In 1953, Spain signed a military cooperation agreement with the United States for which this country provided military aid to Spain until 1963. Among those materials Spain received around 30 “Continental”, (as they were generically known within the Army), M-62 model R-6602 wreckers, kept in service until well into the 80s.Here we can see a Spanish army’s M-62 wrecker during repair works on a M-47 medium tank’s engine. The boom could be raised to a maximum angle of 45° and with the use of their hydraulic outriggers could hoist loads of up to 4.5 tons at 3.5 meters distance or 1.8 tons at 5.5 meters maximum distance.In this Dutch Army’s M-62 the front winch is clearly visible, able to towing maximum loads of 9 tons. Usually these wreckers were equipped to be able to carry out repairs in the battlefield and carried welding equipment, tools and even some spare parts.In this rear side image of the same Dutch Army’s M-62 we can see the installation of two supports on the sides of the boom that form a triangle together with the bed floor, this assembly allowed movements of very heavy loads with a maximum weight of 9 tons. This type of work could only be done keeping the crane in this fixed position.The engine installed on the production M-62 wreckers, (like this one of the Dutch Army), was the Continental R-6602 gasoline model, along with a five-speed transmission. The boom was provided by Austin Western company and could tow vehicles with a maximum weight of 3 tons.
