tank track repair time

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gunny
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tank track repair time

Post by gunny »

How long does it take to field repair a track on a WW2 tank, lets say a T34 or Mark IV. If you have a full crew , all the tools and segments needed. I have no Idea and I know there are some here who do. I saw this feature in a game recently, considering the battles last about an hour or two hours is this remotely realistic?
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Peter Fisla
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by Peter Fisla »

ORIGINAL: gunny

How long does it take to field repair a track on a WW2 tank, lets say a T34 or Mark IV. If you have a full crew , all the tools and segments needed. I have no Idea and I know there are some here who do. I saw this feature in a game recently, considering the battles last about an hour or two hours is this remotely realistic?

It depends on weather, crew experience, battle conditions like is the AFV right in the middle of a battle, was the track actually hit or was it something more complicated like say the drive sprocket. Based my knowledge of on reading WW2 books (example Panzer Aces, Panzer Aces II), I would say on Pz III, StuG III or Pz IV anywhere between 30minute to one hour. If say drive sprocket needs to be replaced or any of the other wheels I would imagine additional 30 minutes to possibly an hour of extra time. I don't know about other AFVs...though I would imagine doing on Panther or Tiger it could take longer...as the components are heavier/larger.
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by GoodGuy »

ORIGINAL: gunny

How long does it take to field repair a track on a WW2 tank, lets say a T34 or Mark IV.

German sources say it took some 40 mins to remove the transport tracks (which had to be mounted for shipping on railway cars) of a Tiger I and to mount the combat tracks (which were wider and more durable).
I've seen another account that indicated that an experienced crew / field repair team could replace a damaged combat track and mount a spare combat track on a Tiger I in 30 mins.
Under safe conditions only, of course.

On a Mark IV, repairs took probably 20-60 mins per track, depending on how many parts had to be exchanged and on the level of damage done to the track (and depending on how many pieces were on hand without having to call in the field repair team).

If I'm not mistaken, I've read an account about a Mark IV crew in North Africa, which needed 3 hours to repair one track... well, on sandy ground and under fire. So, it really depends.
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06 Maestro
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by 06 Maestro »

I would say that it was very similar to today's situation. Similar tools and methods would have been usedThe most important factor in how long it takes is the terrain and weather (assuming no one is shooting at you). Mud or snow and position of the vehicle all contribute to amount of time to effect repairs.

In a Motor Park there are crews that can break track-and remount it in under 30 minutes. Under bad conditions in the field, that time can be more than doubled.

I was involved in an unfortunate scene once; my tank (M60 A3 with blade) slid into a deep ditch. Both tracks were thrown to the inside. It took 2 M88's to pull me out before repairs could even begin. Even with the best possible mechanics to help the crew it still took nearly an hour to break and remount the tracks-after getting out of the ditch.

If a road wheel was damaged that would take a little longer. If the sprocket was damaged, the vehicle was likely be towed to a better location for maintenance crews to work. Sometimes there is no parts needed for repairs, sometimes multiple new track links. Lots of variables.

Snow/ice, mud, extreme temperatures all have an affect on the ability of the crew to perform maintenance.

Mud makes repairs more difficult, snow and ice creates more problems.
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by decaro »

ORIGINAL: 06 Maestro

... I was involved in an unfortunate scene once; my tank (M60 A3 with blade) slid into a deep ditch. Both tracks were thrown to the inside. It took 2 M88's to pull me out before repairs could even begin. Even with the best possible mechanics to help the crew it still took nearly an hour to break and remount the tracks-after getting out of the ditch.

I assume the blade meant your tank was supposed to the first vehicle thru any minefields.

I was in 2nd AD, but I have never seen 2 M88's work in tandem before.
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by bairdlander2 »

My Panther crew and i used to repair our track in an hour maybe two.
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06 Maestro
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by 06 Maestro »

ORIGINAL: Joe D.
ORIGINAL: 06 Maestro

... I was involved in an unfortunate scene once; my tank (M60 A3 with blade) slid into a deep ditch. Both tracks were thrown to the inside. It took 2 M88's to pull me out before repairs could even begin. Even with the best possible mechanics to help the crew it still took nearly an hour to break and remount the tracks-after getting out of the ditch.

I assume the blade meant your tank was supposed to the first vehicle thru any minefields.

I was in 2nd AD, but I have never seen 2 M88's work in tandem before.

It was a bit of a mess. One thing I had never seen before, or since, was both tracks thrown to the inside-wedged against the hull. If the vehicle was on hard ground, I don't know what they would have done-perhaps break the tracks where it sat and pulled it out on the road wheels.

The trail may have been 30 feet wide where this occurred at, but there was so much snow that the road was very high centered. The gully along the road was deep enough so that the turret was below road level. It was on a slight downgrade, on a curve in a heavily wooded area. There was not much room for the 88's to do their thing, but they made it happen. Mechanics are the greatest.

Each company has one blade tank. It can be used for clearing obstacles, but a more common use would be for improvising positions.
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Randomizer
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by Randomizer »

Once spent almost six-hours breaking and fixing the track on an M-109A3 in bad ground and the middle of a Prairie winter.  All that was required was the removal of two sections to shorten the track length and restore proper track tension, a forty minute job in the gun-park.  On another occasion replaced an inner road wheel in less than a half-hour at night and during live firing.  It depends too much on the crew training and experiance, terrain, situation, weather and the nature of the problem to generalize accurately.
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by 06 Maestro »

ORIGINAL: Randomizer

  It depends too much on the crew training and experiance, terrain, situation, weather and the nature of the problem to generalize accurately.

That is the simple truth. But...there are manuals-and averages for some General to set as standards. Hopefully, generals will continue to have had some time as a line Plt Leader before attaining a high command.
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by JWW »

Maestro and Randomizer have some good answers.  I drove an M577 armored command post at the start of my military career.  Never had to repair track in the field, but once broke track and replaced all the track pads (the rubber pads for running on roads) on a concrete pad in a motor pool.  I did the work with my NCO supervising and directing and teaching.  It was pretty easy in that situation, relatively speaking, doing it basically myself with him supervising, took maybe an hour or so, though that was a long time ago, like 1974, and it might have been two hours or so.  In the field, with a damaged track or other damage, but with a crew working on it together, I really have no idea.  
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by Titanwarrior89 »

It also depends on if the afv is a support roller track system or a christi support(support- has roller support-christi lays on the road wheels).
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RE: tank track repair time

Post by a7v »

I was the driver of a Leopard 1A1 in 78/79 and I remember two extreme different occasions where we had to change tracks.
 
One was a training exercise in the technical area of our base. My loader and I had to remove the tracks and replace it as a demonstration. It was easily done in about 30 minutes.
 
The second incident was different. The commander of one of our platoons tank wanted to drive himself [8|] and took over the drivers seat. Of course he did what no real driver would do and drove along the slope of a hill[:-]. As a result the Leopard threw both tracks and stuck in the sand of the Sennellager training area.
My commander, I was driving the platoon leader, was definitely not amused and ordered the crew to bail out under combat conditions, which means the emergency exit below the tank...
They really had to dig out their way..
Well, nobody was allowed to help them and they needed about 4 hours to replace the tracks, because they had to dig the tank out of the sand.
 
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