VICKERS MK6B's resto

[colin jones]

Hi Colin, thanks for that information. Going by that info and assuming that tank was not one of the Australian tanks then I will have to assume that they were all in fact produced with the wider wheels and track horns. Then there should still be some wider track around over there somewhere as they must have made a reasonable amount of spare. Has anyone else seen any around.
Mike, so does that mean those two and the one at Bovington were all from Australia. If so, then out of the ten delivered here, there are still 6 still in existence with my 2 and Puckas.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by colin jones

Hi Colin, thanks for that information. Going by that info and assuming that tank was not one of the Australian tanks then I will have to assume that they were all in fact produced with the wider wheels and track horns. Then there should still be some wider track around over there somewhere as they must have made a reasonable amount of spare. Has anyone else seen any around.
Mike, so does that mean those two and the one at Bovington were all from Australia. If so, then out of the ten delivered here, there are still 6 still in existence with my 2 and Puckas.

Colin,
The Vickers at Bovington is a MkVIB, not an Australian order, as those 10 were MkVIA models. I beleive Canada order some after the Australians. With your two, there are 5 known survivors from the Australian order around the World,

[colin jones]

Yes you are right Richard, that's that one cleared up. Does that one have wide track and wheels.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by colin jones

Yes you are right Richard, that's that one cleared up. Does that one have wide track and wheels.

Not sure, will have to look next time I am at Bovington. I would say with the heavier weight than a Carrier, this is why the width of the wheels is greater. I also feel that the Australian Carriers may have wider wheels and tracks as the Vickers tanks were there and used as an example for them to copy at the time.

[Lynn Eades]

Richard, weight could well be part of it, but I think stability of the track came into it (not such a great tendency to fall off!) The Vickers tank has a longer track like the Windsor etc. The Loyd is similar in length, but retains the narrow track. I suspect the Loyd "got away with it" because of its lesser tare.
Also I suspect that the VLT, being classified a Tank, (teeth arms) needed that extra degree of independence on the battle field, that the more reliable wide horn track became its std. spec. As no doubt you are fully aware, Vickers by this stage had built and field tested so many variations that they knew what worked. All just my un qualified opinion.
On the track: It is interesting that so much of the wide horned track with headed pins survives. In this country at least. I wonder if the million links made in the USA for the war effort (Eastern War Council, NZ built LP2a order?) were of that style (otherwise where did they come from?)
Colin J. What would the weight of the tank be? Having crawled through your tanks some years ago, the memory of many light gauge aluminium bins/ boxes/trays etc. sticks with me. I cant help but feel an aircraft engineer was involved in fitting out these tanks. (Yes, I vaguely know Vickers built aircraft)

[colin jones]

My opinion of the wider tracks at manufacture has changed. I think, with the information at hand, they probably did have two different styles. One for the Bren and one for the Vickers. Here is a list of laden weights and track links I got out of one of my books.
MK11.... 172 track links....4 ton 5 cwt
MK111.. 172 track links....4 ton 10 cwt
MK1V.... 148 track links.... 4 ton 6 cwt
MKV...... 154 track links.... 4 ton 15 cwt
MKV1.... 155 track links.... 4ton 17 cwt
There were variations in overall length with the MKV1 being the longest @ 155"

[colin jones]

Engine front and rear mounts are completed. I had to move the front engine mount forward as the flywheel would have hit my new control linkage. I had plenty of room to scoot it forward. I machined up plates to bolt the hydraulic pump to which is now secured to the bell housing. I made an air intake tube and kept it as low as I could as I needed the depth to make my hydraulic oil tank with as much volume as required and I wanted it up high so it would gravity feed the pump. All good.