New Woods "Truck"

[peakbagger]

Little or no carrying capacity but it will pull a 5 ton trailer. Its a Mercedes Unimog with a Case backhoe mounted in the back and the loader upfront. The government bought a bunch of them but rarely used them. This one has 48 hours on the engine which is a Mercedes diesel. I can register it as construction equipment in NH and drive it on the road. It has portal axles so it has plenty of ground clearance. Eight speed transmission and air lockers on the diffs. I will look around for a plow for it in the spring. Worse case is leave the accessories home and it makes a heck of an off road vehicle. I have all sort of home projects and then plan to pick up some land to play on.

 

[Minnesota Marty]

Solid!!

 

[claydogg84]

That's awesome.. How much did it go for ?

 

[Beer Belly]

Great toy

 

[kevin j]

There is quite a following on unimog websites for info
Awesome machine especially if you dont have license an insure separately

 

[firefighterjake]

I've seen Unimogs before . . . but never one set up like this . . . very neat.

 

[johneh]

Dam my type of toy
I want one

 

[newyorker]

+1

 

[AK13]

Dang, where did you find that. What a machine.

 

[Jags]

Extreme firewooding? Unimog....coooool!

 

[peakbagger]

The army paid over 100K each and they are the last incarnation of the Unimog 406 which also used to be sold as a Case MB 94 for municipal uses. This version was beefed up for the military and labeled a freightliner. The military has been auctioning them off over the last two or three years and many were transferred to national guard units and state surplus property units. Many of them were rebuilt by the military a few years before they were sold even though they were not used. There is currently one in Connecticut on Ebay that a person bought from a small airport. I looked at it but I expect it had not been maintained since the military had it. It ran but had issues and the owner is basically flipping it. The one I bought came from a collector in Texas who bought it at auction and had been slowly restoring it mechanically including replacing all the excavator hydraulic hoses (which tend to be dry rotted on many units). Without the loader and excavator they can be painted and look pretty cool but definitely they are not what anyone would call beautiful.

The reputation is they are quite reliable if maintained but can be expensive if they aren't maintained. Mercedes still stocks most of the parts but charges a bundle so it best to do the maintenance and avoid failure due to lack of maintenance. Supposedly NAPA stocks a lot of the maintenance parts like filters. There are no electronic components just wires and switches with mechanical fuel injection. All the military operating anf repair manuals are available online.

Its a small market and most Unimogs get bought in Europe with a lot of miles and shipped over to the US. They are the universal favorite for harsh environment use by many militaries and relief organizations. For some reason few folks do not realize that they can buy these low hour military units and strip off the accessories and can register them for road use in most states if the nameplate is 25 years old. Of course with the way the thing is geared, it will do 50 MPH max and the reputation is with the short wheelbase and the front loader hanging out front that 35 mph is about as fast as anyone will dare drive it.

 

[Knots]

More pics!

 

[Jags]

What kind of lift capacity is the loader rated for??

 

[peakbagger]

Loader is 0.75 yard foot bucket, breakout force 6000#, lift 3,300#
Backhoe is 10,000 pound digging force, 14 foot depth, 7 cubic foot bucket

Not that heavy duty but a nice utility machine. I think the problem with them is they were built for a world of jeeps and probably a bit small for Humvees. I found a the Freightliner PR video online and they show it pulling a tank.

The available backhoe loaders in this price range are pretty beat.

 

[Jags]

I'll bet it will be interesting using a front loader on a machine with suspension.

 

[peakbagger]

Yup, I have noticed on various forums that that is a limitation with it. There was a another version with a crane out back and forklifts out front that had locking shock absorbers for that purpose.

 

[skfire]

DROOOOOOOL

 

[D8Chumley]

That thing is cool, more pics! I want one too

 

[peakbagger]

There is one that just showed up on Craiglist in North Carolina.

 

[mustash29]

Put a plow on that thing and you have an unstoppable tank.

A few years ago, 13 of us were on our annual sled trip to Moosehead lake. We were staying in Rockwood & got a 22" dumping. The plow guy that did the parking area at our rental had a 'Mog with a sectional pluw, sander & chains.

http://s23.photobucket.com/user/Mustash29/slideshow/Unimog

 

[Ncountry]

Oh! I want one! or 2 ..

 

[gerry100]

48 hrs! this will outlast all of us with a little TLC

Very Nice

 

[Elusive]

That thing is cool, more pics! I want one too

Yes! More pics please!

 

[Danno77]

That bucket with the clearance it has should be perfect for navigating zombies, bodies, and debris from the apocalypse. It's diesel, too, so there's the option for a bio setup. I think I need one of these.

 

[Bret Chase]

I'll bet it will be interesting using a front loader on a machine with suspension.

Probably as aggravating as using the bucket on a toolcat.