It took me a while, but I'm about to finish scratchbuilding the new bed with fuel cell and fuel pumping system for my M35.

Please note : pieces of the M35 (exhaust pipe, fuel tank, mirrors...) are missing. I put them aside to fix before redoing the whole paint work.


I'd be interested in two aspects :

- Would this be a realistic vehicle (2 1/2 ton truck wint ONE fuel cell as was suggested in the Armor forum) ?
- How about the scratchbuilding quality of furl cell and pump ?







Jan

Jan,
I BOW DOWN TO THE SCRATCH BUILDING MASTER!!!!!!!!!!
To tell you the truth Jan, in my 11 years of being in the military, both active and Guard, I have never seen a truck with only one fuel cell, always two pods. I have seen one cell on a trailer pulled by a truck. I pretty sure Rob will answer this for you.

Pete,
I was inspired by the Ranger 74's reply to the 600 Gal Fuel Container post by Matt: " General Failure.

A M35 2-1/2 cannot carry two of the fuel pods, it takes a 5-ton. 1000 gallons (1200 if pods are 600 gallons) of fuel and pods weigh over 8000/9600 U.S. pounds (4-5 tons in a 2-1/2 ton truck) One pod with pump unit will max out the cross-country capability of the M35. I have seen duece-and-a-halves with a single pod and pump unit. Hope I didn't screw the pooch for you."

and further :

"I have seen the single pods mounted toward front of 2-1/2 ton bed and then pump towards tailgate so crew can get to controls. Use lumber (4"x4" and 2"x4") for blocking and bracing to keep outfit from sliding around in bed."



My own close encounters with fuel cell trucks have been rare and brief, so I have to rely on you guys' eperience. Sadly, I have no pics of M35's to support the "one-cell- thesis...".

Please advise

Have to agree only 2 pods is I ever saw in 8 years. Great job Jan on the pump,now in the civilian world yes one pod as I have worked on running plumbing and boxes for mounting of reels and meters. (:-)

GF - You are a real Glutton for Punishment! Looks great I remember that some TPUs (tank & pump units) had either a nozzle cap on a light chain. The chain attached to the hand grip of the nozzle. I also cannot recognize the reel for the grounding wire. Have you added it. You never pump fuel without grounding the tanker and the recepient. My tankers carried 6-8 foot grounding rods with a grounding strap to attach to pump frame when rod were driven into ground. The rods laid in the bed of truck.

Looks great. What did you use for the fuel hoses?

Jeff

Forgot. We used timbers for blocking and bracing. The timbers went between the base of the tank(s) and walls of teh bed to keep the load from shifting. We usually had nailed together 2"x4" or 4"x4" boards (whatever that is in European format?).

Jeff

Is anyone else having trouble with viewing MSN pics right now? Even when I go onto the MSN site, when I click on a picture all that comes up is a red x......

Nic

Yea Nic, something´s down in MSN...

Toni

I know... rules of the game say I cannot enter a finished model in this forum You have a keen eye : nozzle caps and ground wire are not installed yet. Neither is the meter. Those are "details" I will add after I'm sure the pump and cell are in the correct location. Are they ? Once I'm sure about the basics, I will add the rest of the fuel hoses Would you know how they connect at the fuel cell ? In the bottom, at the side (which side), at the top... ?. Thanks to Peter (Epi) I have several excellent pictures to work with, bu the fuel hoses connections to the cells are not there..
When all is done, I'll add the straps that secure the pump and the cell to the truck bed, and plent of smaller detail stuff. I'm still wondering about construction/painting sequence. I think I'll paint the truck bed, cell and pump separately BEFORE installation. If I complete the whole thing, I think some spots will be hard to reach with the Aztek...



That is electric wire - thick version - that is used in construction (the yellow/green is to ground). I removed the copper core, and used the plastic tubing to make the hoses. The hose reels are scratchbuilt from plasticard. One is the original (white plasticard), the rest are resin copies.
Jeff, can you confirm that the one-cell combination on an M35A2 is correct ?

Thanks

Jeff, can you confirm that the one-cell combination on an M35A2 is correct ?

Only in the Civilian world Jan and not on a military truck my bud use to drive one a fuel truck two pods sorry I bet Rob would be the Man for the final answer on this.
(:-)

Hey Jan,
Nice job! In Canada we use the same pod and pump set up although our truck is different. We only ever mounted a single pod on our trucks, but always seemed to use up the remaining space with gas cans as we still have a few vehicles that run on it.
Again awsome job!!!! Cant wait to see it when its finished.

Pete & Jeff, the two pod set up you recall seeing is on the back of either the 800 or 900 series 5 tons. Deuces only carried one pod, these were usually found on airfields to support the power generation equipment or other places where there wasn't a tremendous drain on fuel quantity. Most carried only MOGAS (motor gasoline aka unleaded gas).

As Sabot states the one pod rig is used. I will have to check a trailer mounted pod at work. I believe the hoses hook at a nozzle at the end of the tank, at the bottom. This allowa gravity feed and draining as required. Let me check at work.

Jeff

Never seen one Guys guess I never got close enough to airfield only PCS's or TDY's (:-) Yes Rob got it on 5 Ton

Thanks for that info ! That's a big relief. I'll try to finish it all in the coming weeks. Meanwhile I have a lot of work for the office, and my eye is still very sour after the infection. Because of the medication, I hardly see a thing with the right eye. I look forward to finishing the truck.

I'll show it in an airfield setting. Would that mean it neads USAF plates or not necessarily ? Would the MERDC paint scheme be correct ?

Put in on an Army airfield. We don't need no stinkin' Air Force fields with their big expensive custom built fuel trucks "GO ARMY"

Jeff,
What does "army airfield" mean in real terms ? Helicopters or also fixed-wing aircraft ?
Jan

GF - Sorry about that. Must have been all that leaving on aif force bases as a kid #:-) Army airfields can very. When I was assigned to Downs Barracks, in Fulda, West Germany, the airfield was mainly grass with concrete hard stands for the helicopters. There are more sophiticated AAFs. They will have helicopters and some fixed wings, primarily U-21 & C-12 types, even some air force depending on size. Ft. Benning & Ft. Campbell AAF can both handle any military and civlian aircraft in the inventory. Hope that helps. Maybe some concrete with helipad markings and grass around the edge?

Just checked one of the fuel pods out in the motorpool and the nozzle is under one end. There is a small "cutout" under one end, centered on the bottom. The curout is 6-8" wide and about 4" hide and a 12"deep (sorry no metrics). A 3" elbow comes out of bottom side of cut out and nozzle just protrudes past front of tank. The pipe is setup for the quick disconnects you see on the fuel lines (two metal straps with pull rings). I can try to get a photo once the weather clears.

Jeff

Army airfield normally means rotary wing (helicopters) aircraft. Did that for 10 years.
HTH

An Army Airfield can normally handle many types of aircraft. The Robert Gray Army Airfield (RGAAF) at West Ft. Hood can handle 747s, C-5s and the like. There was a Mohawk unit stationed there until the mid 90s. Most AAFs at major Army installations have additional facilities to handle paratroopers and the various airfield equipment they require. The airfield where I work has a main runway of only 1 mile in length. Location of Rob's Motorpool/airfield

We definitely live in a new world when the USGS and the military allow satellite photos to be taken of military bases.

Nifty though.

Jim

Here's a page that might be interesting FM 10-67-1

This manuel might be of help if you can fine it

TM 9-2320-209-34P. Direct Support and General Support Maintenance Repair Parts and Special Tools List (Including Depot Maintenance Repair Parts and Special Tools) for 2 ½-ton, 6X6 truck (Reprinted W/Basic Incl C1-2). 1 Dec 76.

The -10 might be better.