Got a great deal on a M101 trailer for hauling wood

[Uzi]

Found a guy selling this locally for $300 and it was in good shape with brand new tires with E load rating. They seem like Civilian tires but big, tall and match the look of the trailer. The guy buys and resells military vehicles as a side job. I got to talking with him when I picked up the trailer and found out he had 37" goodyears off of the hummers that would fit on my truck too and only wanted $60 a piece for them. I ended up buying 5 and while I was picking up the tires he walked around his place and found a new set of racks for the trailer and spare rim for the trailer that he threw in for free. I had to get out of there fast before he talked me into buying a 2.5 ton M35 he only wanted $1K for.

Took the trailer out 2 times this weekend and cant' believe how good it works need to change over the lights to 12v and change the pins you pull to dump it so they work a little better but overall this thing is awesome. Definitely way overbuilt and the pintle hitch is awesome on rough ground combined with the extra ground clearance compared to the old horse trailer I'd been using. It'll go anywhere my truck can drag it and with a Cummins, 35's and some big rounds in the bed for traction its made it to places it probably shouldn't and that were completely off limits pulling the horse trailer.

 

[zogger]

That's a nice trailer man..

THOUSAND BUCKS for a running deuce!! Go get it!

 

[Jim Timber]

Yeah, those are smoking good prices!

Nice score!

 

[Iska3]

Nice Score. Those are one handy trailer for sure. Wish I had a few of them around here.

 

[deerehunter]

Did you have to do any mods to make it dump? I have researched this to death and cant get a solid answer. Some guys claim the m101s were not intended to dump and will eventually break if doing so but other guys have good luck with using them to dump? I want one bad and this thread didnt help.

 

[Uzi]

Did you have to do any mods to make it dump? I have researched this to death and cant get a solid answer. Some guys claim the m101s were not intended to dump and will eventually break if doing so but other guys have good luck with using them to dump? I want one bad and this thread didnt help.

The guy I got this from has probably forgotten more about military things than most people knew to begin with. He claimed this thing was built to dump and that is why they put the hand brakes on it so you can set them and then back up forcing the dump. He told me the manual even showed a way to hold the box in the dumped position and pull away from the load. I didn't do anything to it to allow dumping and it came straight off an auction at Ft. Riley KS. The only thing you do is pull 2 bolts and set the brakes, the eyelets for the bolts even swivel to help you line things back up after the dump I just changed my bolts out to pins to make things even easier. I can't imagine how it could hurt anything to dump it every part of it is over built. The bolts the the tongue pivots on to dump and the tongue itself are super heavy duty. I don't see where it would cause any problems......in other words get one if you can they're awesome!

 

[deerehunter]

I cant imagine why else they would put those brakes on there for any other reason. Thanks for the info and I will continue my search for one unless you want to sell that one for $350!!!!!

 

[Uzi]

The guy I bought this one from might have some more @ $300 or close to that I can sure ask him. He said he can get the newer style with the hummer 16.5 rims on them but they are higher. this has the older style rim @ 16"

 

[philoshop]

Sweeet!
I paid almost that much for a crappy, used....never mind.
An official "You suck"
Welcome to AS

 

[Mad Professor]

I have that trailers big brother, the ammo carrier M332, w20" tires. You can't overload that thing with wood.

It's too big to pull with anything but a M35 or my big farm tractor.

 

[Johnny Yooper]

Found a guy selling this locally for $300 and it was in good shape with brand new tires with E load rating. They seem like Civilian tires but big, tall and match the look of the trailer. The guy buys and resells military vehicles as a side job. I got to talking with him when I picked up the trailer and found out he had 37" goodyears off of the hummers that would fit on my truck too and only wanted $60 a piece for them. I ended up buying 5 and while I was picking up the tires he walked around his place and found a new set of racks for the trailer and spare rim for the trailer that he threw in for free. I had to get out of there fast before he talked me into buying a 2.5 ton M35 he only wanted $1K for.

Took the trailer out 2 times this weekend and cant' believe how good it works need to change over the lights to 12v and change the pins you pull to dump it so they work a little better but overall this thing is awesome. Definitely way overbuilt and the pintle hitch is awesome on rough ground combined with the extra ground clearance compared to the old horse trailer I'd been using. It'll go anywhere my truck can drag it and with a Cummins, 35's and some big rounds in the bed for traction its made it to places it probably shouldn't and that were completely off limits pulling the horse trailer.

Uzi, I have an M101A1 I've been using as a firewood hauler for about seven years, 1968 model, tires were marked 1968 so I bought new tires, flaps and tubes as sometimes I'm on the interstate with it behind a GM K1500 and was scared of a tire blowing out with a load of hardwood on it, got the actual military tires out of TN, the trailer is one tough rig......it'll outlast me AND my kids. Some years ago I received permission to cut tops on 160 acres that was just logged, and got some loads of yellow birch and sugar maple, purposely overloaded the trailer to see what would happen and I found out I couldn't overload the trailer. The plate on the trailer states "payload: 2250 lbs highway, 1350 lbs off road", and I know I had way more than that in there. By the time I got it, someone had changed the pintle to a 2" ball, which suits me fine. You can probably find the manual somewhere on line but if not and you want one, send me a pm and I'll send you a copy. I changed the lights to 12 volt LED style, but left the black out light mounted in back as everyone asks what that was for. I would also like to have it dump, don't recall seeing anything in the manual about that, close up pics of yours showing pins/swivel eyelets that allow dumping would be great.

 

[Bob95065]

I have a M101A3 that I bought at a government surplus auction 2 years ago. I put over a cord of hardwood on it and it doesn't even sag at all.

You should do some research before you use it as a dump trailer. The "dump" feature is actually used for nesting the trailers close together when moving many of them at the same time. You can stack them close together when they are in that position. There is a cast part at the hinge that will eventually fail if you continue to use it as a dump trailer. The parking brakes are on the trailer for shipping purposes as well.

I am not saying this as a matter of opinion. There is a section in the manual that describes this mode of operation. You can also visit www.steelsodiers.com and towards the bottom there is a trailer sub-board. For example check out this thread and scroll down to post #15: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?24414-M101-Dump-Bed/page2&highlight=Dump. Yes, you can dump with these trailers and many post pictures of their trailer dumping but they weren't designed to do that and will eventually fail.

I did a search for "dump" on the trailer sub-board and many posts come up. If you would like a manual let me know and I'll send you a link.

 

[Uzi]

Hmm thats an interesting read Bob, thanks for the heads up. Guess I will refrain from dumping it with anything heavy in it. Definitely don't need to break the thing. Any idea what parts eventually fail? Wondering if you could beef things up to take dumping without causing problems? Regardless I still really like this thing.

 

[fuzz1500]

Thats the ultimate firewood trailer !! Sweeet

 

[mistaare]

After researching "best firewood trailer for on/off road" I decided on one. I bought an M101 A2 a couple months ago and am very pleased with it. Tows very nice behind my little Tacoma. I have only used it a handful of times I actually look forward taking it out and loading her up!!! Glad to see more and more people are getting these and putting them to work!

Have any of you guys done any maintenance on them? Repacked bearings? Brake pads? If so how often?

 

[motoman3b]

Picked one up a few years ago, I agree with others the dump isnt actually a great idea I pinned mine when I first got it and tried dumping it doesnt quite get enough of an angle to dump out and the brakes end up needed adjusting if one slips a little the whole trailer starts to jack knife or skid..... Finally decided it wasnt worth the hassle to even mess with trying to dump anymore!

Heres a pic of mine

 

[zogger]

Hmm thats an interesting read Bob, thanks for the heads up. Guess I will refrain from dumping it with anything heavy in it. Definitely don't need to break the thing. Any idea what parts eventually fail? Wondering if you could beef things up to take dumping without causing problems? Regardless I still really like this thing.

A looong time ago I read a thread there that had some mods to those trailers, about that dumping. Although I bet if you just look at it close you could figger it out.

 

[coog]

I have a newer one with the fiberglass racks. I agree it is a great trailer for firewood. From what I have read, you need to change the brake lines to a more flexible style if you plan to use it as dump.