M43 Find, right under my nose

[robin craig]

I was out and about yesterday, locally, so local it isn't funny.

 

Came round a corner and was confronted by this.

 

I have lived around here for 10 plus years and have, as everyone else has, passed by within a 100 feet of this that has been lurking just out of sight.

 

I have a reputation for being an MV kind of chap, but somehow no one told me this was around.

 

It kind of reminds me of Sean Hindle's Carrier find in a hedgerow a while ago.

 

If I tell you that the distance from my house to this, as the crow flies is counted in metres not kilometres does that give you an idea as to how close?

 

I know to whom it belongs and who owned it before that but this is going to be very hard to acquire as the current owner

 

A is kooky beyond belief

 

B I flicked him the bird (middle finger gesture) a while ago for very good reason

 

C see A

 

I am not really wanting it for myself, she would likely shoot me I fear, buying a tractor the other weekend just after buying a non running 101FC has taken its toll on a certain person's sense of humour considering we have two Ferrets and not even a slab of the garage / workshop built yet.

 

I am for sure going to make every effort to save it as it looks like it is quite complete.

 

This will drag out for a while i'm sure.

 

R

[RattlesnakeBob]

crikey ! what a find !.I know exactly what you mean about how difficult approaching the owner will be ..there's plenty of that type of fella in my neck of the woods and many of them sitting on some good stuff ex military and otherwise...

about the best you can get out of them is

"..You wanna buy my old truck/tractor/Landrover do you????? ...it's an old one that is mind!.......worth a lot of money these days he is mind!....I'm gonna do him up one day !!!"

 

Best of luck ! :cool2:

[robin craig]

Dear Bob,

 

I know exactly that type of owner that you have described, the eternal dreamer and keeper of the rust coloured gold in the tall grass storage.

 

No, that is not this guy, he is what I would call a Hitchcock type of kooky. Lets just say I think it will be a one attempt at getting it from him only.

 

R

[earlymb]

If you have issues with the owner, maybe you can have someone else approach him so he won't know it's actually for you? Just someone you trust & he doesn't know. :cool2:

[robin craig]

Just to update this thread.

 

The vehicle is an M43 as described but should really be called an M43 CDN as it is a Canadian specific model and is different from an American one despite being very similar.

 

Anyhow, back to the story at hand.

 

After posting about this vehicle on Maple Leaf Up it became apparent that the current owner was a lurker on there. He then posted the vehicle for sale on a local auction site that we use. A number of us locally approached the owner and engaged with him and eventually we all bowed out to leave our friend Rob and his dad who have an M37 as the lone interested party.

 

The two of them came a few weeks ago to the island where I live and had a look at it and from their inspection negotiated a price they could live with.

 

A plan was hatched for the recovery that naturally involved me.

 

R

Edited February 10, 2014 by robin craig

[robin craig]

Yesterday I plowed out the snow and made a road to the ambulance. It is a function of the properties of snow at these temperatures that if worked and compacted and allowed to freeze over night will become concrete like by the next day. It makes working in winter wonderful.

 

Our plan was to take in a pick up truck loaded with tools and jack the vehicle up before towing it out. The tyres had sunk into the soft autumn ground and had now become frozen in. My mate Rob brought a good trolley jack and one by one lifted each corner and we threw wood under the tyre and let it back down.

 

The path into the bush was a bit tight going past a dirt pile and a big wooden crate both of which were frozen tight.

 

Once out of the ground we used the venerable farm tractor and suspended the rear of the ambulance from the loader bucket and threaded it out of the undergrowth.

 

R

Edited February 10, 2014 by robin craig

[robin craig]

There then followed a musical interlude as Rob rode the running board on the drivers side and steered and I backed the tractor the 400 yards out through the field towing the ambulance from the rear tow hook and around to the end of my driveway to be left for the tilt and load tow truck on Monday.

 

Once we got back to my driveway Rob cleared the roof of snow and took the loose bonnet off and stowed them inside and secured the rear doors and drivers door to be safe down the road.

 

It all went very smoothly and with absolutely no drama and no damage to the vehicle or our tractor. the best thing is the mosquitos were not biting today as it was minus 17 degrees C!

 

I am not an M series vehicle kind of guy but it was good to see the vehicle saved and going to a good home. It will take a while before Rob decides whether it comes apart as a spares source of gets restored, once all the junk is taken out then a more thorough survey will be done.

 

R

[cosrec]

well chuffed for you are you restoring as concern or as a group looks like a nice project

[robin craig]

Dear Cosrec,

 

Rob and his Dad will do something with it, its beyond my sphere of interest by a long chalk.

 

They have a thing for the M series trucks I will never have.

 

R

[andym]

Nice one Robin!

 

Andy

[ferrettkitt]

Nice one

[lssah2025]

Nice find, diamond in the rough..