Commercial use of FMTV M1088 Tractor?

[Bobcat701]

I am thinking about purchasing an M1088 tractor for the following 3 reasons.

1. Haul local Hotshot loads within 150 miles.
2. Pick up surplus equipment from Fort Bragg.
3. Awesome toy.

Could use some advice from any current MTV owners or other 5 ton brothers.

Thanks in advance,

Joe

 

[scottmandu]

There are better choices for hotshot loads.

Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk

 

[Terrh]

What are you going to pull behind it?

The major issues for using them commercially (I've thought about it myself!) are:

5th wheel height - it's too tall to haul most trailers without the trailer ending up being on a stupid angle, and van trailers will be overheight. It's /way/ higher than a civilian 5th wheel. I don't know the height off hand but it's at least a foot higher than the 48" standard for commercial.

The 5th wheel is full oscillating which is awesome for off road, but it's only rated at 25,000LB for some reason despite looking as heavy as 100,000LB ones I've seen commercially. This might be an issue with the DOT but might not. Doesn't matter if you aren't pulling heavy trailers though. And might not really matter if you are. The rating is clearly ignored by the military, since there's pictures of them hauling trailers that empty weigh 25K and have two 30+Klb APC's on the trailer.


MPG... It's ****. You'll probably get 6-7 if you are lucky and hauling light stuff. You might get 3 if you are hauling heavy in town. Compare to a modern semi at 6 worst case and 12 best case.

full time AWD means maintenance might eat you alive.

60 MPH is screaming it.. Not a huge deal if the temps stay reasonable aside from the whole MPG thing.


With all that said, none of these issues are insurmountable and may not be deal breakers for you. But they're definitely issues that require consideration.

 

[NDT]

Reb87 on here is the only person that has posted about hauling grain trailers I think it was.

 

[Derrickl112]

.

 

[Suprman]

Great for low speed hauling heavy trailers around a farm or on dry dirt roads. On road hauling heavy loads you will go thru tires fast. M1088A1 you could probably take the wheels off your loaded trailer and still pull it.

 

[Floridianson]

M915 if you must have military. Every time I look on crags list I see nice civi road tractors cheap.
I could have gotten one of those for half the price I have in my M1088. More speed better mpg.

 

[Bobcat701]

Terrh,

Thanks for the advice, I was looking at flat bed loads three or four pallets or ISU 90. Maybe a Humvee or two. I was contemplating on having this hobble pay for itself via loads or tax write offs.

What are you going to pull behind it?

The major issues for using them commercially (I've thought about it myself!) are:

5th wheel height - it's too tall to haul most trailers without the trailer ending up being on a stupid angle, and van trailers will be overheight. It's /way/ higher than a civilian 5th wheel. I don't know the height off hand but it's at least a foot higher than the 48" standard for commercial.

The 5th wheel is full oscillating which is awesome for off road, but it's only rated at 25,000LB for some reason despite looking as heavy as 100,000LB ones I've seen commercially. This might be an issue with the DOT but might not. Doesn't matter if you aren't pulling heavy trailers though. And might not really matter if you are. The rating is clearly ignored by the military, since there's pictures of them hauling trailers that empty weigh 25K and have two 30+Klb APC's on the trailer.


MPG... It's ****. You'll probably get 6-7 if you are lucky and hauling light stuff. You might get 3 if you are hauling heavy in town. Compare to a modern semi at 6 worst case and 12 best case.

full time AWD means maintenance might eat you alive.

60 MPH is screaming it.. Not a huge deal if the temps stay reasonable aside from the whole MPG thing.


With all that said, none of these issues are insurmountable and may not be deal breakers for you. But they're definitely issues that require consideration.

 

[Bobcat701]

I appreciate your advice, I know as much $ I put into my LMTV. So using it for a toy may be the best option in the far future.

M915 if you must have military. Every time I look on crags list I see nice civi road tractors cheap.
I could have gotten one of those for half the price I have in my M1088. More speed better mpg.

 

[scottmandu]

The forestry industry uses the M1088 to bring trailers in and out of the woods on unimproved roads. The trailers are carried to the nearest road where normal tractor trucks do the on road duty.

 

[99nouns]

Haul local Hotshot loads within 150 miles

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is hotshot load?

 

[DiverDarrell]

Less than a truck load. ltl, or hotshot is commonly lighter loads often dually pickups towing large trailers grossing around 33k. Often the scraps larger trucks wont deal with.

 

[Coffey1]

Or a load where the manufacturer screwed up and has to get oversized something to you overnight.
Which can't be ups or FedEx

 

[doghead]

Do you have a CDL?

 

[Bobcat701]

I start my CDL course next week. I am looking at doing something with it part time.

Do you have a CDL?

 

[Suprman]

The M1078 would make a neat mini tractor. You don't really need the 1088 if you are pulling a small trailer. The bed weights like 3000lbs and you would be taking that off. Just have to upgrade the rear springs and mount a 5th wheel.

 

[airbornebandsman]

Not sure if you have looked. But start calling around to insurance companies to see what commercial truck insurance will cost. I had plans on doing something similar part time with my M915A1/M872A1. A few phone calls and I changed my plans pretty quick.

 

[snowtrac nome]

I will have to agree unless you have a real specialized use for it, the tires aren't going to be long life tires run on asphalt the other problems you may encounter is poor fuel mileage comp aired to other low profile aerodynamic trucks say like a t300. I'm planning on putting mine into commercial use as a service truck, but 90 percent of my driving will be on gravel roads or off road which is where this truck was intended to run. if I were to be on the road system I would likely look at a 2wd truck on 1100 x 22.5. If you are just doing local stuff say with in 300 miles on a part time basis to try to recover some expenses' through wright offs you may break even and have a cool factor

 

[snowtrac nome]

just remember commercial use part time or full time you need commercial insurance, dot registration, cdl and if you have placarded quantity's of hazmat a hazmat endorsement and background check.

 

[coachgeo]

if you decide to do it anyway consider having someone build you 22" rims so you can then use existing over the road tires.