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US Army Engineers in Europe
Information on our 1973 5-ton dump truck initially assigned to the 368th Engineers Battalion
Until now, we were able to find the following information on the truck:
- Organization/unit it was assigned to : 368th Engineer Battalion
- Headquarters: Londonderry, New Hampshire
- Nomenclature: TRUCK DUMP 5-TON
- Model: M51A2 W/W
- Registration Number: 5D7896
- Year of Manifacturing: 1973
- Manufacturer: Kaiser Jeep Corporation (now AMG)
- Last information on paper: May 1986
Probably, the truck was moved to Europe in 1986, maybe as part of operation Reforger - 86 or to stock up the Dutch POMCUS-set 6 depots.
According the previous owner, it was stored or ultimately ended up in the previous POMCUS-set 6 site in Ter APel, the Netherlands. It was sold as surplus anywhere between 1995 and 2000. At that time, the truck had about 100 miles and 100 working hours on its counters. Since 2000, the truck has been used as a dump garbage truck on a private camping place in the Netherlands.
In 2010, the truck was bought by Society-founder Robert Dulfer to be used as active and functional museum object. At that time, the truck had around 3200 miles on the counter, and the engine around 500 working hours. Since September 2010, the truck is being repaired slowely. The main problems were the brake and steering system Some of the mechanical features (lighting, trailer hook) also did not fit today's European legal requirements and had to be addapted. In addition, the truck is made also into a multi-functional vehicle that can be used both as dump truck or as trailer-tractor. Description on how we did this can be found here.
On July 7, 2011, the truck finally got its first-ever registration papers and road certification, including a European Union type approval.
The truck as tractor (left) and in original version as dump truck (right).
Switching from one to the other mode takes about 1 hour.
Description for conversion from dump to tractor can be downloaded hereOn 16 June 2012, thanks to a donation of Michiel Dulfer and with support of Dekker Ttransport, Rijssen, we were finally able to transport the truck to the Czech Republic.
Due to lack of finances and sponsoring the project had to be put on halt. In November 2013, we continued with the restoration. The main priority now is to get the truck street-legal in the Czech Republic. For that, the truck had to be painter as well. The paint unfortunately is not the original color, but is only a stop-gap solution awaiting a complete restoration including the original colors for this truck in this place and period.
More information about the restoration process and some video's can be seen on the restoration page.
We still need funds to complete the restoration of the truck and the other parts of the exhbition.
© Robert Dulfer (2022)
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