How fast can a catapiller ('track laying') vehicle go?

[Loké]

While dirving my car I had a thought occur to me. How fast can a vehicle that uses catapiller tracks (like a halftrack or tank or whatever) theoretically go? I'd ask this in the OTF but... well-I'd never get a reasonable answer.

EDIT: Just to clarify, this isn't limited to real vehicles.

[CT]

I have seen a British 'Sabre' rolling around at 85 KM/h. Much beyond that, the tracks will fail in a very catastprohic way.

[Loké]

I thought 50mph was the rough time that a track starts to go wrong. Is it theoretically possible to make noe that can go faster ther?

[CT]

Maybe if you use light rubber tracks rather than heavy steel armored ones.

[Mirsky]

According to the Bovington tank museum in the UK (I used to live about 30 mins away from it)

Which is the fastest tank in the Tank Museum?
Probably the Alvis Scorpion, if it can be classified as a tank. It has a top speed just over 80 km/h. The fastest wartime tank was almost certainly the British Cromwell which was credited with a top speed of 64 km/h but as early as 1932 the American designer, J Walter Christie, built an experimental tank which did 96 km/h on its tracks and 192 km/h on wheels only, over a measured quarter mile. Among modern main battle tanks the German Leopard 2 (not currently on show) is probably fastest at 72 km/h.

From other sites the Scorpion was the original design that spawned a number of current vehicles, one of which is the Sabre that Hadakan mentioned.

[Loké]

Yea. But as I said, this isn't limited to real vehicles. Is a 'cage' of some sort was built to keep the tracks from coming off, would it be able to keep going then?

[Mr.P]

If made to the right tolerances and for speed rather then power, tracks can be pretty speedy. They're not as effecient (due to a very high rolling resistence) as wheels for high speed though, so I really doubt you'd ever see tracks used in any high speed setting.

[Milkman Dan]

The Abrams can reach speeds of 45 MPH/72 km/h (on road) and 30 MPH/48 km/h (off road). Albeit, the engine is governed, and it is possible for it to hit speeds of 60 MPH/100 km/h. Track failure begins to occur at speeds over 45 MPH, though.

[Mr.P]

The Abrams can reach speeds of 45 MPH/72 km/h (on road) and 30 MPH/48 km/h (off road). Albeit, the engine is governed, and it is possible for it to hit speeds of 60 MPH/100 km/h. Track failure begins to occur at speeds over 45 MPH, though.

Yeppers.....so you'd have to assume that if tracks can be used to propel a massive vehicle like the Abrams to 60mph, that a much lighter vehicle could easily hit that or more.

[Milkman Dan]

Yeppers.....so you'd have to assume that if tracks can be used to propel a massive vehicle like the Abrams to 60mph, that a much lighter vehicle could easily hit that or more.
Given that the tracks could withstand such speeds. At higher speeds they'd probably break or fall off and manage to get tangled in something.

[Mr.P]

Well, a lot of that is due to the fact that little research has been put into the area of light tracked vehicles built for speed, or the tracks for them. The only reason tires of today can sustain high speed for tens of thousands of miles is due to extensive research. The last real big change in tracked vehicles was the Christy suspension. Still, there is little reason to put reasearch into this because it would be an extremely small market. Anyone who wants a small tracked vehicle just needs to pick up some Mattracks for their truck.

[Gumpokc]

The Abrams can reach speeds of 45 MPH/72 km/h (on road) and 30 MPH/48 km/h (off road). Albeit, the engine is governed, and it is possible for it to hit speeds of 60 MPH/100 km/h. Track failure begins to occur at speeds over 45 MPH, though.

Yes the engine is governed, it is a 3000hp, engine governed to 1500 with a 3/1 reduction gearbox, makes for lots of torque after the M1IP.

Original M1 Abrams, i have personally had up to 67 miles an hour on a flat road. You could get abit more on a downhill.

after the M1IP, with the lowered gearbox for more torque when climbing grades, top speed i personally hit was about 56 or so.

M1A1 roughly the same as the M1IP.

M1A2, i got out before i ever got to work with them, but i did keep in touch with guys who did, and they said they would hold pretty even to an A1.

the way the track are kept on, is you have thetrack block with a row of "teeth" down the center. this rides between the road wheels/idler wheels, and around the sprocket. on the outside of the track the end connectors ride indentions in the sprockets, while the center-guides keep it lined down the middle.

there is also either 2 or 3 support rollers that keep the track from dropping down onto the skirt support arms.

when everything works right, it works great. when it doesn't..well lets just say changing track _sucks_ bigtime, especially in MOPP4.

It was really funny on the original M1 in reforger "87, we were working with the brits up in northern germany. Thye got a tad bit upset that the M1's were out-running or holding pace with them in reverse and they were going ballsout forward :)

Was alot of fun, sometimes i miss playign with thtem, i don't miss cleaning the damn pigs, (sub turret floor could get _nasty_) but they were a hoot to work on.

[GoatChomper]

Theoretically there's neither upper nor lower limit, a tracked vehicle can throw a track crawling along at one mile-per-hour.....I've been the victim of exactly that distinctly unpleasant pain-in-the-ass in an M109A2.

And to make the joy complete, there's nothing written in stone that guarantees the track you just spent an hour putting back on the damn machine won't fall off again five minutes later. After having the same damn track fall off twice in one day, I fantasized about finding a way I could either roll the sumbitch down a hillside or just blow it the hell up so I wouldn't have to screw with it any more that day.
Original M1 Abrams, i have personally had up to 67 miles an hour on a flat road.
Dammit, was that you who passed my Datsun doing 45 on Wilson Road at Knox like I was standing still?

[Denwad]

The last real big change in tracked vehicles was the Christy suspension.


torsion bar suspension....

HVSS....

[Gumpokc]

Dammit, was that you who passed my Datsun doing 45 on Wilson Road at Knox like I was standing still?


Hehe probably not me, was in C-1-1 there, and we only got to drive on the driving range during basic.

now at Ft. hood, fulda, bindlach or Ft. Erwin, just maybe could have been me :P

When the wall went down in Germany, it used to really piss the Easties off when we'd pass their trabaunt's (spelling?), of course they could catch us on a hill, but then we'd breeze right back by them.


Getting back to tracks though, actually the german's have/had a really nice "dead track" system on the Leo's, they very rarely threw tracks.

The abrams tracks aint bad, as long as you keep good tension on them.
the moment you start letting it get loose, or if you turn hard enough to pack loose dirt or sand up into the track so that it can cause the centerguides to miss the slot of in the roadwheels,then you get to learn the orgasmic joys of thrown track that we all know and love so very dearly. :P


Hehe Goat, whats really fun, i actually saw my "wing tank" shear a sprocket.
was at wildflicken, and that sucked bigtime. One of those days there, where you saw all four seasons in one day.