M-Gator

[Robin Craig]

There have been a number sold off out east here over the last few years but fiscal restraint or poverty or common sense has meant I have avoided going into debt for one as yet but there are on my radar. Pictures attached are from DND of GC surplus sources and are not mine. more to follow. Yes I know there are differences between full milspec and mil used vehicles but in my view if it was used by the CF it is a genuine "military vehicle in my book"

[Robin Craig]

here is the last one

[rob love]

The first one was a very nice, low hour example. It went for over $13K if I recall plus taxes. It is a true M-gator.
I did not see the second one come up. It would appear to be a commercial trail gator as opposed to an M-gator. They were also in olive color, but missing things like the front rack, the blackout lighting, and have the extra fenders over the cargo box. etc. I'm not sure if the rear box had dropsides on that model. Supposedly the military models used heavier metal.

I priced out my fenders yesterday on ebay. I am replacing all four. Prices are in US dollars and include free shipping to the border. I thought I would call up the local John Deere dealer and see if the Cdn prices were similar (including the appropriate exchange rate of course). They were not even close. For example, one of the fenders (right front, p/n AM126880) is $379 USD on ebay shipped to the border. My local dealer lists it at $699 Cdn. With the exchange rate, it should be around $511. Needless to say I'll be ordering all of them from ebay in the US.

[maple_leaf_eh]

There were at least two Afghanistan casualties c. '07 or '08 involving a Gator. They were doing a too-predictable admin run and got blown up. If I can find the men's names, I'll post them here.

[Ed Storey]

M-Gators were a pretty common sight in Afghanistan with some configured and being used well beyond what they were designed for.

DSCN7341 1.jpg

[Craig S.]

Very nice auction find. Used CFR#66103 as a taxi that a civilian GDLS contractor had been signed out. He preferred his Toyota Hilux with the A/C and this green machine turned into recovery/RG-31 section asset until I flew home.
The armed version was an idea that manifested itself after looking through some spare parts and discussing upping the street cred of Gator to it's older brother the armored model A tractor. Slow St. Patrick's day weekend in PBW as well if I recall. It was a few months after this particular photo occurred that we lost 3 PPCLI members Cpl. Stephen Frederick Bouzane, Pte. Joel Vincent Wiebe and Sgt. Christos Karigiannis on a similarly configured, if not the same Gator.

[rob love]

Those are some great photos, thanks Craig. It looks like the mount is simply one of the LAV3 mounts. I will, however, resist the urge to install my (dewat) Mag58 onto the front of this one.

It has the tracker tires, which are runflats. Currently mine has worn out carlisle tires which would be more akin to those on a golf cart or lawn mower. I have to ascertain if the rims on it now are appropriate for runflats in which case I will procure the trackers.

I got all my fenders ordered yesterday along with the clutch assembly. I get free shipping to the border, so I'll have to make the trip in a week or so.

I had a head scratching moment on how to remove the clutch from the engine shaft. I almost ordered the special tool, or was going to lathe one up. In the end, a 3" piece of 1/2" bolt was inserted into the bore, and a lubricated 9/16 UNF was driven into the hole with an impact gun. The clutch popped right off. That was way better than prybars and a hammer. A John Deere clutch is around $600 USD. I'll give the chinese one (at just under $300 CDN) a try and see how it works out.

I picked up some seats from Princess auto. They have a universal bolt pattern underneath with maybe 20 different threaded nuts. Alas, it is almost universal...it doen't fit the gator and the extra 16 nuts mean even if I modify to match the holes on the seat, it won't sit flush with the plate. They will get returned and I'll order something online.

From my time in KAF, the gators were a well liked little vehicle. So much so that a few were mis-appropriated. On close out we had two with the same license plate, and another with no plate but a serial number that belonged to the Americans. The serial decal had been torn off, but a little searching found the serial numbers are stamped behind the rear right wheel station on the frame.