Refueling setup

Hey Wayne, are you making any progress with the pump frame? The only pic I can find is the one you posted on here. I guess the right side upper rail is left off but I wish I had some more pics/info on it.

Cheers

Den

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So after looking at many many pump pics I found this one. The frame seems v similar to the one in your pic Wayne. The r/h side guardrail in the pic seems to have been removed and I guess the pump controls being at the back of the unit was a bit impractical - relocated on this version maybe.


Anyhoo, unless I hear different I’m going to ask SteelOxide to design a frame like this for their
pump.

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Sorry for not replying sooner, busy times. My thoughts on these builds are that they were field adaptations. There was no official setup and they were done unit by unit. Most of the info and pictures seem to be land clearing units that worked at different times with other units pulling security. The refuelling tracks were ad hoc vehicles to get the fuel to the units that couldn’t be reached by trucks. Land clearing units were moved around as needed. Just my opinion, based on working with engineers. We cobbled together a lot of things to make them work. Ha ha Wayne

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I have never seen an equipment list for a land clearing unit, so I don’t know if these refueling vehicles were actually in the TO&E or something they put together or even if the supporting security units already had in theirs or threw together on the fly.When my first unit started to stand down we had some equipment that was not on our property lists, so we disposed of them by whatever means. ha ha Wayne

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Thanks Wayne, I feel comfortable now with that pump I posted. Hoping to get more of the 3D parts printed this week, maybe into the weekend.

Denimo

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Here’s a rough sketch I made going by the picture, sorry, it’s just a rou

gh idea After relooking, eliminate the curved rail across the front. . Wayne

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That’s excellent Wayne. It’s exactly as I saw it too. I’ll have a look at scratch-building this!

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Hello Frenchy, do you have any illustrations or other details of the frames used to house the pumps used on the M548 fuelers?
There at least three of these carriers under construction on this thread alone and your expertise would no doubt benefit all three builders.

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I’m not sure any of the fuelers were “factory setups” Likely Forward Area Refueling equipment strapped down into the bed as they were on M35s.
This photo is the equipment I plan to use for a FARP servicing CH-47s and Apaches, so the equipment is a little newer. You might search for the equipment rather than the vehicle:

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Unfortunately, I have gathered hundreds of land-clearing dozer pics but the M548 fueler pics I’ve posted already are the only ones I have…

On a side note I found these two that show what looks like a field-made fuel trailer :

H.P.

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That’s a cool looking possibility for a conversion. Wonder what trailer using dual wheels? Those engineer and motor pool mechs were always doing magic! Wayne

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At first I thought it was a dolly but the chassis is too long :thinking:

H.P.

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The outer wheel is outside of the fender. It’s a mod like doubling up front wheels on a Duece or an M151.

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There is a picture in Order of Battle that shows an M577 pulling a trailer set up similarly. I believe I read somewhere that they set up the offset wheels to match the track path of the APCs to help avoid mines. Wayne

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Looking more closely, the fenders almost look like they came off the front of a deuce and a half,possibly salvaged from a wreck? Wayne

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Unless they really wanted to go through the extra effort of changing the angle and adding vertical ends, I find it unikely. But who knows? It’s a field mod after all.

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The HobbyLink M105 trailer and its frame used on the generator trailer (can’t recall the M number) comes with optional twin wheels. I used them when I built those awhile back, I think they look neat.

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This breakdown of the parts in the SteelOxide set seem a reasonable representation of the setup on the M548 in Frenchy’s pics. The rectangular bases and curved beds could have been fabbed in the field, but it’s also possible a workshop, army or civilian was banging out the dozens of these that saw service. And some were fielded in ODS if memory serves.

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A couple of guys with a torch and welder could do it in no time. Wayne

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Yeah, that’s my standard line. If they took the time to do that they would probably -
a. extend the fenders all the way out, or
b. just do the daned things fron scratch.

Why change the angle of the M35 fenders. Makes little sense no matter what kind of equipment you have.

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