Homemade Brush Truck-Tanker
features
By modifying a military M135, sixwheel drive GMC truck with an automatic transmission that was provided as an indefinite loan by the Greene County, N. Y., Office of Civil Preparedness, the Medway-Grapeville Volunteer Fire Department has obtained a brush fire truck that can make its way off the roads in the 25 square miles of farm country covered by our fire district.
Because we did not wish to change the basic truck body configuration, we decided to install any equipment inside the box. A tank was designed to fit inside the body with as low a profile as possible and still hold 1500 gallons of water. The tank was lined with epoxy enamel to prevent rust.
The front bumper was removed, braced considerably on the inside so it could knock over small trees and then put back in place. Brush rails were installed on each side to protect the vehicle and riders from branches when in woods and both ends of the rails were tapered so the truck could back out of woods if it was unable to turn around.
Expanded metal was added to the top of the front, bumper and to the rear step to prevent slipping.
Our first grass fire taught us that a man standing on the front bumper, inside the brush rails, can fight a grass fire while the truck is moving. This capability also makes the truck an effective rescue vehicle in grass or forest fires.
The high clearance provided by the six 11.00 X 20 mud and snow tires allows the truck to cross ditches, low stone walls and logs with little trouble.
In addition to being an effective offthe-road fire fighter, the truck doubles as a tanker. It has a 300-gpm, 80-psi pump and a 4-inch quick-dump pipe for filling portable tanks.
The olive drab truck was repainted with a yellow metallic enamel. We have one more project for our monster—a 1 1/2 -inch turret pipe to be mounted on the right-hand side of the cab roof so two people can operate it if necessary.
Our brush truck modification cost just under $5000. Except for welding the tank and brush rails, all the work was done by the volunteer fire fighters under the direction of Chief John Gaspar, Assistant Chief Mai Stitler and myself.
