Greetings to all. The motor pool has grown over the weekend thanks to lots of hard work and help from the SS family here in Texas. We were able to load up and bring home a future M715 project for restoration and parts truck with not too much effort. I really appreciate the volenteers that showed up and made a hand, just shows the quality of people and now friends I have made that are here at Steel Solders. @m715mike, @Barrman, @texas30cal and Texas30calGal and my son Casey all piched in, and a special thanks to @pistolnut for selling me his trucks. All this started at the campsite at the last Brian TX event over a discussion of future plans to upgrade the 305 in the M725 to a 350, that just so happens to be sitting in the project M715. I ran it through the propper channels, which is rationalizing and justifing the purchase with my 5 year old grandson who agreed totally with the idea and tadaaa, we now have more green stuff to work on this summer. SO, plan is to pull the engine, tranny and case out of the M715, clean up and repaint, pull out 305, tranny and case in the M725 and basically swap. The M725 will go through a little more renovation and then get painted and decals installed and be made ready for fall caming and run n guns. The M715 will then be addressed and put back to original as possible and repainted. Somewhere in all this the M35 and M109 will fit in and get repairs made and be made functional. Again, many thanks to eveyone for your help.
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M715 Rabbit Hole
- Thread starter Rhino 5/4
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I'm really lovin that pup peeking out the window!
Sounds to me like you have a little work to do - but since you were able to convince the grandson - and he gets to go on some of these camping trips what more could a body ask for... Sure is nice to have some SS brothers to help too!
I have had the pleasure to get to spend some time with just about that whole crowd and what a great bunch of folks and more than welcome at my houch anytime ! Hopefully yall all get to come back up this way later on this year ! Maybe TEXAS30CAL can bring a whole freezer of that frozen heroin from BRENHAM TX. in all the flavors lol ! I would have it for breakfast lunch and dinner every day ! Hey 5/4 keep your eyes open for me a TX. cj-7 jeep (no rust) with the T 18A granny 4 speed ! Might give me an excuse to slip back down TX way !
All over it
glcaines
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You will like the M715. I spent a lot of hours driving around in a 715 in the Army in Germany in the early 70s. They are a great off-road truck as well.
I'm excited about it. They are cool looking trucks all fitted out. Thanks for your service sir.
msgjd
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a nearby FD had a pair of M715's and one of them they installed a large heavy hose reel for brush service to use in conjunction with their tankers.. To get that M715 to the scene hastily, they put a hiper 350 in it , the idea was to get there faster than the commercial tanker, thus they could assess the situation and be all set up and waiting for water.. The length of the reel-truck hose could reach quite far off-road as it was, thus a tanker sitting at roadside was often enough to do the job or at least get things started with .. Eventually their 1200g deuce tanker (M49C) would come along for additional roadside water, and in the possibility the reel truck and a tanker had to go deeper off-road .. They were happy with the 350 .. The other M715 was kept all-original, firefighters rode in the troops seats, and a dozen or so watertank backpacks were hanging from the sides. .this was the early-mid 80s, they had a good system
Yes it seems as though a lot of those trucks went to FD or forest service. This is a picture of one of the trucks. They hacked it up a good bit so it is now a parts truck. The tub was salvaged for the restoration along with some other parts.
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msgjd
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my local FD received a modified M37 in the 1960s and had it until the early 2000s , I had never seen one like it before, nor ever again . .It appeared to be a mil-spec special bed of M37-styling, with gasoline pump and 400g water tank sitting in it, water backpacks hanging on the sides, hose reel mounted high up front behind the cab . .I have a pic somewhere (i hope)
msgjd
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no idea .. it was old red paint under the red paint , and I never looked at the nomen plate