radiomike7

Strange how the tractor they are pulling him out of seems to be standing on a perforated metal plate which does not appear on the earlier shots and the rear tyres have a much closer cleat pattern than before. Also no sign of heavy bleeding unless they are pulling him out a day later. Good latex mask?? Watch the clip in full screen and pause 4 seconds from the end.

Looking at this ebay listing it shows the type in the pair but clearly labelled as simply XL. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Michelin-XL-12-5R20-40-tall-tires-Military-truck-rock-crawler-Inch-Unimog-/201960086361

Are you sure the pair are not XL2 which replaced the XL?

IIRC contract 3724 was the first one and had some features that were deleted from subsequent contracts such as the double skinned cab and different air brake reservoirs. The rear extension boxes were listed for the crew's personal effects and were sometimes copied and retro fitted to later models in service.

I am looking at the brake layout for the 30 ton Constructor tractor but cannot see any device between the rear 4 palm couplings and the relay valve. There are a pair of change over valves associated with the front palm couplings, look to be mounted just behind the foot brake reaction valve inboard of the steering servo.

Welcome back 36, where have you been? From your diagram the valve is in the system as a trailer relay valve, 5 is the constant pressure from what we would now call the red airline, 4 is the feed to the yellow airline and 2 is the trigger pressure from the brake pedal.

Anything like this one? https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=king+tl35+trailer&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVruLG6f_UAhWLIMAKHeDdCCAQ_AUIBygC&biw=1600&bih=794#imgrc=Bn8lBIWeb3fIkM:

Is it just the photo or is that front crossmember bowed outwards in the centre?

Agreed but the BM reg suggests 53/54, I believe a number of chassis cabs were put into storage pending a decision on what variant to build but would they have been registered? Is that the one from Dave Crouch?

Quite so, my father was Polish and was one of over 200,000 Poles who were given UK citizenship after the war to soften the blow of Churchill's Yalta betrayal. He was a lawyer in Poland but as with many of his colleagues didn't retrain in the UK as they all thought they would be going back to a free Poland within a year or two not knowing it was going to be 44 years.

Hi and welcome, what is the connection with Korporal Jozef Pawlica, I gather he was an engineer in the Polish equivalent of the RE?

In case you hadn't noticed: http://www.milweb.net/classifieds/view_large.php?ad=84730&cat=4 I think this might be the one from the 'museum' in the north east but I could be wrong.

DC has an artillery tractor for sale on Milweb. http://www.milweb.net/classifieds/view_large.php?ad=84650&cat=4

I couldn't remember the contract number but it' s all coming back now, they had a different air tank arrangement, a double skinned and insulated cab plus a few other differences to the later contracts.

http://www.westwoodworks.net/howitwas/westwoodworksinww1/images/Richardo6cylTankEngine.jpg

Looks rather like a WW1 Ricardo 225bhp mk5 tank engine as suggested by Terry, made at the Westwood works of Perkins Engineers at Peterborough.

From what I can see the BC ones are from the very first batch in 1950 that had a transmission brake as a left over from Pioneer days. The BT signifies receipts from another service but I'm sure you know that anyway. The maximum towed weight for an Explorer was just 16t, I suspect that was exceeded on a regular basis giving the rear axle a hard time.

Chris, to the best of my knowledge the rear axle, transfer and front axle were unique to Martian, I have never seen them on any other vehicle. I believe the gearbox was a mainstream Leyland product. The winch on non recovery variants was the same vertical spindle device fitted to the likes of Explorer and Constructor while the steering system was designed by a certain H. Robinson. They were taken out of service twice for modifications to the clutch and power steering. The first production ones appeared in 1952/3 and there are suggestions that some were built as late as 1964 but I do know that some were supplied as chassis cabs and stored pending a decision as to what variant would be required. The crew cabs were made by Mann Egerton and Park Royal Vehicles while the others had bodies by Marshall of Cambridge. Although several variants were planned only five went into production, short and long cargo, crew cab artillery tractor, heavy recovery and a howitzer tractor which looked like a short cargo but with a tilt reduced to the height of the cab roof. Do you have one or might you be looking for one? Literature is in short supply but occasionally crops up on ebay and Milweb.

Mine was ex RAF too, a mk1 from RAF Kinloss which was originally blue, then yellow and IRR when transferred to REME. It was modified to take a snow plough and had provision for a pair of high level headlamps bolted to the brush guard. The cab was double skinned and also had the heater unit with pipes to duct air to the windscreen and interior.

Hi David, Thanks for posting those, you probably know but you can always spot an ex RAF one by the vacuum tank next to the O/S rear wheels. Mike

Usually called a Sawzall in the US, over here we call them reciprocating saws.

If using a timing light it may be worth looking up the advance characteristics as on some engines the advance starts at an engine speed below idle and you will get a false reading. Also remember to disconnect the vacuum advance diaphragm.

Looks like there might be one at Winchester Marine, possibly an ex generator or marine engine. https://www.winchestermarineindustrial.com/rolls-royce-c6-6-cylinder-non-turbo-diesel-engine

Might that have been a Churchill power pack?

Not sure about that, it has not been taxed or SORNed since 1989.