I'm not savvy with military trailer designations nor could I read the ID plate. This is local to me if out-o'-state state buyers need assistance with logistics.
Military Trailer
Military Trailer
Military Trailer
- Thread starter Sea Cot
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That is a Vietnam era M416. Seller says it was manufactured in 1964. These were made by various manufacturers from late 1961 through 1973.
100%.
This one has been modded with no hand brake, pintel hitch gone, biggest thing to watch for is rust. Most sit and have water collect in the tub. These were designed to float and have one way drains in the tub. Many, if left outside have been rusted away.
If not rusty and you want to mod it, good deal.
Mine was around the same price and 100% stock, but zero rust. I couldn’t get the money out fast enough. Mine sat on original 1971 tires. Lol.
Good info, I'm not in the market for this. Just passing along the ad to somebody who might be interested. The list price is now $800.
Are these really that rare or desirable?
I feel like i run across them on craigslist pretty often.
I feel like i run across them on craigslist pretty often.
As with most things from 1970 and before they are becoming harder to find. As was stated you want to look for rust on the trailer.
Ones that have been modified IMHO are less desirable but that is becasue I like things like this be as close to stock as possible. $800 is a very good price but because it's been modified I don't feel it is worth it.
The modifications to the M416 in the Facebook Marketplace post appear relatively minor and easily reversed. The lunette casting is intact and the photos show that the hard to find hand brake parts are still there. I've been around these trailers a long time. In my opinion, if the floor isn't rusted out and the tub is straight then $800 is a good price.
Unmolested M416's are becoming hard to find. M100's more so. Unmolested WWII Bantam and Willys trailers are rare indeed. Most of the inexpensive (aka cheap) 1/4 military trailers found on Craigslist or Facebook are hack jobs or rust buckets. Sometimes a gem appears at a price suggesting the seller doesn't know what s/he has, but that is infrequent.
Popularity isn't a recent thing. These trailers have been popular among jeepers since the 1950's, long before Expedition Portal and Overland Bound tried to coin the term "overlanding" as their own.
These are some photos of 1/4 ton trailers used during the 1950's and 1960's by members of the Chuckwalla Jeep Club from SoCal's San Gabriel Valley (founded in 1956 by Basil "Smitty" Smith). Those with a sharp eye will recognize most as post-war civilian Bantam T3-C trailers. One is either a WWII Bantam T3 or Willys MBT.
A Chuckwalla trailer fallen into disrepair:
I remember the first time I encountered the Chuckwalla Jeep Club. It was 1960, I was not quite 10, and my family was station wagon camping near Borrego Springs. It was like seeing the cast from Rat Patrol live and in person but with trailers. It was a memorable scene which sparked my lifelong interest in jeeping. It probably inspired my father as well. The next spring he bought a '54 Willys CJ-3B, and in 1965 he purchased a '47 Bantam T3-C trailer from a local citrus rancher that became our family jeep trailer. He gave the trailer to me in 1997; I restored it in 2005.
Here it is in 2015:
See:
http://bantamt3c.com/bantam9466.htm
http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/showgallery.php?cat=924
http://bantamt3c.com/images/hubbard/Pages/Bantam.html
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Good info @Mr. Bills 
I reached out to the seller. He sent the attached photo and communicated that the Pintle hitch is lost to time, the brake lever needs lube, and the brake cable is shot.
It's definitely a neat piece that is worthy of saving.
I reached out to the seller. He sent the attached photo and communicated that the Pintle hitch is lost to time, the brake lever needs lube, and the brake cable is shot.
It's definitely a neat piece that is worthy of saving.
Bababooey
TJ Enthusiast
I can verify that they float, even with four of your camping buddies riding in it as you screw around and cross a river crossing. The jeep maintained forward progress while the trailer drifted into a jackknife 
Good info @Mr. Bills
I reached out to the seller. He sent the attached photo and communicated that the Pintle hitch is lost to time, the brake lever needs lube, and the brake cable is shot.
It's definitely a neat piece that is worthy of saving.
Of the items listed and shown, all are readily available bolt-in replacements except the floor. That will require work and skill. And some $$.
Now is the time in the process where a smart buyer will compare the cost of a new replica M416 with the cost of acquiring and restoring this one. [Dinoot fiberglass replica kits start at $2,738; Manley fully assembled steel trailers start at $5,995, etc.]
It might pencil out at $800 if one factors in paying someone else to do the metalwork, but it might not.
Swamp Yankee
TJ Enthusiast
This trailer popped up on CR in Massachusetts today
https://westernmass.craigslist.org/tro/d/westfield-m416-military-trailer-factory/7121418678.html
https://westernmass.craigslist.org/tro/d/westfield-m416-military-trailer-factory/7121418678.html
The asking price of this trailer is more in line with what I have been seeing recently for M416's that don't require floor replacement or other major metalwork. Even this one has body damage that should be addressed.
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