Anyone considered moving up to a Unimog?

[Dreadnought]

Before you read any further I must warn you that this thread is an advert for my U1300L which is for sale.....but I did wonder what vehicles people on here moved up from to a Pinzgauer? I moved up from Landrovers of various sizes. I can,t say that I moved up again from my 710K to the Unimog, because I bought the Mog, thinking that it would be ideal to bring to Poland and convert for use as my Tractor, Polish law has seen off that idea. (I suppose with hindsight I would have bought a nice MB trac and made a resto job of it) The Pinz looks like going on being my ideal vehicle, having had no trouble with the snow last year and the full set of chains should see us having no trouble in future. So the Unimog that would have complemented the Pinz has to go to make way for a 4x4 tractor with loader which will be more practical for my uses. I suppose some of you will ask what law stops the use of the Unimog, well in UK it was accepted as a tractor due to it,s multi use ability....here they have no concept of a fun vehicle and so to the Polish system it is a commercial vehicle and must pay the rates of tax for a commercial vehicle..they wouldn,t accept the argument that it is not actually used as a commercial vehicle....doesn,t come into Polish thinking....if someone has a vehicle they could make money out of then they will be doing just that!!!!!(if they are a Pole). So would anyone like a nice SBU (square cab) U1300L? 44,000Kms only, have researched it,s history and it was an Electronic warfare, radio truck....now I don,t know about Bundeswehr but Brit Army EWOP vehicles had an easy life and were garaged when not out jammming commie, radio comms. Oh and it had a full wksp rebuild not long before it left service, had a new bed put in with the correct materials a couple of years ago, it has an air dryer for the brakes and a diesel cab heater (big one). It is registered in UK as a tractor, still have the plates and the docus. There is a vid of it on You Tube...just enter Sprzedam Unimog Podkarpacie. E Mail me or private message for more details.....I will be buying another Unimog after I have bought a tractor....probably a little 411 for the lanes when I,m not in the Pinz. Oh Price? £10,000 Sterling without the 7.5 Ton Superwich (which really does work!!) or £11,000 with.

[stiffler4444]

Lookout, some folks might get offended at the thought of "moving up" to a mog....

[Dreadnought]

By 'moving up' I suppose I just meant that its several more steps higher to climb up into the cab!!!! well that,s my excuse and I,m sticking to it!!!

[Twin Pinzies]

"Moving UP?!" It's actually huge step DOWN to go to a Mog. That's exactly why so many armies swapped their Mogs for Pinzgauers back in the 70's.
How dare you sir!

[krick3tt]

It is too bad the laws where you are now do not take into account your logic...it's the same here. Not much in the way of logic being applied.
I moved UP to a pinz from a Mog. Had a 404...too noisy, too thirsty and too slow. Was a fine vehicle though. I like the pinz better.
Good luck on your sale.

[wanderer]

...doesn't look like anyone wants to "move up"


all i know is they guy who lives near me with a mog seems to take an awful lot of interest in my pinz

[Dreadnought]

I,m not going into a big defense of the U1300L right now, but I,m looking out of my 'office' (small room upstairs where I can look out at the barn and the concrete hardstand) and the Pinzgauer 710K (mine is supereconomical with a 'Pinzmeister diesel conversion) is standing next to the Unimog and I have to say that they really do complement each other. If I still lived in the UK and had land such as I do here in Poland I would be keeping the Unimog. You see the Pinz is great for moving along the lanes (quiet rapidly compared to even the Unimog) because all the lanes here are the size of a small Ursus tractor, the Mog is Big!!! it even makes a 404 look small, but there is the nub of it, The
Mog just brought 4 tons of chopped wood up out of my forest (small wooded area in a steep valley) in one go...now the Pinz would happily climb up the side of the valley, but I fear that 4 tons of wood would tax it severely. So the way to go is a Medium 4x4 tractor and trailer to replace the Mog, the Pinz is my official runabout in all weathers and our standard means of getting through the snow in winter, the Suzuki Jimny 1.5DDS (diesel...I only do diesel since about 1974, bought a Mercedes 200D when I was 18 - never looked back) is my wife,s shopping trolley (she,s just gone off to take her Saturday English class 3 valleys away) and we fully intend to Buy a nice old classic Unimog 411 as perhaps a project one day in the next couple of years......(Mog fever is as virulent as Pinz fever) No my friends, the Pinz is wonderful but trust me if you,ve never Piloted one of the Big Mogs with all Diff locks in over a series of big ditches that would have the Pinz 'confused', then you should try it once, it may not be for you?......but I think all Pinz owners should have some kind of Mog hidden away too.......just in case you really do get stuck!

[spandit]

For those of you who can't be bothered to search:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ll64on3xTw

[Dreadnought]

Thanks Spandit, I,m not good at those sort of things! did you catch a glimpse of the pinz there in the background sporting her yellow 'classic' Polish numberplates. Oh and I just noticed that I forgot to add that my Unimog does have the full deep wader kit with air pressure to all components like axles/gearbox and headlights to keep the water out......works...been in up to the bottom of the windscreen.....not a drop in the axles or boxes or headlights.....that would have been to the top of the windscreen on a Pinz!!!!!scuba tanks necessary!!!!

[Profpinz]

Anyone considered moving up to a Unimog?

Bite your tongue!

Interesting to see that the Australian Army is replacing their Land Rovers and Unimogs with 6X6 G Wagens and Mercedes Trucks

[Dreadnought]

Prof....I,d love to see any pics of the contenders for the Perentie replacement...I know the G-wagen won the deal, but who were the other competitors? Any 6x6 Jap mobiles in the line up?

[Profpinz]

Details on the contenders are somewhat sketchy but these were the original suppliers for the light section of the contract:

TENEX DEFENCE: Land Rover Range (4x4 / 6x6 Land Rover Defenders and variants)
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE INDUSTRIES: Pinzgauer 716 / 718 and variants
DAIMLER CHRYSLER AUSTRALIA-PACIFIC: G-Wagen
GENERAL DYNAMICS: Mowag Duro.

I understand Land Rover pulled out fairly early into the process and the Pinzgauer and Duro were somewhat disadvantaged being forward controls!
(armies aren't keen on foward control in todays military operational environments....The driver sitting above the wheel is not ideal if you hit a mine)
I've also heard that Toyota submitted their Troop Carrier for assessment, but I've never been able to confirm this.

[psychoman]

Have to say I have been looking at bigger toys over the last year - Mogs, ZILs, etc - mostly with the view of creating a more family-friendly off road camper/mini expedition vehicle. I love the 712M, but since our little un came along its not getting as much use, being only a 2 seater in practical terms. I love the idea of a big 4x4 or 6x6 truck - thought 4mpg on the ZIL stared me off a bit...

Still pondering whether to keep the Pinz 712 - latest idea is to switch it back to an Amby body and fit a couple of proper seats in the rear with seat belts etc, to make it a 4 seater with room to sleep 2 adults and 2 kids... but still dreaming at the moment! If anyone has done anything similar, I'd be interested to see what you've done and how! Thanks.

[Dreadnought]

This reply is a blatant plug!!! just think of the camper/expedition pod you could create to go on the back of a U1300L!!! room for you your partner and a couple of smaller people!! then take the box off for fun times! (although a box is no problem off road to a Unimog...see many vids on you tube, I,d favour a box with a rising roof to keep the height down on the road.) Also think of the adventure? a nice 2 hr (Ryanair £circa £30 flight to Rzeszow airport, a quick half hour car journey (we,ll meet you) A bed for the night in our spare house if you arrive late, or Time to look over the Unimog and a quick test drive...then an oil change if you so wish and then the adventure begins....a journey across europe on the A4/E40 motorway(Tom Tom optional) (with a full tank and 2 jerrycans full of best Polish diesel) it took us 3 days with me driving, bring a relief and you,ll be on UK mainland in 2...the A4 goes straight to the chunnel. Then the next adventure begins....the planning, the drawings, making the frame, planning the internals and appointments, where the beds will go!!! what about the sink and fridge??? or buy an ex-mil box to fit?? I know you are desperate to buy this Mog that has had an easy life and lived in a garage and only done 44,000Kms......not one of those nasty GS vehicles that had a hard life!!!!..........Have I sold it yet????? ?? ???

[psychoman]

LOL! Brilliant sales pitch! You forgot the bit about getting it off the UK mainland and back on the ferry to the Isle of Man, BTW!

Not interested in a swap for a tidy 712M then?