Canadian Dodge, 3 ton 4x2

[motto]

Referred to in Australia by a previous generation as 'hungry boards'.
I haven't heard the term for years.

David

[Lang]

Dave

You still see hungry boards on light load trucks like mulch carriers and landscapers trucks to cart the light bulky branches etc away.

Those Dodges would probably carry 6 ton legal in their afterlife and most blokes would probably up that to 8 tons with duals fitted. Engine would pull the load but brakes might have been a worry! They were very popular with Cockies fitted with wheat bins carrying who knows what weight once bulk handling came in during the 50's. Even in the bag days they probably stopped loading when no more could be put on and the tyres looked like bursting.

Lang

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by motto

Referred to in Australia by a previous generation as 'hungry boards'.
I haven't heard the term for years.

David

and 'greedy boards' in this part of the country !

Richard

[Lang]

Can't find Dodge photos with a quick search but this is an Army Chev which along with the Fords and Dodges formed the backbone of the farm fleets in the late 40's and 50's.

Photo split in two for some reason.

Wheat.jpg wheat2.jpg

[Kevin Goodwin]

Thanks for posting the pictures Lang they will prove really useful.
Ian, I was aware that the truck had been used primarily for the Beet season and that the 'greedy boards' were not standard fitment together with the tipping gear, however I was not sure if the main body was the original that had been modified for its new role, as it turns out the original body has long since gone! I must have been very fortunate to acquire the truck if yourself/others were aware of its existence, are you able to throw any light on its history?
Kevin

[Lang]

Just looking at the Dodge photos in the parts manual. Similar to other British vehicles it only has one blackout light and no headlights. You can see the Australian Dodges from the same build had full headlights.

Even the bloke who decided to do this could not in his wildest dreams have believed an army vehicle would spend all or even most of its life in a situation requiring night concealment from the enemy.

I wonder how many vehicles were wrecked and how many people died because of this stupidity. I think the more common single full headlight (maybe a blackout light with cover removed) often seen in photos of CMP's was possibly more dangerous as on coming traffic did not know how wide - is it a truck, jeep or motorcycle - and on which side of the road you were.

The American system of both full and blackout lights was much more versatile and safer. Only a few wrecked vehicles because of lack of vision or collision would have paid for proper lights for the whole fleet and allowed trucks to travel much safer, faster and more efficiently in non-combat situations.

[motto]

Originally Posted by Lang

Just looking at the Dodge photos in the parts manual. Similar to other British vehicles it only has one blackout light and no headlights. You can see the Australian Dodges from the same build had full headlights.
I think the more common single full headlight (maybe a blackout light with cover removed) often seen in photos of CMP's was possibly more dangerous as on coming traffic did not know how wide - is it a truck, jeep or motorcycle - and on which side of the road you were and safer..

Because of the single headlight-oncoming vehicle situation described I have wired my vehicles to have the parking lights stay on with headlights on in case I have a headlight go out.
I also now instal headlights that have an integral parking bulb so as to do away with the need for dedicated lights cluttering the front of the vehicle.
Many years ago I had a cousin ride his motorcycle into the front of an oncoming vehicle with a headlight out and miraculously live to tell the tale.
It may have been this event that alerted me to the possibility.

David

[Mike Cecil]

The reason the immediate post-war civilian fleet had so many ex-military MC types, including the Dodge D60L, plus small numbers of British military types such as WOT, and Bedford QLs, was that these were the vehicles that the military disposed of first and in the largest numbers, while retaining large numbers of the US Military Pattern and Canadian Military Pattern vehicles.

Jeeps were disposed of because of the very large numbers involved: the Army did not see a need to retain (store & maintain) some 12 or 13,000 of them for the post-war force. Same for motorcycles: once the Harley Davidson was decided upon as the immediate post-war motorcycle, all the thousands of BSA M20s, etc, were turned over to the Commonwealth Disposals Commission.

Mike