[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by ron
Hanno the gear box can be seen just behind the mounting plate in the previous photo,

Thanks Ron. As Lynn said, it is a very short box, so I wonder if it is the gearbox originally fitted to the MH tank?

Originally posted by Lynn Eades
Hanno, what power unit drove this tank? do you have any info on the drive line?
Id guess that the big diff is fairly simple inside and probably has a couple of brakes inside as opposed to steering clutches, which would make the steering a bit crude and jerky.

As stated earlier, the CTLS-series were fitted with a Hercules 6-cylinder petrol engine. An engine casting mark found by Ron turned out to be a Chrysler Dodge Plymouth De Soto logo. Gordon also remarked the radiator support looks like a Dodge product. So the engine does not look like it came from the Marmon-Herrington. This is explicable by the fact that the owners of Ron's carrier could have well obtained only parts of the Two Man Tank, as they were declared obsolete and handed over to the Ford Motor Company of Geelong, Victoria, in December 1943 where they were dismantled. The armour plate was used in Australian-made landing craft, and the engines would also be used in water craft.

The exact drive line specifications of the CTLS-4TAC / -4TAY are as of yet unknown. This is why Ron's discovery and documentation is so important
It's predecessor, the Marmon-Herrington CTL-3, built in 1935, reflected a good deal of Marmon-Herrington's experience with truck manufacture and was fitted with a truck type air-boosted track locking system for steering. The US Marine Corps tankers found it too weak and vulnerable to breakdown and requested a redesign which would incorporate a conventional controlled differential steering. While this request was turned down at the time, I'm sure controlled differential steering was incorporated in the design of the CTLS, as were several other features of the US M2A4 Light Tank. Also, the last tank built by Marmon-Herrington, the M22 Locust, had a four speed transmission with a controlled differential located at the front of the tank.

Id guess that the big diff is fairly simple inside and probably has a couple of brakes inside as opposed to steering clutches, which would make the steering a bit crude and jerky.

Although the "Cletrac" or Controlled Differential Steering system is not the most advanced, I would not say the steering was a bit crude and jerky. The system is quite efficient and was widely used in military vehicles during WW II; even today it is used in the M113-series of APCs.

H.