Vickers Utility B Tractor

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YAN
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Vickers Utility B Tractor

#1

Post by YAN » 08 Apr 2011, 11:48

Hi, was the Vickers Utility B Tractor armoured in any way ?, I know the Belgians had three models, Cavalry, Infantry & unarmoured, I know if they had armour it would be light, but dose anyone know its thickness ?.
Regards Yan.

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phylo_roadking
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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#2

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 01:48

Yan, I've got one small picture in a magazine - on the "unarmoured" type, all there is is the front sloping "glacis" (glorified dashboard :lol: ) then the driver in an open seat, and the engine mounted high behind him. The sides are totally open!

Think of a Caterpillar goping in reverse! :lol: :lol: :lol: One of these MINUS the folding-down sides/seats...

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NOT what I'd care to go to war on/in....
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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#3

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 01:55

Ah! Here we go!

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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#4

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 01:57

And here's a large version of the magazine pic I have....the original 1936 Vickers Carden-Loyd Utility Tractor! I LOVE the pop-up Bren gun! :D Can't help wondering why he's wearing a steel helmet....when the rest of him could so easily be perforated!!!

Looks really happy, don't he???

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Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...

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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#5

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 02:11

However, according to Steve Zaloga...
The towing vehicle finally selected was the Vickers Utility B tractor, a very small commercial design, of which at least three versions were prepared for the Belgian army; the Cavalry model, sometime called Model 1 or Type A; the Infantry model called the Model 2 or Type B; and an unarmoured type.
Here's the B - notice its plain sides, rather than the fold down type :wink:

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Meanwhile, back in the NEI....

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Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...

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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#6

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 02:15

What IS it about these that made people driving them look so glum??? 8O

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Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...

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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#7

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 02:18

Hmm...
Were produced in two versions, officially designated as Tractor, Light, GS Mk.I and Tractor, Light, GS Mk.Ia (HS). In this case, an acronym standing for HS High Speed ​​and was related to the cavalry. For Belgium, these options have also been submitted, but they were referred to as Model 1 (Type A) and Model 2 (Type B).
http://www.aviarmor.net/TWW2/tanks/gb/vcl_utility.htm

Interesting.
Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...

YAN
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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#8

Post by YAN » 13 Apr 2011, 12:16

Thanks Phylo your pictures and comments have brightend up a gloomy day here in the UK. The pictures above looks like it had some sort of Armoured plate on them but it is impossible to tell if it could stop a bullet.
Regards Yan.

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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#9

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 12:49

Yan, there's no way to tell from a pic whether what you're looking at is armourplate....or just steel plate ;) I don't think there's much of a chassis/frame under there...there's only minimal lines of rivetting holding the sidings on, for instance....and I've seen pics of a damaged british VUT at Dunkirk - there's nothing valuable UNDER that sloped glacis, its just another storage box! If you look at the last pic you can clearly see the three hinges along the bottom edge, turning it into a lid, not a glacis :lol: Don't forget the guncrew had to carry ALL its cr@p.... and themselves!...on these ickle things...so they're actually a study in optimisation of carrying capacity rather than making the smallest armoured vehicle ;)
Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...

YAN
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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#10

Post by YAN » 13 Apr 2011, 14:01

its similar to a frame of a normal softskin vehicle then just sheet metal, basically a frame.

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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#11

Post by phylo_roadking » 13 Apr 2011, 16:05

Yan, I've had a comeback from elsewhere - the 1936 Vickers Carden-loyd Utility Tractor front sloped plate was "1/4-inch steel plate" I.E. not armourplate. Same in the Mk1 GS tractor in British service.
Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...

YAN
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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#12

Post by YAN » 13 Apr 2011, 17:57

Thanks Phylo, it sounds similar to the first LVT-1, it had steel plates which acording to the Americans was not armoured.

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Re: Vickers Utility B Tractor

#13

Post by Greygunner » 13 Feb 2020, 07:14

That is not a BREN gun. It is a Vickers-Berthier LMG

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Vickers Utility B Tractor

#14

Post by Jeromewaf » 16 Mar 2020, 02:19

Hello fellas, altough ive got some experience in this line of work for a few years, ive just got my o-licence recently and i would like to rent a tractor unit to get the things movin. Have any of you got some advice from where i could rent a decent unit at a fair price ? Cheers
<small>f.o.r.c.e. gmbh porsche original parts germany</small>

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