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| THE
U.S. FORD T-16 Carrier was an offshoot
of the Ford of Canada Universal. While general layout and appearance is
very similar, in actual fact it is a completely different machine. |
| A
first glance will show the most immediate, and significant, difference
with the standard Universal - the road wheels. Whereas the rear bogie on
the Universal consists of one road wheel per side, the T-16 sports two,
as with the front bogie assembly on both carriers. This permitted greater
stability with a heavy load, or when towing the 6 pdr anti-tank gun, which
in fact became the T-16's prime role in Canadian service. |
| When
the Mk.II* Universal was fitted with the Stacey Towing Attachment and used
by the anti-tank platoons, it was found that the increased wear on the
running gear and drivetrain rendered the carrier marginally useful at best.
The T-16 (and later, the Windsor) was an attempt to overcome this natural
shortcoming of the Universals. |
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significantly different was the steering mechanism. Whereas the Universals
(and Windsor) used a combination of track-warp and brake steering initiated
in stages through the turning arc of the driver's steering wheel, the T-16
used a more conventional brake-only steering initiated by tiller bar levers
as per most tanks. Instead of two, however, there were four; I'm told that
the outer two were used for minor changes in direction, and the inner two
for hard turns. Apparently the T-16 was more difficult to operate due to
this rear-only steering. |
| This
is as good a time as any to admit that my knowledge of these machines is
limited. I have seen very little on the T-16 in print, nor have I seen
a T-16 manual. I do know that there are a lot of T-16s surviving in the
United States; perhaps someone with practical T-16 experience would care
to email me and fill
in the gaps? I'd be particularly interested in some production history
as well as background. Why, for instance, was the carrier concept so completely
re-engineered for U.S. production, versus upgraded as in the case of the
Windsor? Any comments welcome! |
| I'd
be interested in more photographs of restored T-16s as well, should anyone
care to supply them. |
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T-16 Carriers
Click
the thumbnail to jump to a gallery of T-16 photos... |
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| Back to Carriers |
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| Copyright ©
Geoff
Winnington-Ball , 1999-2000 All Rights Reserved |
|
11 Feb 00