M548 Tracked Cargo Carrier

[rob love]

Here is my 2 cents as a guy who has operated and worked on them, and in fact was working and driving one just last week.

They are a neat piece of kit, but since they share the same basic powerpack as a M113, and weigh a while lot less, they seem to tear or shake themselves apart. You sit right above the engine, separated only by a thin seat of aluminum, and a 2" thick cushion, so they are noisy. Add to that the vibration of the track on hard ground, and your fillings will almost fall out of your mouth.

One of the biggest problems I found with them was that the fuel tanks are integral to the belly of the cargo box. If they are left outdoors, water seeps into the tank and accumulates, forever causing problems with the system. Only fix is to remove the covers to the tanks (what seems like several hundred phillips screws) and clean them right out, only to start the process all over again.

The heater is also the same as the M113, but with only the tiny cab to heat, they will cook you out at -30. Fortunately, the previously mentioned fuel problems will soon take care of the heater.

Neat that the one pictured has the hardtop. Here in Canada, all ours had the soft tops. I took the NSN for the hardtop out of the manual and managed to get the only one in inventory from DND. Had to fabricate the glass, but that made for some happy operators in B bty, and envious ones in the rest of the regiment.

All that said, if it were here in Canada, I would likely jump at it. I was using the one at the museum to push/pull around the Honest John 5 ton and it does it with many HP to spare.