I downloaded a few books off the net and came up with this short history of Cletrac's military vehicle program.
In 1938 the US Ordnance Dept and Marmon Harrington designed and built the T5 Light Tractor for airfield use. The design progressed through the T6 and T7 to the TA20 then the larger TA30. They even made several models of light tanks as they continued developing the track system.
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In 1940 Cletrac used the track developments made by Marmon Harrington to come up with the much larger and heavier MG1. This was further developed and accepted by the Army as the M2 High Speed Tractor for use as an airfield tractor.
It was tested at Aberdeen as a Prime Mover for towing artillery pieces but this proved impractical. In tough going the MG1 would squat down onto the rear sprocket and just have a short piece of the track on the ground. This also lost most of the ground clearance and ended with the machine and gun getting stuck.
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The M2 was improved upon some more and produced by John Deere as well as Cletrac. It proved to be the ideal tractor for dealing with the large bombers near the end of the war and was used into the 1960s.
The problems encountered in the Prime Mover tests led to the design of the MG2 with the drive sprocket at the front and the rear idler close to the ground.
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The MG2 was further developed and the Army designated it as the T10 Medium Tractor. 22 of the T10s were built.
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Quote from: David Pope on January 21, 2011, 02:30:38 AM
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Somewhere I have a picture of my grandfather Howard van Driest driving one of these MG-2s with guys lined up on both sides facing in. This is the one you drove from the front.
Blake
The Army was looking for a self propelled gun so Cletrac came up with the T1 Gun Carriage with a 3 inch gun.
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After several changes this evolved into the M5 Gun Carriage. The Army ordered 1583 units but the order was cancelled before production proceeded.
Only two prototypes were made and they were converted into T31 Medium Tractors. This was likely the final version. The driver sat in that little enclosure in front of the gun mechanism.
The Cletrac FD was likely Cletrac?s designation before the Army called them the T31.
The two M5 Gun Carriages were used to make the T31 Medium Tractors.
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Blake, you'll have to find that picture and post it on this thread.
Quote from: David Pope on January 21, 2011, 02:53:28 AM
Next pic. That's it for now.
Blake, you'll have to find that picture and post it on this thread.
Someday I'll get it. I know where it is, but someone else in the family has the album right now.
Once Gramps drove one of the machines home for the weekend - I don't know if it was an MG-1 or MG-2 - but at the time they lived in Chardon, Ohio - about 30 miles east of Cleveland. Must have been a fun drive! Everyone else on the road had gas rationing.
Blake
Here's some more that aren't in the MG1 family.
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I think this is the last of them.
Quote from: David Pope on January 21, 2011, 08:27:30 PM
Here's some more that aren't in the MG1 family.
That one looks like it's a lot older than an MG-1. If you look at the shape of the fuel tank, it corresponds to an earlier model Cletrac tractor - probably more mid 20s to mid 30s.
There are several errors in the author's descriptions of these different Cletracs. Just be aware and don't take what he says as absolute truth.
Interesting montage. Looks like most of the photos & captions come from Crimson's books?
Douglas
David, enjoyed this article on the military cletracs.
I am particullarly interested in any other photos or information on the HG42 military version.
the picture you posted was one I hadnt seen. I did, however, see a different angle of the same tractor, from the left rear looking forward, showing the pintle hook, rear tailights, etc.
Unfortuantly, I no longer have the book that this photo was in.
Do you, by chance, have a copy of the book " Cletrac and Oliver Crawlers" by P.A. Letourneau?
if so, is it possible to scan this photo / caption and post on the forum?
I think its got a mistaken identity under its caption calling it a OC3..
Thanks! Any other info/photos you or others here have on the HG/OC in military configuration would be higly appreciated!
I can be contacted off line if you wish:
wc57doggieboy@yahoo.com
thanks!
G'day,
I know this thread is a few years old. Are the photos no longer accessible, as my computer doesn't seem to think there are any photos there to view, Cheers. Thanks for posting, I was hoping to get a peek at the military HG42 picture included, oh well... ;D
David Pope has not been on our site for a long time, and no one seems to know where he went. His pictures were really nice, so I'm sad that they are no longer viewable. Not sure if they were uploaded to the forum or set to view remotely.
Blake