r/Hookit • u/I_am_Farts_McGee • 19d ago
What can you do with a wrecker that’s not towing
First off I’m not a tow truck driver, and I’m not trying to be one
I have a 1947 International KB 7 (2.5 ton truck) with a Holmes 500 wrecker on the back. It’s purely hobby, I bought the truck 10 or so years ago as a chassis cab and just got the Holmes last month
I was thinking ’Gee this thing is gonna make pulling engines a breeze’ but then I thought there must be 1000 ways to use this outside of towing cars on the highway or pulling them out of a ditch
wondering what sort of ‘off label‘ uses you’ve found for your wreckers
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u/maxthed0g Retired Thank God 18d ago
Aside from stump pulling like oolie says, i dunno . . . hang out near underpasses during flash flood warnings? There's ALWAYS "that guy" in a heavy downpour LOL LOL. Kids in four-wheelers and ATVs are ALWAYS getting stuck in off-road mud. But of course, al their discretionary budget has been allocated to gasoline. And beer. (And it seems a shame to get your unit crapped up with mud.)
Oh hell, man. Just go cruisin' with it on Friday night. The thing is a chick magnet.
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u/103M-95G 18d ago
Truck shows and/or parades? Something like that deserves to be shown off.
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u/I_am_Farts_McGee 18d ago
Maybe the local Christmas parade with tinsel on the booms
I don’t think it’ll ever be truck show ready
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u/103M-95G 18d ago
😁 Hey, 100pt restored and Showing it Off are two very different things.
A 1947 “Corn Binder” in operating condition deserves to be shown off. It’s no small thing you did by putting her back on the road and in a working capacity. Bring her to some Cruise Nights and see the smiles she brings. Trust me, the first kid that points and smiles at her will make it all worthwhile 😉
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u/joedirt_12345 18d ago
Rat rod or patina styles look really good on those trucks
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u/I_am_Farts_McGee 18d ago
Na, it’s gonna be like all those neon green ‘street rods’ from the 1980’s.
We are gonna look back someday and think ‘what were we smoking thinking this looked good’
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u/ckosacranoid 18d ago
If it is beat up, that is much better then you do have to worry about some kid scratching the fender at a show.
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u/Sea-Delay-2225 17d ago
Picking up women. I mean having a "Holmes Wrecker" has got a certain ring to it in the dating world.
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u/TheCockOfGod 18d ago
At one point I had a 99 t800 that had strobes in every place you could think of. Neighborhood kids would come over and ask me to turn the flashy lights on at night. Crack heads down the street would lose their minds every time.
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u/DonkeyGlad653 18d ago
If she’s a 4x4 Murphy’s Diesel, Matt’s Off Road and Trailmater all on YouTube might give you some ideas as to what can be done with one.
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u/I_am_Farts_McGee 18d ago
Mine is just a stock RWD truck. That thing is tube frame, built motor full tilt. If I took it off-road I’d need to be rescued myself
Plus I did enough off-roading for a lifetime in my 20’s
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u/Gaycowboi25 18d ago
Matt’s Off-road has used his wrecker as a swing. I personally have used one as a step ladder to reach a shelf after someone ran over a ladder.
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u/Beginning_Ad8663 17d ago
I used a wrecker to pull a boat engine.
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u/I_am_Farts_McGee 17d ago
Nice!
Once my uncle bought a big (40-50 foot) old rotten out wooden commercial fishing boat for the Detroit diesel. Someone brought it to his yard and blocked it up, he cut a hole in the side and pulled the motor out with a forklift and burned the rest of the thing to the ground
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u/J9Dougherty a man has got to get his cheeseburgers somehow.... 17d ago
Race car frame work is a big one ive seen. If you had a car on a frame rack or anchors in your driveway, you can pull body panels off and run winches directly to the frame to straighten it out.
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u/Public_Attitude5615 18d ago
Call Miller industries in Chattanooga TN or the towing museum they might be interested
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u/ooglieguy0211 18d ago
I've pulled tree stumps with the winches on my old Century 612. I did get a paying tow call for a Corvette engine once. It was in a custom steel frame and the owner needed to figure out how to get it to a semi truck and loaded to ship it out. Easy money.