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18 pounder limber


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Hi. I was thinking of making an 18 pounder limber from scratch. I would like something a bit differant to tow behind my Quad. Unfortunately there doesn't seam to be a lot of info about them (other than the No27) on line.

 

Does anyone have any pictures/dimensions of a late model (pneumatic tires) one please.

 

18 pdr limber type 29.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Hi LBdr

 

If you visit Firepower at Woolwich their library has quite a lot of pictures and stuff on the No 29 limber. Basically it was the old horsedrawn limber converted to pneumatic tyres in the same way as the old horsedrawn 18 pounder Mk 1 was converted with the Martin-Parry conversion (same size wheels). Arrange a visit in advance to avoid disappointment.

 

Chris

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I took my granddaughter to Fort Nelson, near Portsmouth, last month. At 5 years, she is plenty old enough to learn about what her granddad did during the (Cold) War and she loved the 1 o'clock guns.

 

We mooched in the long, tent-like shed next to the arena and I saw a limber which looked like a 25pdr limber but wasn't (sadly I cannot remember what it was: I suspect it was either a 13pdr or an 18pdr limber. Fort Nelson is free. Maybe worth a look?

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Hi LBdr

 

If you visit Firepower at Woolwich their library has quite a lot of pictures and stuff on the No 29 limber. Basically it was the old horsedrawn limber converted to pneumatic tyres in the same way as the old horsedrawn 18 pounder Mk 1 was converted with the Martin-Parry conversion (same size wheels). Arrange a visit in advance to avoid disappointment.

 

Chris

 

Is there anyone who lives near hear who could get a few dimensions off it as I live in Ireland.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi fellow members, its been a while since I was on the forum so I stopped in to see what has turned up and saw this thread. I could not believe that you were talking about what I just found. I saw a limber 40 years ago and we could not move it as it was so heavy and we only had a 6foot by 4foot box trailer. It was left sitting in waist high grass behind a old searing shed and it still had the wicker baskets in it. Time pasted and I moved from Sydney to the city of Bathurst New South Wales and took a job as a guide at the local museum. Three months ago a guy came in asking questions about old houses and I asked which was his and to my surprise he now owns the old property that the limber was sitting on. I asked if it was still there and he said yes so I pushed a bit more and said what are you going to do with it and comes out with if you want it come and get it for free but its not the best of condition. Two days ago we went out with a car trailer and a crane and picked it up or what was left of it so here are some photos of what I have on my trailer.

lorettas 60 022.jpg

Swap Meet. 027.jpg

lorettas 60 023.jpg

lorettas 60 028.jpg

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Hi fellow members, its been a while since I was on the forum so I stopped in to see what has turned up and saw this thread. I could not believe that you were talking about what I just found. I saw a limber 40 years ago and we could not move it as it was so heavy and we only had a 6foot by 4foot box trailer. It was left sitting in waist high grass behind a old searing shed and it still had the wicker baskets in it. Time pasted and I moved from Sydney to the city of Bathurst New South Wales and took a job as a guide at the local museum. Three months ago a guy came in asking questions about old houses and I asked which was his and to my surprise he now owns the old property that the limber was sitting on. I asked if it was still there and he said yes so I pushed a bit more and said what are you going to do with it and comes out with if you want it come and get it for free but its not the best of condition. Two days ago we went out with a car trailer and a crane and picked it up or what was left of it so here are some photos of what I have on my trailer.

 

Hi, i'm sooooooo jealous. I don't suppose this item is for sale? :D.

 

Is there any chance you could p.m me some detailed photograph's and maybe some dimensions from you?

 

Regards

Ross

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Hi Rob, yes I do have horses as we have pacers (four legged lawn mowers if they dont win) I also have a stage coach so one day they will pull that as well.

Ross, Im in Australia so it would not be cheap to get it there but will contact you as I have another plan coming along... Ray

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Hello all, well I have been on another scouting trip and sneaking around the air port to the back of a property I found this little gem, that make two parts of the set now and I am working on some other leads but there is still stuff there. Just not sure how the cannon attaches.. Ray

Swap Meet. 032.jpg

Swap Meet. 033.jpg

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Bit off the wall, but have you thought of contacting King's Troop Royal Artillery or the Firepower museum at Woolwich. Actually both are now based at Woolwich. At Fort Halstead we used to do the regular proof and inspection of the guns and limbers, but for the life of me I can't think of details of the hitch. :blush:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello LBDR and Ray,

 

just so happens that I am doing an 18Pr restoration in Sydney. So far have the gun, gun limber and hind ammo wagon - just need the front ammo wagon of the type found by Ray to complete the set.

 

In the bits and pieces accumulated over the past 10 years, I have some spares of some of the items for sale/swap. I am pretty sure that a spare hind ammo wagon is amongst them, as converted to pneumatic wheels (unfortunately no axle, only the cast supports).

 

That may be of interest to LBDR and others, but the type shown in the photo posted by LBDR looks like a front ammo wagon with wooden draw bar replaced by a steel perch and stay bars. Australia used the rear ammo wagon as it had the steel perch already, and did not need much upgrading. An example is at the Lytton museum in Brisbane. Other hind ammo wagons were also used behind infantry support tanks in PNG to carry small arms ammo in the advance.

 

The WW1 gun limbers and front ammo wagons were not used in Australia in WW2. The difference between the gun limber and ammo wagons is that gun limber used 3 tiers and ammo wagon used 4, so is noticeably higher.

 

regards,

 

Damien Nicholas aka Nick

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Ross, Ray and Trevor,

 

some images to clarify things.

 

Firstly for Ross, the tyre size for the Martin Parry gear for the limber and gun is 7.50 - 24. The wheels are 6 stud Budd split rims. Tyres supplied from USA with the Martin Parry gear were US Royal brand. I have a spare set of Martin Parry gear, but quite corroded that is available. These were used on the US 3in Mk.VII Landing guns delivered to Australia in early stages of Pacific War.

 

Here are some images of the limbers/wagons from the 1915 handbook. Len Trewin's book also deals with these in detail.

ammo wagon (hind) front view.jpg

 

You can see that the gun limber (official designations in the photos) is 3 tiers for 24 rounds. The ammo wagon limber looks similar to the gun limber, but has 4 tiers and split rear doors. The ammunition wagon I refer to as the "hind" is also 4 tiers but has a single door and the tubular perch or towbar. Rays is the middle 2 images.

 

cheers.

 

DN

gun limber, rear view.jpg

Limber, ammo wagon, front view.jpg

limber, ammo wagon, rear view.jpg

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Modified Limber Wagon for the Irish Army with the use of the Martin Parry Kit. This conversion was different from that of the limbers supplied to the British not having the tool tray or the wheel carrier.

 

 

Rob................rnixartillery.

DSCF0593.jpg

DSCF0590.jpg

Edited by rnixartillery
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Trevor, yes, the "hind" ammo wagon was upgraded by Australian army to become the gun limber by replacing wooden No.45 wheels with a sub-axle assembly mounting 20" rim truck wheels, and adding a towing hook. The brake lever and arms were removed. Will post a photo of that upgrade tonight my time, but it does not show the hook unfortunately.

 

I have not seen any front ammo wagons or gun limbers upgraded to my knowledge.

 

DN

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