hummermark Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 I was looking at an article on Arnold's M47... And I was wondering do all M47s have the extra idler tension wheel near to the sprocket? As I always thought that it was the M46 that had this not the M47. I have done a little searching on the internet and sure enough there are some M47 labelled tanks that do have the idler wheel. I am surprised if there are two models with and without the idler for the M47 but the desgination didn't change, i.e M47A1. Can anyone shed any more light on this? Above is an attached picture of his M47. Apparently he has this because this is what he used in his 1 year of national service. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pavy8 Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 A museum here in Ohio, Motts Military Museum, actually had Arnold's M47 for a period of time. I don't know if they still have it, it wasn't on display last time I was there over the summer. They have a picture of the he and it at the museum. I'm pretty sure I have some pictures of the tank itself somewhere, I'll try to dig them out when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antar Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 (edited) The one which Brian Boys owns has the reaction idlers Warrick and I were only discussing it the other day, assume you know what it is for Mark but for every one else's benefit it is to maintain track tension when the suspension is deppressed, there is an arm linking it to the roadwheel closest to it. Edited January 6, 2013 by antar typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickhigson Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 [ATTACH=CONFIG]71625[/ATTACH] I was looking at an article on Arnold's M47... And I was wondering do all M47s have the extra idler tension wheel near to the sprocket? As I always thought that it was the M46 that had this not the M47. I have done a little searching on the internet and sure enough there are some M47 labelled tanks that do have the idler wheel. I am surprised if there are two models with and without the idler for the M47 but the desgination didn't change, i.e M47A1. Can anyone shed any more light on this? Above is an attached picture of his M47. Apparently he has this because this is what he used in his 1 year of national service. Mark Hi the idler was removed later in its sevice life the one i have has had it removed and blanked off regards Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 The one which Brian Boys owns has the reaction idlers Warrick and I were only discussing it the other day, assume you know what it is for Mark but for every one else's benefit it is to maintain track tension when the suspension is deppressed, there is an arm linking it to the roadwheel closest to it. Surely it's the front idler that is connected to the first roadwheel and is known as a compensating idler. The small wheel at the back below the sprocket is the track tension idler and was fitted in an attempt to keep a bit of tension on whilst turning. They were often removed later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antar Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Surely it's the front idler that is connected to the first roadwheel and is known as a compensating idler. The small wheel at the back below the sprocket is the track tension idler and was fitted in an attempt to keep a bit of tension on whilst turning. They were often removed later. Will have a closer look next weekend and take some pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHB Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 Hi Mark - I've just been renovating our m47 - there is no idler on ours.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHB Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 ...just to add - I'll have a closer look and see if there is any evidence of it being there and removed as you suggest. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Herbert Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 The small idler wheel below the sprocket was originally officially called the Tension Compensating Idler Wheel but that got shortened to Compensating Idler and then to Tension Idler which is a better term as it was sprung downwards by a small torsion bar but not linked to the rest of the suspension, unlike the Track adjusting Idler at the front of the tank which moves forwards as the front road wheel moves up, thus compensating for compression of the suspension and reducing nose diving when braking. The Tension Idler was to prevent the track bunching upwards between the sprocket and the rear road wheel when reversing, or when braking that track whilst going forwards. As the track is rubber bushed it is damaged by bending it sharply back on itself in the wrong direction. If driving forwards the tension of the sprocket pulling that part of the track will keep it straight however slack the track is. It does also contribute to guiding the track onto the sprocket and reducing flapping of that part of the track when coasting. They were kept in place for most of the US Army service life of M47s but were often removed by other users to reduce maintenance. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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