I am moving my wood from my seasonal stacks from the front of the house in the sun to the north side of my house where my basement access and woodshed is. This is about as close as I can get with equipment to the back of the house unless I want to do some major forestry to build a path for the Unimog to get back there. I just pull up to the wood pile set the bucket next to it and fill it up. Some of the firewood was split large while I was getting caught up so I throw the stuff that needs resplitting on the right side of the bucket and the small stuff on the left. I reset the bucket height before I start unloading it with a wheelbarrow to avoid bending over. The only thing to watch for are the bucket teeth. After the firewood I used the backhoe to finish up some landscaping.
![[Hearth.com] Kind of handy to have a big bucket](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/pa040282-webp.264228/ "[Hearth.com] Kind of handy to have a big bucket")
![[Hearth.com] Kind of handy to have a big bucket](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/pa040283-webp.264227/ "[Hearth.com] Kind of handy to have a big bucket")
Kind of handy to have a big bucket
- Thread starter peakbagger
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Hold up there just a cotton pickin' minute.....What the heck is that thing with the bucket tied to it? ????
Sean McGillicuddy
Minister of Fire
How I moved Firewood in Tractor Bucket. Now I use same bucket for Pellets. Or if I want exercise Wheelbarrel. But snow stops that pretty soon. Wife drives and I load and unload. We have Snowblower on the Rear End in Winter. I stacked almost 1 Ton on back porch other day (12" Legs under porch).
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A Unimog SEE, Uncle Sam bought a bunch of these for the cold war at about 100K each but by the time they were delivered the cold war was over since the Soviet Union was gone. They auctioned them off over a 4 year period starting in 2010. This one had less than 100 hours on it.
Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE)
Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE) information and photos from Olive-Drab.com
I'd trade my wife for a Uni-Mog. On second thought, maybe my dog. Wife must stay, she has the hospitalization in her name and the farm too. The buckets on my big Kubota's are at least that big but then I don't transport firewood in them anyway. Just cattle manure to the manure spreader.
I see Freightliner did a variant. I'd take a Uni Mog over a Freightshaker any day. I bet the Freightliner has a DDEC engine
Freightliner was owned by Daimler AG since the early eighties. Daimler also owns Mercedes. In order to give the illusion of buying American, Daimler ran a special run of Unimog 419s which are improved versions of the 406 series designed in the early 60s and called them a Freightliner 419 or a FLU 419. I think Mercedes built the cab chassis and engine plus installed the Schmidt front end loader and front and rear hydraulic pumps in Germany . The rear deck was installed in the US and mostly made of US components including the Case backhoe. The FLU 419 was designed as a military heavier duty version of the Case MB94 that was a Unimog 406 imported from Mercedes. They were sold to municipalities and had numerous accessories. Unfortunately, the cabs rotted out long before the running gear.Many countries used the Unimog 406s for military vehicles so a lot of them ended up in the surplus market and many were imported to the US.
At the same time the US military was buying what effectively was a 1960 design vehicle, the German military decided they wanted a newer heavier capacity design and replaced their 406s with 1300s, the 1300 series is 2 ton with a more modern cab and designed to be easier to service. The 1300s and its successors are still sold as the "heavy" Unimog outside the US and are popular for expedition campers. They are about as big of a road vehicle in the US that does not require a special drivers license. I have a 91 cargo body version and its decidedly a lot more friendly road vehicle. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a custom one for awhile but had to get rid of it as its import was allegedly questionable (he probably didnt know it when he bought it).
VirginiaIron
Minister of Fire
This one sold for $21,600
www.govdeals.com
UNIMOG SEE - govdeals.com
GovDeals' online marketplace provides services to government, educational, and related entities for the sale of surplus assets to the public. Auction rules may vary across sellers.
They are on Ebay frequently, there is a company that specializes in them. Lots of sellers list them for a premium and they dont sell. The government "recapped" many of them. Recapping is tearing the entire vehicle down and restoring it to like new condition. Other just sat for years in the sun slowly dry rotting. Some are bought on a whim and the new owners realize they are in over their head. There is no dealer if the owner gets into trouble. There is good technical documentation and a couple of forums of interested owners but repairs are up to the owner. Mercedes really never sold Unimogs in the US (except for a very small run of U500s), They may be able to get parts but are clueless on repairs. Same with Freightliner.
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Here is a picture of the fleet in firewood mode. I usually run out of motivation long before I run out load capacity on the 1300 on the left. Its rated for 2 tons. The flip down sides make it lot easier to unload the wood. I split it as I unload it and throw it in the bucket. This load included a large maple with a rotted core. It was loaded with carpenter ant nests. It may not look it but it was around 25 degrees when I started. The ants were not moving or barely moving. I segregated the splits with ants in them and left them out overnight. They will be all dead this morning.![[Hearth.com] Kind of handy to have a big bucket](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/266/266054-97bb8124edc37e7386021af4d8c8e9b4.jpg?hash=pqoFQlSugC "[Hearth.com] Kind of handy to have a big bucket")
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Not a collector, just wanted a heavy truck I could work on (no electronics) and the 1300L fits the bill. The SEE is 1987 while the 1300L is a 1990 but a 20 year newer design that is far more road friendly. It can tool along up to around 55 mph before it runs out of gears and revs without feeling like its going in the ditch like the SEE does at anything over 30 MPH. Hard to get that size tires rated for much over 60 MPH so its life in the slow lane even if I retune it for extra HP. The germans set them up for 250K life between rebuilds so they were very conservative on the pump settings.
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