With a few recent posts about Mogs, I thought I'd add my impressions after my first ride in a Mog last week, 100 miles or so through the Sierra Madres in Mexico. I rode a '58 former NATO troop carrier that an outfitter takes touristas like myself for rides in. Had an '00 2 liter 6 cyl 75 hp gas engine in it, a replacement for the original diesel. Vehicle was in excellent shape. Was overkill for the dirt road cruising and occasional stream fording we did--my Vanagon could have taken the same route (much faster!), tho a car could not have. Max speed for that rig was 48 mph, which we never saw--hit 40 a couple times, but any grade slowed us down very quickly, due to the weight of the vehicle--we were very lightly loaded.
They are very large, heavy machines. Very wide-ratio transmissions, with two crawler gears and 4 road gears. There is no doubt they will go through anything at all, but the widely spaced gears, and in this one's case, a high-revving OHC six and a very clunky shifter that prevented quick gear changes meant that there was no chance you could upshift on a grade of any steepness, and much of the ride was done with the engine bumping up against the rev limiter. Impressed me that it would be not nearly as fun to drive as my brother's 1942 International KB7--that's also also heavy and underpowered, but with a low-compression, slow-turning, tourquey stroker of a six and ten close-ratio gears, there's always plenty of tourque on tap and the perfect ratio for whatever you want to do. Engine braking was also awkward due to the wide gears. But the ride was quite comfortable, considering, due to the huge tires, and in spite of its great height, was quite stable. They said they could ford 5' of water, due to sealed engine, snorkle, etc. However, the battery went dead, and we all (6 of us) had to push start it once. That was a kick. So, that's all I know about Mogs. Street-legal tractor pretty well sums it up, and I have no doubt they're a blast at doing real serious off-roading, or playing with the various cranes, side-dump boxes, and all the other toys you can get on one. But as a truck--nah. That's kind of missing the point, I think, like using a stock MBZ diesel for drag racing. Can be done, but why? Dan _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
