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Bv206 d6


robin craig

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Our vehicle has an interesting background as it was originally a V6 petrol and was converted by Hagglunds (or a sub contractor for them) at a later date to the 6 cylinder Mercedes diesel. It bears an official MOD plate to that effect.

 

Fom what I understand it was re engined around the time that MOD bought D6 types as new on a later buy and Hagglunds convinced MOD to upgrade the older ones to the newer spec.

 

Robin

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Far from it my friend! It starts down at minus 30 degrees celsius on its own batteries no problems. I have and will again in January be trusting my life and the lives of others with it in real winter conditions.

 

It is a superbly designed and executed piece of kit. Its only limitations are the knowledge of the operator of the terrain they are using it on.

 

Snow makes everything look very benign, including tree stumps and rocks which you can get high centered on, and open water or thin ice that one can sink through. Even though they float getting it out of an ice hole is a Chinook recovery for best option.

 

We were very lucky to buy this one when we did as the price was a steal from Withams at that time and was in great shape. I have operated it beside a V6 petrol and it leaves it behind in every performance capability which is the reason the machine was upgraded.

 

Operation in winter is a deadly serious event and not just arsing around in a wet playpen ten minutes from a workshop and recovery.

 

We operate ours miles from any recovery kit or a workshop.

 

I do all the prep before deploying it, all the road haulage, and the operation. I am into I think the fourth winter using it now with about 40 hours seat time per winter season.

 

We have casevaced people from the bush out to the black top roads to meet ambulances in sub zero weather when time would have been an issue. The Golden Hour in trauma medicine is to be well regarded. the Bv206 gives us that capability with absolute confidence.

 

I had a cab heater fail last year but as we are dressed for cold it was a minor irritant.

 

Hope you enjoy the picture

 

next question?

 

Robin

BV206 WINTER 2009 EXERCISE WITH CF_edited.jpg

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Far from it my friend! It starts down at minus 30 degrees celsius on its own batteries no problems. I have and will again in January be trusting my life and the lives of others with it in real winter conditions.

 

It is a superbly designed and executed piece of kit. Its only limitations are the knowledge of the operator of the terrain they are using it on.

 

Snow makes everything look very benign, including tree stumps and rocks which you can get high centered on, and open water or thin ice that one can sink through. Even though they float getting it out of an ice hole is a Chinook recovery for best option.

 

We were very lucky to buy this one when we did as the price was a steal from Withams at that time and was in great shape. I have operated it beside a V6 petrol and it leaves it behind in every performance capability which is the reason the machine was upgraded.

 

Operation in winter is a deadly serious event and not just arsing around in a wet playpen ten minutes from a workshop and recovery.

 

We operate ours miles from any recovery kit or a workshop.

 

I do all the prep before deploying it, all the road haulage, and the operation. I am into I think the fourth winter using it now with about 40 hours seat time per winter season.

 

We have casevaced people from the bush out to the black top roads to meet ambulances in sub zero weather when time would have been an issue. The Golden Hour in trauma medicine is to be well regarded. the Bv206 gives us that capability with absolute confidence.

 

I had a cab heater fail last year but as we are dressed for cold it was a minor irritant.

 

Hope you enjoy the picture

 

next question?

 

Robin

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's nice to see you have kept the British Army reg number and still have the Union Flag on it. I remember these at the Defence School of Transport at Leccy. They really shift in a straight line. I'd love one, but the price is dearer than a Chieftan MBT!! More practical though. The one at Withams now looks real nice.

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It is a policy with the collection that we follow the credo of "no new holes nothing welded on" which i have expounded on in another thread to a greater degree.

 

You will see from one of the other pictures the vehicle is not wearing its civvy plate as it was in a parade. We remove civvy plates for parades as a matter of policy.

 

A number of the collection vehicles earn their keep as well as being 'toys" and being used for displays / parades.

 

The registration is pukka and over time I will show you more shots as I take them.

 

Robin

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I do a little instructing for Nick at Tanks a Lot, and we have run these for about 3 years now. They have tended to be abused a lot, and hence they have been quite unreliable. We went through a spate of sprockets going, the plastic becoming delaminated from the steel wheel inside. We aslo had many road wheels go, the bearing housing cracking in the centre of the wheels and they would then drop off. These are not greasable either. We also had a few drive shaft problems, and had the petrol engines catch fire.

 

But I must say they are great vehicles to drive and are lots of fun. In the right hands what they will do is quite incredible.

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Barry, i presume thats your name.

 

Frankly I think that you have given the cause of the mechanical failure in your posting.

 

The vehicles are being thrashed to death by untrained drivers and lacking in diligent maintenance. That is the begining and end of it all.

 

The delaminating drive sprockets is partially a design flaw and part usage.

 

The road wheels are greasable, but only if they are removed from the shafts. We took all of our roadwheels off, removed the beaings and the seal and sent them all out to be re-rubbered a few years ago. There is a smal sacrificial sleeve upon which the seal runs and we had to replace a few of those. Use in water or in water and dirt will grind those seals fairly quickly. Knowing the site you operate on i'm sure that is part of the problem.

 

Side loading of the tracks and the roadswheels by driving in rutted trackes also doesnt help.

 

Our BV is maintained to a very high standard and it is something that we do to preserve the lives of those who count on the machine and to preserve the value of the machine and reduce operating costs.

 

What more can I say? If the kit is not looked after then it all goes downhile from there. I am sure that engine fires are as a result of being pounded around off road and periodic maintenance would have revealed weeping fittings or worn hoses etc. that brings me to another topic, I hate petrol powered equipment because of the risk of fire, diesel is so much safer.

 

If you want help on maintenance please ask and I will help.

 

Funny how I was doing a google satellite peek at the Tanks a lot site last night.

 

 

Robin

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Love the BV206 - its actually on my "dream list"... You have very impressive machine, there.

 

I drove one BV206 on last summer through some bad terrain, forest, swamps etc. What a great experience! Certainly you have to be merciless with the gas pedal and you have to learn how it bends in tight turns (especially between trees you have to be careful - be prepared early enough to turn). This thing goes anywhere. For me the greatest point of owning one is the ability to drive short distances on public roads (between areas where you can really drive).

 

Until I get one (ie. finish some other projects first), I have to be happy with my snowcat which only has 2 tracks :-D But it won't float like the BV..

 

Coen

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interesting,

 

so to conclude, they break if used and not maintained mercilessly.

they have some known issues but maintenance needs to be thorough

they catch fire if maintenance isnt merciless

they dont like heavy usage without merciless maintenance.

the ground it is used on screws them up too...

they dont like water and dust

 

blimey it sounds like a stalwart..

 

hmm not totally put off by all of this but still not convinced...

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blimey it sounds like a stalwart..

Not sounding very Swedish either, did they make them here under license or something? :??? Their stuff's normally pretty bombproof, I thought.

 

(I know Hägglund are part of Big And Expensive now...)

 

Stone

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