From: Mark J. Blair, NF6X (nf6x@nf6x.net)
Date: Mon Jul 04 2005 - 11:40:47 PDT
This may be a dumb question, but at least it's directly related to the
private ownership of surplus military vehicles. ;-)
I have an M543A2 5-ton wrecker, which I use almost exclusively as a yard
crane. I've only used it to drag a dead deuce off-road a couple of
times. I think that a similarly-sized military rough-terrain crane would
match my lifting needs better, since I don't really need the towing
capability. The things that I don't like so much about my wrecker for my
non-towing use are:
1. The crane is not controlled from the cab, resulting in lots of
climbing around to operate the crane and reposition the truck.
2. Stowing the crane for transit or unstowing it for non-towing crane
use is a PITA. Lots of climbing around is needed to get the boom
supports lined up properly without a helper.
3. The non-hydraulic outriggers are a PITA to use.
Those things wouldn't be a big deal if I needed the towing capability,
too, but a small to medium rough-terrain crane which is fully operated
from the cab and has hydraulic outriggers would be a better match for my
needs. Being over-width wouldn't be a big deal, since I'd only use it on
my 5 acre property.
A friend of mine has a mil surplus Hanson H446A 5-ton RT crane. It looks
like an ideal match for my needs. It's over-width and slow, but it
appears to have comparable lifting height/radius/capacity to my wrecker,
and it's fully controlled from the cab. I'd sure hate to have to pay for
a new set of it's bignormous earth-mover tires, though!
So, at long last, here's the question: Is there anybody out there
(particularly near southern California) who has a mil surplus
rough-terrain crane, but who would rather have a 5-ton wrecker for it's
towing capability, and who might be interested in a straight swap?
Yeah, it's a long-shot, but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask.
-- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x@nf6x.net> Web page: http://www.nf6x.net/ GnuPG public key available from my web page.
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