Why are half-tracks basically unheard of toda? even in civilian

>>32763825
Because they're obsolete, the whole problem with tanks and tracked vehicles were that they didn't drive like an automobile. When we cracked that nut they went the way of the dodo.

>>32763866
but why? inherently more traction on the back of a vehicle would incread offroad perforamnce especailly on climb. yes?

>>32763891
yes but why have the car front half if you could have a full tracked vehicle? it was a stopgap. it worked, it was awesome but at the end of the day it was never really going to be the final product for its role.

>>32763891
If you want to deal with tracked maintenance you're gonna go full tracked not half way

>>32763866
>tracked vehicles were that they didn't drive like an automobile. When we cracked that nut
What changed in engineering and manufacturing to make that happen, and when.

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what about "reverse" half track

>>32764070
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_steering_systems
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-track
>what changed
the invention of the double differential
>when
around 1924

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>>32764088
You're doing it wrong.

>>32763891
A fully tracked vehicles used to have this awkward system of two levers, which required additional training to operate. With wheels in the front, a half-track could be driven like a truck.

However, by the end of WW2 tanks with steering wheels had already been developed, making such setup obsolete. As for why not keep them anyway, there's just no reason to. Fully tracked handles terrain better.

>>32764173
That looks like an excessively large amount of track for fuck all load

Halftracks where cheap expedients referred to as "coffins" by Germans and "Purple Heart boxes" by Americans. They were a cheap way to get more out of primitive truck chassis of the time. That time is long gone and so are they.

MRAPs are the modern cheap wheeled truck equivalent designed with sacrificial suspension (harder to do with tracks) and more armor. US half-tracks have rubber band tracks which successfully reduced track maintenance, but G.I.s would rather die than do motor stables and track changes so there's that. WWII half-tracks were tiny like trucks of the era compared to modern vehicles, and larger modern tires and suspension make half-tracks obsolete.

They were superseded after serving well. Using US truck chassis paid off then but we can afford lavish specialty equipment today so we build accordingly.

>>32764184
That's because it's an air transportable artillery tractor. It's not supposed to carry a load, it's supposed to drag a field gun through the mud.

>>32764258
It was good at that. Kind of an ancestral tracked ATV.

BTW levers are intuitive. I've driven an M113 our company had on loan from the Army and it's extremely simple and quite natural. Back in the day more Americans were mechanically literate and would have had no problem with levers, but it was trivially easy to replace them with steering wheels. We have limitless money compared to other countries so why not spend it?

Key to US production success in WWII was churning out enough vehicles for our Allies and ourselves. That whole Arsenal of Democracy bit was no joke.

Have some chassis. See da truck diff etc.

http://www.militarytrader.com/wp-content/uploads/Fig-5WEB.jpg

>>32764412
They are intuitive for people trained by a military for months or years, In WW2 Halftracks where a way for anyone qualified for HGVs to become effective logistics drivers

>>32763825
roads

>>32764759
Nah. I've got experience with vintage trucks, tractors etc. Boys of the time would give no fuck and were used to carrying and using a toolkit in their cars which required constant maintenance to daily drive. Water pump wrenches etc weren't included for decoration.

Today is very different. Check some of the /o/ threads where youngsters can't into stick. Interestingly, game controllers are more complex than levers or wheels and the .mil world makes some use of them tho I've not see them for driving. As vehicle are fitted with remote operator systems vidya controllers would be totally natural.

Human interface design is fascinating as is learned "muscle memory".

>>32764853
You just described exactly what I mean.
Any city delivery driver can drive a large van, not many people can drive a Twin lever tractor comparitively, We're talking skill prio to service here.
They had weeks to drill soldiers in the draft

>>32763825

Could be wrong but most if not some modern military vehicles from MRAPs to APCs have the ability to inflate or deflate their tires manually to produce traction in the mud. So there's no point for half-tracks really.

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>>32764070
hey fucker I remember you wanted this and just dug through a bunch of shitposts to find you

from tacticalbaconpatches

Wanna hear a somewhat interesting story?

I live in South Florida, and there are a few large areas of land besides the Everglades that are for hunting.
A friend of mine's father used to frequent one back in his day. They used to hunt with rich Palm Beach island folks who happened to own a half-track as a hunting buggy. They were in camp one day, and the rich folks decide to go into town. "Keys are in the half-track, we'll be back later".
My buddies father proceeds to get the hakf-track stuck. It required daisy-chaining two F-250s together to get it out. "Why the fuck did they tell me the keys were in it then?"

On a side-related-note, my father used to hunt and camp in a 1978 Ford Econoline van. He got stuck in the swamp one day, and a guy in a fucking half-track pulled him out.
I sometimes wonder if it was my buddies dad.

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Because they were half-hearted attempts by various militaries at covering their tracks but ended up stuck in a rut for their troubles.

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>>32763825

In hindsight, the halftrack sort of was pointless when the M series chassis was capable of being used to make a real APC, but by then an assembly line had already been set up and they had a niche to fill.

>>32768134
the operational range of a halftrack far exceeds that of a light tank

a 6 or 8 cyclinder gas engine on 4 wheels couldn't haul troops and armor plating over 5mm but it could drive 600kms on a tank of gas

a 100 hp diesel engine on tracks could support over 15mm armor and carry a squad of men and their equipment while forward wheels support the engine block. making 300kms before refuel

a 200hp fully tracked light armor vehicle would be lucky to make 100kms on a tank and would travel at the same speeds as it's halftracked competitor. but of course could support its cannon and 5 times as much armor

its all economics. i'm guessing a modern heavy mechanized brigade would suck up as much fuel as a panzerkorps of yesteryear

>>32767410

What is that roller drum in front called? What's its function?

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>surely the armies of yesteryear couldnt have put so much research into something ultimately useless?

>>32768784
Looking up other pictures of the same vehicle, most models of them seem to have winches where that drum is. Maybe there's a winch inside it or something, I dunno.

>>32763825
Halftracks were before 4x4's existed.

>>32768784
I believe it's for assisting the halftrack to not slam the front of it into the dirt if it drives into a ditch or something

The Tank cycle happened

>>32765286
Different anon here. It took me about an hour to become competent in driving a Bombardier skidozer. That's a tracked vehicle with twin lever steering. The concept doesn't take weeks to master.

Som Bobcat construction equipment also uses twin lever steering. There is a learning curve, but it's a quick one.

>>32769033
No, the early Citroen etc. half-tracks were much newer than these examples:

http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/who.html

>>32771649
Truth. People without knowledge should shut up instead of speculating.

Why switch to steering wheels on tanks? Our skid loader has two sticks like an old tank and it's very easy to use

>>32771649
>There is a learning curve, but it's a quick one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FetioOD8fQ

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I remember seeing on a documentary that Israel still uses them as engineering/mulipurpose vehicles in limited quantities to this day.

Not sure how true it is.

Halftracks were popular because the roads were shit or non existent in those days. Most armies would end up spending most of their time chugging cross country or up muddy tracks. Once a panzer division had gone up a mud track, you needed a bit more traction than just a tire to keep moving. Roads are a lot better nowadays, hence the all wheel (for roads and cities) or all track (off road)

>>32763825
>More expensive than a fully wheeled vehicle
>Not as effective as a fully tracked vehicle

>>32772092
Also the identity two nations who made extensive use of them during WW2 tells you a lot:
1. The Germans: couldn't ever afford to full motorise their armed forces (i.e. trucks) never mind mechanise (halftracks etc). Investing in inefficient designs is their fucking speciality.
2. The USA: could brute force any industrial problem so did not need to focus on efficiency or cost-effectiveness (primary example being the Thompson).

Compare this with the UK who went either unarmored and untracked or fully tracker (Bren Carrier) because they could not afford to be inefficient.

>>32772068
IIRC they may have mothballed some for reserve use but spares are a problem, especially track. Collectors are hard pressed to find track.

If you like old military vehicles check the Steel Soldiers forum. They are serious collectors so they have no time for noobshit/spoonfeeding yungtards. Don't even bother to register, just read and enjoy.

>>32772107
halftracks are efficient
germany had a lot more trucks compared to other european nations
the bren carrier was trash and a waste of resources

>>32771803
Everyone uses steering wheels, whether its an automobile, or handlebars on a bike. Its intuitive. Very few things use levers to change direction these days.

Furthermore, you can use one hand to drive with a steering wheel. This allows you to use your other hand to flip radio channels or scratch your balls. Levers require both hands for full control.