Raupenschlepper, Ost Artillery tractor.
- Thread starter davebender
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Totally unrelated, but I had this Corgi 3 piece set as a kid (car, limber and cannon). You just brought back many happy memories playing with this, my King Tiger, Challenger and nebelwerfer half-track. Thanks!
- Thread starter
- #23
davebender
1st Lieutenant
Maultier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maultier was the German equivalent of the U.S. M-3 half track. Essentially just a 3 ton truck modified with a simple band track suspension ILO the rear wheels. Some of them had light armor but Germany still considered it to be a truck.
They were still using those very expensive all steel tracks(they needed to save that steel for other projects) and no driven front axle. Of course when one thinks about it, Germany was short of everything except invading Russians and American bombers.
They were deficient in the type of steel required to make the pins in the track, not the entire track itself. Lets face it, when your country is half the size of Texas and you declare war on everyone, your probably going to be short of everything.
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- #27
davebender
1st Lieutenant
What makes you think German Maultier tracks were expensive? The entire truck was pretty cheap. In fact even Sd.Kfz.251 APCs were a bit less expensive then American made M3 half tracks.
Shortround6
Major General
needing a powered front axle depends on the total design of the vehicle. The regular German half-tracks were more like 3/4 tracks, a much longer ground run on the tracks and needed a tracked steering system for sharp turns, front wheels were for shallow turns. More of their weight was on the tracks. The American half-tracks-and Maultier's used the front axle for steering and carried more weight on it. It could become 'bogged' easier and a powered axle could help with turning in poor conditions.
Cost is hard to figure because the "official" exchange is near useless.
Cost is hard to figure because the "official" exchange is near useless.
Anything pushed or pulled on the ground that isn't powered is a liability off road. Whether your in deep mud, snow, or crossing ditches, if you have a non powered steering axle, it will eventually hang you up and get you stuck. If your going to have a vehicle with track along 80% of its length and steering clutches in the driveline to help it steer, then ditch the steering axle and go full tracked like an M4 or M5 high speed tractor. German 3/4 tracks already had everything they needed to be full tracked, if you are going to incorporate all the expensive stuff necessary to help it turn, ditch the steering axle.
- Thread starter
- #31
davebender
1st Lieutenant
That's fine for off road travel. I suspect Germany opted for 3/4 track rather then full track because these vehicles spent a lot of time traveling on roads.
If you spend most of your time on the road you need wheels. If you want better off road performance than wheels but still be as cheap as a truck, the US M3 option was perfect: road friendly, cheap, easy to operate and better off road performance than a truck. The Germans essentially built a light tank, with the expensive, difficult to produce all steel tracks, stearing brakes, etc. and then compromised the whole thing by hanging a non-powered front axle on it. As far as driving down a road, a US M4 or M5 high speed tractor will outperform the German halftracks in every way, offroad or on road. They had more power and were full tracked. And the M4 and M5 were the vehicles that the German prime movers should be compared to, not the US halftrack.
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