South Florida new member looking for insight!

[BarobbinFL]

Hey all,
I’m Brad from down in south west Florida. I work in the logging industry and we currently have 6 m931a2 and I’m looking to add something different.
The woods are a tough place for vehicles and Our service truck are always breaking down.
I have been doing a litte research and I think my best option would be an m109a4 and a trailer to haul behind it. This one in the classifieds would be absolutely perfect but I think it has sold.

NC - 1998 M109A4 Shop Van 3684 miles M105A1 trailer on eBay 7 NOS Michelin XZLs

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175291054069 Here is an original 1998 American General M109A4 Shop Van, M105A1 trailer and a significant ($8K+) package of spares. There are 3,684 miles on the truck, and about 500 miles on the trailer since government rebuild. Weighs 16379 pounds with GCWR of 26,000...

www.steelsoldiers.com

so my question is, does anyone have a line on where I could find one or do you have a better suggestion for a truck? I’m open todifferent trucks but would like something newish that wouldn’t be hard to find parts for.

Thank you for your time!

 

[Mullaney]

Hey all,
I’m Brad from down in south west Florida. I work in the logging industry and we currently have 6 m931a2 and I’m looking to add something different.
The woods are a tough place for vehicles and Our service truck are always breaking down.
I have been doing a litte research and I think my best option would be an m109a4 and a trailer to haul behind it. This one in the classifieds would be absolutely perfect but I think it has sold.

NC - 1998 M109A4 Shop Van 3684 miles M105A1 trailer on eBay 7 NOS Michelin XZLs

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175291054069 Here is an original 1998 American General M109A4 Shop Van, M105A1 trailer and a significant ($8K+) package of spares. There are 3,684 miles on the truck, and about 500 miles on the trailer since government rebuild. Weighs 16379 pounds with GCWR of 26,000...

www.steelsoldiers.com

so my question is, does anyone have a line on where I could find one or do you have a better suggestion for a truck? I’m open todifferent trucks but would like something newish that wouldn’t be hard to find parts for.

Thank you for your time!

.
Well Brad, Welcome to the Outfit!

It really depends on what you need to carry with you when heading out to repair equipment. You also need to consider what you are working on. It is trucks and logging trailers or are you working on forestry machines and equipment?

Having a 5-Ton M931a2 could be just perfect kinda depending on you.
Air Conditioning - No.
Lots of horsepower - No
Cheap spare parts - No
Comfortable ride - No
Winch to extract yourself from the mud - Maybe?

On the other hand, it is 6 wheel drive. You could update it with locking differentials. You could remove that 5th Wheel and add a flat bed to haul tool boxes and parts. You could scrap the spring ride seats and go scrounge around in a truck graveyard and install an air ride seat. That might be nice to comfortably ride home at the end of the day... It would be really nice to have some sort of boom to lift stuff. The spare tire davit would lift several hundred pounds if you have one. These things are powered with a 250 Cummins and an Allison automatic. There are parts available. Maintenance parts like oil and fuel filters are available at NAPA and other places like that. If the six trucks are available to you on the cheap - they could definitely be turned into service trucks...

The Shop Van would be incredibly neat to have - but those are heavy trucks. They are semi-scarce too. There are 5-Ton versions too. Again, heavy and somewhat scarce.

 

[BarobbinFL]

.
Well Brad, Welcome to the Outfit!

It really depends on what you need to carry with you when heading out to repair equipment. You also need to consider what you are working on. It is trucks and logging trailers or are you working on forestry machines and equipment?

Having a 5-Ton M931a2 could be just perfect kinda depending on you.
Air Conditioning - No.
Lots of horsepower - No
Cheap spare parts - No
Comfortable ride - No
Winch to extract yourself from the mud - Maybe?

On the other hand, it is 6 wheel drive. You could update it with locking differentials. You could remove that 5th Wheel and add a flat bed to haul tool boxes and parts. You could scrap the spring ride seats and go scrounge around in a truck graveyard and install an air ride seat. That might be nice to comfortably ride home at the end of the day... It would be really nice to have some sort of boom to lift stuff. The spare tire davit would lift several hundred pounds if you have one. These things are powered with a 250 Cummins and an Allison automatic. There are parts available. Maintenance parts like oil and fuel filters are available at NAPA and other places like that. If the six trucks are available to you on the cheap - they could definitely be turned into service trucks...

The Shop Van would be incredibly neat to have - but those are heavy trucks. They are semi-scarce too. There are 5-Ton versions too. Again, heavy and somewhat scarce.

Well I should say that we have three m931a2 in service hauling out logging trailers and three at the yard for parts trucks.
while they are somewhat anemic at times, they do a well enough job. Hauling 30tons of wood through the swamps and woods can be tough on a vehicle. I would like to update them eventually to perform better. Maybe tune the cummins up a bit, but that’s another topic.
As for now, I think the m109a4 or possibly a lmtv variant would be the best bet for a “work truck”
I would like an enclosed box to keep spare parts out of the elements and to have a nice work bench area. And I would like the trailer to haul the welder/compressor/spare tires. I do have a couple spare tire davits that I have removed off our 931’s so I’ll probably mount one of those on the trailer.

 

[Mullaney]

Well I should say that we have three m931a2 in service hauling out logging trailers and three at the yard for parts trucks.
while they are somewhat anemic at times, they do a well enough job. Hauling 30tons of wood through the swamps and woods can be tough on a vehicle. I would like to update them eventually to perform better. Maybe tune the cummins up a bit, but that’s another topic.
As for now, I think the m109a4 or possibly a lmtv variant would be the best bet for a “work truck”
I would like an enclosed box to keep spare parts out of the elements and to have a nice work bench area. And I would like the trailer to haul the welder/compressor/spare tires. I do have a couple spare tire davits that I have removed off our 931’s so I’ll probably mount one of those on the trailer.

.
The LMTV variant would move you forward 20 years in time. Those trucks are a little more commercial than the M939 Series trucks. Meritor Axles, CAT 3126 Power Plants on the A2 and newer versions. Still - a little anemic, but they will move you along down the road.

It might be cheaper to buy whatever M107X (Single Axle) or M108X ( Dual Axle 6x6) and add a cargo box to it. Maybe?