RecyMech Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Evening all.....I wonder if anyone could answer a question for me please & hopefully a Mat owner might be able to supply a piccy or two. On the tailboard of a Mat gun tractor are 2 vertical bars, one either side of the centre pivot bar. They're fixed to the tailboard itself on the bottom plank & appear to be hinged at the bottom....any clues what they are for ? & does anyone have a detail shot of them please...in particular the top end ? In the same vein....there is a further slightly curved bar attached to the tail board centre pivot bar itself. Any ideas as to its use & again a detail piccy would be greatly appreciated. Cheers. Howard @ KFS kfs1@btinternet.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roof Over Britain Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) Evening all.....I wonder if anyone could answer a question for me please & hopefully a Mat owner might be able to supply a piccy or two. On the tailboard of a Mat gun tractor are 2 vertical bars, one either side of the centre pivot bar. They're fixed to the tailboard itself on the bottom plank & appear to be hinged at the bottom....any clues what they are for ? & does anyone have a detail shot of them please...in particular the top end ? In the same vein....there is a further slightly curved bar attached to the tail board centre pivot bar itself. Any ideas as to its use & again a detail piccy would be greatly appreciated. Cheers. Howard @ KFS kfs1@btinternet.com Hi there, The two bars are there to retain the two wire ropes used for the skid pans that go under the front wheels when winching. They are normally stowed in a figure of eight across the tail board. You very seldom see them on preserved examples since they make the tail board even heavier than it already is. The central item is a three leaf spring that strikes against the tow hook to take the shock when the tail board is dropped. Edited January 10, 2012 by Roof Over Britain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) Thanks for the reply Roof OB The central 3 leaf 'shock absorber' part makes sense....I can grasp that bit now. So thanks for the info on that bit. Cheers. But the other parts..... I'm not sure we are talking about the same thing here. I have reference pictures showing two large C shaped rope retainers, one either side on the tailboard & pictures of same with ropes fitted, as you say in a figure 8. I'm happy with those, but it is not these I'm referring to. The items in question are dead straight bars going vertically from the bottom plank...one either side of the central tail board mount, about 10 inches outboard. They are definately on hinge pins at the bottom, so they must swing downward. I can't tell what they are attached to at the top end though. Do they form some part of a carrying rack for something maybe ? Any thoughts anyone (or pics even better) ?...Howard @ KFS Edited January 11, 2012 by RecyMech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roof Over Britain Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Thanks for the reply Roof OB The central 3 leaf 'shock absorber' part makes sense....I can grasp that bit now. So thanks for the info on that bit. Cheers. But the other parts..... I'm not sure we are talking about the same thing here. I have reference pictures showing two large C shaped rope retainers, one either side on the tailboard & pictures of same with ropes fitted, as you say in a figure 8. I'm happy with those, but it is not these I'm referring to. The items in question are dead straight bars going vertically from the bottom plank...one either side of the central tail board mount, about 10 inches outboard. They are definately on hinge pins at the bottom, so they must swing downward. I can't tell what they are attached to at the top end though. Do they form some part of a carrying rack for something maybe ? Any thoughts anyone (or pics even better) ?...Howard @ KFS Yes, although the wire ropes are round the two C shaped carriers, the two hinged bars are there to hold them in against the tail board. I'll try and remember to take my camera with me and photograph the rear of my Matador. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Many thanks Roof OB Ahh, I'm starting to get the picture now.....from the rather poor pictures I was looking at I though these bars were flush against the tailboard (so you could`nt get anything behind them)....now you've said that though & I look again there does appear to be a shadow behind them.. It's falling into place:) H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickAbbott Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Is this the detail you are after? This is from the back of my Matador. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Thats the stuff Nick :kiss: Sound as a pound. Many thanks for picture, that explains it all perfectly. Apologises to Roof OB if it sounded like I was doubting your knowledge. Thanks again lads, both of you. Best regards........Howard @ KFS PS if you had`nt guessed already, this is all to do with the forthcoming 1/24th scale Matador kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickAbbott Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Which cab options is the model going to have? The curved wooden blocks attached to the tailgate on mine are what was fitted to early Matadors (mine has a Weymann cab), all the later ones I've seen have been fitted with metal brackets of a similar shape, instead of the wooden blocks. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hi Nick, Slightly later than yours then I think. Not the one with the civilian cab roof (although that might be an option later as the cab has a separate roof at present) but the one with the twin skin roof right across. This gives the option of stripping half the top panel back & fitting a hip ring. Until I got into it I did'nt realise the Matador had so many variations of just about everything.....& thats not including what private owners did to them after service. I'm trying to strike as many options as possible while keeping the cost of the thing in mind. Cheers.........H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philb Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 If you haven't seen this already, "Contribution to Victory" http://www.aecmilitant.co.uk/downloads/contributiontovictory.pdf shows a few interesting war-time variants - and some other military machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philb Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 By the way, look at this lot and don't let anyone tell you you've got the "wrong" tread on your tyres: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 HA ! months ago the pattern maker & me had a long long discussion about which tread pattern was 'original'....turns out they all are !! Cheers for that. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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