Lauren Child Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I've just been watching the Sherman episode of "Killer Tanks" on the discovery channel. Just before the end there was a picture shown of a Sherman with no tracks and four huge wheels fitted. Unfortunately they didn't say what it was or why it was done. Can any of you shed some light? It looked like a peculiar beast. Quote
Grasshopper Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I know the germans had some 8 wheeled armoured cars, and some allied development vehicles were 8 wheeled armoured cars. Quote
Lauren Child Posted June 22, 2008 Author Posted June 22, 2008 This was definitely a Sherman hull/turret with 4 wheels fitted. The wheels were huge (about as tall as the Sherman) and grooved. They were fitted where the drive sprockets and rear idlers would normally be, but the axles must have been extended down as they still fitted under the recess for the tracks, giving a huge ground clearance. Quote
Rlangham Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Could have been this beast? The 'Boarhound', US built, UK ordered 2500 but only 30 built as they had very poor off road performance My photo of one at the Tank museum Wikipedia photo Quote
Jack Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I am sure Adrian will know but I think it was an experimental mine clearing tank. Quote
Adrian Barrell Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 Lauren, Jack is correct, it sounds like the Mine exploder, T10. An experimental one off, built on an M4A2 chassis. The front wheels were 8 feet in diameter! It weighed in at 52 tons and it's top speed was 7 mph, 2 mph whilst exploding mines. One of the many and varied US attempts at mine clearance. The British flail was rather more successful. Adrian Quote
Tony B Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 What did the poor sod who had to drive it do to deserve it? Quote
Lauren Child Posted June 23, 2008 Author Posted June 23, 2008 Lauren, Jack is correct, it sounds like the Mine exploder, T10. An experimental one off, built on an M4A2 chassis. The front wheels were 8 feet in diameter! It weighed in at 52 tons and it's top speed was 7 mph, 2 mph whilst exploding mines. One of the many and varied US attempts at mine clearance. The British flail was rather more successful. Adrian That sounds like the thing - the wheels were huge. Quote
abn deuce Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I located an image of another one of the sherman big wheel anti mine units the text calls it M1 Aunt jemima . 75 units made , chain drive from the sprockets to the 10 foot "indestructible" wheels , an extra M4 somtimes being necessary to push the heavy equipment along. Quote
Tony B Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 Canadian and British tried a smaller roller also 'Indistructable' .Didn't work, amongst other things the rollers bounced passing shockwaves back to the vehicle. hence the flail came into use. Quote
Lauren Child Posted June 24, 2008 Author Posted June 24, 2008 Those look like the same wheels, but this was riding on them instead of pushing them out front. It must have been hellish to steer. It's no wonder it didn't make it into production. Thanks for the info guys :tup:: Quote
Jon8910 Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 Hi, I believe this may be the what your talking about Lauren, and is the vehicle that Adrian spoke of. I got a screen capture from the programme which I recorded on dvd. Jon Quote
HotBed Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 a piar of wheels to die for :cool2: regards graham Quote
Lauren Child Posted June 24, 2008 Author Posted June 24, 2008 Thats it! Blimey, it's a single wheel at the back. Quote
abn deuce Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 would not want to go across much of a side slope with that !! Quote
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