Great War truck

Yes, i would agree. It certainly appears to be an FWD. Strange how this one landed upside down, or is it stranger that all the other ones landed on their wheels? There is not a lot to go on in the photos, the easiest part being the disc wheels - but Nash Quads used those as well. The give away is the axles which are quite unique to the Model B. Here is the back axle of one now in Canada: and the front axle of the same lorry: They compare quite nicely with your photographs. Also the gearbox/transmission is just visible in the centre of the truck. As for the engine, where did that go? Taken out before dumping or is it squashed into the sand? Thanks for posting these. Tim (too)

Looking good!

I see that South Korea is to sell of its war reserve of 86,000 Garands and 22,000 Carbines back to the USA.I wonder how many of these will come back to the UK as de-acs. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8271041.stm Now i wonder what tanks they have left in stock. Tim (too)

Thanks for that. Always useful to know who can do these sort of jobs. Tony has now made the oil scoop and the locking nut. Proper job! We have the correct bearings (thanks Chris) so we just need to arrange a day when all of us can get down to Devon to put the thing back together. It is going to be a busy day. Then what is it next chaps? Water pump or torque tube? Tim (too)

I wonder whether those vehicles belong to someones private collection. it is a strange group indeed. Modern stuff and I think that is a White halftrack (slightly dissasembled) as well as a civilian Jeep. What are the other things though? Surely not left behind by the army? I bet the owner is going to be suprised coming back to find his stuff which he had thought safely locked away has all been played about with. At least it is out of the weather i suppose. Tim (too)

I drove one of those a few weeks ago. Hadn't wanted one previously, but after driving it i do now. Great fun. Maintenance issues are a bit of an offput though. Good luck Tim (too)

That particular one is an FWD Model B. I have seen two different types of these mechanisms but all post war. FWD were offering it as a retro fit to reconditioned ones. I have seen a brochure for them, but i dont think i bought it. Wish i had now. As Degsy said most British tippers were hand cranked (even up to the 40's), so although this looks a bit primitive it is in fact quite advanced. The tipper on our Autocar is powered off the gearbox. Very innovitive for its day and very fast. Tim (too)

Yes, this is my favourite thread ever by far. I am wondering what else will be down there. You get the impression that this could be the largest group of WW1 vehicles in the world. A tragedy that they are all under water and rotten. But as far as WW1 vehicles go, what an amazing collection. What will turn up next? Tim (too)

Yes, it must be something like that. Old Bill will know. He probably wont post until tomorrow as he has been out firing a Sentinel steam wagon all weekend and will be shattered - and dirty. I have a photo of a surviving Nash Quad with the same mechanism, but have not been able to lay my hands on it. I will keep looking.

Can you imagine... "and his specialised subject is submerged WW1 military vehicles around Hawaii". No, it wouldnt work, unless they let me bring a laptop and a book case with me. Tim (too)

Thanks for posting those. Definitely ex military. It has the US ordnance plate on the fire wall and an army tow hitch. Makes a great restoration project. Tim (too)

Identifying the truck type appears to be challenging due to the lack of very much of it surviving and also the angle of the photograph. However, knowing that it is a dump truck, it almost certainly belonged to the US Corps of Engineers. Now the preferred vehicles of the engineers was the Mack AC Bulldog, so that seems a good place as any to start. Looking at your photos, the most obvious thing is the curved and and narrow fire wall, which automatically makes me think of Mack AC bulldog. A bit like this one: With the coal scuttle type front end, the radiator behind the engine, the firewall is just slightly bigger than the radiator. Many thousands of these were used by the US Army and quite a number of them survive today.

This is what i think you have: or at least something very similar. I believe that these dump body's were made by the Heil Co and were fitted to trucks of all different sorts. The photo is fairly self explanatory, but the oil pump for the hydraulic cylinder is driven from the transmission. The two pulleys that you can see have cables running over them which connect to either side of the dumper body, but i cant see where the other end of the cable connects. As the hydraulic hoist is extended the cables raise the body up to an angle of 40 degrees. Degsy and Old Bill, you both probably know more about hydraulics than me so i am sure you can add more to it than what i have done. Thoughts please? Tim (too)

Degsy, you beat me to it and yes you are quite right. The sticking up bit is indeed part of the tipping gear. Hang on, i will go through my photos. There is a surviving Nash Quad which still has that gear. I think it was made by Heil Co (who still trade today) and has two pulleys on the top with lots of cable going round it. I need the photos. Will get back on this tomorrow. Tim (too)

Yes, all that is true. But every now and again something happens which reaffirms my youth. A bloke knocked on my front door the other day (apparently trying to sell something). When i opened the door he said "Is your Mum or Dad in?". "No mate" i replied "but thanks for asking". Tim (too)

On looking at it, the first thing that is apparent is the rad - which looked a bit Peerless like. However, it was slightly the wrong shape so i discounted that. It also has a massive metal bumper which is strange for a WW1 truck. What confuses the issue further is what appears to be a cab which you said is a fire wall. I could not think of any WW1 truck that has a firewall like that, and so high above the rad, making it look very odd indeed. So, turning to context, you have been showing photos of WW1 trucks, yet this is located in a WW2 dumping ground, so lets consider WW2 trucks. Then suddenly the penny dropped and it became obvious. It is actually a lot smaller than i first thought. Not a three ton truck at all, but a 1/2 tonner. A Dodge in fact. Probably a T207 a bit like this: The softop cab and the windscreen are long gone. The hood has rotted away and grill dropped off showing the radiator, but the scuttle remains and there is quite a distance in hight between the two. The heavy front bumper remains and you can make out the gap between the two. So i would say that this was made in 1941 and was one of 31,935 made - although that includes other body types. I am no expert on these modern (WW2) vehicles though, but we have plenty of Dodge experts on the forum and i am sure they will have something to say. Tim (too)

It is. Built by Charlie Mann. Looks very sad now.

Well, what another fabulous photograph. At first glance i thought it looked a bit like a Peerless, but then realised that (despite my dearest hope that you had in fact found one) it couldnt be. I then gave it some more thought and then everything came together. You said: but i think i can do more than that. I just need to look through some photographs and will post again in a little bit. Tim (too)

Oh yes, thats right about the bus. I thought there were two tenders. I will have to watch the film again now (well maybe tomorrow).

Yes, some very good points there. I am thinking particularly of the WW1 vehicles at Duxford. They have loveley restored exampled of FWD, Thornycroft and Fiat yet they never move. Is that because there is no interest with the volunteers or are they considered to be too precious to ever move again? Sad really when all that work has gone into making them run, that they dont. If we were to ever lend a vehicle to a museum (as a friend does to free up space in his shed for something else) I would not be happy with anybody we didnt know doing anything to it (especially driving). But when Steve and I are dead and gone I cant imagine my girls showing much enthusiasm to take them out (i am working on this though) what happens to the trucks then? Sold to a private collector who might lock it away from all eyes (like many other WW1 trucks in the UK), or to someone else who might stuff the engine through racing it (which has happened to two WW1 trucks i can think of in recent years), or to a museum who will keep it safe but never run it? I think interviewing potential buyers would be the only option to see that they are qualified enough to keep it. Tim (too)

Here is the old alongside the new. It fits very well. Tony is just left to make the oil pick up and the locking screw. We will soon be ready for reassembly. Nice job.

Have you seen the Michael Collins film. They dug out two Crossley Tenders from an Irish museum and used a real Peerless with a replica armoured car body on it. The football game was a bit of a blood bath but the Peerless did look nice. Tim (too)

Here is a theoretical question. Assume that you have an incredibly rare or unusual vehicle which has been fully restored and returned to running condition. A museum then looks to purchase that vehicle. However, once purchased the vehicle will go into a nice climate controlled hall and will be a star attraction. The down side is that the vehicle will never turn a wheel ever again and will remain forever static. Would you resist selling the vehicle to the museum. Discuss Tim (too)

The finished coupling and the bit cut out of the insides. Quite amazing. Tim (too)

Hi Steve What another fabulous photo. It is hard to say for certain as most of the distinctive parts that could positively identify it are covered in marine growth but it does indeed appear to be a Liberty B. Here is a lubrication chart of the Liberty which shows the bare chassis and should make a good comparisson. It is a pity that the top of the radiator is not visible as that would identify it for certain, but the metal wheels are late to post war and the shape and number of spokes matches fine. A pity the rear hubs are indistinguishable as that would help show what it was. It is amazing that the front mudguards have lasted so well. You would think that these would be the first bits to go. The first contract for Liberty B's (8,000 of them) commenced on 25th May 1918, with 9,452 finished by the wars end. Due to the demand for trucks in Europe taking precedent it would be likely that this one was delivered after the end of the war which would explain the metal wheels. Also at this time as the US Army was trying to standardise truck design, similar sized general service trucks (like Packard and Pierce Arrow) were being phased out of service. Therefore just on the basis of what trucks were available for transfer to Hawaii it is almost certainly a Liberty. I hope this helps Tim (too)