My first ever M977 Hemtt 8x8 military truck checkout and test drive  

After watching the beginning of this video. All of my memories of operating this hunk of power came back to me. Only "Big Boys" can handle this monster. It is a beast. Army Retired.

Another brilliant video. Kevin is like an anti-depressant. Always cheers you up with his smile and banter

As the driver of 977s and the bigger brother the 985 Hemmett for A company 44th Engineers they are true beasts for power and capability! Great times for me 28,900 miles drive time in South Korea without accidents! Have the awards❤!

Hi guys, I'm Lymm, a retired Army Veteran.We used the M977 in the Ammo section when I was in Field Artillery to haul in Artillery ammo and dunnage once the firing was done. We also used them to carry material as well. You should have a remote to operate the Boom hoist loader as well. One bad thing is it doesn't swing to the right wide, it's not a 360 degree boom. The side panels and eithr be lowered down or removed all together. I was extremely happy when we went to the PLS system, made work much more easier!

That Detroit is just marking its territory

I love the the 977 Hemett. They are basically a cargo hauler. Our rebuild center for the Maine national Guard had one as a support truck. It pulled my butt (after it got chewed out by a Master Sgt) out of a snow bank cause I tried to climb a snow bank with a Slant back 4 door Hummer re-enacting the invasion of Iraq. I'd love to have me not only a M925 5 ton, and a M1070 HET but the Hemett falls in that group too. 8v92 the Sound of 'Merica. Hear it scream.

As an Army Cobra Helicopter mechanic and crew chief, the M977 was used an ammunition carrier for attack helicopters. Some units used M813 5 ton trucks for hauling ammo.

That M977 is a BEAST! I bet there's not allot of places that thing cannot go. I predict you won't have that thing long. AWESOME video, as usual. Stay safe out there fellas.

I drove a HEMTT truck for 2 years at FT Knox 1993-1997 88M / 19K Heavy wheeled operator / Armor crewman. We used to sit on the outrigger post and operate the crane with our feet so we can see the top of the bed. Supposed to be a two man team but you know the Army will send who they have at the time. Lol thanks for posting. Brings back so many memories.

No... Don't send Hunter back to the orphanage - we love Hunter. Seems to be a lot of partly cloudy days there. And cool to see you get another snowmobile for Hunter. Another AWESOME video, Clint. Cool test drive. I love you guy's sense of humor.

The purpose of the M977 is to provide heavy transport capabilities for supply and re-supply of combat vehicles and weapons systems. Compared to earlier generation 5-ton trucks in U.S. Army service it offers an increased payload and mobility.

Hunter is definitely getting teller then sauge finger😂😂. Love that El Camino....my favorite color. Thanks for sharing.

Gotta love Kevin you know they a spin on filter conversion kit for that great video thanks Clint and Kevin and Mason and Tucker and Hunter

You guys are having too much fun and calling it WORK!

Heads up.... try our old trick... don't engage the 'High Idle'.... crane operates slower, but much smoother! We used this for removal/installation of multi million dollar aircraft parts in a field environment... was the best crane ever! I amassed over 20,000 miles in this type, most often carrying explosives!

First crossing of the tracks was epic. 😊

Used to haul rocket pods in these when stationed in WA. Awesome trucks. If you ever get an A2 model, boy she rides so much better with airbags. Lmao.

I drove one of these in 86 thru 88 when i was in the army stationed in Germany. I was in an attack helecopter unit, we hauled rockets and misseles for the cobra helocopter we also had the same truck in the tanker version hauling jet fuel, they are great trucks on tank trails

My favorite thing about the Hemmitt was its ability to move smoothly at good speed off road. I had gotten used to being bounced around in the back old deuce and-a-half and 5 ton trucks. My first off road adventure in a Hemmitt was at higher speeds with MUCH less trauma to the passengers.

I got certified to drive one of those when I was in the Army. My instructor was a Specialist that had like 4 months left in the Army and didn’t give AF. We both took turns driving as fast as we could west of Gruber and Chicken Road at Bragg. Was such a fun day

They also made a HEMTT tanker. My unit had M985 and the Tanker version.

Since watching you guys the biggest thing I've changed about working is I use the tell wipes like you guys that work so much better than a rag if I really need a rag I've been buying rags are in a roll like paper towels

I drove the cargo hemtt and fuel hemtt when in the military in 1986 & 1987. They also made a hemtt wrecker. It was a beast. Your cargo hemtt had a slave cable and controls that you can hang around your neck and operate the crane remotely. There should be outriggers on the back also when you operate the crane. I’ve driven and used the cargo and fuel hemtt. I’ve driven the hett also. My mos was a 64 echo. I drove a lot of other monsters also.

One of our volunteer fire departments have one of these for an off-road water tender, works well for them

That truck brings back memories. We had some that would actually run about 70 mph. Very rough riding. Would haul a good load. They also had a tank truck and a wrecker variant.

Love them ol screaming Jimmy's.

Favorite comment of the video-"this is gonna hurt" going across the RR Tracks! Love it. Neat Truck.

i have drove tractor trailer over the road trucks with Detroit in them - they would run, they also will run backwords, 75 was a good yr. year i graduated from hs

"Oh, this is going to hurt!" 🤣

This promises to be a good episode, greetings from Germany

Love that truck!!!! I laughed so hard. You and Kevin really rock! 😂😂😂 Thank you for sharing! 👍

The Hemmitt cargo body was used to transport ammo in artillery units.

If it was a side dump, DP would want it. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Ok Hunter you have had a long enough break.. Time to attack the snowmobile again. You got this.

I would like to Thank the Young Men. That ran these Rigs in there day. And Those That still are. God Bless America. May He Bless Us Always. “Amen”

I need one of those to drive on my 2 acre lot, and I could pack my driveway gravel....Great Vid👍👍👍👍👍👍

While stationed in West Germany I was Assigned to drive A M985 HEMTT and they were a blast to drive.

She's like a Harley; she marks her territory.

Hold the transmission in the lower gear and run engine at maximum RPM at all times,,,, change Up a gear to increase ground speed,, always run engine on the governor,, flat out to get fuel economy

Basic cargo hauler. Our unit was a Transportation Company consisting of 60 M915A2’s and 120 M872 trailers. We had one M977 and it belonged to the Maintenance Section. It carried all their tools and PLL. It may have carried their Maintenance Tents etc. They are beasts but worked well in the desert 🐪.

My understanding is this truck was designed as an engine extractor for the tanks with turbines in them. It was used for everything once it hit the ground. What a beast!

Oh and the biggest other change I've made is to make sure I call it a motor when it's an engine just to aggravate the other people this sounds so foolish you call it whatever you want it's yours thanks for the great videos😊

A behemoth for sure.., in that “HEMETT”. “Liquifier” series for sure. Thank you gentlemen.

Good to see that you are all prepared for snow!

Would love to add a 4,000 water tank to that. I fought forest fires and would have loved to have an 8x in the mountains for fire support. Please finish the snow machine, after all the effort you guys put into it. Would like to see you solve the mystery with it!

Love the M977 was in SPT platoon 1/7 CAV 1st CAV DIV during desert shield/storm as an Infantryman had to learn that vehicle took out the dash 10 and read it from cover to cover you got a good one with the recovery winch.. and if your good enough you can pull multiple levers on the crane and raise the boom flat and up at the same time. when the cooks went to go get pallets of food they would always request me to do the run since i was that good with the crane. during the ground war my block cracked five gallons of oil a day and it still ran since i was hauling a Cavalry troops ammo resupply we didnt change out the motor till after the war ended. about two weeks of pouring tons of oil in the motor. great find

I would be happy to watch a Video on BOTH the Snowmobile and the El Comino!!

Another brilliant video!

Clint, that M977 is a beast! Awesome job Hunter! Kevin, you the man! Take care and I’ll see y’all down the road…

Reminds me of a movie called damnation alley with Jan Michael Vincent

OH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That would cause real havoc on I71 on the way to work!

Watching this video while relaxing and enjoying a favorite beverage is absolutely entertaining! Well done Clint! Kevin & you may not be blood, but the two of you are family IMHO

It's about time you something good that's worth working on love me an El Camino.

What a beast. That lift system is very impressive. I personally would have been reluctant to walk underneath that truck. PS: Don't worry Hunter, some of us wants to see your truck finished and going down the road.

What's the turning radius on that thing, about three football fields? 🤣

I had an M977 and had to put a new engine in it. Sold it and bought a really nice M985. I think the M985 is just and updated version of the M977. I take it to MV shows and to the local Home Depot, Lowes and auto parts now and then.

In the Marines we called this the Dragon Wagon!

There was a spin on oil filter relocation kit for the Deuce that MAY fit that M977. It converted the dual cannister filters of the M35 to the spin on type and it relocated to the fender well. There was also a kit which just converted from cannister to spin on.

The circa 1956 671 Detroit in my patrol boat smoked like crazy at startup till I was advised to install an inline 120V circulating heater and it doesn't do that anymore. Very reliable.

With that knuckle boom on the back, it would be a great truck for a scrap metal guy 😎

The short exhaust pipe was great for warming MREs

All right! A C&C video with a twin steer Oshkosh. Let's go!

I found 3 brand new John Deere snowmobiles and one was a black Liquifire with a 440 engine with twin carbs on it. I know for certain it would go 127 mph because a Missouri State Patrolman clocked me on the opposite medium on a dual highway. It took him 20 min. to get turned around and catch up to me at the gas station filling up. He was one hot Comanche when I said how do you know it was me with dozens of snowmobiles zipping around. He yelled just obey the speed limits and stop signs. I said I always stop at the stop signs so I can race my friends with snowmobiles to the next stop sign. I think he just went home!

You should send some of that equipment to Texas they can use them right about now

You and Kevin were grinning like two boys farting on a school bus driving the beast

In my unit, we used that style of truck to conduct missile reload operations on the patriot missile system

Now that is a beast of truck nicely 👍😎🇺🇸 NY

These were build at one of the plants down the road from my grandpas farm. All summer long they would be running up and down the road getting shakedowns. Soon itll be just electric motor whine going up and down that stretch of road

Incredibly Beautiful biggum Amazing example Good work

Should turn this M977 Hemtt 8x8 into a 75-Ton Rotator Tow Truck.

When I see that El Slowmino in harbor freight parking lot i can't wait to key it

That machine is Awesome 😎

I'm not tired of Tucker,s truck..I find it interesting

Because of the knuckle boom I would guess it was used to haul heavy ammo

Why not build a truck for Kevin.he could show off his talents.im sure he is a great asset to you and your company 😊

Man I’ve always loved the sound of those w stroke 8V92 Detroits. I was always around the 8V92-16V92 TIB and the 8V149-16V149 TIB engines as a kid. Noting else sounds like them.

great video first thing i thought of have seen one turned into a wild camping hunting truck in texas i havent seen a john deere snowmobile in years

I love it I hope you get more to play with

I once got a pickup truck stuck so bad even a hemtt couldnt pull it out. had to get a M88 tank recovery vehicle to get me out.😱

This might be “ Dumb & Dumber “! But I would hire them at $68/hr plus medical . They love their work and would show up every day. These are good men. I could. Hand over the mechanics shop to them and not worry. I also give my top staff 10% of net profit end of year! I contract 60-100 million a season in gross bids.😊🤗🇺🇸🇨🇦

That would make a hell of a log hauler

Hat is a pretty cool truck. By all means. Take some time to get the snowmobile goung. I have owned 5 ElCaminos in my lifetime. So, lets do some work on the ElCamino.

Awesome 8x8 operational crane truck y'all got there for sure. Those are definitely some high dollar machine's to own also.

Man, that thing is awesome. My practical side of me says no real use for this, but the inner teenager says I need it. Man the weight vs the actual capacity is nuts. If its 48k & MGVW is 62K. That’s only 14 k of payload

Wow those lifts are badass

I say that y'all ought to try to save that old 1975 snowmobile for sure. Especially it being solid aluminum body. If it's been setting up for years. I would splurge on some good 2 stroke engine motor oil to for it. Unless it's A 4 stroke engine then high mileage motor oil with zinc powder additives and some Redline fuel treatment for the fuel tank. It helps clean out and restore Lost power. Red armor 2 stroke motor oil it clean and clears out sludge and grime build up inside of the entire engines and exhaust systems to including the exhaust pipe tip baffles.,an baffling tube and screen. Then you just remove the removable ones to wire wheel them clean. And take the air gun to those parts. I'd start the snowmobile up with the exhaust facing outside of the building. To open it up good once. Then reinstall the baffling screen and filter tube back inside of it. And restart it up let it idle for 10 minutes shut it down to cool back down. So you continue to fix it up more. Different gasoline fuel in those machines makes the world of difference in the performance of them to when you add in the power additives required for the proper application's of the type of engine it has.,or some people call them motors to. It looks to be in good shape for being that old of A snowmobile to for sure. If it was me. Just saying it I owned that snowmobile I would run ethanol free gasoline fuel mixed with either Redline.,or Red armor 2 stroke motor oil in the gasoline fuel tank. Cause if it's gasoline only.,or not premixed inside of the fuel tank. Then I'd run some of that Redline in it only. Cause you can treat the ethanol free gasoline fuel with STA-BIL fuel treatment and injector cleaner before adding in the other power booster additives to it. I'd do A little experiment on the gasoline fuel runs in your video.,or videos of working on it and fixing it up to Ride. I would invest in A riding helmet for sure for it to. And maybe some type of riding gear to wear like dirt bike suits of some sort. Without wearing the kick starting boot. I'd get in the package deal though if possible to for sure. Cause those boots are expensive by their selves to buy. Like $400.00 and up to A $1000,00 now Days.

yes to video snow mobile and el camino

Get the snowmobile running!

It might ride a touch better if you took some of that air back out of the tires😂😂

WOW! That brought back some good memories!! Our Motor pool mechanics drove them behind our convoys during hurricane Adrew Relief. Too much fun!

The only truck engine that marks it's territory. Pull into the truck stop and check the fuel and add oil. You started this thing in the shop and I could smell hot oil. Sure brought back lots of memories from when I started driving trucks in 1971 with the Detroit motors. Thanks for sharing and bringing back old memories. Screaming Jimmy's 😂

70 GRAND? WHAT A GREAT DEAL! But i agree, whats it good for? I still want it! But in COMMIRFORNIA, THATS A FELONY!!

It resembles the military version of an El Camino

Show as much and as often as ya can we will watchem all.

Wow, another week end who start with your dream team and your project, thank you for sharing, always a pleasure start my week end with you, have a nice week end you and your dream team 👍👍👍👍

I tried to convince my dad we need one of these for hauling square bales.

hi....I served in the Army operating the M977 Hemtt ...it is used to carry ammo and they drive top speed of 60 mph to about 70mph and takes about 100 feet to turn around....I enjoyed driving the Hemtt,s

Since its stamped 1975 on the side of the tunnel on the snowmobile its a 1976 Model Year. snowmobiles are manufactured 1year before there model year.

Two new windscreen wiper blades and the LH headlight repaired (bulb?) and she Will be right fine and dandy 😉 Thanks Clint 👍🍺

Really cool vehicle! I'm not sure the purpose either. Snowmobile for sure!