From: Ryan M Gill (rmgill@mindspring.com)
Date: Tue Apr 29 2003 - 14:59:20 PDT
At 2:44 PM -0700 4/29/03, Mark Copeland wrote:
>Esteemed OD Enthusiasts,
>
>I have a few questions about Weasels.
I can answer some of your questions from my ride/drive in one back
this past feb/march at Camp Gruber. It was neat to get my hands on
one.
> 1. Who manufactured them?
> 2. What were they used for?
A go anywhere jeep with lower ground pressure and better
terrain/ditch crossing ability. Their low weight (no armor) and low
ground pressure (tracks spread that weight better than 4 small tires)
means they can cross boggy, muddy or snowey ground quite nicely with
out any problem. A low and high range on the gear box makes getting
power to the tracks easy. The amphibious version with the front and
back tanks helps their load capacity in water as does a rear rudder.
How those linkages were set up, I'm not sure.
> 3. How much cargo can they carry/tow?
Towing is bad with the way they swing that rear end around. It'd be
hard on a trailer I expect.
> 4. What military campaigns were they used in?
Europe at least. I don't think they had them for North
Africa...though perhaps. Korea most likely.
> 5. How much does the Weasel weigh?
> 6. How much do the tracks weigh?
> 7. How does the gearbox split power between the
> tracks?
Rear Differential perhaps (Like bren carriers?)? Its just a pair of
brakes to either track. (I know this from the one chance I was able
to drive it, not bad actually, you just have to twist the nuts to get
it to turn). It wasn't too peachy however when after moving it about
500 feet, we stopped and checked things only to realize it was very
low on oil. I need to find out how it turned out when the owner got
it home to verify why it was leaking so much oil.
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