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Permalink Reply by firechief911 on August 18, 2008 at 10:58pm

we have 2 both i painted red added inverters for radios and lights
one 3000 gal tanker with alumin tank dump valve drop tank
one 1200 gallon we use as a brush truck has a pump on it ill try to get some pics up

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Permalink Reply by Wes Anders on August 18, 2008 at 11:35pm

thanks for the reply lookin forward to the pics honestly I am wanting to learn something new or come up with some better ideas. We have two that we run the radio and lights off one battery but they burn batteries up, this last truck we built we put an inverter on it, the only thing on the inverter right now is the radio and a couple of flood lights. havent put a light bar or anything else on it yet.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Cloutier on August 20, 2008 at 8:43am

We've got an old deuce and a half 6x6 were using. We put two tanks on it and its used for forrestry.

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Permalink Reply by firechief911 on August 21, 2008 at 6:27am

we dont go through the woods just fields mostly. and raod sides, right of ways,. power lines and gas and such

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Permalink Reply by Wes Anders on August 21, 2008 at 7:24am

It has its advantages and disadvantage. Riding on the front give the firefighters a much better view and they can see sink holes and washes etc.. much better then the driver but they are hung out there on the front. I dont thing any truck manufactures have built trucks like ours in years. We built our trucks in house.

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Permalink Reply by Wes Anders on August 21, 2008 at 10:06pm

Well there not equipped with hardly anything they are just pumps tanks and water there not over weight but you couldnt add much else to them for sure. The front cages are normal for wildland fires in this area all department have used them for ever but a lot of newer equipment is not built like this anymore. There are good and bad about riding on front I mentioned some earlier.

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Permalink Reply by Irons38 on August 21, 2008 at 10:12pm

I know Fishers Island Fire Dept. in NY uses a 6 wheel old army truck. They have 2000 feet of 4 inch LDH on a reel and a large diesel water pump on the deck of the old truck as well. Mostly used for driving across the beaches to supply water to fire scenes. The truck will climb over anything.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Buck on August 21, 2008 at 10:44pm

we have 3 military trucks we use two are jeeps that are all time 4 wheel drive that we modified for brush trucks and we just got a 86 chevy 3/4 ton that we are working on t turn into a brush truck

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Permalink Reply by Bill Muehsam on August 23, 2008 at 2:29pm

Our department recently replaced an old M35 series 2 1/2 ton truck with a "newer" version. The M35A3 ESP is basically the "same old duece" but with some "upgrades". The ESP variant has a Cat Diesel, auto trans, power assisted steering and a central tire inflation system (CTIS). With the addiiton of the CTIS, all axles are single tire, no more dual rears. It has a slightly higher center of gravity, but other than that, it's a great rig. We equipped it as follows: 400 gallon UPF tank with a Hale 225 gpm pump driven by a Honda 23 bhp engine. 2-200' pre-connected wildland attack lines (off the rear) and 2-225' hose reels located on the bed, just behind each cab door. We bought three "P/U style truck boxes". Two are 8' long, side mount style with three compartments each. These are mounted along the length of each side of the bed forming hose trays underneath. The other box is a conventional style that opens from the top. It is mounted directly behind the cab and contains the chainsaw, fuel, oil, etc. All lighting is flush mounted LED so that nothing gets knocked off during "off road" fire attack.

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Permalink Reply by firechief911 on August 23, 2008 at 2:56pm

you know you can run leds on the inverter and some you can run on the 24 v

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Permalink Reply by firechief911 on August 23, 2008 at 2:57pm

sounds like a great truck keep up the good work

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Permalink Reply by PFC Harmon on August 23, 2008 at 4:27pm

My old dept had a duece and a half that we used for forest fires and as a tanker. I did not like it the truck came with the tank already on it. The truck was to heavy and not easy to control. We had red lights on it for scene safety but no siren. Our sops was that this truck was not to run emergency. I'm sure if they set up right with the right mods they are great trucks but I dont like them.

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