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  #1  
Old 16-03-19, 08:37
Richard Coutts-Smith Richard Coutts-Smith is offline
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Default Cent. spares vs Aussie ingenuity

Centurion Road Wheel powered ski tow, novel use for military spares, and many would say way more fun.
This rope tow was used for many years up in the Victorian High Country, up until the mid 90's when a sudden on rush of ludicrous insurance price hikes put paid to activities like this. In a Catch 22 affair, the ski club had to stop having a ski tow so they could remain a ski club....
I joined the club the year it was decommissioned, and never saw it run, which is my excuse for not noticing the wheels.
It was returned soldiers in 1947 who founded it, I like to think it was one of these guys who had the brainwave to machine the rubber off the road wheel to suit the rope.
Rich.
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wheel.jpg   wheel1.jpg   wheel2.jpg   wheel3.jpg  
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Old 16-03-19, 14:20
David Herbert David Herbert is offline
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Sorry but that is definitely not a Centurion wheel. They are wider, steel, ten stud, much heavier and don't have the line of rivets holding them together. In Australia my guess would be M113 but I don't remember them having the rivets.

David
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Old 16-03-19, 15:45
maple_leaf_eh maple_leaf_eh is offline
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Default ski tows

That automotive inspired machinery was in keeping with how many other hills in North America operated. In the so-called Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, returned veterans who had trained with ski divisions or had newfound fitness ideas, used truck and car components for their modest lifts. Ford cars in particular were common enough to be repurposed. The runs were shorter then than today's towering mountain top cable car and gondolas, but the principle was to same - get skiers up on the mountain sides.
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  #4  
Old 16-03-19, 16:33
rob love rob love is offline
carrier mech
 
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Herbert View Post
Sorry but that is definitely not a Centurion wheel. They are wider, steel, ten stud, much heavier and don't have the line of rivets holding them together. In Australia my guess would be M113 but I don't remember them having the rivets.

David
The rivets were for a wear plate on the inside of the roadwheel. Some M113 wheels had them and some didn't...not sure why. We used to use the partial loss of the wear plate as a criteria for replacing the roadwheel. The wheels would go for rebuild here in Canada, and if you wore out the main part of the wheel, then there really wasn't anything worth rebuilding. There were times when there was only the center ring left from the hub....basically a small aluminum disc with 8 holes. We would have to clean them, tag them, and turn them back to supply, since they were an accountable item.
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  #5  
Old 16-03-19, 17:05
Mike Cecil Mike Cecil is offline
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Default M113a1

It is a roadwheel from any of the M113A1 FOV.

There were three types:
(1) Thin Al. with wear plate riveted to inner face
(2) Thick Al.with wear plate riveted to inner face
(3) all steel, (wear plate not required so no rivets.)

(1) and (2) could be mixed on the same axle (there are two per axle, mounted one inwards, one outwards), but not (3) with either (1) or (2).

Roadwheels had to be gauged for thickness to ascertain if they were within tolerance. Too thin = replace.

This is likely (1). The ski tow using these wheels is most likely to have been built after 1965.

(The latest book on the Aust M113A1 FOV states there were two types of roadwheel: steel and Al. As can be seen from the above, this is not correct.)

Mike
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  #6  
Old 16-03-19, 22:34
Richard Coutts-Smith Richard Coutts-Smith is offline
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Yep, should have considered size, weight and thought a bit more before I made an off the hip ID. but 113 does surprise me.
I guess Bandiana Army Base (they have a lot of 113 work done there) is 90 minutes away, may have been the source of supply and machining. Unless there was a cross border raid and they were borrowed off the Wagga display FOV. One side is Deep Bronze Green, the other over painted with Olive Drab ?, that ultra flat stuff anyway.
Late 70's on I would say, the original tow (about 1952) was a truck on blocks with the diff locked and a rope over the bare wheel. It ran continuously, which apparently took some skill to hook on to,the latter incarnation could be controlled from out on the slope, and was much more forgiving.
Rich.
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Last edited by Richard Coutts-Smith; 16-03-19 at 22:41.
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  #7  
Old 16-03-19, 22:43
Richard Coutts-Smith Richard Coutts-Smith is offline
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Of course, hardly worth being a member now....
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