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I disagree.
France and the Soviet Union remained armed to the teeth throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Both nations were hostile to Germany. Hence the German situation was very different from most European nations.
The M20 wasn't really a "front line" truck. At least in the sense of being a "tactical mobile" truck. It could haul tanks from storage areas, docks, work shops to forward deployment areas and bring back broken down ( or battle damaged) tanks from forward areas to rear area maintenance shops.
It was never intended to haul tanks cross country in poor conditions.
The US tended to over spec things in some cases. Just because you "CAN" build an armor plated tank recovery truck with all wheel drive doesn't mean you "SHOULD".
@ PINSONG:
"... The Diamond T Tank Transporter was a heavy tank transporter, used in World War II and the following years.
Designed as a heavy prime mover for tank transporting, the Diamond T 980 was the product of the Diamond T Company in Chicago. In 1940 the British Purchasing Commission, looking to equip the British Army with a vehicle capable of transporting larger and heavier tanks, approached a number of American truck manufacturers to assess their models. The Diamond T Company had a long history of building rugged, military vehicles for the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps and had recently produced a prototype heavy vehicle for the US Army which, with a few slight modifications met British requirements and an initial order for 200 was very quickly filled.
The result was the Diamond T 980, a 12-ton hard-cab 6x4[1] vehicle which proved to be one of the most successful and memorable in its class.[citation needed] Powered by an 895 cu in (14.7 l) Hercules DXFE OHV inline six diesel engine[2] developing 185 bhp (138 kW),[2] or the 1,090 cu in (17.9 l) Hall-Scott 440 OHV inline-six gasoline engine (the largest gasoline engine in any WW2 military truck)[2] of 240 bhp (180 kW),[2] and geared very low, it could pull a trailer load of up to 120,000 lb (54,000 kg),[3] and proved capable of the task of moving the heaviest tanks then in service. It had a four-speed manual constant-mesh transmission plus a similar three-speed auxiliary gearbox, for a total of twelve forward and three reverse speeds, and airbrakes.[2] The electrics were 24-volt.[2] Top speed was 23 mph (37 km/h), and with 150 US gal (120 imp gal; 570 l) fuel, maximum range was 300 mi (480 km).[2] Wheelbase was 179 in (4,500 mm), length 280 in (7,100 mm), track 74 in (1,900 mm), and height 100 in (2,500 mm).[2] Steering was manual, with no power assist.[2]
A winch of 40,000 lb (18,000 kg) capacity, chain driven off the auxiliary transmission and intended mainly for hauling damaged tanks aboard trailerswas mounted behind the cab" * [Wikipedia]
Growing up in the early '50's I saw Diamond T's a lot as used by construction companies as a float tractor - with 5th wheel.
Later in the '60's working on construction we had 2 on site - a water truck and a re-fueler for the Cats. I had never realized that it was only
rear-axle drive until you noted that just now. I got to drive one (water truck) and they were brutes. May not have been a Dragon Wagon but the
Diamond T prime mover was much more widely used than the DW. That tells me it wasn't too flawed.
MM
A friend of mine who is 85 now, saw a gas powered M20 back in the late 40's or early 50's pulling a rock crushing unit out of a dam construction site. He said the driver would pull the hand throttle wide open on the hills, get out of the truck and walk along beside it to stretch his legs and smoke a cigarette, reaching up now and then to turn the wheel. After a cigarette, he would get back in the truck and ride for a while.Fair points all, pinsog.The ones I encountered were gas powered.
MM
Without somebody who had experience with both it may be hard to tell how much of an improvement the M26 was.
The M20 weighed 26,950lb empty vs the 48,985lbs of the M26. The M20 could be loaded with about 18,000lbs in the ballast box for traction. the M26 may have needed 6 wheel drive considering that the front axle load was 22,950lbs. The M20s unpowered front axle was carrying 11,30lbs loaded. on it's 12.00 X 20 tires. The M25 used 14.00 X 24s. Rear axle loading on the M20 could go to 16,500lbs with the ballast box loaded. it used a full trailer with a front axle. the M-26 could go to 85,985lbs on the rear boogie or 42,992lbs per axle.
The max towed load of the M20 was 115,000lbs. the max towed load of the M26 was 117,500lbs. Max grade in low gear with towed load was supposed to be 27% for the M20 vs 30% for the M26max speed for the M20 (governed) was 23mph vs the 28mph of the M26. The M20 was supposed to get 2 miles to the gallon, the M26 got 1 mile to the gallon.
In combination with the 45ton trailer M9 the M20 was rated for transporting 90,000lb loads. The M26 in combination with the 40ton trailer M15 was rated for transporting 80,000lb loads.
Figures are from Dept of the Army technical manual TM 9-2800-1 Feb 1953.
The M20 had only one 20 ton winch and carried (as standard) little or no tools/recovery gear like oxy-acetylene equipment.
The M26 may have been a bit faster, 2-5mph, and perhaps the powered front axle made up for the much higher ground loading but as haulers there doesn't seem to that much to chose between them. The 3 winches on the M-26 and the gear make it a better recovery vehicle though.
The Mack NO, good as it was was a whole class below. It had a recommended Max towed load of 50,000lbs, under 1/2 the tank transporters, and that was on highways. It was recommended that if towing the max load that the payload in the bed be restricted to 10,350lbs instead of the normal 20,897lbs. The M26 could take 60,000lbs on the 5th wheel.