In the Netherlands, numerous ex-US military 6×6 trucks were professionally converted into dump trucks during the post-World War II decades. Truck makers and off-road specialists Ginaf and Terberg stemmed from such conversion jobs. A diesel engine swap was an important part of the whole process. Dump trucks like this were still widely used well into the seventies, I remember them vividly from my childhood years.
The chassis got a three-way Netam dump bed. Netam is very short for NV Nederlandsche Tank-, Apparaten- en Machinefabriek.
According to the truck’s registration, the engine is a six-cylinder diesel with a maximum power output of 165 kW (225 DIN-hp). Given that rating my first thought is a naturally aspirated DAF 1160-series engine, an inline-six with a displacement of 11.6 liter.
Of course a DAF diesel engine swap was very common. Power units from other European truck makers, like Mercedes-Benz and Henschel, were also used.
Coachbuilder J. van Eck en Zonen (J. van Eck and Sons) made the steel cab. The company, founded in 1912 by Johannes van Eck, is still very much alive.
Multiple Dutch coachbuilders fabricated truck cabs back then, both for conventional trucks/tractor units and for cabover chassis.
The core business of our coachbuilders was developing and manufacturing buses, coaches, truck cabs, bodies for all types of large commercial vehicles, ambulances and hearses. All pure utility vehicles, so to speak. Fancy car bodies? Nope.
In the foreground the PTO-hydraulic pump combination.
And a close-up of the rear tandem.
Oh yes, in case you might wonder what small truck is parked next to the REO, it’s this 1965 Barkas B1000.
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1962 Studebaker M35 6×6 Truck – A Veteran For Veterans Day
Interesting orientation of the rear axle, with the pinion 90 degrees offset. I’d surmise it is this way due to space constraints? Or is it a 2 speed axle?
Thats the front driven axle, drive continues past it to the rear driven axle, no power divider in those days.
They were made by Rockwell, and they are worm drive. I believe all 3 differential assemblies are interchangeable
The military’s 2½ and 5 ton trucks used that style of axle through the 1980’s for sure and probably longer than that. They would usually have a five speed transmission/two speed transfer case that provided 10 forward gears. Of course you would only need about three of those gears unless the truck was heavily loaded or you were off road. Top speed of a deuce and a half in low gear/low range was around 4-5 MPH.
Cool, I saw a couple of repurposed ex WW2 trucks at Transport world recently a 4×4 GMC turned into a tow truck and a 6×6 converterted to a fert spreader, those things stayed wotrking for decades after military service here due to a shortage of new replacements and the inability of more modern trucks to match their off road capabilities.
Interesting as always, Johannes. But by the time the truck gets a new cab, new tipping body and new engine that would leave pretty much just the frame and axles original – but those parts would just about last forever.
Did they replace that much of the truck due to wear, or to make it more suitable for the local environment? (Or both, I guess)
To make it more suitable for the local environment. In post-war Europe, the switchover to diesel engines in trucks was massive and rapid. It’s almost unthinkable that a truck of this size and weight would have a gasoline engine. An enclosed, all-steel cab in our climate is logical too. And chassis were strengthened to carry the heavy loads.
In the post-war years there was a lack of everything, money included. Meanwhile US military trucks were shipped to Europe in large numbers, near the end of the war and after the war (Cold War era). Ex-US military truck chassis and components, like the axles, were great -and cheap- starting points for on/off-road trucks.
Later on, very capable and tough 6×6 trucks were built and supplied by Mercedes-Benz (L-series!), MAN, Hanomag-Henschel, Magirus-Deutz, Steyr and Tatra. With the exception of Steyr, all of them were conventionals. Besides these brands, Ginaf (DAF-technology) and Terberg (Volvo-technology) were the domestic off-road specialists.
Ha, yes, rather a grandpa’s axe, perhaps.
But it must be said, the result is a damn handsome vehicle.