VICKERS MK6B's resto

[David Herbert]

Just been looking at the earlier photos of the gearbox again. Is this gear not the reverse idler gear? Half meshing with a gear on the output shaft and half with a gear on the layshaft? If not, where is the reverse idler gear as I can only see one provision for a third shaft ?

David

[colin jones]

Lynn, I think you hit the nail on the head. There is no other gear that slides onto it, so Dave, it can't be the reverse idler. It is not at the lowest point of the transmission so I would agree Lynn, that it is just there to throw oil around. Dave, yes you are right that there is little to no access and the other Vickers will be all Hydraulic drive. Because I have no drive train at all, I just thought It would make sense to have hydraulic drive like a skid steer and I have a little bit of an idea about that. (Not a lot, but enough) I am very happy the way it is coming along.

[Frantisek Nachlinger]

This thread is a real inferiority maker for me.

Excelent job, thank you for sharing!

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by colin jones

Lynn, I think you hit the nail on the head. There is no other gear that slides onto it, so Dave, it can't be the reverse idler. It is not at the lowest point of the transmission so I would agree Lynn, that it is just there to throw oil around. Dave, yes you are right that there is little to no access and the other Vickers will be all Hydraulic drive. Because I have no drive train at all, I just thought It would make sense to have hydraulic drive like a skid steer and I have a little bit of an idea about that. (Not a lot, but enough) I am very happy the way it is coming along.

Hi Colin,
The gear in the bottom is the reverse gear, the sliding gear above it on the mainshaft is 1st and Reverse so slides along to engage the reverse gear. See the picture attached.

cheers Richard

[David Dunlop]

Hi Colin.

Since the complete set of gears are at hand for you to inspect, a simple answer might be a close inspection of the small gear in question.

In theory, if it was nothing more than a gear oil splasher, it should bear no signs at all of the physical kind of wear it would receive having spent it's active life with two other gears crashing back and forth into it.

If it was just an oil splasher, the edges of the teeth should look very much like the day they were first cut, barring any uniform kind of corrosion that would have developed as the lubricant slowly disappeared over time.

David

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Hi Colin.

Since the complete set of gears are at hand for you to inspect, a simple answer might be a close inspection of the small gear in question.

In theory, if it was nothing more than a gear oil splasher, it should bear no signs at all of the physical kind of wear it would receive having spent it's active life with two other gears crashing back and forth into it.

If it was just an oil splasher, the edges of the teeth should look very much like the day they were first cut, barring any uniform kind of corrosion that would have developed as the lubricant slowly disappeared over time.

David

Hi David,
see the attached drawing from the MkVIA manual in my previous post, this is not an oil splasher, it is the reverse gear. As the layshaft gears are lower in the oil, they will produce more splash than one little gear.

Richard

[David Dunlop]

Hi Richard.

I don't doubt it in the least.

I do not know how much documentation on these vehicles Colin has at his disposal, and with many parts missing completely, or very badly corroded, trying to interpret what one actually has and can see, in relation to any existing documentation, can be a challenge.

My thinking was to try and come up with a way Colin could inspect what he has and relate that to a gear that was getting physically worked over the years. Don't want him to get a massive headache and stop posting for a while. His great work is way to fascinating!

David

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

I do not know how much documentation on these vehicles Colin has at his disposal, and with many parts missing completely, or very badly corroded, trying to interpret what one actually has and can see, in relation to any existing documentation, can be a challenge.

Hi David,
The Tank Museum in England have a copy of the manual that covers the MkVIA and will do photocopies of it. I recollect telling Colin about this sometime ago. I needed to see it when reconstructing the electrical system on one of the other Australian MkVIA tanks and it was invaluable.

regards, Richard