Tell me about this Dodge Truck

[medium_jon]

We saw this Dodge truck at a local show back on August 19th. What can you tell me about it?

[P15-D24]

Power wagon 4x4 , 1 ton. Made from '46 to '65, with 230, 250 and 265 engines. Usually seen with a pickup bed. Has a pto so a winch is a common accessory. Also dump bed and power takes off at the back we're available.  These are heavy duty, all terrain working trucks that could go just about anywhere. 

[Merle Coggins]

Nice looking Power Wagon. And it looks like a good example of a Wheel Horse garden tractor in the back.

[gramps1951]

yup I saw the wheel horse in the back I have an old wheelhorse  they were a great machine all steel with cast iron two speed rearend

[Charlie Stephenson]

"Stump Puller"  .  Charlie Stephenson

[Dodgeb4ya]

Really nice good ones cost a fortune now days.

[The Oil Soup]

There is a salvage yard here in Tucson that is exclusively power wagons with a few pilot house trucks thrown in,  Jacks govt truck salvage. Nice guy, a little tough to deal with and generally won't sell parts but likes to sell the whole vehicle.

[Plymouthy Adams]

get an articulating one...they the coolest yet...

[wallytoo]

the willock swivel-frame is unique, but that's about all it offers.

[Mike36]

8 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

get an articulating one...they the coolest yet...

I articulated a few vehicles, but that was a long time ago.

[Matt Wilson]

On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 4:02 PM, P15-D24 said:

Power wagon 4x4 , 1 ton. Made from '46 to '65, with 230, 250 and 265 engines. Usually seen with a pickup bed. Has a pto so a winch is a common accessory. Also dump bed and power takes off at the back we're available.  These are heavy duty, all terrain working trucks that could go just about anywhere. 

A couple of fact corrections:  They were made from 1946 - 1948 for the U.S. market and I believe through 1971 for some export markets.  The early ones were fitted with the 230 engine, later ones were fitted with the 250 (i.e., 251) engine, but they never did come equipped with the 265.  Would have been nice if they had.

The Power Wagon body style was practically unchanged during its entire production run of 20+ years.  The engine and drive train were based largely on that of the WWII Dodge 3/4-ton WC series trucks.  Frame and body were lengthened and frame and suspension were beefed up for the 1-ton Power Wagon application.  Some, if not all, of the WWII series trucks had a single-speed transfer case, while the Power Wagon had a two-speed transfer case.  The 4-speed transmission was a non-synchro type unit in the early Power Wagons, with the first several years of this being the same as in the WWII trucks, while the later Power Wagons had a different 4-speed non-sychro tranny, and then after that (1956 and up, I think?), they went with a partially synchronized tranny (3rd and 4th were the only synchronized gears).  First gear in the unit was 6.4:1, at least in the early non-sychro units, but similar if not the same in the later ones.  Most trucks had 5.83:1 axle gears, but some could be ordered with optional 4.89's, although those came with shorter tires.

I have a '49 that I'm working to re-power with a 265 flathead.  Most of the rest of the truck will remain stock.

To learn more, you can either go to www.powerwagonadvertiser.com or www.dodgepowerwagon.com.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I believe that while the PW was not dealership item, the truck was produced for not only the military, but for utility companies, ie power companies for one...

[greg g]

Our volunteer fire dept had two outfitted for off road fire fighting, the town hiway dept had a couple for clearing municipal building drives and parking lots.  Couple of local farmers had them as tractor rescue jobs, and the local airport had one that they used to tow about 20 gang mowers to keep the runway and tie down areas trimmed.  I would venture a guess they were all military surplus as most of them sported brush paint jobs where chips showed od green, navy gray, or air corps blue underneath.  One fellow had one with an ambulance body like the ones on MASH. This was mid to late fifties,most were still in service when I went off to college in the early 70's.  Would imagine some of their carcasses are still in the weeds or out behind the barns.

Edited September 10, 2017 by greg g

[Matt Wilson]

1 hour ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I believe that while the PW was not dealership item, the truck was produced for not only the military, but for utility companies, ie power companies for one...

Actually, the Power Wagon was mostly sold to the commercial/civilian market, not the military, although some were sold to the military.  Mind you, I'm talking about the truck that was badged as the Power Wagon, not the trucks that were designated the M37 in the 50's and 60's, which were mechanically similar, but were not identified as Power Wagons, and looked significantly different (alligator hood on M37 vs. side-opening hood on PW and other differences).  The M37's were sold exclusively to the military.  And yes, Power Wagons were often used by utility companies and power companies, amongst many others.

Edited September 10, 2017 by Matt Wilson

[Matt Wilson]

17 minutes ago, greg g said:

Our volunteer fire dept had two outfitted for off road fire fighting, the town hiway dept had a couple for clearing municipal building drives and parking lots.  Couple of local farmers had them as tractor rescue jobs, and the local airport had one that they used to tow about 20 gang mowers to keep the runway and tie down areas trimmed.  I would venture a guess they were all military surplus as most of them sported brush paint jobs where chips showed od green, navy gray, or air corps blue underneath.  One fellow had one with an ambulance body like the ones on MASH. This was mid to late fifties,most were still in service when I went off to college in the early 70's.  Would imagine some of their carcasses are still in the weeds or out behind the barns.

Sounds like some of those were either M37's or M43's, which were the ambulance version of the M37.  Those, along with some WWII WC series trucks are the ones that mostly showed up in MASH.  It is possible that some were actually Power Wagons, as the military did buy a few.  I believe my '49 was actually an ex-Army truck, judging by the Army green paint that existed under much of the later coats of paints on the body.  Even the frame and mechanicals had this paint, and I think someone who knew some history of the truck said it had been purchased as a surplus unit.

[Plymouthy Adams]

this is the play toy I put  together a few years back....375 HP 440.....

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2017 by Plymouthy Adams

[greg g]

Some of them were the more squared off m series, but there were the more rounded grille jobs also.

[greg g]

On 9/7/2017 at 8:20 PM, Charlie Stephenson said:

"Stump Puller"  .  Charlie Stephenson

That could apply to both the PW and WH.  I have an 84/5 WH 310-8 that has subdued its share of overgrown arborvitaes, choke cherries and feral bull thistles.

[Reg Evans]

I've owned 3 of the military versions over the years.  I kept the running engine out of the one without a cab before trading it for an R10 overdrive.

 

[medium_jon]

@Matt Wilson: and others. Thanks for all the really interesting details.  I'm very intrigued by these trucks now. 

[medium_jon]

9 hours ago, greg g said:

That could apply to both the PW and WH.  I have an 84/5 WH 310-8 that has subdued its share of overgrown arborvitaes, choke cherries and feral bull thistles.

Indeed, when I read that I couldn't tell which machine we were talking about 

[RonaldC]

On 9/8/2017 at 6:37 PM, Mike36 said:

I articulated a few vehicles, but that was a long time ago.

And boy was my dad PISSED about it too.....