Ok I found it for this thread. The info was in a unrelated subject heading.
.3DS can be imported in to Maya using the plugin from "bonus tools" here is the link for 2014 which I use. You should be able to back track it from here to earlier versions if you have to:
http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/stevenr/bonustools.3ds is a max format, hoever, it is unclear to me if .3ds and .max are essentially two ways of saying the same thing.
Whatever the overly technical explanation is likely to be, both can be opened in maya natively by first converting the .3ds or .max, to .FBX. .FBX is native to both Max and Maya. And then from there (for TG) to OBJ.
However, I hope that very soon, THat last part won't be nessasary
So! Well you don't need to get Max, you can just get .fbx:
http://www.autodesk.com/products/fbx/overviewAnd convert there. Then open your .fbx in maya natively.
Of course, if someone will do it for you Ulco, I would still let them. I don't think this jumping around stuff is any fun at all. All though for some strange reason, finding the info and writing about it is.
*Thanks to Kadri for the initial research.