New Member and Carrier owner
 

Hello to you all.

I am a new member to the forum and soon to be the owner of a Mk1* Carrier. I'm looking forward to being a member of the group and sharing the restoration with you all. My experience so far is with far more modern AFVs, so this will be a bit of a learning curve.

Does anyone have any images or details of the canvas waterproof cover? I have the size, but don't know the correct colour of canvas or how many eyelets should be there.

I will post some pictures of the Carrier as soon as it arrives.

Regards,

Tom

Tom, welcome to the MLU forum. I'm sure you'll find all the answers to any question you have and don't forget the photos. :thup2:
Regards
Colin. (Australia)

welcome tom. you've come to the right place for carrier enthusiasts

Welcome to you
 

Glad to see you've made it Tom..

Hi Tom,
I have a 1944 No2 Mk 2* carrier which was apparently never issued to the army and has never been restored, it came which an unused canvas sheet carefully folded in the kit locker. I am assuming it is original though I cannot find a date on it as all the other tools that were with the vehicle are definitely original. I won't be going to where I store the carrier for a couple of weeks but am happy to send you the details of the sheet once I can get it out. We are not a million miles away as I am in Surrey so you are welcome to come and take a look if you want to check the colour. Send me a PM if you would like to visit otherwise I will post details here when I can.

I also have a 1944 No2 MK2* and would also be interested in the spec and colour of your tarp Mike. (pictures when you can).......Did yours come from Cornwall by any chance?

Ron in east Dorset.

Hi Ron,
Yes no problem. As to where it came from it came to me from Wiltshire but where it was before that I don't know. It was apparently sold post war unissued and has since been through a few owners none of whom did much with it. The speedo has recorded just 300 miles and looking at the condition of all parts that is probably correct.

Thanks Gents,

My Mk1* is due to arrive the last week in June. My H licence will be the next thing to sort out so I can use it on the road. Does anyone know what the speed limit is for a Carrier on UK roads, as it does not have rubber track pads?

Mike I think I recognize it. I'm one of the vehicle organizers of the Weymouth Veterans parade. Some years ago, a carrier was booked in by a Mr White (from memory) in Cornwall. He drove it on our run out to Portland on the Saturday (parade day is Sunday) But it kept breaking down with and electrical fault. The same AA guy visited him at least three times and thought it was a bit of a laugh. I was on one of my bikes as usual and kept an eye him to make sure he didn't get lost. I do remember that it only had 200 odd miles on the clock.

Anyway, the owner told me that he bought it "mint in the box" and had filmed the opening on 8mm film and agreed to get it downloaded onto DVD and send me a copy. I did phone him a couple of times to remind him, but then I heard that he'd died and his family had sold the carrier for quite some considerable amount? Ron

Welcome to the family... I now have a 44 No2 mk2*. prior to that I had a 42 Mk1*

as for your question, you need to know that answer for your test.

if the track laying vehicle has resilient material (read that as rubber) on the tracks or its road wheels, and is fitted with suspension, the speed limit is 20mph. if it has none of the above it is 5mph.

that is for UK.

I would never advocate someone take a carrier onto the road if they have no experience with tracked vehicles.

carriers particularly can be twitchy

get some images posted up buddy :)


Richie

Image attachment keeps failing at the moment, I'll try again later.

I've driven tracked vehicles whilst I was in the REME. I did an AFV commander's course, but being an officer we weren't trusted to actually drive anything so never got my H licence. Maybe if I had been able to drive I wouldn't have ended up buying a Carrier. Although this logic didn't work for Mr Wedlock!

I'm involved with a group called the Garrison Artillery Volunteers group at Larkhill and we often get the vehicles out onto Salisbury Plain, so I need my licence for that. That said I take on board your comment about how twitchy they are and will take it very carefully. I have access to some land where I can practice before endangering everyone else on the road.

Good skills Tom.

Most on here have clocked up many miles both road and off road in these little beauties ! its like anything else really, just make sure you familiarise yourself with the handling characteristics before heading out onto the roads :)

don't forget your amber beacon too !

love driving my carrier, cant beat it after a crap day at work !

Tom did I meet you at Larkhill? I got invited up there a few months back by the group you mention as I own a 2 pounder ATG. Small World.

I expect you need to reduce the size of your pictures for posting on here. Ron

Hello Ron, I didn't meet you at Larkhill unfortunately, but we have met before at the show that used to be held at Ramsbury about 6 or 7 years ago. I brought my Royal Enfield WD/CO on it's first ever event. Unfortunately my drive sprocket came adrift on the first hill out of the village and I had to pull the chain case off on the side of the road. I spent the rest of the day trying to track the convoy down (without exceeding 30 mph as the engine had just been put together). I eventually caught up as you all pulled into Netheravon camp. The bike managed to stay in one piece on the route back!

Here's some pictures of the Carrier. Luckily all the hard work was completed by the previous owner; it runs and drives. Just need to finish it off and and find all the missing parts, which are mostly the stowage boxes and tools etc. Will post some more when it arrives at the end of June.

Ha Ha, the joys of being a DR. I think it was the following year, when again I was one of the DR's on convoy duty, where we perform the usual 'drop off' method to mark the corners. One bright spark deserted his corner and me and my mate Tim went straight on instead of turning right. We got totally lost in whatever county that is, and it started pissing with rain. Everyone else was nicely ensconced back at camp by the time we arrived 2 hours later. :mad: Ron

Looking nice, Tom! Looking forward to see her next year during the Easter training! :)

That's the plan Petr. Both Andy D and I plan on bringing carriers to the event next year. I have a few parts to find or make before next year, and the fuel tanks to finish off. I don't think I'll get very far running from Jerry Can!

tom don't pay any attention to richie. i'm sure you'll be able to drive the carrier just fine, especially if you stick to the speed limit (ish) :)

Hi Tom,
I have finally managed to get my carrier canvas out and photographed. Unfortunately having done so I now do not believe that it is an original. It is 15' x 20' but as can be seen in the pictures the only printing on it is wrapped around the edge of the sheet which suggests to me that although the WD broad arrow is visible (UK not Canadian) I cannot find any date and now think that this was in fact made out of a larger canvas cut down or smaller ones sewn together. There are eyelets in each corner and then 2 more evenly spaced along each short edge and 3 along each long edge. Even though probably not 'correct' it does the job.

and the last 3 pictures. If nothing else this may prompt further discussion!

That's great, thanks Mike.

That should be more than enough to get one made. I can't tell from the pictures, what colour is the canvas, is it green or brown? Would an original not have been made from several panels, as they would have been limited by the size of canvas on the roll. Even my Jeep canvas is made from several pieces, and that is much smaller.

I'd be surprised if this is Bob White's - it was very original, in original paint... and if someone bought it, stripped it and repainted it, they'd have destroyed a lot of the value (heard it sold for over 70k gbp). You are correct though - Bob got it "new - in the crate". Best drop a note to the Devon MVT club secretary - I am sure some of the other members who were there at the time will recall better than me (I wasn't).

Tim

"Stitching" the canvas back together to see the stamp more clearly, does anyone recognise any of the details?

Hi Tom,
The canvas is green though in the picture of it on the carrier it looks brown due to the lighting in the barn where it is kept. I will be at War & Peace with the carrier for the full week if you are there and want to take a closer look.

Cracking canvas there Mike ! Not difficult to reproduce I'd expect ?