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Looking at the M35 in a different way

Barrman

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I am a Boy Scout leader. We had a campout last weekend. The Scouts have gotten used to me driving the M715, M35 A2 or M35 Gasser to the meetings and camping in either the back of a M35 or in a M105 trailer. They actually like it because I don't waste time seting up my tent and can help them instead.

The ones that care have all stopped and stared the Garwood and asked questions. We have had so much rain around here that for the first time in many years, the ground is actually saturated. One of the Scouts had a basketball game Friday and was going to be brought out late at night by his dad to the camp.

The 5 or 6 vehicles already in camp plus the Whistler had torn up the field we were camping in pretty good. The dad bringing his late son had tried to follow the trail and gotten his Suburban stuck. Since it was late, they just went to sleep instead of waking us up.


We found them Saturday morning with the 2wd street tires sunk to the rims. Some of the boys tried pushing the truck to no effect. I walked the 200 yards back to camp and fired up the M35A2. To not make the lane worse and to get in positon, I drove around the 60 acre field slipping and slidding in 6x6 the entire way.

I pulled up to line winch up and 21 boys were wide eyed and talking about everytime I hit mud and started to bog down the smoke would turn really black, the tires would spin a little and the truck would keep going.

We unspooled the winch and I put my 11 year old Colton in the drivers seat to work the clutch. That impressed some of the older boys who only know how to use an automatic. Once hooked up, the engine didn't even lug when the winch pulled the Suburban and cargo trailer attached to it out of the mud. The boys thought it was great.

Then I had them unspool it out again so I could line up the cable on the drum. I asked a single boy to keep tension. I got 21 of them trying to pull the truck. They of course lost and thought it was halarious. I went back around the field to pull back in my camp spot when we were all done.

I got a lot of questions about the truck the rest of the day. I had fun with them that night demonstrating how the b/o tail lights let you tell distance. That took about an hour as they wanted to mark off how many feet they could actually distiquish 4,2 or 1 lights. None of them had the same eye sight, so they could never agree on a common change over point.
 

Warthog

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I always love hearing about Colton and yours adventures.

I wish my son was interested in trucks instead of those silly college girls......LOL
 

DUG

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Use my deuce in Scouts all the time. Campouts, parades, troop/pack meetings, even Roundtables. The committee loves to see our troop banners on the sides of my truck.
 

NDT

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OK, I hope you know the consequences of youth exposure to military trucks! My Scoutmaster did the same thing, firmly "set the hook", and now 30 years later, the OD obsession runs deep: 20 trucks, 10 trailers, 2 dozers, crane, warehouse full of military stuff . . .
 

Lifer

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As a former Scout leader (both American and English), I know how great it is when you can capture their attention with a "teaching moment." I'm glad to see that your truck became an educational tool. :D
 

jasonjc

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I hate to appear ignorant, but I have never heard the story about the black out lights before. Can you explain that?

Derek Taylor
The red in the tail lights have 4 small shapes. If you look at them from a short distance you can see all 4 of them. As you back away they look like 2. Back away more and they look like 1. This will take a few hundred feet. When driving behind one at night, you need to stay far enought back to see the "2" lights. If you see "4" you are to close. If you only see "1" you are to far back.
Hope this helps.
 

Barrman

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I think every -10 manual for any mv has a page or so about how the rear black out lights let you tell distance. See one of them for the exact details. Here is my version since I don't have a manual at work with me right now.

The black out markers on the rear of each vehicle have 4 little bitty slits in them. When a person is closer than around 50 meters, they can see 4 lights. Between around 50 and 100 meters, a person can normally only see 2 lights. Beyond 100 meters, only 1 light can be seen. Your results may vary depending on eye sight and age.

Why do the lights do this and how are they used? Imagine a convoy of trucks moving at night in conditions where light is not wanted. The front vehicle would have its b/o marker and front b/o spot light on. The road can be seen, but not very well. Good enough to drive though. Any observer would be more likely to hear the vehicle before they see the light though. All the vehicles following would just have their b/o marker lights on. "Dust cloud plus 50 meters" was drilled into my head when I was a M60A3 tanker way back when as the spacing between vehicles on the move. The b/o spot light doesn't allow speeds fast enough to make dust clouds so 50-100 meters is the proper night follow distance. All a driver of a following vehicle has to do is make sure he can see 2 lights on each side of the vehilce he is following. 4 lights and he is too close. 1 light and back too far.

A person in a vehicle looking back could tell by the front marker lights if the vehicle following was there and somewhat how far back it was. Since the front markers only have 2 slits, only closer than 50 meters and further than 50 meters can be determined though.
 

The PIG Smith

Member
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Fort Wayne, Indiana
Please pardon me for being adversarial, but as a former Scout Leader and Certified Leave No Trace trainer,
I would recommend the next time you and your Troop camp in soft, muddy grounds, to practice the Second Principle of the Leave No Trace Program:

2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

All the Leave No Trace Principles work together, like the first one:

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare

Leave No Trace is a BSA sanctioned program.
Teaching Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace :: Programs :: Principles
 

Sgt Hulka

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San Francisco CA
Dude, the tires packed the ground down a little... don't get your panties in a wad over someone driving through an area and leaving some tire impressions...

I tell you what... i'll find a nice big field and put some really big ruts in them just for you. Do you see what you just did? You could of minimized the " damage " done to that field by not saying anything. However, since you did whine about it, you have just doubled the " damage " done. Now i have to go out there and find a nice untouched field where bambi and thumper live and drive through it because of you. Thanks for ruining his story and being a hippie.
Hey man. You need an attitude adjustment. He was trying to be helpful, not critical. And as for your threat to deliberately tear up ground, that's exactly the kind of behavior and mentality MV owners are trying to stay away from. It puts the entire hobby at risk. It also is totally inconsistent with the spirit of this site.
 

NRG

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Medford Oregon
Hey man. You need an attitude adjustment. He was trying to be helpful, not critical. And as for your threat to deliberately tear up ground, that's exactly the kind of behavior and mentality MV owners are trying to stay away from. It puts the entire hobby at risk. It also is totally inconsistent with the spirit of this site.

Geez.... give me a break... He was being critical there is no doubt about it. Since when does putting ruts into mud put the entire hobby at risk? A little over exaggerated and dramatic are we? Could you not pick up that sarcasm in my prior post? Do you really think i'm going to go tear up a field just to spite this guy? I was making a sarcastic point to that hippie. Geez.....

The guy was being passive-aggressive... just because he puts " I recommend " in the front of his statement doesn't mean he is being helpful and non critical.
 
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