New wood hauling truck from Belgium

[lou sansone]

hello fellow ww's

I would like to share some photos of my new Belgian wood hauling / machine transporting vehicle.

It has been some time since I last posted, but I want to assure you that I am alive and well. I am still building period furniture. Early last year I became infected with a very serious case of "unimog-itus". It has caused me to become somewhat distracted from building period furniture, but I have been sufficiently inoculated at this point where I now can talk about it. I will warn you that it is very easy to become completely infected as I was, just by looking at one of these. You don't even need to drive it to become so seriously infected to the point where you start to search high and low to find one just to look at in person.

My new wood shop truck, which will replace my 2000 F-350 dwd / 4 wd, is a 1967 Mercedes Benz 404.1 "Unimog" direct from the Belgian military. it has an original ~25000 miles on it and absolutely no rust on it. the undercarriage is pristine with all of the original paint still 100% intact. My 7 year old ford is a rust bucket compared to it. If you start to look for these you find that most have between 10k and 30k miles on them. They are just not driven long distance or used all that much.

So what is a unimog ?

here is a link to explain what they are

http://www.unimogcentre.com/unimogprinc.html

They are considered by most to be the most capable 4 wheel drive light duty vehicle ever designed or built. I won't go into all of the details at this point. maybe some of you will have questions that I will answer and that will provide more of the details.

there are a few things that really set this vehicle apart from any other 4wd in production. Just for the record, I have owned several old vintage dodge power wagons and they are a piece of junk compared to the unimog.

what makes the unimog so special ?

1. it has a very, very flexible frame and coil spring suspension that allows it to crawl over anything

2. it has ~ 21" of ground clearance because of the "portal axle" design. This axle is offset from the center line of the wheel and contains a final reduction gear set in each of the wheel hubs. the total drive ratio is ~ 7.5:1

3. it uses a sealed torque tube drive system that seals out water and protects the rotating drive shaft from damage.

4. the snub nose makes the drivers visibility very good, compared to a normal long nosed truck

5. It has a very tight turning radius : +/- 45 degree front wheel turning angle


enjoy the photos

Lou

[Rob Diz]

Ok, how does that perform on the highway?

I'm guessing you had to import that yourself?

[George Robin]

They are DEFINATELY very capable trail rigs. Not really good on the highway though.

Good luck with it.

[Mike Vermeil]

That thing is awesome. I wasn't aware of any current uses of torque tube construction except for sprint cars.

[Charles Wiggins]

Nice toy! I'm jealous. I've wanted a unimog for almost twenty years, but never had an excuse. Guy near me had one for sale for $8800 but I knew I didn't want to get into the unimog repair business. They truly are extraordinary vehicles. I have heard apocryphal stories of them running on everything from moonshine to crude oil.

[Philip Glover]

Those things are really cool!
It, however, looks like a high lift to get things up into the bed.
Have fun,

Phil

[Brett Baldwin]

Congrats on your new hauler Lou. It fits so well with your shop tools. Looks like that will serve many duties in the rural setting. I don't imagine you can ever say you're snowed in again.

What is the weight capacity for yours?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I see a Rock Climber.

[Randy Denby]

That looks like serious fun. Just looking at it tho....how do you get into the cab? Looks like along way up and a fender sorta in the way.What kind of rpm at 60'ish mph? Top speed?Right hand drivers position?Diesel/gas mileage?...of course, I'll bet its one of those, If you have to ask, you cant afford it things.And lastly, where do you find these and did you import it?

[Josiah Bartlett]

That looks fun.

I use a 1950 Chevy 3100 stepside, myself.

It's about due for a paint job.

[Jim Becker]

Very kewel truck!!!

[Brian Weick]

Lou- that is one awesome piece of equipment ~ seriously. S sent you a PM.
Brian

[John Shuk]

Unimogs are awesome vehicles. I drove one around some fields once and it is just a cool machine. Low gear seems like it moves about 2 feet an hour but it could pull down a house. There is a guy in Montrose, NY who has a few. I think he sells some of the attachments sometimes. They can have alot of different stuff attached including a backhoe.
Enjoy the truck Lou.

[Norman Hitt]

That looks like serious fun. Just looking at it tho....how do you get into the cab? Looks like along way up and a fender sorta in the way.What kind of rpm at 60'ish mph? Top speed?Right hand drivers position?Diesel/gas mileage?...of course, I'll bet its one of those, If you have to ask, you cant afford it things.And lastly, where do you find these and did you import it?

Belgians, (along with the rest of Western Europe) drive from the left front seat, and on the Right side of the road. The English are the ones that drive from the Right front seat and on the left side of the road. (The English consider themselves Britts, not Europeans)

[Doug Shepard]

Now that's a truck.
You are going to make all the Hummer snobs soooo jealous.