"Seasonal Road" - What exactly does it mean?

[kanhawk]

Originally Posted by Badfish740

Good point. I guess in a sense these are things that anyone must think about the farther away they want to be from "civilization." Part of the reason that Maine is so appealing to me is the culture of self reliance, but relying on oneself can only go so far in a medical emergency, etc... However, I am assuming that there are folks who live in Maine who deal with these risks and realities every day.



Also a good point.

This may sound crazy, but its something I've been thinking about. My BIL is a military vehicle enthusiast and has bought and sold a few 6x6 2.5/5 ton trucks like this one:



He mostly does shows, but he'll occasionally take the truck off road with a group out in Central PA. There just aren't enough trails for a truck like that in New Jersey. Regardless, unless you do something incredibly stupid, the things are relatively unstoppable. My thinking is this-if I were to find a camp where access was dicey during the winter/mud season, I could find a landowner/farmer/trucking company somewhere along the route near where the paved road ends, and rent some space to keep a 2.5 ton truck. That way if I headed up from home to find deep snow or bad washouts, I could simply leave my vehicle at the storage facility, hop into the 2.5 ton, and make my way to camp. I was planning on buying one anyway because obviously there are plenty of places to have fun with these trucks in Maine Thoughts? I've driven these trucks, off road and on, and I know they are loud as hell, uncomfortable, ride the axles are bolted to the frame, so I know the downsides, but if it's only 25-30 miles to get to camp, that's plenty tolerable.

I bet the tires on that thing would set you back a pretty penny.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by Badfish740

Good point. I guess in a sense these are things that anyone must think about the farther away they want to be from "civilization." Part of the reason that Maine is so appealing to me is the culture of self reliance, but relying on oneself can only go so far in a medical emergency, etc... However, I am assuming that there are folks who live in Maine who deal with these risks and realities every day.



Also a good point.

This may sound crazy, but its something I've been thinking about. My BIL is a military vehicle enthusiast and has bought and sold a few 6x6 2.5/5 ton trucks like this one:




He mostly does shows, but he'll occasionally take the truck off road with a group out in Central PA. There just aren't enough trails for a truck like that in New Jersey. Regardless, unless you do something incredibly stupid, the things are relatively unstoppable. My thinking is this-if I were to find a camp where access was dicey during the winter/mud season, I could find a landowner/farmer/trucking company somewhere along the route near where the paved road ends, and rent some space to keep a 2.5 ton truck. That way if I headed up from home to find deep snow or bad washouts, I could simply leave my vehicle at the storage facility, hop into the 2.5 ton, and make my way to camp. I was planning on buying one anyway because obviously there are plenty of places to have fun with these trucks in Maine Thoughts? I've driven these trucks, off road and on, and I know they are loud as hell, uncomfortable, ride the axles are bolted to the frame, so I know the downsides, but if it's only 25-30 miles to get to camp, that's plenty tolerable.

absolutely! looks like a rugged truck,,,

the truck looks like many of the national guard trucks up at camp keyes in augusta



and camp owners make do- if they have to put logs/dirt/gravel down to use a road...
although their is a few weeks in mud-season even a tank will sink and get stuck, in some places,,,but it does depend on the compaction, and lay of the land ,,clay/gravel/sand/ run-off high ground-low ground, swampy, dry land , makeshift bridges,
flooding? ice melt run off?

[Badfish740]

Originally Posted by kanhawk

I bet the tires on that thing would set you back a pretty penny.

Those are 53" Michelins. They can be had for about $4K a set at a swap meet/show, although it's usually cheaper to find a truck where someone has either already done the swap (older trucks had dual 48" tires on the rear axles) or a newer truck that came with singles originally. They last forever unless you put a lot of highway miles on them, which I wouldn't. The most highway driving the truck would see would be from just outside of Ft. Dix here in Jersey (there's a major broker there) to Maine, where it would stay for the rest of its life.

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

the truck looks like many of the national guard trucks up at camp keyes in augusta

It's your standard M35 series truck used by all branches of the armed forces in various capacities. 6 wheel drive, ability to haul 2.5 tons off road/5 tons on road, and generally go anywhere within reason. They can typically be found with PTO winches as well, which would certainly come in handy. An M35 in good condition with a PTO winch and 53" super singles can be had for about $10K these days.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Our fire department has an old "deuce and a half". It's a tanker and It'll haul a LOT of water. Some of he old ones had the "codag" engine which was "combined Diesel and gas". they would run on anything. They run best on Diesel though. Most are 24 volts, but you can invert the whole thing to 12 volts except for the starter. To start you switch that circuit only to 24 volts. The turbo sounds cool.

[Badfish740]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Our fire department has an old "deuce and a half". It's a tanker and It'll haul a LOT of water. Some of he old ones had the "codag" engine which was "combined Diesel and gas". they would run on anything. They run best on Diesel though.

Up until the 1980s all trucks were multifuel and will actually run reasonably well on a wide variety of petroleum and plant based oils in addition to diesel. They can run on gasoline, but only if some type of lubricant is added (something like a gallon of oil per 10 gallons of gasoline, etc...) in order to keep the injector pump from seizing up. In any event, I guess my idea is not so crazy after all

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by Badfish740

Those are 53" Michelins. They can be had for about $4K a set at a swap meet/show, although it's usually cheaper to find a truck where someone has either already done the swap (older trucks had dual 48" tires on the rear axles) or a newer truck that came with singles originally. They last forever unless you put a lot of highway miles on them, which I wouldn't. The most highway driving the truck would see would be from just outside of Ft. Dix here in Jersey (there's a major broker there) to Maine, where it would stay for the rest of its life.



It's your standard M35 series truck used by all branches of the armed forces in various capacities. 6 wheel drive, ability to haul 2.5 tons off road/5 tons on road, and generally go anywhere within reason. They can typically be found with PTO winches as well, which would certainly come in handy. An M35 in good condition with a PTO winch and 53" super singles can be had for about $10K these days.

Your picture doesn't look like an M-35. It looks more like a M-923 'bigfoot'.

[Badfish740]

Originally Posted by AustinB

Your picture doesn't look like an M-35. It looks more like a M-923 'bigfoot'.

Yeah, on second thought, I think it's actually an M939. Regardless, it's got the same basic capabilities of the much cheaper and available M35, at least when fitted with the same tires. I do hear lots of complaints about the automatic transmissions and the central tire inflation systems on the newer trucks.