Positive I/D Sort
 

I have this traverse gearbox that I believe is Sherman , but I thought they were hydraulic and manual , but this one only appears manual? Over to you guys on this one?, Thanks Andrew.

Traverse
 

Hi Andrew,

It looks like M24 Chaffee to me, but no doubt the resident armour experts here will advise.

Thanks Big D , I had suspicions it maybe something other than the common Sherman.

Not M24 Chaffee, Chaffee manual traverse handle is canted at an odd angle, not straight up and down as that one appears. Possibly early Grant or Lee or even Staghound

I think it may be staghound. I dont know about the others?

Hi David, the Staghound appears to have hydraulic drive . This one does not. Will try and remove more grease off to maybe reveal numbers, but they might only show casting numbers, Cheers Andrew.

So we maybe looking for a Grant or Lee expert out there? Thanks Andrew.

Is there not a tin blanking plate at the other end of the main output shaft where the hydraulic motor bolts onto?

If you look at the first picture, at the top of the gear the "cap" plate looks recessed and more than just a cover plate, so I do not think this part removes and the pump bolts on, and being NOS part would it have not have come with a pump, if there was suppose to be one?.Will investigate the housing more . Cheers Andrew.

Positive I/D
 

Hi Andrew,

I reckon jdmcm is on the money:

https://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/m3-lee/

David, could we get an enlarged version of that pic, the detail of the turret control?

In THIS THREAD, I found that this is the manual controller for the hydraulic turret traverse in the Staghound. The Motor (which I thought was a pump) might bolt onto the top of your part, Andrew? Does it have a female spline?

Certainly most of the Sherman power traverse gearboxes were shipped without their hydraulic motors. There was then more than one motor / hydraulic power pack / controller that could be fitted to them. As Adrian said, it was normal for there to be a thin, flat plate covering the hole where the motor fitted. The lever in the RH photo at the top of this thread is the changeover from manual to power operation so this is definately intended for power operation.

David

Source of the part?
 

Interesting. Big D's link is to Lee images, which show the M3 Lee outside the restoration shed at Littlefields in CA, I'm reasonably sure (and in the shed), so this is a Lee ex-Australia.

Andrew is in NZ: where did the drive you have come from, ie what was your source of that drive? Your source may help to narrow down the likely options.

Mike

Hi Mike, we now live in a world wide community, so you can not assume county of origin, if you know what I mean. It came from Europe, probably from Chris Muys , and I understand he had a lot of Sherman based parts?

No assumptions on my part, just wondering if source might have helped. If you had said 'a bunch of parts in a box from Australia' then Lee/Grant would jump out as a prime possibility. But from Europe, anything is likely.

Mike

The cover plate on the top holds the bearing for the gear, there is a horizontal cover plate, but this is only for access to the right angle gear drives. The ring gear , gear pulled out as shown in the pictures, has brass rings almost look electrical and at the base is a carbon "button" ?? There is a cast number in the main body:The letter D inside a big C and the number is 85651, There is also no internal spline on the top gear. Is this electrical over manual?Cheers Andrew.

You now know this was for an AFV in production in March 1945 (3 45) which rules out Lee/Grant, plus a USA bearing ID number you could try looking up regarding its end use/application.

Mike

I am really interested to know how all this setup behind that drive gear works?

Is that some kind of friction clutch Andrew?

Could well be , there must be some clever ones out there that can tell us.

I think it's for a Sherman 105mm which had hand traverse only originally. The cover number, B301138, comes back as as a cap, hand traverse, M4(105). The disc assembly is indeed an overload clutch.

I just want to say "FIGJAM" on the clutch, but that sounds pretty good Adrian.
I think you've won the competition............... Now I wonder what the prize is? :D :devil:

Thanks Guys, Adrian already won my last Sherman Tank book! Cheers Andrew.