alexace
New member
- 104
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- Location
- Roanoke, VA
Hi all,
This is an awesome forum and I've finally joined after lurking for a few weeks. Anyway, My situation is this-
I have been wanting a deuce for quite some time, but I have finally decided to dive off the deep end and buy one. Near where I live, I saw two Deuces sitting in what looked like an abandoned lot with a small house (boarded up) an old semi, a trackhoe, and some old trailers. There was about 4 feet of grass/weeds everywhere. I stopped to take a closer look and I saw the person in the next lot over so I went to ask him about the property. The neighbor said the guy who owned it lived in the mountains of Tennessee on a farm and hadn't even been back to this Virginia property for several years. I went and looked over the deuces, one was an m35a2, the other an m54a2 (multifuel, non whistler)with a winch. They were both in similar condition, with a good deal of rust on the top side of the vehicles. The m-54's exhaust stack was slightly bent up near the mirror and the mirror was slightly bent. the batteries were dead in both of them, and the interiors looked generally crappy, though the m54 was a little better. The m54 was also less rusty the m54 had 36k miles and 14000 hours, I forgot on the m35. The m54 has a full tank of diesel that didn't stink too bad, and the m-35's tank looked dry. So, I decided to see if I could start the m54. I switched the batteries out for a pair of my own, and after reading the TMs and member guides for vehicle recovery, I turned her on and she started right up! The truck seemed to run quite well (and the sound gave me an adrenaline rush and now I feel I have caught OD fever). All of her gauges looked good, and I drove her just back and forth about 15 feet, all of the tranny seemed to work fine, as well as the clutch and h/l trans case. The parking brake worked fine too, however, the power steering was not working. Neither vehicle had tags. The good news on the m-54 is that the underbody looked really good, extremely little/no rust at all, even on the suspension. The m35 looked similar, but not as good. I was originally going to buy a GL 2.5 ton with a winch (what would the average cost be?) Tires on both vehicles looke decent.
I don't know if the m35 will start up or not although i think it will with new batteries. I realistically only have room for one truck at the moment but may be (in the next year) have room for quite a few (possible land deal). I honestly think I need a winch, this vehicle will be used offroad and on old logging roads in the blue ridge mountains, and if it gets stuck, I have nothing big enough to pull it out with
I looked the property owner up on GIS and he has no phone # in Tennessee, so I f I try and get those trucks I will send him a letter and hopefully he'll let me have them for free/uber cheap. The land appears to have been inherited from his mother in law, so I doubt he cares about it at all (hence abandoned look)
So-
Kaiser M54A2 with winch, runs well, lots of surface rust
or
Kaiser M35A2 without winch, no idea on running condition, lots of surface rust, little undercarraige rust
or
Random GL M35 with winch (not sure what it will cost me, anyone know an average price?)
Thoughts?
P.S.- The guy had a trailer, I forgot the model # but it said it was a ten ton, and it basically looked like the ack half of the m54, I may be able to get that.
Thanks, and any advice or help is greatly appeciated.
-Alex
This is an awesome forum and I've finally joined after lurking for a few weeks. Anyway, My situation is this-
I have been wanting a deuce for quite some time, but I have finally decided to dive off the deep end and buy one. Near where I live, I saw two Deuces sitting in what looked like an abandoned lot with a small house (boarded up) an old semi, a trackhoe, and some old trailers. There was about 4 feet of grass/weeds everywhere. I stopped to take a closer look and I saw the person in the next lot over so I went to ask him about the property. The neighbor said the guy who owned it lived in the mountains of Tennessee on a farm and hadn't even been back to this Virginia property for several years. I went and looked over the deuces, one was an m35a2, the other an m54a2 (multifuel, non whistler)with a winch. They were both in similar condition, with a good deal of rust on the top side of the vehicles. The m-54's exhaust stack was slightly bent up near the mirror and the mirror was slightly bent. the batteries were dead in both of them, and the interiors looked generally crappy, though the m54 was a little better. The m54 was also less rusty the m54 had 36k miles and 14000 hours, I forgot on the m35. The m54 has a full tank of diesel that didn't stink too bad, and the m-35's tank looked dry. So, I decided to see if I could start the m54. I switched the batteries out for a pair of my own, and after reading the TMs and member guides for vehicle recovery, I turned her on and she started right up! The truck seemed to run quite well (and the sound gave me an adrenaline rush and now I feel I have caught OD fever). All of her gauges looked good, and I drove her just back and forth about 15 feet, all of the tranny seemed to work fine, as well as the clutch and h/l trans case. The parking brake worked fine too, however, the power steering was not working. Neither vehicle had tags. The good news on the m-54 is that the underbody looked really good, extremely little/no rust at all, even on the suspension. The m35 looked similar, but not as good. I was originally going to buy a GL 2.5 ton with a winch (what would the average cost be?) Tires on both vehicles looke decent.
I don't know if the m35 will start up or not although i think it will with new batteries. I realistically only have room for one truck at the moment but may be (in the next year) have room for quite a few (possible land deal). I honestly think I need a winch, this vehicle will be used offroad and on old logging roads in the blue ridge mountains, and if it gets stuck, I have nothing big enough to pull it out with
I looked the property owner up on GIS and he has no phone # in Tennessee, so I f I try and get those trucks I will send him a letter and hopefully he'll let me have them for free/uber cheap. The land appears to have been inherited from his mother in law, so I doubt he cares about it at all (hence abandoned look)So-
Kaiser M54A2 with winch, runs well, lots of surface rust
or
Kaiser M35A2 without winch, no idea on running condition, lots of surface rust, little undercarraige rust
or
Random GL M35 with winch (not sure what it will cost me, anyone know an average price?)
Thoughts?
P.S.- The guy had a trailer, I forgot the model # but it said it was a ten ton, and it basically looked like the ack half of the m54, I may be able to get that.
Thanks, and any advice or help is greatly appeciated.
-Alex
