Picture of the day

[kjohn]

smellie: I remember when Princess Auto was offering twinned 6-71 engines in their catalogue. I watched one of those big old Euclid crawlers with twinned 6-71's at a construction show a few years ago. Impressive, to say the least.

The two-cycle Jimmies couldn't have been much good, as they only made a few million, then quit. (sarcasm off).

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

And because it's a pic thread:

Caption is "Lowering the 30-cylinder Chrysler multibank engine into a Sherman tank." Gee, that's a lot of cylinders. Here's a freshened up one:

Here's an air-cooled radial aircraft engine swap in the field.

And here's one powered by a very husky lad on a big gerbil wheel:

 

[rob bishop]

30 cylinder? That would get what, 5 gallons to the mile?

I bet it sounds great though

 

[kennymo]

Lol, had to zoom in to find the guy in the rear hatch...

 

[john@]

Holy crap, looks like they took 5 inline 6 engines and arranged them radially. Thats gotta have a lot of torque.

 

[smellie]

@ JOHN@:

That is exactly what they did. Saved designing, developing and manufacturing an entire new engine. They were able to get the thing into production in a couple of months from Day One, using existing parts inventory and factories which were already set-up and working. Fritz had to be PERFECT..... and designed a separate engine for every single application, then tried to make parts for them all. His logistics must have been a nightmare!

I have a Wartime book here (official history of the Detroit Tank Arsenal) which describes exactly how they did it.

Lotsa pic-at-chers: really nice for a semi-literate Old Phart such as myself!

 

[Rod B]

I looks like they used the old Chrysler industrial six cylinder engines to build this.

 

[Nelson84]

Those Sherman's were disposable anyways if it broke they would jump on a new one. They had more equipment than men.

 

[Nelson84]

the tiger was gas, as was the king tiger, the panther, the jagdpanther, etc and so were the panzer 3s and 4s

the shermans were made in both gas and diesel

"Now for some evidence provided by the US Army’s Ballistic Research Lab which studied WW2 ETO tank vs tank engagements(98 of them if you were wondering) and concluded the following: The most deciding factor of who wins a tank engagement is who engages first. Crew training and other factors also played a large role. The average distance at which a US tank kills a Panzer(late IV, V, & VI) was 893 yards(816 m). Comparatively the average distance Panzers killed US vehicles as 943 yards(862 m). During Panther v. M4 engagements the Panther had a 1.1:1 advantage while on the defensive, however the M4 had an 8.4:1 advantage while on the offensive. Overall the M4 was 3.6 times as effective in combat versus the Panther."

see here: ht tp://ftr.wot-news.com/2013/07/28/please-dont-use-the-5-m4s-1-panther-myth/

There is a lot of advantages to the Sherman. There was more Sherman's, Sherman was transported by landing craft tiger to heavy Sherman was transported by air tiger to heavy. Sherman better in narrow streets, Sherman faster being lighter. Sherman is a much smaller target. At 800 meters it would be tiny. The Sherman was also on the winning side that must tell you something.

 

[Nelson84]

Also the Sherman was easier to build in the factory that is why there was more of them.

 

[Nelson84]

What was the point of jumping a jeep towing a cannon? People say they are rugged and tuff but that is bull#### I have a 42 GPW and they are heavy duty for those days but were build as light as possible. So compared to your chevy pickup they are not much to them and the suspension is light duty compared to today.

 

[john@]

Those photos are taken during the trials for the vehicle that was to replace the horse in the US army. The army knew they were headed for Europe and had nothing to match the german Kubelwagon so they were scrambling for something. The automotive industry had about 60 days to come up wth something. Only two manufacturers took up the challenge, Bantam and Willys, and I think only Bantam actually submitted a prototype for testing.
They beat the crap out of the Bantams samples and apparently they took everything that could be thrown at them.
The army loved the product but wanted a lot manufactured fast so they took the winning design to Ford and Willys. Bantam got a contract for making the little trailers they towed.

 

[john@]

Full story on youtube
Modern Marvels, S08E19, - Big Rigs Of Combat, Jeeps

edit: the video was deleted, but it will pop up again somewhere, if you google it you can probably find it.

 

[Nelson84]

Whatever!

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Thanks for your productive and insightful input, bud.

If we had to change oil and plugs in the parking lot at Cambodian Tire, we'd think we were hard done by. I shiver to think what the maintenance guys for both sides put up with, particularly the Russians and the Germans on Der Ostfront.

Goddamn great nasty lump of an engine weighs a feckin' ton, it's -40C and dropping, everything is brittle including your fingers, which you can't feel anymore, and the oil moves like tar. "Big doin's in the morning" says the Cap'n. "Need everything up and running before dawn." You haven't slept in three days, your judgement is wonky, the kid that's supposed to be "helping" you just hit your hand for the third feckin' time with the BFH, and the damned watery soup you get twice a day always shows up lukewarm at best.

Poor buggers. No life like it...

 

[fingers284]

Thanks for your productive and insightful input, bud.

If we had to change oil and plugs in the parking lot at Cambodian Tire, we'd think we were hard done by. I shiver to think what the maintenance guys for both sides put up with, particularly the Russians and the Germans on Der Ostfront.

Goddamn great nasty lump of an engine weighs a feckin' ton, it's -40C and dropping, everything is brittle including your fingers, which you can't feel anymore, and the oil moves like tar. "Big doin's in the morning" says the Cap'n. "Need everything up and running before dawn." You haven't slept in three days, your judgement is wonky, the kid that's supposed to be "helping" you just hit your hand for the third feckin' time with the BFH, and the damned watery soup you get twice a day always shows up lukewarm at best.

Poor buggers. No life like it...

Been like that in the Ab. oilpatch for 80 yrs LOL.

 

[shredder]

Been like that in the Ab. oilpatch for 80 yrs LOL.

Yup!

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

True, but how often do you guys get shot at?

 

[plinker 777]

Dan! By the sound of your insightfulness' I'd say you were a mechanic!? Before "Dark Alley" was your alias "Diesel" Dan by chance?

I've never worked the oil patch, or been shot at while "on call" but I can relate 100% to the rest of the BS. Weird how for some nothing has changed for 100 years...{t1ts and tires, t1ts and tires}

 

[XRCD011]

All this love for jeeps, but give me a nice Type 82 Kubel and you can easily go anywhere a MB/GPW can and you will NOT get beaten and shaken to death on the way. And if the kubel is good off road, a schwimmer is freakin GREAT. I can also respect what Dark Alley Dans getting at about working on anything mechanical in cold or adverse conditions, whenever I go out to my unheated "Garage of Dreams" in the winter its like reenacting the Battle of Stalingrad over this past winter.