One advantage of ballast tractors is that they're capable of double-heading, where two tractor units are coupled to pull a particularly heavy trailer. Multiple wheels per axle are common, usually four, sometimes eight. The simplest trailer designs have only two axles, but heavier loads frequently require more than this. They are pulled by a ballast tractor connected to a drawbar. These carried the entire weight of the tank on their own wheels, putting no weight onto the tractor unit. The A39 Tortoise being towed on a trailer by two Diamond Ts during trials in BAOR, 1948Īs the weight of tanks became too much for lorry chassis, separate trailers were developed. The lighter tanks of the inter-war period were carried on simple rigid flatbed lorries. Three chassis designs have been used, generally in this order over time as loads became heavier, although there are exceptions.

Scammell Contractor hauling Conqueror ARV2 FV222 Tank Recovery Vehicle(REME owned) Chassis designs In wartime it's more usual to recycle the previous generation of tanks as recovery tanks, so as to extend their useful life without using valuable production. In peacetime a main battle tank design will often be produced alongside a tracked armoured recovery vehicle based on the same chassis, so as to have a recovery vehicle available with adequate weight and power for that generation of tanks. It had a 475 HP Detroit Two-Stroke Diesel engine with Roots blower A rare few have been, such as the 'Dragon Wagon' of World War Two.įTF tank transporter tractor unit, build by Floor Truck Factory in the Netherlands in the 1970s for the Dutch Army as replacement for the Thornycroft Mighty Antar. M26 armoured tank transporter tractor unitįor similar reasons, tank transporters are rarely armoured to recover tanks under fire, although tracked recovery vehicles frequently are. Recovery vehicles are more complex and more expensive to build than transporters, so a handful of recovery vehicles need be supplied to support a troop of transporters. Tanks are usually deployed in groups, with groups of transporters to support them. Specialist armoured recovery vehicles are used for this, which may have powerful winches or even cranes. It's not their function to recover a damaged, broken-down or bogged-down tank. Transporters are merely for the carriage of tanks.

Military tank transporter turbosquid