M-Gator

[rob love]

Here is a vehicle you don't see in Canada much, an M-Gator. These were a vehicle John Deere produced by beefing up their commercial gator and adding things like the stretcher rack, blackout lighting, pintle hitch, and rifle brackets. It of course came in a military green. The Cdn military had them in Afghanistan, but on closeout they were sold off or destroyed in theater, depending on their condition and pedigree.

This one was a 2007 model, and appears to have spent most of it's life with the tac hel sqn in Edmonton. It went over to Mali in 2018, and in the past 3 or 4 years, seems to have spent it's last years in service waiting for parts. Since the parts for the M-gators were not nationally procured, it fell onto the units to spend their funds, so if a vehicle was a bit of a luxury, then they may not get fixed until funds become available. That seems to have been the fate of this one.

It showed up on CADC about a week or so ago, and I knew I must have it. I sold the wife on the idea since it will be good for her gardening and yardwork. Bidding did not go high, and once over, I had Superdave pick it up for me. I did a quick 2-1/2 day round trip and it is now home.



I pulled the cargo box off it today so I can start to get a better idea of what it needs. Something else I picked up from Edmonton was 4 MLVW engine stands that I got for a song from CADC....perfect for the cargo box to roll it around.



The list of parts is lengthy, and there were a few jury rig repairs that I will do properly. So for a start it needs batteries, tires, a hazard light switch, 3 fenders (why do they cost 50% more if they are in olive drab), seats, a clutch and belt, paint and decals. If I were to order all that from John Deere, it would end up costing me twice what I paid for the gator, so I'll be scouring the net for some cheaper/aftermarket alternatives. I hope to have it up and running by the end of June.

[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.

[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.

[Robin Craig]

The attraction of these vehicles is mostly from the fact there is no door to negotiate, you almost slide in and out. We suffered the same problem on another class of vehicle when we went from a door less simple flat floored vehicle to one with doors and air and radio. Wholly lost the utility that the previous model held.

[rob love]

I got the battery boxes painted with POR-15, 2 new batteries, some new cables and some cable repairs (there were some terminals that were poorly replaced over the years), and started the vehicle for the first time in a couple years. It fired right up. I replaced one broken LED blackout marker and also installed an LED Blackout headlight to replace the old plastic one. A quick light check and those were the only two lights working. John Deere wants $135 a marker light....I traced them to the CUCV and got some from ebay for a whopping $8 each.

Anyway, lots of parts ordered including seats, a missing motor mount isolator, front tires, switches, and a few other things. My fenders and clutch are in at the border so may head down tomorrow to get them. I still have to find 4 rear tires for it....the original P-tracker tires are not made anymore by GoodYear. Titan resumed production of them for a bit, but they seem to have stopped now as well. I am trying to avoid the chinese tires.

This is going to be a fun little vehicle.

[rob love]

It has been about a month since I updated this thread on the Gator. I have brought in a few batches of parts, and it seems you go to replace one thing and 2 other problems show up. I replaced the tires, and found the front wheel bearings have a bit of choppy drag on them (likely dry grease) so I am replacing those. I'll likely do all the rear bearings as well, since they will also be of the same vintage.



The front tires are a pair of the original P-tracker runflats that Frank Von Rosensteil picked up for me and passed to another collector to drop at my place. The rears are a readily available Chinese made tire for now. However I had superdave pick me up a very nice pair of the original P-trackers rear tires that I spotted on kijiji near him. I am now watching to fin another pair. I see some in Peterborough ON that are priced right, but they appear more worn than the ones I have. I would like it to have the original factory tires.



Got in a pair of aftermarket seats, and they are installed. I ordered the majority of the switches, some from China and some from the US, as the old ones were hard to read. I figured out that the missing switch was the 4 way switch. I have also ordered one of the fender lights, since it was broken at the back. It is coming from Latvia of all places...they had them for $20 shipped. In hindsight I should have ordered two. Then again, I am not sure if I am getting the complete lamp assembly which I need, or just the lens. I'll know this week.



I removed the hood so I could access the wiring, and also remove the "408" which was so poorly spray painted. That was the tactical-helicopter unit that had this thing. Once in there I found out that this gator had the John Deere winch kit installed at some point, although the winch and mounting plate did not make it to the auction. Winches rarely do.



So as it turns out, the 2007 Gators seem to have a few luxuries that the 2005 gators in Afghanistan did not have. There is the deluxe turn signal kit and the John Deere Warn winch kit. Evidence of these can be seen in the photos Robin showed earlier from a Gator sold by CADC about a year back.



I picked up some 383 green CARC substitute at the MVPA convention last week, so will repaint the cargo box and the brush guard/litter rack soon. I am also placing an order for all the nickle and dime items like certain washers, spacers, plastic caps, decals from a John Deere dealer in the US so I can get this project completed. Unfortunately, John Deere may have discontinued some of the M-gator specific items like the blackout switch and some of the M-gator specific decals.



There was a gator at the MVPA convention this year. The owner had a photo of him (or someone) with an M-gator in Iraq or Afghanistan. However the gator he had at the show was just a civilian trail gator, with the civilian cargo box and no blackout lighting. Perhaps, if my project turns out well, I'll bring mine down next year.

[Ed Storey]

Rob,

Will you be mounting a C6 on your vehicle....?

[rob love]

I only have a brit made copy, L8 I believe. I do not have a c6.
I am only presenting this vehicle as an administrative vehicle, and not a fighting vehicle, so there will end up being just the personal weapons, webbing and kit if it goes on display. I will not be presenting it as a vehicle that was in Afghanistan, but rather as a vehicle of a type that was. It did go to Mali with the UN, so it has a bit more history than your average golf cart.

Been busy in the shop with wiring repairs. There is corrosion in a lot of the connectors, so they have to be disassembled and the terminals cleaned or replaced. I have found a circuit that could not have possibly worked (front marker lights), so a bit of rewiring is required there. I may also add an interlock so the regular lamps, including brake lights, won't illuminate when the blackout lighting is energized.

[rob love]

I took the cargo box apart and sandblasted most of it. Then I decided I needed the Gator for an event in the area, so quickly painted the box and re-assembled it. It also got a Canadian fire extinguisher bracket to replace the US type, but that may get reversed.



I also found the winch on kijiji. Cost more than I wanted to pay, but a lot less than from John Deere. I doubt I'll ever need it, but this vehicle was set up for it, so it is there.



I still have to remove the front grill and stretcher frame and repaint them. But as it stands now, the vehicle runs and it is a hoot around the yard. I do have to say that the lack of a suspension on the back makes it a little rough on poor terrain. I may try and lower the tire pressures some and see how that works out.

[derk derin]

Still no picture with a stretcher on it!
Derk

[rob love]

So just for Derk, here are a couple shots with the stretchers affixed. I talked the wife into playing one of the casualties, and my Santa Claus dummy who has been residing in the quonset filled the other stretcher.
The literature says it can transport two stretchers, however two will fit neatly onto the cargo box with the third on the front rack.

In the one photo you can see the tail-lamps I ended up going with. The originals were damaged, and did not appear available separately. You had to by the complete $350 USD deluxe lighting kit from John Deere to get the originals. I ended up getting two of the LED sealed taillights along with markers, in the steel boxes for $40 Cdn from Amazon. The problem with them is they look a little too fancy for a military vehicle.



I may take the gator to the last cruise night of the year. I don't think I can talk the wife into laying on the stretcher for 3 hours in public, so I'll likely take the mannequin that is dressed up in the arid cadpat.

[rob love]

So a little update to the project. First the tires: I had found some nos of the original p-tracker tires when I started this project, but settled for some non-original tires for the back. I did buy two used ones thanks to superdave, and had located a few pairs out east. But after keeping an eye on ebay for a while, a stack of the proper p_tracker run flat tires became available on ebay for a very decent price so I bought a set of 4 new ones. The fellow at the border place commented that they were as heavy as light truck tires. Anyway, they will wait for spring before getting installed.

The other update is on the rear lights. The original lights were in poor shape, with one cracked lense and both brackets bent. The rear light kit from John deere is several hundred USD. I had replaced them with sealed LED light in steel. Ones which I had mounted underneath the cargo box. But I was not happy with them not being original. I had tried to locate lenses from speaker, whose name was on the lenses but had no luck looking over their inventory. I had resigned myself to paying john deeres price along with the 3 hour round trip to the US border and back. But a google search led me to photos of some taillights for a polaris atv from around the same time period as the gator. I got some from a company here in canada for $15 ea with free shipping and they were a perfect fit. I straightened an repainted the original brackets, cleaned up the wiring harness, and have everything reinstalled and working. As these lights are now the widest part of the gator, I can see them possibly getting damaged one day, and I am not quite loving the look of them, but they are oem and that is what matters most.

One last job will be to replace all the rubber lines along with the fuel filter housing over the winter. She loses a little prime over a few days and has to crank about 10 times to start. She used to start almost instantly....I want that back.

[Marc Montgomery]

Another excellent resto Rob. I am highly impressed.


It is interesting that the CF is looking into these modified ATV things for tactical, recce /special forces duty. such as the MRZR and the Polaris Alpha.


Seems from the requirements that the Iltis would fit the role although these military ATVs might be somewhat quicker, but not necessarily faster?

[rob love]

The use of the atvs is, I suspect, to take advantage of the small size, advanced off road capabilities, and cross country speed. An iltis is not the same thing.

As Afghanistan showed, soft skin vehicles have no place outside the wire. There will have to be doctrine written toward the atv use.

Speaking of which, I see several of the polaris atvs being sold in the US on govplanet. Perhaps they have thought better of the idea, and they will join the growlers. https://www.govplanet.com/for-sale/P...rm=&pnLink=yes