Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Waterman
Now to the wheel flanges the explanation I was that they were primarily to speed ship loading and unloading using a pair of spreader bars equipped with loop ends a crane crew could very quickly have a truck read to lift. The other use of course is using two ropes they can be used like a capstan winch to pull a vehicle out being stuck. But if there was mud involved I'd drag at the regular winch cable first.
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Pic 1 shows the ship loading arrangement Phil describes, but prior to the introduction of flanged hubs. It can be seen just how much simpler and faster it would be with flanged hubs. Personally I have no doubt they were designed expressly for this purpose. I wonder if they were part of D-Day planning...? They appeared in Australia around late '44 as standard equipment.
I've often heard the capstan winch suggestion, but I've always dismissed it as pure speculation arising from the shape of the front hub, which resembles a miniature ship's capstan. It strikes me as entirely impractical, if not impossible. Has anyone ever tried it? If not, it might be a worthwhile exercise one day, to prove the point one way or the other. Perhaps we can get MythBusters to tackle it!