Adrian Barrell

This nice little snow sculpture attracted my attention this morning!

I have a fair quantity of 1/2" Thackery washers in two sizes (outside diameter). If you need any of this size, let me know.

I've had that in the Sherman on wet, muddy grass as anyone at Route to Victory last year can confirm!

Is there no room at the elite parking for a sherman?

Everything has to be registered here but that is a formality (ask Neil!) There is no test for vehicles over 3500kg, as long as it's used unladen, nor any tracklayers, everything pre 1972 is free tax (private use) and we have historic insurance. So for us, something like a GMC is easy and cheap, apart from the fuel!

when I was over there everybody was telling me how lucky we were here with our comparatively relaxed rules for historic vehicles.

I think you'll find that was a dream......

It's not too bad but has been burnt. It needs an engine and wheels and all the other parts you need when restoring a tank! Still quite a rare Sherman though and well worth doing.

Simon, please do pop in, you'll be very welcome. I can bend your tubes for you too!

Hi Simon, carrier is good! What model do you have? When and if you need it, I would be happy to help out, I'm making some parts for a Windsor at the moment.

I'm slightly concerned that this thread slips so easily between camping and sheep and indeed, back again. I think I'll sleep in the tank, I've been known to baa in my sleep. Wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong idea.....

Mike does take an active part, he was running the Diamond T dump last year. Their Grizzly has been undergoing a full refurb as it basically has never had more than maintenance. Considering what Dennis has done and where he has been with it in the last 25 years or so, that's quite a remarkable performance and a testimony to the vehicle.

The problems with Rams is not so much the turret but the ring. The one we have here has an excellent turret but no ring at all and it is, of course, specific to Ram! The Cromwell did not feature in my NYR though I did do some work over the holiday! I have been making a complete new cutaway drivers hatch complete with the padding tinwork. Hardly a priority item but every little helps as they say....

Your place looks like good tank country! Do you have to get a warrant of fitness for tracklayers?

No, the owner has no turret and doesn't want one anyway! The intention is to do a kangaroo as this is more appropriate to NW Europe and indeed more user firendly! It was a kangaroo before going on the range. We have another one here to finish, similar level of work, we are close to putting metal back in. This one came from a different range and was a gun tower. Unfortunately, (to my mind) the owner wants it restored as a gun tank. He does have a very nice turret for it, so i can see his point. I have kept all the gun tower parts though should he change his mind! I would keep it as a tower, it would look fantastic pulling a 17 pr.

You're spot on Eddy. I do have most of what I need and it's rare for me to have to outsource much. You're right to not underestimate the challenge. If you're to avoid spending huge sums of money, you have to be able to solve the problems yourself. Often this is simply a matter of knowing who to ask! I hope you do get your project, I look forward to the first pictures!

It was badly damaged, here is an inside view. The bend in the lower edge was worse than it appears here. In all honesty, I would have replaced the entire side as it was all a bit nasty. Originality is always best I agree but sometimes new is necessary. It is not easy to just heat up and straighten 1 1/2" thick armour plate.

I take it the T34 was nothing to do with Dennis?

Alastair, we just used gas bottles on an individual basis. I did consider setting up the forge but with the relatively small quantities we were fitting, it wasn't worth it. We heated up each rivet on a firebrick, it was very quick and meant I could do each one close to where I was fitting it, very handy on the floor ones!

It is good to see a Ram being restored as a runner, at last! The owners intention is to have it out and about later this year, at least as a basic runner. I'm looking forward to having a drive. :drive:

No worries Steve, we all learn something from each other here! My turret has both thin areas as your posted picture of the Westinghouse. The 'thinning' is in the casting, not machined in any way. I don't think any Logansport systems were intended for M4A4, there is no mention of them in either manual or parts list. The manual only shows the Westinghouse and the parts list has that and the Oilgear with the latter appearing as an afterthought! I have never seen a Logansport installed in a Sherman. Most British tanks were hydraulic traverse, it was only Valentine, Churchill and Comet that were electric, showing at least a move towards electric traverse. The Oilgear system was a close copy of the British hydraulic design. Oilgear traverse was one of the specified requirements for Firefly.

Not at all Jack, it's actually very satisfying. I had never done any before, at least not in bulk and though the learning curve was quite steep, it's very easy to quickly get the hang of it. The ones in the floor were perhaps the trickiest at least in theory as you have to lay on the floor, slide under the hull with a red hot rivet, insert it into the hole, slide the hold-on under and open the valve, all before the rivet gets too cold to form properly!

Don't crash.....:-D

That's correct, we're hoping the owner will not be shot at with anything too powerful!

Much of that is correct Steve, however.... My Sherman is a typical early M4A4 and has the Westinghouse traverse and no applique patch over the thinned section. This was normal in M4A4, the electric traverse being the standard in this model. So, non applique, thin turret electric traverse were common enough in action. There are two stages in terms of applique. The original, field fitted kit which mine has. This is simply three, 1" thick plate over the ammo racks and none on the turret or in front of the drivers hatches. There may have been a later field kit that included the front plates as well. The welds on these plates are multirun with none on the lower edge and have all been done with the vehicle in the normal position. The later, factory fitted plates were thicker, 1 1/2" and were fully welded with the hulls on their sides. These vehicles also had plates in front of the drivers hatches and would have had the turret patch if not the later, thicker turret. Many early M4A4s were retained for training in the US before being rebuilt with full applique and being sent to the British Army.