Thanks to The Chieftain for writing and presenting this video! Check out his channel here for everything on tanks and other military vehicles: kzread.info/dron/p4j9Y9L6jie44iZroCb99A.html

@ReadyMack-g

Ай бұрын

What is some of your more rare books on Halftracks, Osprey or Rundlassu? any suggestions welcome

White Motor Company, Cleveland, Ohio. My mom's dad was an engineer (specializing in engines) at White. He didn't mention the T14. This is the story he did tell about the halftracks. The US Army put out a bid for halftracks. The specs required an engine that was larger than the engines White produced. But the owner wanted in on the contract. My grandfather took the largest engine White made and tweaked every single thing about the engine to improve its performance (including the shape of the combustion chamber). He said he did this entirely by himself, including drafting the blueprints, to which he added "those recent college grads were useless: they didn't even know how to do drafting." [I still have some of his darting tools.] White made the required number of vehicles for the Army's testing with that engine in it. He said that two other companies (apparently Diamond T and Autocar) also bid on the contract and did have large enough engines already. After testing, the Army granted 1/3 of the contract to each company BUT all halftracks had to use White's engine. The other two complained saying the engine couldn't possibly satisfy the requirements. The Army showed them their data. The engine was better at everything including oil consumption. When the army put howitzers in the halftrack, White's engine was replaced with a much larger engine from someone else (there is wikipedia page about the halftracks that has that info). When they were building the halftracks, White's plant manager called my grandfather asking permission to replace the steel exhaust pipes with a cheaper and softer (easier to bend/machine) material. He told the plant manager that the Army intended to put anti-aircraft guns in the bed. The Army anticipated that the German aircraft -- once under fire -- would radio the locations of the halftracks to their tanks. The tanks would then speed toward the halftracks. The halftracks would hold position -- firing as long as they could -- until the tanks were "close enough" and then floor the gas pedal, revving the engine "all out" to get away from (stay out of range of) the tanks. The pipes, if made from softer material, would get hot enough for the vibrations/movements (during the dash to get away) to tear/break the pipes and the engine exhaust would vent directly into the engine compartment -- and that would set everything on fire. The pipes had to be made from steel. Wallace Murray Kennedy, University of Toronto 1923 "A puck chaser for "School"". As a teenager, he joined the Royal Air Force (my mom referred to it as "running away from home.") and trained as a pilot. WW1 ended before he shipped out. His father owned a machine shop in Toronto and was spooked by him joining up. He and his dad did the Grand Tour after WW1 (not sure when). He took cars out to the farmland so he could take up the floor boards and watch how the mechanics/transmission worked while not running into anything. He moved to Detroit and started at Chevrolet in the drafting department. Finished up at GMAC (originally GM Truck and Coach in Pontiac MI).

@magalengo

Ай бұрын

Amazing

@HootOwl513

Ай бұрын

Interesting. My Mom's Father was a production engineer for International Harvester in the same period. A life-long conservative, he was disgusted that all the IH halftracks and trucks were going to the Soviets thru Lend-Lease.

@brokenbridge6316

Ай бұрын

Nice story

@eldorados_lost_searcher

Ай бұрын

Good on your grandfather for telling the manager to stick with steel instead of saving money for the company at the expense of performance in combat.

@magalengo

Ай бұрын

@@HootOwl513 You can never make a good deal with a communist/socialist, they will eventually betray you every time. It is in their nature. Your grandfather knew the hard truth.

A special on half tracks? Let’s go!

@TheZINGularity

Ай бұрын

Are you my dad? 🥺

@sidvisjes8621

Ай бұрын

My thoughts exactly!

@paulthiessen6444

Ай бұрын

And many places you will be able to go, with tracks

@AdamMGTF

Ай бұрын

So confused. Is this a joke suggesting a half track can't go where a tank can. Or that you can go where a wheeled vehicle can't?.... Or am I missing something

@benworsham1466

Ай бұрын

It’s an iconic looking vehicle.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend! The Chieftain!

@AndyTernay

Ай бұрын

I think the man, the mythbuster, the legend is more accurate but fully agree with you enthusiasm!

I can’t imagine anything more German than individually unscrewing and lubricating every link in a vehicle track

@carloshenriquezimmer7543

Ай бұрын

Specially when said vehicule is designed to "ease" the logistic demands of an unit

@Fulcrum205

Ай бұрын

German engineering is a case study for not being able to see the forest for the trees

@prjndigo

Ай бұрын

I have seen guys polish and add gum using a heat gun to every lug on their knobbies for rock climbers.

@williamzk9083

Ай бұрын

-The Germans did not have access to natural rubber so it would be impossible to make a rubber half track that was durable enough. -The Germans had developed synthetic Buna-S and Buna-N synthetic rubber (trading the patents with Standard Oil for which they obtained the right to TEL in return). These synthetic rubbers which produced a poor but tolerable Tyre but certainly not a track. Natural Rubber needed to be added in to the synthetic as is done in modern tires. -Furthermore the lubricated links produced a track with half the rolling resistance, critical in fuel saving. -Finally I doubt the links were terribly difficult to lubricate. I imagine you would lubricate the top half of the track on each side and them move the vehicle forward so you weren't moving at ground level. -Non other than Heinrich Himmler was desperately trying to solve the problems of extracting natural rubber from dandelion flowers. The problem has only recently been solved.

@DIEGhostfish

Ай бұрын

​@@williamzk9083The daisy rubber guy could really be given a great double-take intro as "The man who surpassed Himmler."

Good idea to make a show about halftracks. That topic is rarely talked about.

When I was a kid(I'm 82 now), my father had a friend who turned a Model A Ford into a half track. The thing had 6 wheels. The front 2 were standard Ford steering wheels. The tandem wheels in the back were the driving wheels. When the going got really tough, he fitted them with extra long heavy truck chains, creating a half track. It was powered by a standard Ford flat head V8. He finally gave up on the half track chains because they kept breaking. But until then, that outfit could go anywhere in the mountains of Wyoming.

There was an old half-track slowly rusting away at our local surplus yard when I was growing up in north Florida in the 1960s. I heard it previously had belonged to a logging company. I would occasionally play on it and dream of one day owning it myself, but then it disappeared. I never found out what became of it. Hopefully, someone with similar plans bought it and restored it to its former glory.

@OllamhDrab

Ай бұрын

Decent chance, I suppose, they're pretty fascinating to certain mechanical types.

@harryjoe860

Ай бұрын

There is a guy up where I live who has like 5 and he’s selling one probably in the same shape that he took most the parts off of. And that’s valued at 10,000$ so I can’t imagine it was scrapped

@leotroy9877

20 күн бұрын

Lucky kid!! I had to use an old hay wagon to imagine what you were playing on !!

My Dad served on a halftrack in WWII. He told me that the machine guns were mounted on a rail which allowed them to track targets and concentrate fire on one side if attacked from only one direction. He also said his sergeant had them modify the ammo belts such that there were twice as many tracer rounds as normal. He said when they were attacked by a Bf 109, the amount of tracer rising up cause the pilot to veer off and leave. He also said that his battalion (1st Engineer Combat) retrieved a damaged and abandoned halftrack after a battle that had a 37mm anti-aircraft gun flanked by two 50 cal machineguns, all mounted on a turntable (possibly a T28E1 CGMC?). They fixed it up and put their unit markings on it but someone from an armored division noticed it as being one of theirs and demanded it be returned.

@ROBERTNABORNEY

Ай бұрын

Nope,. "The M15 half-track, officially designated M15 Combination Gun Motor Carriage, was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun on a half-track chassis used by the United States Army during World War II. It was equipped with one 37 millimeter (1.5 in) M1 autocannon and two water-cooled .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns. Based on the M3 half-track chassis, it was produced by the Autocar between July 1942 and February 1944, and served alongside the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage.". Sounds like your dad was aboard an M2, not an M3. as the M3 had no skate rail to mount mg's.

@oskarnisson8211

Ай бұрын

@@ROBERTNABORNEYfield modifications were not rare. I do not wish to argue, just put this out there. I recall an anecdote from an American: "A latrine could be four walls and a seat, or it could have racks, lids, several doors. It all depends on how creative the engieers were and how much time and supplies were availible at said time."

@c1ph3rpunk

Ай бұрын

37? What 37? I don’t see a 37 here, you’re confusing it for this 38 we have.

@ROBERTNABORNEY

Ай бұрын

@@oskarnisson8211 Very easy, it's NOT a field modification. The M15 GMC was a STANDARDIZED piece of equipment, mounting 2 50 cals and a 37mm

@inisipisTV

Ай бұрын

The extra Tracers would definitely cause a “FIB" factor on pilot. Practically all small-arms are useless against planes (speed, range of target and most fighter bomber are armored) but, the heavy ground fire would definitely rattle any pilot doing a strafing run, thus mess his aim when he see "F*** I’m being fired at!"

Even today's snowmobiles use roughly the same technology just amazing how long some things hang around!

They always looked good on TV...

My grandfather drove a halftrack during the war as part of the US Supply Corps and he HATED the things, said they "drove like a brick." It probably didn't help that the IJA kept mortaring him every time he drove up to the front to deliver supplies - he earned 3 purple hearts this way.

@boatingexplainedwithcapndr8359

Ай бұрын

Three Purple Hearts! That’s really impressive (and a bit scary). God Bless your granddad!

@vanringo

Ай бұрын

Sadly mortar attacks were one of the half-tracks biggest issues.

@8:51 That picture is the first time I have seen American half-tracks with their canvas tops in place. Thank you for including it.

This episode is full of tension, track tension!

@jannearo328

Ай бұрын

And lubricated pins. Don't forget the lubricated pins.

The half track, a truck for serious off-road use, brilliant. Much better idea than monster trucks on battlefield which have too high a profile and loud but can easily jump a panzer.

@x_x_x_an_intersting_name_x_x_x

Ай бұрын

Now i want a history channel teir special about the big foot monster truck vs a panzer IV

@anm10wolvorinenotapanther32

26 күн бұрын

Idk about you but the image of Grave Digger plowing through an infantry formation is infinitely cooler than a half-track mowing them down with a machine gun.

Yes! A full video dedicated to my favorite part of Armored history? And it's by the chieftain himself?!? You guys know how to make my day!

This is a refreshing detour from the apocalyptic conclusion to the war in Europe.

The Germans produced an armored Maultier, and a number of the armored ones had variations of the Nebelwerfer multiple launch rocket systems mounted on the armor roofs over the truck bed. The advantage of half-tracks was that back in the 1930s and 1940s, anyone who knew how to drive a truck could drive a half-track with minimal training, which meant that a soldier assigned to one could be put into action quickly. Half-tracks fell out of favor because they weren't as mobile off road as a fully tracked vehicle and they weren't as fast on road as a fully wheeled truck. That was one of the reasons why Britain created their universal carrier. When fully-tracked or wheeled infantry carriers began to be built, the days of half-tracks were numbered.

Finally another Timeghosts WW2 x Chieftain special! Grown to love these ;)

Up until a few years ago the British National Grid Electricity infrastructure provider ran one or more White M3 half tracks, painted white in colour and retro converted to take large width cable drums for overhead electricity cable repair…

Half-tracks have to be one of my favorite WW2 vehicles.

@jankutac9753

Ай бұрын

It's funny, they have some charm right? I don't know why. They are actually ugly. Neither tank nor car.

I think part of the reason they disappeared so rapidly after the war was because during WW2 Armor Doctrines were in their infancy and all the equipment being produced was designed mainly from 1918-1938. Countries were just using and fleshing out designs and doctrines they already had on the books so to speak. Combat gave them an idea of what worked well together and where improvements in tactics, equipment, and production could be made to improve combat effectiveness. By the time VE Day arrived, I’m sure with production capacities and sizes, it was determined that it was simpler -and as a result- cheaper to just design a fully tracked vehicle to carry troops and equipment. That over designing a front end for steering and also a tracked drive train in the same vehicle. You can accomplish all of the requirements in a Half-Track in a fully tracked vehicle for cheaper and more combat capable if needed.

@AKUJIVALDO

9 күн бұрын

Not really. Metallurgy improved, material science improved, etc. Take look at tank cannons of WW2 and afterwards, for example. 105mmL7 weigh is less than 17pounder or KwK42 while being more powerful. Or tank trak endurance, etc.

The Chieftain has reached the age where he already walks into random youtube channels...

@Crazyfrog41

Ай бұрын

What's funny is I just clicked on the thumbnail and didn't even realize this wasn't his channel until about halfway through the video

I wheely think that this episode won’t get much traction.

@WorldWarTwo

Ай бұрын

we kind of lost track of the script ... -TimeGhost Ambassador

Very interesting video, I had the opportunity to go for a spin on a Sd.Kfz.2 (Kettenkrad), of course only on the back seat. We went through mud and steep hill climbs. Even though it weighs about 1,2 tons and only has 36 hp from a 4 Zyl. Opel engine, the gear ratio in offroad gear makes it go through anywhere. An interesting fact I also didn't know about it is, that the Radiator, which sits underneath the rear seats, functions as a heater for the rear passenger's legs, as the wind goes through it and heats up, it comes out through vents near your feet. But, as the Chieftain said, the maintenance is a big deal. Every few months or kilometers all of the needle bearings need to be lubricated, which is a hell of an effort. But the ride is definitely a unique experience I won't forget.

@Perkelenaattori

Ай бұрын

I'm envious. I'm a motorcycle buff and while I already have 3 bikes, I dream of one day owning a Kettenkrad.

speaking of the Linn Halftracks there is a fully restored example in the pioneer village museum in my town here in Australia. It runs and is a rather interesting machine to watch

I will miss this series. WW2 material is astounding. Great work as always.

A colleague of my father owned a German half rack he used to take out to meetings and re-enactments. I had the opportunity to drive the thing and honestly it was great fun to drive. Those tracks pushing the thing forward no matter what the front is doing makes for some interesting steering.

0:16 Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Half-Track'd Joe?

I need myself a 'Krad. I love the idea of that little thing.

@c1ph3rpunk

Ай бұрын

Little wheeled cart towed behind it, be a great “honey, I’m going to the store” ride.

@Riceball01

Ай бұрын

Same here, I've always liked the Ketenkrad. Somebody really needs to make a modern version of one. Keep the basic shape and layout but put in a modern engine (an electric motor might even work well) and replace the old wet linked tracks with dry ones and you'd have a winner. I bet it would make for a great ranch vehicle as well as something for people to just go offroading in.

@snacks1184

Ай бұрын

​@@Riceball01Quad bikes do the job.

When I was a kid in the 80's there was a person in our small Michigan town who had one of those Half Track conversions for his Model T Ford to make it into a big snowmachine. He used to drive us kids around in it during the Winter Snow Festival and he even let some of the older kids like me Drive the Model T which was Very different from a modern car.

First time ive seen you out of costume. I had no idea lol!

Awesome breakdown! More of these need to be made!

The British Army's Scammell Pioneer Lorries, used as artillery tractors, recovery vehicles and tank transporters from 1936 carried tracks that could be fitted on the four rear driving wheels for extra traction. It worked reasonably well with the walking beam rear suspension.

Half tracks make awesome farm vehicles.

The Jondaryan Woolshed Museum had for many years amongst its supporters a family that had an operable Linn hauler with a huge log on board which they displayed during heritage festivals. I am probably one of the few viewers of this item that has actually ridden on a Linn log carrier / hauler. Lucky me!

Thanks TG and Nick

Always interesting. As a child, I remember one being in the possession of a filling station owner in Frederick, OK. I also discovered one, in the 1990s, in an oil patch just outside Holiday, TXS. Block was busted. To this day I regret not tracking it down and buying it-just to take it apart and see how it was made.

OKW: "OK but need more variants." "We can do you an AMG and a Brabus." "Can we also have a Kompressor version?" "So long as it is only serviced by main dealer, otherwise warranty will be voided." (Didn't Guderian get immensely annoyed by the fact that damaged vehicles often had to be returned all the way to Germany while T34s and US tanks were being fixed in rear echelons?)

@ROBERTNABORNEY

Ай бұрын

That's because the Krauts didn't believe in interchangable parts - every vehicle was a different than every other . There was a tremendous amount of hand fitting. German production lines had vices files and hammers in numbers. Things that were absent on US lines - parts were made to spec and dropped into place.

@Turnipstalk

Ай бұрын

@@ROBERTNABORNEY The strength and weakness of the apprentice-journeyman-Meister system of trade training. Not just German, also Switzerland. Strength - enormous depth of skills facilitating growth of the Mittelstand and today's German industry. Weakness - Meisters have no interest in deskilling which erodes their status, and each one prides his special knowledge which keeps journeymen wanting to work with him. Meisters had uniforms to indicate their role and status. Having said that, so did my grandfather, a railway engineer in the UK. And he had his special pieces, the proof that he had attained the necessary skill level.

Thank you. Another WW2 topic I knew little about and well presented too.

Every time I see a chieftain video I have a significant emotional event

Awesome collaboration!

Thank you, Colonel!

@mikhailv67tv

Ай бұрын

Herr Oberst

As a subscriber for both The Chieftain and World War Two, seeng both channels united in same purpose makes my heart glow with joy :D

My Grandfather was the gunner on a M16 MGMC, serving in the 778th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion(76th Infantry Div).

Not half bad!

@jamesboyle6134

Ай бұрын

I see what you did there!

@aeven13

Ай бұрын

Booooo! Get out! Hahaha

On my Land Rover wish-list is a Centaur. But I think only 7 were ever built.

@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw

Ай бұрын

They are cool man

Outstanding video and presentation.

It's the collab I didn't know I wanted but am happy to see!

After the M4 Sherman tank, I think of the White M3 half track as he armor of WWII. It’s just so iconic.

the chieftain is business in the front while mr neidell is party in the back. you can never see both of them at once, but it's always refreshing to see either of them. i dont even care if they are the same person with a split personality, i'm all here for it eitherway. thanks for the informative episode, i once again got a whole lot of context to the quite basic info i already knew about the topic. who wouldve thought that the a modest little halftrack had the complexity of a dysfunctional panther behind it?

Interesting and informative. As always :)

Thanks that was very informative and interesting.

it's good to see some our favorite people getting together sharing ideas an whatnot...👍

Nice one, thanks guys.

Nick, you are a fount of knowledge and great images. Thank you.

Good video!! Keep up the good work!!

Excellent job, Chieftain. And a tip of the cap to WWII gang for being smart enough to use him. Thoroughness that can't be beat. Can't wait for the reports on puttees, tents and dog tags.

Yay another Chieftain episode! I honestly had no idea there were so many varieties, halftracks are cool yet don't really tend to get the spotlight that other things do. I've always wanted a Kettenkrad, they're adorable. :D

always a treat when we get a Chieftain AFV special episode.

Always interesting, always informative

Thanks, every thing I didnt want to know, but was intrested in learning any how, my very best to you and yours. Leona

Honourable mention to the Laird / Land rover Centaur. Close, but no cigar.

Thank you. That was most informative.

Very interesting. Thanks for the great video.

Most enjoyable and informative thank you.

The American halftrack is my favorite vehicle. It just captures something about America that regular trucks just don't

@Fuxerz

Ай бұрын

Simplicity design mass manufacturing always beats complicated machines with high tolerance matrices. The American half track was better. Supplied all the allies with great machines. Combat vehicles had a short life anyway. The american half tracks are still im use in a lot of armies including israelThe American half tracks are still in use in armies, including Israel. That's how good they are.

Very informative, interesting and well presented

Great overview of halftracks - iconic AFV of WW2.

Thanks a lot. Nice comparison. As a plastikmodeler find it very interresting.

Thanks! Very interesting!

great info great video... but timing feels odd for this point in the WWII timeline...

Sir, once again... Outstanding! Thank you. o7

Loved your video. I always found half tracks of the particularly interesting subject Also, like your model collection.

I remember when I was a kid, my dad got me a 1/35 scale model kit for a German half-track. One of those with a cage antennae over the top. Had a handful of DAK panzer grenadiers, complete with shorts and everything.

@fonesrphunny7242

Ай бұрын

My granddad sometimes bought built, but unpainted, models for dirt cheap. One of them the same Sdkfz. Sadly impossible to paint the interior fully assembled.

Land rover half track. Still used at Bovington.😊

TANK you for sharing! Its amazing to see film reels of German equipment survived the post war and denazification.

Years and years ago I was at the press launch for a game in the Panzer General series, which they held at a small-ish private WW2 museum. They had some working vehicles there, including an SdKfz 251which they drove us around in over a patch of farm-land. Other than an ancient long-wheelbase Toyota Land Cruiser with a similar seating arrangement, I don't think I've ever experienced another vehicle that was this uncomfortable for the passengers. I distinctly remember them warning us about the overhead armor-plates - and nearly everyone on the rear bench-seats then hitting their heads on those things once the terrain got a little more bumpy. Ouch! :D

Half tracks are my fave. Good show lads.

Love the level of detail. Enough detail to make it interesting but not so much to bog down the video. Thank you for another great video.

Great stuff!

Hurrah, I have been waiting for a video on half-tracks.

Great episode.

Mattrax in Northern MN started their company making a track conversion that bolted onto the rear drive wheels for use in heavy winter snow conditions on the big lakes for fisherman and resorts.

very interesting. thank you.

Thanks Chieftain. It is always great to watch and hear from you.

Great research.

It's been 5 years. But you are back

There is a working locomotive half track built around 1908 at a museum, called the Lombard tractor.

Thank you, sir. I knew very little of this. Schooled!

After WWII my father got a 1944 IH half track, lengthened the frame and mounted a backhoe on it. Which we used as an excavating contractor. I drove the half track between construction sites. The engine was an RD 450. I should have kept the vehicle for driving in city traffic.

Very well done

Always love seeing The Chieftain!

18:52 holy shit that is some badass retro logistics. So much of what we consider "modern" is only modern in context.

I like the "Best Dad ever" mug. I was wondering characteristics merited such an award. For me, I think applying the "Yes means yes, No means no" rule to parents as well as kids; while it didn't win many brownie point during application, certainly bought me some credibility in the long run.

@noldo3837

Ай бұрын

People keep asking me about my "Africa" mug (which also tends to be bright orange)... Growing up in the Eastern bloc, we had very little access to western pop n movies. Once I have heard a snippet of Toto's Africa, and it took me 15 years to find the song. So, the cup is a reward for my OCD-level search.

Wow wow wow! What a special guest!

Amazing and informative as always, I salute You, Chieftain!!! Btw being a Belgian, Great work on digging out all that info I never got when visiting the War- , Bastogne- museums in my own homeland.. Great Great Work

Interesting and informative.

Well there’s Kegresse system (French, American, Soviet, etc), the British Horstman system (also used by the German SS) & the German interleaved setup. They cover most of them.

I always wondered about these things. And now I know.