M26 Tank Recovery Vehicle.

[Motorpool-Mac]

here are a few photos of this truck - yes i believe that it is an M26A1. it has three winches and 7 fair tires - the other three are not so good. as i said before there is no fifth wheel hitch nor does it have the wrecker poles.

 

[steelandcanvas]

Beautiful piece of equipment! Hope someone saves her!

 

[madsam]

What kind of engine is in that?

(I am into big engines right now.)

 

[Capt.Marion]

Cool pics, thanks for posting! How in the world do you get in and out of that thing? The chain drive is certainly very odd and I wonder what the reason for choosing that type of drivetrain? Also, that's a pretty odd place to find a Georgia license plate, lol.

All the heavy trucks of like the 40s and 50s (dump trucks etc...) were chain drive and used solid tires... at least the civvy ones.

 

[Elwenil]

Ok, but why does it appear to have both a chain drive and drive shafts?

 

[timntrucks]

man what a big truck i know someone here will save that thing

 

[Crash_AF]

It appears that the drive shaft drives the axle in the center that runs the sprocket between the rear wheels, then the chains drive the actual wheels.

Later,
Joe

 

[madsam]

Maybe I am wrong, but it looks like the bent frame corresponds to the bent pressure tanks underneath. Could the 5th wheel have been pulled on so hard that it bent the frame and tanks when it came off?

 

[Motorpool-Mac]

I believe that it was picked up by a big clamshell or grapple - you cant see it in the pics but the sides of the frame crunched in as well.

 

[Capt.Marion]

It appears that the drive shaft drives the axle in the center that runs the sprocket between the rear wheels, then the chains drive the actual wheels.

Later,
Joe

Either that or its for a winch. I'm not sure where they're located.

 

[5tonpuller]

With a bent frame it might be a good parts truck. Frames are hard to fix. That is sad.

 

[rd_anderson20]

Motorpool-Mac, do you have the contact info for the current owner? Any idea how much they want for it? If the price is right I'm interested. Such an awesome machine.

 

[Motorpool-Mac]

I dealt for the M26A1 yesterday – now all I have to do is figure out how to get it home. We may try to get it running on the spot. I’m not sure I really want to tackle a restoration project this big …if any of you are interested make me an offer.

Thanks!
Daniel

 

[steelsoldiers]

Congratulations, I think You have a big project ahead of you, but man, it will be so worth it!

Here's a link to Kevin Kronlund's restoration of a M26 at his shop in Spooner, WI: http://www.armycarsusa.com/M26 Pacific.htm

He would be a great resource for you.

 

[M813rc]

Why an unarmored type? for use in non-combat theaters?

Mike

Yes, when you don't actually need armour, the sheet metal cab took 21,000# off the vehicle weight (!).

How in the world do you get in and out of that thing?

The doors on both cab types are on the sides near the rear (where the star is on the armoured cab).

Cheers

 

[Flea]

Dragon Wagon! Awesome acquisition, my friend.

 

[2deuce]

Madsam,
I think that is the big Hall-Scott 1091cu in. Incredible OHC inline 6cyl. I like the big gassers too!
Greg

 

[Gordon_M]

Well done for grabbing that, I'm jealous.

It looks like the fifth wheel was just ripped off it, but the chassis aren't that hard to come by (I'm talking relatively here...they made 1372 according to the book) Original engine, winches, cab roof frame, even the USA number - good stuff.

Check the voltage too. As I understand it the M26 was the 12 volt production armoured version, followed by a much smaller batch of 12 volt production M26A1. Some time later a bunch of the armoured M26's and / or unarmoured M26A1s were converted to 24 volt unarmoured M26A2, so you could have a chassis number from anywhere in the production sequence and either 12 or 24 volt electrics. The Doyle / Stansell book has several photos of M26A1 USA 598093 in Germany in 1956

An M26A1 rescued from a French scrapyard has just vanished from a dealers listing here in the UK, I think it had the wrong engine in it, but the correct engine came with it. Not huge ££££ / $$$$ but I didn't even ask the other half if she would even think about letting me have another toy.

Mind you, if the lottery kicks in to my retirement fund any time soon I'll remember you have one for sale, though it would cost as much to ship that to the UK as it would to buy the same thing here. If all else fails stick it in a corner with a sheet over it - money in the bank long term.

Gordon, in Scotland

 

[KaiserM109]

Why an unarmored type? for use in non-combat theaters?

We drove a lot of unarmored stuff in the 15th Combat Engineers in Viet Nam. On July 4th I chatted with a combat engr. who just returned from Afganastan and am happy to hear that the Army is finally wising up to the idea that it would be nice to protect the crew from an IED blast. I guess the Army is having a hard time replacing lost soldiers.

 

[Gordon_M]

The armour on the M26 was a good idea, but probably not that useful.

It added about ten tons to the weight of the tractor unit, ballpark 25 tons with armour and 15 tons without. You had to take out the windows to put the armoured shields in place, and it wouldn't have stopped much more than small arms fire I think. With a top speed of under 30 mph it wouldn't get out of the area that quickly either. The sheer weight of the armour also contributed to a lot of front axle breakages too I seem to remember, if you look at the armoured version you can see that virtually all the armour weight is carried by the front axle.

I think the most effective IED protection was the old Rhodesian conversion of the British Bedford RL by putting a 'V' hull underneath it,a design which now seems to be appearing on all the current generation of new-builds. Here's hoping they work well for the people at the sharp end.

Gordon