Firefly tank

[Lynn Eades]

With reference to Motto's and David's posts about "live track", I don't have too much knowledge about tank tracks, and I agree they are "live" tracks, but not because of the way they are made, but because a tank track or "live" track "soaks up" what it travels over,(the bottom rollers move up over objects, and allow smooth passage over them) as opposed to a bulldozer that climbs up on to an object and when it passes its balance point it flops down the other side This is not a "live" track because it has a fixed track frame with fixed bottom rollers.

[David Herbert]

Sorry, Lynn, but you are wrong.

What you describe is a tracked vehicle with suspension. Live track is most definately the track itself. Instead of each link being completely free to hinge to its neighbour (it just lies there as if dead) it is hinged with rubber bushes so that each link not only pulls the next one but also tries to even out the angles at the pins. When working on this type of track it very much has a life of its own and stores up a lot of energy when folded over onto itself which can result in it suddenly flipping over as it tries to resume its built in curve.

Just to be really pedantic "bottom rollers" is the term used in construction plant. In tanks and similar military vehicles they are known as "road wheels" if they are big ones as on Cromwell probably because they are really too big to look like rollers. On Shermans and even Churchills the manuals call them "bogie wheels". In tanks that have small rollers to carry the top run of the track the terms "top roller" and "support roller" are normal. You will certainly find variations on what I have just written but my point is that "bottom roller" is not a term used officialy with tanks.

I hope that I havn't offended

David

[Lynn Eades]

No David, not offended. I just had an adjustment made to my data storage system.
BTW this reply has been severely altered, after a quick circuit of google.