M68 Mercury

[RalphG]

I know the Mercury trucks are a bit of a novelty to those outside Canada so here is a closer video look at the M68 I've got sitting in my yard. Still hoping to get the engine freed up one of these days. This is the data plate inside the glove compartment door. Its a 49.
https://youtu.be/fQtrs_AesxE

[corvette8n]

I wondered when you were going to post about your Merc truck. I had a '36 Pontiac that was stuck, I put ATF in the cylinders, and rocked it back and forth a few times each morning in high gear, low and behold after about 3 months it broke loose. The same thing happened when I worked at a gas station one summer, the owner had a car someone dropped off and the motor was stuck, I rocked it back and forth each morning, by the end of summer it broke free. So I guess I'm saying have patience. You truck looks like a great useful project.

[rotorwrench]

I saw the tail gate modification there for a sliding grain port. I was wondering if there were bed extensions for the grain hauling or just the plain bed sides. The plain bed looks like it might hold close to 90 bushels. My Grand Pop's old International Six Speed Specials would haul 200 bushels but just barely. They had bed extensions to do that. Shovel the grain out for bin storage and shovel it back in for delivery to market. Lot of work back before grain augers and dump beds became more common. They were all pretty happy when their first dump bed truck came along in 1939. They still used a scoop shovel but not nearly as much as before.

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

I saw the tail gate modification there for a sliding grain port. I was wondering if there were bed extensions for the grain hauling or just the plain bed sides. The plain bed looks like it might hold close to 90 bushels. .

You know your farm trucks if you noticed that sliding door addition on the tail gate. Yes, the truck had plywood extensions on it when they hauled grain. I would say a foot and half or more high above the metal box side. I don't know if they filled it right up but I know 90 bushels was a common figure used. And way overloaded for the truck's capacity. They were still hauling grain this way with the Merc til the early 1970s when they got a bigger Chevy 2 ton with a hydraulic hoist.

[flatford8]

I always learn something when I read your posts Ralph.....Thanks!.....Mark

[Tr4]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Hello, im new to this whole thread posting stuff. I just bought a 1950 m68, I have the serial number, my problem is that my engine code plate has been taken off by previus owner and also i have the style body no. Which is 1dd50-1840 / 22667 and I can not find the meaning of these numbers

[JSeery]

Welcome to the Barn. I am not aware of any engine code plate? Is this a Canadian thing? Rebuilders sometimes attached a plate.

[RalphG]

There is no engine plate on this M68 I have. Just a firewall tag, left side as I recall. Date of manufacture is on the left side underneath the voltage regulator.
You can see the firewall tag at the 6:30 mark in this recent video. https://youtu.be/fQtrs_AesxE