The vehicle‘s only armament was a .50 caliber machine gun and a 7.62mm machine gun.

The M74 was fitted with a hydraulic dozer blade, a heavy boom, a winch and auxiliary winch, and welding equipment.

The M74 entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1956, when 300 of them were issued to M-47 tank battalions and anti-tank units.

However, the vehicle proved ineffective: it was too slow and unreliable. When the M-48A2 Patton MBT entered service in the Bundeswehr in 1958, the M-74 was replaced by the M-88 Armored Recovery Vehicle.