Humvee in South Korea

 

Two Humvee's in South Korea in 1987.  At this point in time, these vehicles were nearly new to US service.

The Humvee series of vehicles, of which there are many special purpose bodies, is a great series of military trucks.  Nothing compares to them, really, except perhaps the first Dodge 4x4 series of military vehicles that came into service just prior to World War Two.

M35s in South Korea.

 South Korean Army M35 2.5 Ton 6x6 trucks.

These U.S. military trucks were part of a series of 6x6 trucks that dated back into the 1920s.  The 6x6 was developed, for U.S. military use, by the Artillery branch of the U.S. Army which could not find a suitable civilian product for use as an artillery tractor. Developed over the years, the series came into use in a major way at the onset of the Second World War, by which point civilian contractors could and did supply an entire series of 6x6 trucks, all of which closely resemble each other, but which in fact varied by manufacture.

After World War Two the service wished to standardize the trucks and update them, resuling in the M35, which entered service in 1950, just at the start of the Korean War.  Produced all the way into the 1990s, the series remains in widespread use around the globe, although it has been replaced by other trucks in U.S. military use.

The 6x6 series of trucks were great vehicles, and in very real terms, the World War Two vintage trucks can legitimately contend for the most important piece of military equipment of the Second World War.

 South Korean troops in 6x6 truck.

South Korean Army M38A1

 M38A1 equipped with a recoilless rifle, 1987.

 South Korean M38A1 with recoilless rifle.

M1009 CUCV Blazer

 Diesel military Chevrolet Blazer, M1009 CUCV.   They were awful.

 Me, as a Sgt E-5, HHB, 3d Bn, 49th FA.  1987. South Korea.

Food trucks

 

I'd guess these to be 1940s (maybe 30s?) or early 1950s vintage refrigerated trucks that have been converted into food trucks.  One is an ice cream truck, and is a 4x4, which would lead me to believe that the body isn't on the original frame.

Very unusual, but apparently quite successful, presentation.

Modern Ranch Trucks in Use.

If you watch a "modern" Western, to the extent I do so, which is very rarely as they irritate me, chances are you'll find at least some of the ranchers in them driving fairly old trucks.  Maybe Yellowstone, which I haven't watched and will not watch, doesn't do this.

Anyhow, that's only partially been the case in my lifetime. When I was young, and well into my adult years, lots of ranches kept a flat fender style Dodge Power Wagon.  That's no longer the case. They didn't lose their utility, they just became collectors items, and working ranches don't use collectors items of any kind.  They sell them.

Having said that, lots of old trucks remain on ranches for specified uses, some as old as the Power Wagons that went into collectors' hands.  But for daily use, of every type, almost every working ranch has a relatively new flatbed pickup.  Here's a good selection of them from recent brandings.

Every truck depicted here is relatively new, and they're all automatic transmissions as well. Every one.

Indeed, amongst stockmen, I’m the only one I know that drives a manual and lacks an automatic transmission.

All of these trucks are, additionally, diesels. Every single one.  Mine included.

The Army says it’s made ‘significant improvements’ to its troubled new infantry squad vehicle