I have taken my M5 high speed tractor off road many times and find that
in icy conditions I find it best to drive the same as a car on black ice
and that is super slow. Any attempt to speed up just causes your tracks
to break loose and so lose all traction. The basic problem with full
tracks is that they are designed for flotation not traction. Flotation is
good for sand, rock and mud but snow and ice require traction. One
vehicle cannot be best in all conditions. A jeep with chains does well on
ice but would dig in sand. The skinny tires give it a heavy foot print or
ground pressure which is great for ice. Tracks on the other hand make for
low ground pressure and thus won't dig in. My M5 Stuart had grousers on
the side of the turret which basically act like chains for tracks. The
only problem is that they are a mother to install and remove and really
limit your speed. Anyone know if grousers were ever made for the T16?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Feb 06 2002 - 11:49:35 PST