YIKES!!!
I got into a wicked bidding war with a collector over the M36 I got off GL.... $9,600 ish all said and done. When I did the math and fabrication time to lengthen an M35 or buy a Civ truck and make it 6x6, I was fine with the end price - especially since the holding location was only 120 miles away and the truck was in fantastic condition!!!
Funny story - A mechanic I work with in the Gov't told me to go and see someone at the DRMO and get the scoop on a different M35 I had originally been looking at in another state. When I arrived to meet the head mechanic, he said "That was fast!!! Are you here to see our truck I just posted on GL???" - I told him, "I am NOW!!!". Not only did he give me the run down of the M36 they had, but he ran the VIN off of the truck I was looking at to see if it ran through his region. The M36 had just been overhauled in 96 for deployment to Israel, but was decommissioned for auction. Fantastic men to work with. When I got my EUC, we got it started, inspected and drove it for almost a year before mechanical things started popping up!
To date:
Log Loader $12,500
T-Case PTO $350
PTO shaft to hydraulic pump and tank with fittings/hose $1000
All the heavy steel to build 3 bunks in the bed, shorten bed 2 ft, fabricate a mounting plate for the log loader, extend log loader stabilizer legs $1000
Pre-bought 12 new torsion inserts for when the rubber starts to let go in the arms $750???
11 new Goodyear G177's installed with tubes $4,400
Extra lights, batteries, wiring, new soft top, radiator repair, brake system rebuild, front end maintenance, block heater, mirrors... $2000
and the endless nickle and dime-ing of fluids, fuel, grease, filters, new tools and time!!!!
I usually just tell folks I have about $40,000 in a mini logging truck.
I'm sure I'm missing something, mis-priced something above, or my mind has just suppressed the amount of money I've "invested" in things for it.... as my wife's eye's roll around shaking her head walking away.......