When i was doing my apprenticeship in the 60s we had one as a recovery vehicle it was called Gertrude. had a Hercules petrol engine about 4 MPG then we fitted a Perking 6-354 in it then the firm went bust and never saw it again.
@@6909Adrian I often wondered where the one I mentioned went. It had had a new paint job etc & was always on the Garages truck stand at the yearly shows in the area (Suffolk, England)
@@6909Adrian Most of them had a 131 HP Hercules,during the war starting in 1942,they then started getting a 200 HP Cummins until they were discontinued.
Back in the mid 80's, I drove for a Heavy Haulage company at Princethorpe near Coventry, Ellis Greaves, and he had a Diamond T heavy wrecker, and as far as I can remember it was almost identical to that one.
Does it have it's original engine still in it, if so your fuel bill is going to be a bit on the expensive side. What was the 'chassis remains' you were hoisting about. I'm surprised it was in a worse condition on the wall side but then I suppose the 'damp' would have lingered longer on that side. Nice find - looked pretty complete, Gar-Wood winch and all I see. I had a Corbitt with a big 'Hercules' petrol in it 3 or 4 mpg if you were lucky.
It’s got the British convention rolls Royce engine in it but I believe that original. And yes it was a great find! I know a friend who owns a corbitt and what a great bit of kit.
Well that's interesting, as to the best of my (limited) knowledge on Diamond T's, most, (if not all), came over with Hercules engines. However since they were "non-standard" once the war ended, (and we all know how the British Army likes to 'standardise'), they were re-engined with the RR one, some even straight away and the originals were sent back to America. I don't know what type of Corbitt your friend has, (wrecker or GP body), mine was the 6 ton GP bodied version, and had been bought as army surplus at the end of WWII by a fairground operator along with a fleet of Macks and some of those "funny" SU-COE's that had the engine under the side. Best of luck with your restoration.
Iain Botham. .. Yes I quite agree. When I first saw the engine on mine it nearly put me off buying it, - as even when I had it, you could say good bye to a couple of gallons of petrol every time you started it. Luckily I had a local chap I knew who fiddled with the giant carburettors and he managed to get it to do a few (very few) MPG as opposed to as you say GPM. In the end having restored it, - (I'm not really into 'military stuff'), I bought it as I knew the previous owners were having a clear out to the 'scrap man', - surprising as most fairground proprietors hang on to their vehicles forever it seems. In retrospect I wish I had kept it, however I sold it to a 'military vehicle' enthusiast some 30+ years ago, - I don't know where it is now.
@@christopherlovelock9104 The Diamond T's were mostly gas trucks,with the 131 HP RXC Hercules,but in 1942,they started getting a 200 HP Cummins,that was Naturally Aspirated.
Would have been smarter to back off the maxi brakes, I am pretty sure there were adjusters back then. Dragging it will bend the frame as I once bent the frame on a brand new Autocar that was frozen in.
That model is a 981, would have had hercules diesel from factory, rolls c6 fitted by Remy, i have a 980 with a 6 71 detroit diesel fitted by the italiens, the hercules had overheating issues and cracked cyl heads. Cummins was never fitted to that model.
@@grumpystruckshop3807 I should have been more clear,the 969 is the one that I know about that had the 200 HP Cummins,but not the 981 as I you already said.I never knew that Hercules actually made a diesel engine,I know about the Multi-Fuel that was made by Continental,Hercules,and White but those were in the M51A2-M62A2,M35A1,and M35A2-M756A2 trucks in the 1960's to the 1980's.The gas engines that Hercules made were great engines,they even used them in DG5 Crawlers from Cletrac.I never knew that had a 2 Stroke 6-71,the Sherman Tanks had the 6-71 (Or 8-71) in later years I believe,after they had been using the Ford GAA V8,after being made by Ford,and then Chrysler in 1944.
@@grumpystruckshop3807 The 969-981 when Diamond T introduced them were all gas trucks.In 1942,some of the variations DID have a 200 HP Cummins...This was only in American trucks however.If they were from Italy or the United Kingdom,they had each a different engine for them,which you already mentioned.