m715mike
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Yesterday I bought a M936A2 and a M810 and it turned into a day I'll remember for a long time to come. Also, I have a feeling that Wes Simpson won't forget it any time soon either.
A friend of mine is selling his MV collection. When I expressed interest in his wrecker last July, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse for both the wrecker and the water truck. Although both trucks were only 35 miles away, it took me almost a year to get the deal done and get the trucks home (that’s where Wes came in).
The Wrecker: The dash plate on the wrecker says M936A1, but it’s an A2. My friend purchased it from GL 5 years ago and, except for leaving once to pull fuzzytoaster out of the mud, it’s been on his ranch ever since. The wrecker was not used much. In recent years, it had to be jumpstarted (the batteries are shot) and Wes confirmed last night that the alternator is not charging. Apart from the batteries/alternator and a broken cable on the boom, the rest of the truck was in pretty good working order until late last night.
The Water Truck: My buddy bought this truck from GL also. When he got it, the radiator was leaking and the tierod had GL forklift damage. He pushed the truck into his barn, pulled the radiator and had it rebuilt. Then he didn’t touch the truck again. Hopefully it won’t take much to get it running. The truck is mostly complete and looks to be in good shape.
The Recovery: Plan A was to use the wrecker and tow the water truck up to the county road for Wes to ‘quickly’ load them. We gambled on the weather as the forecast was for thunderstorms and heavy wind from 13:00 to 16:00. Wes as due to arrive at 12:00. For once, the weather man got it right.
Plan A failed. We couldn’t get the wrecker started. Not to worry, Wes showed up on time and he pulled the water truck up to the front.
So far so good. Then the rain hit and we took an hour break to let the first squall blow over. After the rain delay, it was back to work and we got the water truck moved.
After discussing the potential for a second wave of the storm and doing further damage to my friend’s road and pasture, we decided to go back for the wrecker. Wes swapped two batteries in, the wrecker fired right up, and he drove it on the trailer (almost seemed to easy…).
Then the fun began. The wrecker is heavy. All of that weight broke the roller on the back of Wes’ truck while winching-up the trailer neck. This turned into a perfect opportunity to use the wrecker, which turned into the perfect opportunity to blow at least three hydraulic hoses on said wrecker. So now the crane is inoperable, but we still needed to fix Wes’ truck and get the wrecker loaded.
Several hours later, we were done and on the road again. After a 15 hour day, the wrecker got home with no further issues.
Now the fun continues. I'll focus on the wrecker first. It needs to be serviced (fluids, filters, etc.). It needs batteries and an alternator. And hoses... lots of hoses! I'm sure there will be more. I'm going to tuck the water truck away for a future project. It looks great, and would make a great parade truck!
Wes – It was great to finally meet you in person, and thank you again for your help yesterday!
A friend of mine is selling his MV collection. When I expressed interest in his wrecker last July, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse for both the wrecker and the water truck. Although both trucks were only 35 miles away, it took me almost a year to get the deal done and get the trucks home (that’s where Wes came in).
The Wrecker: The dash plate on the wrecker says M936A1, but it’s an A2. My friend purchased it from GL 5 years ago and, except for leaving once to pull fuzzytoaster out of the mud, it’s been on his ranch ever since. The wrecker was not used much. In recent years, it had to be jumpstarted (the batteries are shot) and Wes confirmed last night that the alternator is not charging. Apart from the batteries/alternator and a broken cable on the boom, the rest of the truck was in pretty good working order until late last night.
The Water Truck: My buddy bought this truck from GL also. When he got it, the radiator was leaking and the tierod had GL forklift damage. He pushed the truck into his barn, pulled the radiator and had it rebuilt. Then he didn’t touch the truck again. Hopefully it won’t take much to get it running. The truck is mostly complete and looks to be in good shape.
The Recovery: Plan A was to use the wrecker and tow the water truck up to the county road for Wes to ‘quickly’ load them. We gambled on the weather as the forecast was for thunderstorms and heavy wind from 13:00 to 16:00. Wes as due to arrive at 12:00. For once, the weather man got it right.
Plan A failed. We couldn’t get the wrecker started. Not to worry, Wes showed up on time and he pulled the water truck up to the front.
So far so good. Then the rain hit and we took an hour break to let the first squall blow over. After the rain delay, it was back to work and we got the water truck moved.
After discussing the potential for a second wave of the storm and doing further damage to my friend’s road and pasture, we decided to go back for the wrecker. Wes swapped two batteries in, the wrecker fired right up, and he drove it on the trailer (almost seemed to easy…).
Then the fun began. The wrecker is heavy. All of that weight broke the roller on the back of Wes’ truck while winching-up the trailer neck. This turned into a perfect opportunity to use the wrecker, which turned into the perfect opportunity to blow at least three hydraulic hoses on said wrecker. So now the crane is inoperable, but we still needed to fix Wes’ truck and get the wrecker loaded.
Several hours later, we were done and on the road again. After a 15 hour day, the wrecker got home with no further issues.
Now the fun continues. I'll focus on the wrecker first. It needs to be serviced (fluids, filters, etc.). It needs batteries and an alternator. And hoses... lots of hoses! I'm sure there will be more. I'm going to tuck the water truck away for a future project. It looks great, and would make a great parade truck!
Wes – It was great to finally meet you in person, and thank you again for your help yesterday!
