ferretfixer

I did PLENTY of pack lifts with the 434 when I was a vehicle mech, before I went Armourer! I believe the stolly's 'crane' was also a HIAB, the same as used on the 434? The only question is, I dont know if the susspension can be locked, the same as on a 434? The reason for 'locking' the susspension hyraulicly. Was to prevent the lifting vehicle from sagging over to one side. (The side doing the lifting!) Having never worked on a HIAB variant of the stolly. I cannot confirm if that variant of vehicle's susspension can be locked? IF it CAN, Then I WOULD say that it IS possible!....The HIAB crane is VERY versatile, & if used with SMALL movements on the HIAB. VERY small increments of movement ARE indeed possible! It's a Two man job though! You NEED one man operating the HIAB. & the other on the vehicle having it's pack lifted. The one on the vehicle being 'lifted'. can shout out instructions to the HIAB Operator. IE: Up Outer, Up Inner, etc. The HIAB lifting Boom is is Two main sections. & reach & Lift are acheived through both seperately.

If I remember correctly. there was one on Ebay a few Month's back. And also on Milweb also a while back..........

Could be the start of 'A Stairway to Heaven!...........

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Nice pic, dont think they are from the Argyll's though! Appear to be wearing Hussars Badges & the front officer is wearing one of thier disticntive 'Tent' hats!....... Argyll's tended to wear the chip bag, with red & White diced band. & twin swallow tails at the rear!

Seen today in a Car Park in Ashford, Kent. Richard Farrants Red work van! Emblazoned with his FV Restorations firm's logo in yellow! No sign of the great man himself though! was probably in staples buying empty wage packets!.....

The last one I owned was obtained as a MK.I. When I did the reasearch on it, it turned out. It was originaly manufactured as a MKII. So I swapped all the MK.I top Armour & rubber bump bars for a complete MKII Turret. & got her back to what she SHOULD have been! These days, that is pretty well nigh impossible, unless you find a (Now Scarce to source) old 'scrapper' to break for spares! I have to say, that in MY personal opinion, the MKII looks the better vehicle astetically. It is securable at shows like the MK.I/2, but LOOKS like a little 'Tank'! They used to be called Daleks in Service!...... The MK.I is easier access of course, slightly faster as no upper turret armour to lug! Is NOT secureable ,But I always liked the profile of the MKII! It's all down to personal choice, & what the old phrase is of: 'Beauty, is in the eye of the beholder'.............

I had a Hampster I called Monty once!..............:-D

During those Halcyon days when some of us here served through the Cold War. Major three Week Field Training Exercises were an annual event during cold November times! It was a period of great importance, as those of us Stationed in B.A.O.R with the Mighty Rine Army Units can attest! As Alien correctly states. The 'Enemy' or Fantasian Army as the term was applied. Was always stopped in the Hartz mountains. This was a natural Mountain pass where Enemy Armour had the only route to enter on the ground. A superb feature, Anti-Tank Gun, Infantry & Mortar emplacments were deployed all over the pass & managed to stop the enemy. By knocking out his Armoured & APC Borne Infantry units to bottleneck the pass up. Finished off with Hellicoptor Borne Missiles & Ground launched Missile batteries. You had to be there to see & expierience the MASSIVE amount of Chieften Main Batle tanks, APCs, & VAST amount of softskins. And all the might of the British & German & other N.A.T.O units all driving accross fields, Clogging roads & villages as they passed through. It was an amazing time back then, & an expirience which made you feel Proud & safe to see such a HUGE amount of Armour, Troops & logistic support. Our once vast Armed Forces are sadly a shadow of thier former glorious selves. & the likes of such massive field exercises will never bee seen again. The cost of such manouvers ran into Millions of pounds! This is not to detract from the Superb work our Boys & Girls are executing globally these days. In campaigns of a very different nature! I for one, feel privelidged to have served, Participated & lived through a timeframe that has helped shaped the World we live in today. However, am feel certain. that there are many in the UK who wonder what it was all for when you look around the UK & see how things are today!........:undecided:

New in the shops NOW! Tigers, by AIRFIX!.......................

I have a friend in The US who is thinking of selling his MK 2/3 Ferret. His details can obtained if you PM me.

Good lateral thinkng Andy! I will go up this route if I cant source a Jag M/C Overhaul kit! The other alternative of course, is to use a common master cyl assy & make a new mounting on the Trailer for it!..... Who would have thought that somthing as trival as a 2 x wheel trailer. Could cause such a headache?......:nut:

Yes, this seems like the way 'Forward'!........Cheers! You certainly have gone into some depth on your research on these M/C's! Thank you very much!

Mmmmmm, Thanks for your thoughts john. Seems like it's going to be a bit of a long journey on this! Do you think contacting Universal Engineering would yield any info as to where they sourced the Master Cylinders originaly? They would not I think, hold spares for the trailers, as they only constructed them & sold the whole trailer to the MOD as a Unit Peice. How have other members overcome this difficulty? Any ideas?..........

Hello all you Trailer Guru's!... Now I need some info myself on the MKIII Hydraulicly Braked Widetrack! Right, does anyone have the part numbers/Info for a Master Cylinder overhaul kit at all? I would like to replace the seals. Best Source for the parts, cheap would be VERY good! LOL! Also, as I MAY need them. Similar for the slave cylinder units for each wheel station? Many Thanks in advance! Mike.

Chris, What goe's around, comes around. To abuse a well know phrase!.....

Excellent stuff! Thanks for sharing the video. & bear in mind, after all that machining & inspecting. Any wooden Furniture, STILL. Has to be hand fitted by Armourers! It's not just the small adjustments to get the barreled actions into the forend stocks. There is STILL 'bedding' to be effected to ensure accuracy! They will go in, in 30 mins. Or it can take upto a day for a stubborn one to fit CORRECTLY!......... Anyone can change woodwork (Well almost!) BUT, fitting it PROPERLY, is a different matter!........ if NOT fitted properly, splitting of the wood, (Even later on) & inaccuracy WILL happen! Not a lot has changed technology wise. I was involved in a contract with the company I worked for after Leaving the Army. Of GPMG L7A2 MG Butt stocks. We had 250 of them made. The same method of a profile machine following the contour of a steel mandril. On a cutting/turning machine was used!

Did you eventually fix your recycling problem? There was a Two stage armourers modification if all else failed on an old or 'Tired' SLR that failed to function correctly. Stage One, was using Metric tapered reamers. You pulled the gas adjusting ring back & reamed out the gas block CAREFULLY. With a 2.6mm Reamer. Then used a 2.7mm Reamer as well. Stamp the SIDE of the foresight gas block with a '1'. (Stage 1 mod gas port mod effected) Use a bristle bore brush on a cleaning rod to remove any small metal flashing from inside the barrel in the gas port area. Recheck the weapon funciton with some rounds. If it still fails. Do the same as above, ony use a 2.8mm Reamer. Then a 2.9mm Reamer & stamp the gas block with a '2'. (Stage 2 Mod effected) This then SHOULD enable the rifle to function correctly. If it does NOT. (VERY Unusual not to!) Then you had best look at head spacing again! BUT, the sizes I have given on a previous post, are absoutley CORRECT for an Brit Spec L1A1 SLR! Please let us all onthe Forum, know how you progress with your 'remedy'!....

Andy, It's been held up by Leaves on the Line Mate!................:cheesy:

And Sadly (?) I still have Two of these in my Loft!...............(As well as loads of Kevlars, NATURALLY!.....)

Happy Days??? wearing these! I remember them well! Horrible things they were! The above mentoned points on itchyness & bouncing up & down are well founded! The Hemet (Or as we called them: Steel Toby's = Cos they looked like tortosises!) deliberetly had an elastic chin strap that was one of the min causes of the bouncing when you ran. The reason behind this was: If an enemy approached you from behind, & put his left arm ACCROSS the back of the helmet & transversely along your shoulder. With the resultant gripping of the FRONT of the rim of your helmet. AND then a sharp REARWARDS pull of the Helmet. It WOULD break your neck if the chinstrap had no give in it! This was a method favoured in clandestine approach of an Enemy when they were wearing the German M35 or M42 Versions of the classic profile of thier favoured headgear! It was when I was attached to the Parachute Regiment that I was issued the classic Steel Jump Helmet. Which was a MUCH better designed & comfortable item of protective headwear to use! When I later joined the T.A, The Kevlar MKVI was then thrown at me. VERY Comfortable to wear for prolonged periods of time, I felt. The only nause was, you had to take it off to apply ear defenders when using on the range!...... I have not examined the latestet MK7 version yet. So Cannot comment on it's wear or performance!

Yep, same as mine!

Andy, I think he is 'Dodging Ferrets'!...................

Wellcome to the Friendly Forum!

Forgot to add. A LOT of the British In service M2 .30" Cal tripods, also hade the area on the top of the 'Triangle' section. Milled away removing the WWII Nomencleture. Similar to the picture of one of the guns shown here on the forum. I have an example of this in my own collection. A LOT of this work was done by the Armourers shops, sending the stripped down top componants. Over to the engravers workshop for marking after milling. The reason REALLY behind all this. (& you WONT find it in Official Publications!) is that it ensured (Along with everything else that went through the engravers shop) a steady flow of work on the books. IE: When it came to cutting overtime or downsizing/redundancies within departments. The amount of work flowing through each workshop could justify the retention of certain staff! My uncle (A Famous R.E.M.E Major) even had his own WWII medals (The stars) engraved on the reverse! They can be viewed in the R.E.M.E Museum in Arborfield, Berks.