That's awesome. See even the Mil. needs yard jockeys. The little trucks that DO! Only used the civvy version, briefly. If ya go get it, can ya grab me the pumper in the background of pic. 3 ?
Super simple lil machines. Back in, throw the pin lock, throw the air to 'er, lift the fifth wheel so landing gear clears the ground and drive away. Door on the rear of the cab to get out and hook up air and electric. We never even bothered to hook up the light plug, just the air gladhands (to release the trailer brakes). We were on private property and only moving for short distances. IF we hadda go on public land all codes hadda be complied with. As said, ZERO rear suspension, like a hard tail Harley. Had a SUPER air ride seat though. Maybe that's my next H-D invention, an air ride seat for rigids.
I was always a soft tail wuss hahahahaha I like my kidneys.
I've never seen the military version of this truck before, some commercial truckers call them Yard Goats. The local scrap dealer in town purchased this M878A1 from the Hawthorne Munitions Depot auction back in April 2017. There was only one post on this truck in the SS archives, and it referred to a truck sold on GL a few years back. I did find TM-9-2320-285-10 which was good for info on this truck. The ARMY refers to the M878A1 as a truck, tractor, yard type and was manufactured by Ottawa as the Commando Model 50. The truck is powered by a Detroit Diesel 6V53T (225HP), with an MT653 Allison Transmission. Question, have any members here on SS ever driven, or worked on these trucks. I couldn't find out how many were ordered, or still in military service, it also appears to be an ARMY only vehicle. This appears to be a rare truck, as there is so little info on it in SS, or the internet. I have a little back yard space left, and if this truck is worth saving, I would like to do so before the scrapper torches it. The truck looks complete minus some small items, but it does not look as if the truck is in running condition.
