Turbobearcat

We got our first real snow here in Ohio today and I am happy as hell to see it, but one problem kept the tanks from running more than 10 feet..

My Panthers..ran 10 feet and halted..
My Tiger I ran 5 feet before the tracks were incased in snow and locked up..
My Wally Word tank made 10 feet before being over come with snow..
The T34 started this clucking noise before stopping dead in it's tracks.. and the gear on the driver side was free turning on the shaft.. not any more!

I set both Tiger and T34 in the garage to soak up the cold and then give it a run.. both chocked after 10 feet in 4 inches of snow..


What am I doing wrong?

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

Your T-34 should have gone a lot longer than 10 feet. Mine didn't have any problem. I think you have either a stripped or slipped gear.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

it all depends on the type of snow heavy snow is bad and light dry fluffy stuff is better...but you first need to spray the tanks road wheels and tracks with a light silicone type oil spray and then put the tanks outside for about 15 to 20 min to reach outdoor temps then they will work better.

Turbobearcat

well I opened the tank up and SG'ed the gears to the shaft, this fixed the slippage problem the tank was having..

I'll try the silicon grease idea next and see how well it works.

The_Stuff

Also a good 1/2 hr or better in the cold is recommended. Silicone based lube spray is good, i just turn the tank on and make it go forward and spray down the treads and the road/tread wheels.

Also avoid sharp turning while on non-packed snow. tanks dont like that for some reason ..

Wozwasnt

4" is pretty deep for a 1/16 tank. A real tank wouldn't get far in snow thats 5 foot deep.

Turbobearcat

The Tiger made the 10-15 feet in 4 inches of snow before grinding to a halt... the T-34 started making this clicking noise then a free wheeling..that's when the gear on the left side quit turning..since I have glued the gear to the shaft, this is no longer a problem.

might need to buy new gears sometime in the months to come just to make sure this is not a problem that pops up from time to time.

ah64

I to have about 3 inches of snow outside I live in IL, I thought about taking the tanks outside but then I realized that 3 inches of snow to a 1/16 scale tank in like driving a moped through wet cement.

navspook

Very good point -- scale snow depth for a 1/16th tank is probably only a couple of inches.

Still, it's cool to see what it can do in deeper snow.

Mine works well after spraying silicon on the idler wheels, drive sprockets, road wheels, and track. Plus I leave it in the cold for an hour before attempting to drive through snow. It was negative fifteen (-15F) this morning but should warm up to a balmy 10F later today. The colder, the better as the snow stays powdery. Warm is bad as it begins to cake and clog the running surfaces.

Cheers...

The_Stuff

lol .. then what would be the scale for a 3' snow bank?

Wozwasnt

4" in 1/16 would be like a 5' 4" snow bank to a real tank. A 3' snow bank will be 2.25" in 1/16

The_Stuff

nono, irl the snow bank was 3' tall that i was treking over.

djdezre

we use to have the same probs with real tanks in the snow. out in germany in the 80s we had some chieftan tanks and the tracks would fail in deep snow problem being snow compacts then increases in size causing tight running gear.even if it didnt happen the tanks were no good in snow anyway because we had no traction and the tanks would slide of the road sideways, cross country was the best but a blowlamp was always in use to melt the ice of the idlers

Leo2A6 Owner

Took my leo out in 6" of snow today and it plowed right over it. Im going to do it again tomorrow and get some pics of it. We may have snow this weekend. Ill be getting some video of that.

navspook

Thanks for the insight into the real thing.

Yes, in fact, there are lots of WWII through modern era armor stories about problems on ice and in snow. Old film footage shows tanks stuck in deep snow with frozen gears, wheels, and sprockets. The really cold temps on the Eastern Front prevented cold starts and played havoc with all operating aspects of the tanks.

So, when you have trouble in the snow, don't feel alone.

Cheers...

Turbobearcat

The snow we has was the fine packed snow and not the fluffy stuff.. I think this had something to do with mine not going..

I was suprised to see the walmart panzer IV tank as far as it did that day... more testing coming soon from what I hear we are gettign more snow next week!@



Mark