Sherman Wading Stacks

[Jim Clark]

For ages I have wanted to put wading stacks on my Sherman for the Weymouth weekend. So a few weeks ago I contacted the Bovington Tank museum and got copys of the instruction manuals with drawings etc of the Sherman wading stacks. Paul my nephew then constructed the stacks in our workshop. The actual intake stack design for my M4A4 Sherman is totaly different to the stack we made but we opted for the shape and style which most people will recognise.

Here is a couple of photos of the finished items.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to thank Bovington for all their help, but most of all, Paul for the superb job he did in making them.

 

Jim

[Rick W]

Never seen them repro'd, superb job.

[ajmac]

Your Sherman gets out a lot Jim, keep it up. Do you have any restoration photos to post? I remember there was a video of a portion of the work, back when there was the video option on the top tab...

[Enigma]

Vey well done.

It surely looks the part.

[cripp]

They look the dogs dangly bits. Good job.

[Jim Clark]

Here are a couple of photos of the original wading stacks

 

 

 

 

We did not have any dimensions from Bovington just photos of the way they were fitted. Paul made the stacks by eye, here are more pics of the basic frame work.

 

 

 

 

 

As far as I know no one has done this before with a Sherman, Pip Biddlecome made some for his Stuart some years ago.

 

ajmac, there was a video on Youtube of the restoration but it has been pulled by the author it is now on his web site , i will try to get a link to it.

When I have time I will also post a thread about the restoration.

Jim.

[Jack]

Jim did the crews pull these off as soon as they landed?? And a stupid question but I am taking it that one was for the exhaust and the other for air intake to the engine??

[Stormin]

Jim did the crews pull these off as soon as they landed?? And a stupid question but I am taking it that one was for the exhaust and the other for air intake to the engine??

 

You're forgetting cooling air for the engine as well Jack. Forward one for cool intake air, rear for hot air and exhaust gases.

 

If it was simply for engine running air and exhaust small pipes would've done. Given the size of the "ducts" I would imagine they were designed so they could run for long periods on land without overheating, so no immediate need to remove them until safe and convenient.

[Jim Clark]

Jack,

the rear stack is for the exhaust and the cooling air outlet and the front stack is for engine cooling air inlet only.

 

The air the engine uses to run is drawn through pipes and the air filters from the crew compartment

 

The engine cooling air is drawn in by a large fan mounted to the flywheel of the engine via the stack and also from the crew compartment, in doing so it draws clean air into the crew compartment from the outside thus keeping the air fresh for the crew.

 

As it is drawn from the crew compartment it flows through two oil coolers, one for the engine oil the other for the transmission oil. These coolers are mounted in the bulkhead between the crew area and the engine.

 

There are slight variations to the system on the different models of Sherman .

 

I hope this answers your question?

 

Jim.

[Jim Clark]

Jack,

the rear stack is for the exhaust and the cooling air outlet and the front stack is for engine cooling air inlet only.

 

The air the engine uses to run is drawn through pipes and the air filters from the crew compartment

 

The engine cooling air is drawn in by a large fan mounted to the flywheel of the engine via the stack and also from the crew compartment, in doing so it draws clean air into the crew compartment from the outside thus keeping the air fresh for the crew.

 

As it is drawn from the crew compartment it flows through two oil coolers, one for the engine oil the other for the transmission oil. These coolers are mounted in the bulkhead between the crew area and the engine.

 

There are slight variations to the system on the different models of Sherman .

 

I hope this answers your question?

 

Jim.

[Stormin]

Jack,

the rear stack is for the exhaust and the cooling air outlet and the front stack is for engine cooling air inlet only.

 

The air the engine uses to run is drawn through pipes and the air filters from the crew compartment

 

The engine cooling air is drawn in by a large fan mounted to the flywheel of the engine via the stack and also from the crew compartment, in doing so it draws clean air into the crew compartment from the outside thus keeping the air fresh for the crew.

 

As it is drawn from the crew compartment it flows through two oil coolers, one for the engine oil the other for the transmission oil. These coolers are mounted in the bulkhead between the crew area and the engine.

 

There are slight variations to the system on the different models of Sherman .

 

I hope this answers your question?

 

Jim.

 

That's a surprise Jim that there's a route between the engine compartment and the crew area, rather than a fully sealed bulkhead.

Was this a standard feature on Shermans or a modification for wading?

Is this likely part of the reason Shermans aquired their cruel nickname of Tommy cookers?

[Adrian Barrell]

It's standard on most tanks of the period. The fire issue is nothing to do with the fuel, Shermans problem in that regard was due to the stowage of ammunition in the upper hull.

 

Radial engine installations as in M4 and M4A1 had the air cleaners outside of the vehicle and their air was drawn from the front of the engine compartment so only a proportion of cooling air was taken through the oil coolers and hence from the fighting compartment.

 

M4A3 (Ford GAA) and M4A4 (Chrysler Multibank) had their air cleaners mounted in the rear corners of the fighting compartment so, like a radial, some of the cooling air was drawn from there but all of the engine breathing air was also taken from the fighting compartment. With just the drivers hatch open, it's one heck of a draught past your head!

 

Jims tank is a mix in that it was built as an M4A4 and retains that air cleaner position but has a radial engine installed.

 

The wading trunks are totally different between the two as well. Jims ones are the US radial style. The British Sherman V (M4A4) style were open topped without the forward scoop and were not tapered at the bottom end. The intake was also much smaller as this had to carry less airflow than a radial type.