It is the ultimate thing I do not need. It is the ultimate thing that I really, really want. Yes, the 1989 FLU419 SEE tractor you see here is pretty much the thing that I’d want to own above virtually all else in the automotive world. Combining the Lohnes approved traits of being slow, ugly, probably less functional than it seems, and impossible to actually park anywhere, it is perfect. This particular rig only has like 5,000 miles on it and how many of those were put on just zipping back and forth to training sites and stuff like that. The truck has been completely gone through, all systems checked, filters and fluids changed etc. Effectively this is like a 30-year old new truck.
The bucket has a .75 yard capacity and the backhoe setup is from Case. Interestingly it was Freightliner who did the conversions on Unimogs to make them into the SEE (small equipment excavator) unit that you are looking at here. I do not know what this thing weighs but good Lord it has to be heavy. The backhoe unit itself has to be at least a ton or two, there is plenty of steel in the arms and bucket up front and then there is the rest of the hulking Unimog that the whole works is built off of.
The multitude of shifters and levers in the driver’s area pretty much seals the deal in terms of coolness for me. The engine is a 360ci Mercedes diesel and yeah, I realize that a Bluebird school bus will probably look like a dragster next to this rig but hey, the thing has 15 gears!
You may think it is dumb and all of that but I love these and I WILL own one at some point…even if I have to live in it.
eBay: 1989 FLU419 SEE Tractor for sale and boy is it cherry!
This is just up the road from me…they always have cool stuff
Though cool in concept, these were huge pieces of crap. They tipped and/or rolled over at the slightest suggestion, were slow AF, and as a bonus the backhoe had no stop so Soldiers would crush the cab trying to stow it. Part of the cost of being in NATO. It’s amazing that we fielded these ACEs and AVLBs and expected the ENs to do anything other than sit in the motorpool hating life. The new HMEE and D7/D9s are much better.