Morning Symphony: The Roaring HEMTT vs. The World!


Morning Symphony: The Roaring HEMTT vs. The World!

Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. Ten tons of all-American automotive clichés: it’s got a monster engine, a ton of power, it’ll haul just about anything your heart can desire, it makes a noise that’ll cause the undead to crawl back into their graves, and it can’t corner worth a damn. Trust me, I know first-hand. They won’t do donuts without being on snow, sand or gravel and burnouts? Well…I’m not telling you that they can, but you can find the proof if you know where to look. It’s still the largest vehicle I’ve ever operated and the sensation is like none other. If you’ve operated a large motorhome, the sensation is similar…you crawl out into an intersection a lot farther than you’d like before you start turning, you turn wide and if people can’t grasp the concept of “Yield To Tonnage”, then they can deal with the tread pattern across their hood.

Is it any surprise that Brian Scotto was immediately drawn to it? It’s got a turbocharger the size of a small man, a gearbox that weighs in at about…oh, what does his Nova weigh, again?…and even his gigantic frame will fit in the cab with no complaints whatsoever. So why not line up against every other possible competitor out there…like an airport fire rig, the tow pig Ford F-450 (with load), and…well, just hit play and you’ll get an idea what the opposite end of the “power to weight” argument really looks like.


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2 thoughts on “Morning Symphony: The Roaring HEMTT vs. The World!

  1. Labweiler

    BIL was a full timer with the National Guard and the NTPA was coming to town.
    His CO thought it would be a good recruitment gig to hook a HEMMT to the sled. So they did.

    Sled was loaded with all the weight available(ridiculous amount of plate) and set on kill. He said it wasn’t even a challenge. The HEMMT just kept shifting and adding drive axles.

    So far he’s the only person I know to have done it.

  2. BeaverMartin

    I miss the old HEMMTs with the Detroits, but the newer ones with the CATs make way more power.

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