cummings diesel in it starting the truck was pretty interesting, flipped the ignition on, pulled the hand throttle out 1/3 switched on the glowplug count to Mississippi 20, pushed the start button with the left hand while pumping the fuel priming pump with the right hand and saying a short prayer. the engine started tremendous clouds of smoke, and hammering like its going to explode, had to keep pumping the primer for about 5 minutes, The engine would finally run without stalling at 1/3 throttle even with the arctic front installed it took over an hour for the temperature gage to move. Another half hour and we had some form of heat blowing out of the heater... Did i mention that the truck tried to drive away in neutral due to the thickness of the transmission fluid, trying to drive the truck was quite interesting as making shifts, regardless how many times you clutched it was really tricky, but the big problem was that if you touched the break petal the tires just stopped and the truck just kept sliding, if you gave it too much throttle in any gear the tires just spin its pretty impressive how fast you can whip one of these around in a circle, i did several donuts and deiced to stop before i smashed a building,.. way to much fun.

 

[quarkz]

Very nice rig.
Block heater or garage would cut that time to nothing.
But that is still about the same as my 5 ton after letting her sit in below freezing temps for a month.
Are those stock shoes for the 10ton?
What size NDTs are they?

 

[majortom]

i could have plugged it in but that would defeat the idea. you cannot depend on power out here. the tires are the correct 1400 24 nd. 54 inches tall. i am making wheels for the 1600 r 20 hemmet tires. singled ishould get close to legal width.

 

[rosco]

SAE 75/90 GL has about eliminated the need for changing lube oils. When it gets cold, the gearing will cut channels in the lube, sling it off, then they run dry, metal to metal. Before "multi-weight" lubes, we usually just ran the SAE 75 all year. Only when working hard in the summer at temps above 75 F, would the gearbox temps climb.

When starting a cold engine, always keep the clutch pushed in, to minimize the drag of the gear box. If the oil will not run off the dipstick when you pull it out, better put heat on the the engine. The propane weed burner with a joint of six inch stove pipe & an elbow on its end will do the job. Its low teck & effective. Slid it under the oll pan. Then go around with the torch, while the engine is warming, & put some heat on all the gear boxes & hubs. Then even at -50f, you can drive away, easy like. Using the propane, one will soon notice that it looses its force - just turn the torch on the propane bottle for a minute, and warm it. Serious. As a referance, trying to light raw gasoline at -50f with a farmer match, is about like trying to light #2 diesel at +40 f, with the same match. But be careful, you can get into serious trouble at those temperatures, especially, when your by yourself!.

Lee in ALaska

 

[dirtyfingernails]

Majortom,
Beautiful truck! Is that an M123 variant? Sorry to say, it's 45 degrees here in FL and I'm freezing! I can't imagine trying to deal with -7!

 

[AMGeneral]

Hmm,doughnuts in a 10 ton,now there's a picture I would like to see!!

 

[majortom]

all our trucks have multi weight lubes, and i agree that warming the gear box and diffs is the right way, but when you drop the d8 in the lake you only have a short time to get it out before it is there till spring. the test was to get the truck moving as soon as possible with no aids. thanks lee

 

[mbal]

I kinda feel a little dumb now, I got one of those with my wrecker and thought that it would somehow go onto were the controls are for the boom. I never could figure it out, and now i know why. Thanks for the pic and that truck sure does look good. The next time i think i know what something is for i will post it on here first.

 

[majortom]

dirtyfingernails 45 DEGREES. how do you not melt? AMGeneral a1c and an e2 very good. i have six ten tons 3 a1c, 2 e2, 125

 

[M1075]

i am making wheels for the 1600 r 20 hemmet tires. singled ishould get close to legal width.

Have you tried HEMTT rims? I have seen a set on a M920, which orginally had 24" wheels. Hub clearance might be a problem though.

 

[majortom]

the bolt pattern is too small and the offset is wrong. i have hemtt rims on my 543 wrecker

 

[hippiedude]

Nice Truck....Donuts That would be something to see....

 

[beaubeau]

Majortom, Nice 10ton!! I drove several in V.N. and fun to drive! I could spin donuts in Nam using the Differential Lock. Many drivers did not know about the locks or how to use them. I drove a 1972 International 4200 with a 903 Commins in it for 15 yerrs and a 10 speed Road ranger. The V8 Cummins does much better with close ratio 10 speed instead or 5 speed non synchro trans.I would like to own one, 10ton, but for todays oil prices Deuce is good enough!! Nice truck!! By the way, my 903 started on its own here in N.H. in -20%. when the 290 6s did not! I took the Deuce for a ride in 18inches of snow today, and I was amazed!! I did not get STUCK!! Good luck Phil

 

[emr]

Man thanks for the post, i love trying stuff like that, but here in Nj there is no super need , so i wait till i heat up with 3 magnet heaters and a 150,000 BTU torpedo or 2, blowing down the center way before i sart any of em, BUT man thats a gass, the thick oil and wanting to drive away!!!LOL!! good post, If im going to use one soon I try to keep a mag block heater on the engine , tranny,& transfer too, thats why i got 3 ...Sure do understand Your need to check out what U can get away with though, think its cool...Randy

 

[jeli]

When I was in a line unit in Wisc the only two trucks that would start on their own were the M51 multi and my 10 ton.

Great idea on the weed burner. I wonder if a setup like that but on the intake to prewarm the intake air would be a quick way to get it going?

 

[majortom]

thanks all. ten tons are way cool, so are m211s. so howcum mine doesnt have a hood prop like jeli's?

 

[Andydieselpower]

MajorTom- Thanks for the pics! Thats one stout looking rig!

 

[M543A2]

Heating the air going into the intake was mentioned as a possible starting aid in cold weather. I have done that regularly and it works very well. I have used methods ranging from an assistant holding an acetylene torch close to the intake so the heat from the flame is drawn into the intake when cranking to heating the cold manifold on diesel farm equipment with the torch. All worked well. I will leave it to common sense to watch for fire hazard from fuel leaks when heating manifolds. I also find the intake flame heater on my M543A2 works well as a starting assist. I have one of the 24 volt Southwind diesel fired engine coolant heaters on my wrecker. It heats the engine to melt the snow off the hood temp in about 15 minutes depending on ambient temperature. I asked at Sam Winer Motors if they had any. They said they take them off and throw them away. I said to throw them my way!
Regards Marti

 

[M543A2]

Can anyone tell me how they get away with such a small differential on the front drive axle on the ten tons? I would expect to see something as big as on the 5 tons at least! Did they consider it more of an "assist" like on some farm tractors?
Thanks Marti

 

[army_greywolf]

my source at oshkosh truck says the rebuild lines ((the trucks waiting for rebuild)) even when it's -27 degrees...((yea, i guess its cold up there right now)), start without aid on the jump packs, i suppose thats not fair but thats how they do it with the trucks still mobile.

Key to starting a 8V92 in extreme cold is making sure it already has enough air built to actuate the throttle. If not... you'll need another body to hold the throttle wide open while it cranks or it'll never start. Lessons learned from afghanistan.

LMTVs FMTVs don't start below 0 even with the glow plugs cycled over and over...

5tons, as long as they have good batteries, the 900 series usually have no problem starting, sometimes a squezze of ether, but not usually.

We did some modifications to some of the trucks using 10KW generator intake glow plugs. It worked pretty well.

For the record, my truck doesn't like to start below 0 without the block heater. 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 cummins 24V