John Deere Model "A" Armored Tractor

[_Rainbow_Dash 777]

 

Armored Model A Tractor

 

Armored Car

 

Shortly before the US entered the Second World War, a respectable businessman and patriot John Deere, owner of the company of the same name, was concerned about the lack of sufficient armored vehicles from his own army, offered her his services.

 

The idea was simple to banality - to create an armored combat vehicle, which would be mono-produced in large quantities at minimal cost. For this purpose, according to Dir, agricultural tractors of their own production could not be better served. The developers set themselves three main tasks: the possibility of using in combat conditions, as a tractor-conveyor and as a training machine for the training of driver-mechanics.

 

Most likely, for further work, a Model G or Model H tractor was used, equipped with a 2-cylinder gasoline engine with a working volume of 321 cc. The driver's cab and engine were completely covered with armor plates, the thickness of which was 3/16 inches (4 mm) to 3/8 inches (9.5 mm). On both sides there were two machine-gun sponsons, which housed a machine gunner and one 7.62 mm machine gun. It is noteworthy that the left sponson "looked" back, and the right one - forward. In this way, the absence of a roundabout fire was compensated. The dry weight of the tractor was 5500 pounds (2495 kg), but the armored plates weighed another 3,500 pounds (1,588 kg).

 

The machine was named Armored Model A Tractor and was presented to the military in early 1941. The armored car did not produce a great effect as a combat vehicle, but the other two functions were considered quite feasible.

The tests that took place at the Aberdeen tank range began on 10 January and continued until the beginning of February 1941. Upon completion, an act of a military commission was drawn up, the content of which was far from positive. With an apparent simplicity of design, the tractor does not meet the requirements for "good and cheap" to the role of a tractor and ammunition carrier, since the combat value of such a machine would be small. The reason for this was poor maneuverability and low speed characteristics, which was especially pronounced in rough terrain. The twin front wheels did not provide the armored trooper with proper patency, often stuck in mud and sand. This was also promoted by the extremely low engine power - it suffices to say that the specific power did not exceed 7 hp. per ton.

Of the other shortcomings noted extremely poor visibility from the driver's seat, which could not see the road directly in front of him and along the sides, as well as a rigid suspension, which caused the ride on the armored turret to cause severe discomfort. During the fire tests, the deficiencies only increased. It turned out that the work of the shooters in the side sponsors is very difficult. There was obviously not enough room to accommodate even one person with a minimum of ammunition. There were cases when the machine gunner literally fell asleep with hot shells. In addition, not very successful arrangement of machine guns could lead to the firing of the front wheels. The review was also deemed insufficient.

 

 

However, according to the military, after replacing the "proprietary" front axle with an ordinary one (with single wheels), it was possible to operate normally as a tractor or as an improvised light tank. As for the cost, the tractor itself was estimated at $ 2,000, but each plate was bought at a price of $ 1 for each pound of weight, so the final price ranged from $ 6,500 to $ 8,000, depending on the purpose and availability of weapons.

 

 

Based on these data, engineers from the John Deere Company carried out the finalization of the project. In addition to the introduction of a conventional front axle in the undercarriage, the hull was redesigned. The driver's seat was raised slightly to improve visibility, and the engine hood was given a more rational form. In this form, the modified Armored Model A Tractor entered the test in the spring of 1941, but the army was clearly inclined to believe that it could be used only for training or as a light tank of the "second line". In April, the version of the "prime mover" (transporter) without weapons and machine-gun sponsors was also tested, but the army at that time was inclined to believe that conventional tanks and armored vehicles would cope with the tasks more effectively. From the proposal of J.Dir refused, and the built tractors went scrapped.

 

The story with Armored Model A Tractor was continued in our time - a group of enthusiasts restored both versions of the armored car and forwarded them to the museum.

 

 

Specifications

 

Combat weight: 4309 kg

Crew:  3

Dimension Length, mm ~ 2000 Width, mm ~ 1100 Height, mm ~ 1200 Clearance, mm?

Armament: two 7.62-mm Browning Colt-Browning machine gun

Engine: Deere, gasoline, liquid cooling, capacity of 60 hp

Speed: 21 km/h

Turrets can traverse 180 degrees

 

 

@Reto.Christiano

 

Edited February 15, 2018

[SilvaRodrigo 1,075]

That sh*t us ugly as f*ck.

BTW, it would be like an IFV but worse?

[_Rainbow_Dash 777]

2 hours ago, SilvaRodrigo said:

That sh*t us ugly as f*ck.

BTW, it would be like an IFV but worse?

 

More like an tier 1 armored car for infantry uses  

[SilvaRodrigo 1,075]

1 hour ago, _Rainbow_Dash said:

 

More like an tier 1 armored car for infantry uses  

Then i would say no. Recons are almost useless. If you add that, recons will be completely useless.

Adding that in the current recon system, it would kill the class entirely. If recons as a whole was reworked (spotting system, more precision, maybe a special gun, etc), then this vehicle could be added to infantry

[zaerius 1,770]

Holy cow, that thing looks derpy as hell I want it, and I want it naow! Just looking at it draws a smile on my face, it would be so much fun to troll players in this thing.

[_Finnish_Gamemaster_ 2,256]

Then we just need something that's built over a harvester

[Flint74 604]

Meanwhile, over in Britain...

 

Spoiler

1936 Vickers Cardon-Loyd tractor

 

[_Rainbow_Dash 777]

added stuff

[BrandonSolo10 3,562]

On 2017-11-25 at 4:50 AM, Flint74 said:

Meanwhile, over in Britain...

 

  Reveal hidden contents

1936 Vickers Cardon-Loyd tractor

 

 

Meanwhile in Italy, they milked the everliving sh*t out of the tankette concept:

 

 

It had initial promises as mobile pillboxes, but you know what happens when a teeny tiny tank bumps up against a bigger tank...

[GeorgePatton98 136]

33 minutes ago, BrandonSolo10 said:

 

Meanwhile in Italy, they milked the everliving sh*t out of the tankette concept:

 

 

It had initial promises as mobile pillboxes, but you know what happens when a teeny tiny tank bumps up against a bigger tank...

 

the CV was an anti-infantry and reconnaissance vehicle designed for the mountains where it had excellent off-road capability but in the desert it was used in the wrong way (thanks  Italian generals ...)

 

but one of my favorites of this family Carro d'assalto Mod 36 with 37mm ( this prototype with subsequent modifications became the light tank L6 / 40 )

a beautiful picture of the  family ( CV33/35,  CV38,  Carro d'assalto Mod 36,  CV with solothurn s18-1000, CV with Breda 20/35,  CV flame thrower,  CV with Brixia mortar,  L3 Passerella bridge layer,  Semovente L3 with 47/32 )

Spoiler

 

Edited February 15, 2018

[Arsnicthegreat 643]

On 11/24/2017 at 3:50 PM, _Rainbow_Dash said:

Shortly before the US entered the Second World War, a respectable businessman and patriot John Deere, owner of the company of the same name, was concerned about the lack of sufficient armored vehicles from his own army, offered her his services.

John Deere died in 1886.

[killer553 501]

Oh boy i got a Tier 2 for you

 

Disston tractor tank 

[_Rainbow_Dash 777]

2 minutes ago, killer553 said:

Oh boy i got a Tier 2 for you

 

Disston tractor tank 

 

could bring interesting gamepays, if Reto give us more vehicle choices...

[freddiebox 21]

When talking funny looking armoured vehicles.

 

Meanwhile in Sweden...

 

[AfonsoQQ 3,011]

[Fegaris 1,744]

Just now, AfonsoQQ said:

nooo......dont steal my potencial tier 1 armored recon vehicle  

[AfonsoQQ 3,011]

Just now, Fegaris said:

nooo......dont steal my potencial tier 1 armored recon vehicle  

get anschlussd m8

[Fegaris 1,744]

1 minute ago, AfonsoQQ said:

get anschlussd m8

this looks way more trolly TBH

 

[Flint74 604]

Greetings from Poland

 

 

Spoiler

 

The Kubuś APC could carry between 8 and 10 soldiers and was armed with:

* a Degtyaryov DP-28 machine gun

* a K pattern flamethrower

* a PIAT Mk I anti-tank mortar

* hand grenades

* all in addition to personal armament of the soldiers on-board.