5th wheel wrecker

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

As a platoon leader in a 10 million mile per year medium truck company, we used the Holmes fifth wheel towing device much more than either our M816 or later the HEMMT Wrecker since our M915's were on the road every day usually on convoys. We had a practice of always bringing a Holmes and a bobtail as well as a bunch of cash on every trip, if a truck went down with a load the Holmes towed it out from under the trailer the bobtail hooked up and the deadline truck was fixed at the RON by our mechanics. I even had huge lights on my CUCV that I could shine into the place they had to work and usually the mechanics slept in my back seat while my driver and I took turns at the wheel.
On one leg one of our NCO's backed into the grill of one of the tractors and we could not fix it, we already had a truck hard down needing DS/GS repair so I had them transfer the Holmes to the broken truck and we towed that truck towing the hard down with the other Holmes. We drove it all the way from Minneapolis to Fort Devens that way and you should have heard the chatter on the CB about our load.

These are great items and if I can find one reasonable I am gonna tag it for my tractor

 

[tcody]

Finally found the one at the recent GL auction. Not in great shape, but once I get it home I hope it won't need too much to fix it up. Here is a picture. I think it is a FW35, but no markings, so I will have to look at it once it is here. If there is anyone near Camp Lejune that could help with loadout please email me.
Regards,
Thane

 

[wideload]

Holmes 5th wheel wrecker

I also have the same earlier type of Holmes 5th wheel wrecker. It is a great tool because I can swap it between my different tractors. It has as standard a 2" pin but I have a pair of adaptor collars which clamp around the 2" pin and convert it to a 3.5" pin. the picture enclosed shows it fitted to my M746 Tractor at a local show here in the UK.

When I got it about 10 years ago the single acting lift rams were badly pitted. I got a set of double acting rams tilt rams of an old Nissan 6 ton forklift which were just the correct length, had them bushed to fit and they are perfect. One day I will get around to converting the spool valve to double acting.

 

[tcody]

Wideload, That is a very cool M746. Can you past some more pictures of it!
Thane

 

[wideload]

M746 Pictures

Do not wish to hijack the thread but here are two pictures

 

[emr]

RE: M746 Pictures

I have the Holmes sling attachment for the Holmes 5th wheel wracker attachment, Ive hung it under my Wrecker set # 7,It has the 3 hole thingy that the rear tie down/trailer safty chain loops are, and bolted right up to that, The guys at the armorey here said it was hooked up to there ten ton, years ago,I found it so i acuired it.. looks cool, and usefull. but it sure looks cool. ...Randy

 

[wideload]

No good without pictures !!!

Need some pictures so we can see what it looks like.

 

[joec]

need these..!

how about this?

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

RE: need these..!

anyone have the tm for the holmes unit or know what the weight is off the top of their head...i got one finally but i need to figure out how to get it off my trailer tomorrow any help greatly appreciated as I am in a bunch right now...

 

[tcody]

Which one do you have - FW20, FW25 or FW35? They weigh different amounts.
Thane

 

[tcody]

The FW35 unit is the heaviest. I believe it weighs about 1085 Lbs. There is a lifting ring at the center of gravity. It can be lifted easily with an engine hoist. If you need to lighten the load you can take the king pin slide off and remove the hydraulic cylinders and separate the lifting arm from the main I beam. Each part can then be lifted by two or three guys. Good luck. Post a pic of your new find.

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

I will have to look in the morning at the data plate. but I do know that mine does have the lift ring on the top of it so according to 'tcody' apparently mine is the fw35....which is good news for me We are going to attempt to get it off the trailer tomorrow or weekend using a pulley in a tree trick probably. Has anyone made any sort of 'holder' for this unit so that you can just back underneath it when needed and when done with it holds it up off the ground?

 

[tcody]

All the Holmes units I am aware of have a lift ring. They differ on the weight rating due to the stoutness of the unit - size of the hydraulic cylinders. This shifts the center of gravity to the rear on the heavier units. Therefore the lift ring is in different position depending on the unit. An example is pictures below. Compare that to the FW25 yellow towing unit above and you can see the differences. The FW35 ring is further to the stern. The FW35 will have a metal data plate on the driver side of the mounted unit. The other units I have seen have stickers. If the plate or sticker is missing there are many physical differences - so post a pic and we can identify what you have. Your idea to hoist it will work fine. A 2 ton chain block attached to a stout tree limb would lift her up without a problem. In a pinch a A frame made from 2x6 boards would also work fine if you double up the cross beam. Good luck!
T

 

[Rickyoday]

Here is a pic of my 5th wheel wrecker. It is a Monarch "Dyna-Boom" Model M-642. I can take more pics for anyone who needs them. BTW, does anyone have a manual for my particular model? Thanks, Rick.

 

[tcody]

Rick - thanks for posting the pic of your Monarch 5th wheel wrecker. That's an interesting design and looks like it has some advantages over the Holmes such as the hydraulic extension cylinder. I would love to see a few more photos.
Thane

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

did some research and ours is only the fw25 unfortunately... does anyone have any information on it or manuals?

 

[tcody]

MR - The FW25 is a sweeet unit! All of these are rare and very handy to have. The yellow one I posted above is a FW25 I got out of NC last year. It will do pretty much everything you want it to! Nice find - and post a few pics. I don't have a manual, but I think if you call Miller they would probably have one in the files they would fax to you. Again, great find!
T

 

[bulldog_mack13]

Im near Lejune and can help if ya need it.

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

I take it Miller Industries owns Holmes???? As of right now it's torrential down pour of rain so pics are going to have to wait till storm passes

 

[tcody]

Yes - Miller owns Holmes. They phased out the 5th wheel units some time ago because they were getting a lot of grief from their commercial towers about lost revenue from people buying the 5th wheel units. I have dealt with Miller for other reasons, and they have always been very very helpful to me. If they have anything for the FW25 I am sure they will be happy to help you too. They may also have some parts available. I can look up their number if you need it. I also have taken my FW25 apart to rebuild it and it is currently sitting in pieces in the garage. If you need specific pictures of individual parts I suspect it will be in pieces for awhile so I would be happy to send you whatever you need.
Regards,
T