Richard Farrant

hi Mike, Just checked the REME recovery data again, and the Unladen figures I quoted were for a Tractor, semi-trailer, 30 tons, Mk3., with a GVW (unladen) of 21tons 5cwt. Now the info here for the Mk3 with ballast body is as follows; Fully laden Front suspend tow, 6t 10 cwt Rear suspend tow, N/A GVW 36 tons Unladen Front suspend tow, 4t 15cwt Rear suspend tow, 11t GVW 22t 14cwt Rear suspend can be reduced to 10tons, (assume this is by removing the wheels?) I am only quoting from the Recy Mech training book. Richard

A bit of useless info regarding early computors in the UK, The first office computor in the UK was developed by J. Lyons & Co., of Teashop and Bakery fame, it was tried out for the first time in 1951. Called LEO for Lyons Office Computor, it was that successful that they were built for other companies afterwards.

They would appear to originate from US military because of the rear lights, at a guess, they could be something made by Goodyear for fuel carrying and I suspect towed by a Centurion or maybe, Conqueror.

Rick, The War Office trialled them, but do not think any went in to service, the Home Office bought several large contracts of them in various forms, long and short wheelbase for use by the Civil Defence. The rest were civilian use, seem to remember they came out around 1958 and last ones were about 1964/5.

Tony, We mentioned Trewhella recently with the rope shorteners. When I was involved with winch and crane load testing for the army, we used to have Tirfors in, but on one occasion a Trewhella turned up, obviously quite old, looked like the Wallaby that you showed, much better hand winch to use, than a Tirfor although more cumbersome.Trewhella at one time advertised in the farming magazines, the Monkey winch, for pulling down trees, etc. I think they were used in the war as part of REME equipment also a good chance the Engineers also used them. I seem to think they were originally an Australian company, hence the Wallaby name. Richard

a water carrier?

As it seems to be suspended from a wooden frame, the object looks to be electrical, possibly and I am wondering if it is a de-magnetising rig for armoured vehicles.

Larry, They usually bring the Famo halftrack and a Sherman to Beltring, ........although not this year.

Oh dear, good job Clive spotted that combination of yellow flag and white circle, the group could have been mistaken for sh*thouses, that would not do :whistle: :evil: :-D :oops2:

They made aircraft engines as well as cars and in 1919, were taken over by Armstrong Whitworth, this is where the make of Armstrong Siddeley came in, their cars were built through to the Fifties.

Posted this reply and it does not appear to have got there, trying again Is it a hydrogen bomb as set off at Maralinga and Emu Plains, Australia in the Fifties? They were suspended from a gantry.

I never put them in top gear, with full harness seat belt and no roll cage they were a bit daunting, H&S would have a fit, although I know a chap who uses them on his tent hire business to this day, because of their lightness when working on lawns, etc.

Back around 1987, I went to Jersey with small group of mv owners, on a "BBC tour". Don't know if you remember them, Tony? Nothing to do with TV or radio :-D, it was the Bordon, Bagshot & Cranleigh group. Anyway it was around Battle of Britain week and the local mv owners hosted us and I do remember being taken to this unfinished tunnel, the entrance was very overgrown and when unlocked, inside was littered with debris and old tar barrels that had leaked, seem to recollect remains of German horse drawn field kitchens and horse gas mask lens, but it was very dark and only torches to see with.

Hi Mike, T/box was definitely Thornycroft, even to the point of a "T" is their logo style, cast on the box, think it must have been from the 4x4 Nubian. I remember it from the parts book, I think. Those microswitches, if the old brain is functioning correctly, were largely to protect the vehicle, and operator, from being damaged if the mast was folded back to the airportable stowage position. It was possibly to fold the mast back and crush the foot pedal housing, which was fabricated from sheet alloy. Because this happened only too often, the supply of them ran out and an Instruction came out on fabricating a simpler constructed replacement in steel. Richard

Now Clive, I think you are leading us on ;-) You say the wheel tracks may give a clue, but the apparatus is being pushed from left to right on the photo, note position of castors, so those Trackgrip tyre tracks may not be from the pushing vehicle as they are already on the ground. Think I will go for something fairly heavily armoured because there is bound to be a big bang and motions flying everywhere when the charges go off, so what about a Centurion?

Some..................the gearbox is Bedford RL as are the axles, two fronts cut down to narrower track. The transfer box is Thornycroft and it has a Perkins engine as fitted to MF tractors. It was typical of anything the Royal Ordnance Factories produced, a nightmare, using parts from whatever

Well it did on one of the early ones :whistle: but you rumbled me, now some of the slower ones are getting caught out :-D

Hi Mike, Seen your heavies at the shows over the years, good to watch them working at GDSF recently. Not got any books on the Eager Beavers, but used to repair them in REME wksps years ago, so might be able to help with a little info, from memory. Richard

ah, second look .........now it looks like a gun barrel towards the top right hand and possibly covered in cam net, ice formed over this.

Damn, just about to write Saracen and been pipped at the post :dunno:

aerial photo of ice flows, looking through thin cloud base.

Tim, You could try this one as well, could be less expensive and a good source of oils for the older vehicle; http://www.withamgroup.co.uk/vintagelubs.html Qualube Classic straight gear oil SAE 80, 90, 140 API GL1 Richard

I think this sub was HMS Opportune or perhaps HMS Otter as they both ended up at Pounds. They were modified with a prominent sonar housing on the bow, and had GRP conning towers, maybe this was the reason for offsetting the tower. Richard

Well I have had one vehicle done for me and inspected two others myself, one for a forum member. To quote the letter from the MVT, "The applicant is aware that you may claim any out of pocket expense and a mileage charge of 35p per mile; you should inform the applicant of the total amount due before inspection....."

No fee for vehicle verification. A very efficient service, you only pay travel expence to the person who inspects on behalf of the verification officer and as they endeavour to find the nearest member to you, who will oblige, it does not amount to much. I have belonged to MVT ( MVCG in those days ) since 1977 and it is a very good club. The magazine, Windscreen is the best club mag I have ever come across, makes the MVPA mag look poor. Greensheet is good for finding parts and vehicles, there are still a lot of people who do not use the internet.