Tarp cleaning and stave length

[SCSG-G4]

I had Stephan Wood Products make longer fiberglass staves so I could put an old cargo parachute up and over an S-280 shelter on the back of my M-36. Told them the length I wanted and the quantity. Package arrived in two weeks. YMMV and no I don't remember the cost - it was 10 years ago.

 

[msgjd]

Digging up an old thread here, but our maintenance section had our parts and tool deuce with extra tall bows. We had parts and tool cabinets in it, and the rear end was actually framed in with 2x4's and plywood, with a steel door like you'd have for a house framed in. There was steel mesh on the sides so no one could take anything out. On hot days you could roll up the canvas on the sides for ventilation. ...
I'm thinking some units made these mods to have a cheap version of the shelter box. Good for meetings, planning, commo, etc, or even just more cargo capability.

HQ Company Maint section as well as BN Maint in my Armor BN each had a M35A1 with high (hardwood) bows , high enough to stand under.. . They had OD-painted plywood on all 4 sides underneath the canvas and a makeshift door in the back, had to drop the tailgate to open the door .. I never looked to see if the canvas had been extended , or whether it was obtained pre-sewn that way.. The two trucks had extended end tarps as well .. Somewhere i have a pic of one of them without the top, but with the bows and the front end tarp in-place

 

[msgjd]

Here's the pics, circa 1977 or '78

Company Maint M35A1 "skinny stack" .. Elongated end tarp appears to be one piece all the way down .. I don't recall if this was a custom-sewn item, or COEI / Bii ... Truck had been recently repainted and in process of having its tall setup reinstalled




Below: From the Right, the 2nd and 3rd trucks in from the right were M35A1 "skinnie's" (stack) ..They have painted plywood end panels (w/door cut into back panel) , and plywood side panels were under the canvas .. On these two trucks I don't think the canvas went all the way down the side to where it normally would, IIRC.. Both were BN (battalion) maint's tool & parts trucks .. The M109A1 next in line was BN maint's basic machine shop .. You can see the tops of the previous 2 trucks are just as high, if not a hair higher than the M109A1.. The M54A1 next in line was BN S-4's roadrunner..

I don't know who belonged to the little M37

 

[John S-B]

But then you have to lift the whole thing out if you want the short staves back in again... depends on if you want one size or the other permanently.

So I came up with a way to deal with this issue. I planed some oak pieces down to 2 1/2x 7/8x16" (one I planed down to 3/4" thick because one of the pockets was dented in and narrower). Then I put a pan head screw in the center of one end. Before cutting them down to 16" long, I put the piece of wood in the pockets to make sure they wouldn't bind at all. Now if I want to raise the bows up for a parade or have more room, I just put these pieces in, and when I need to take them out, I just use a parts retriever with a magnet on the end and they'll come right out. I also gave them a good coating of Thompson's water seal so they don't swell up. I don't plan on leaving them in there long term at anytime. You could probably do this with fiberglass staves, but you'll have to attach a piece of steel to the end somehow.