Cletrac, WWII and Mud

CGID

Member
My Dad was Army Engineer, WWII, Pacific. He never said much about the war but he did say the big Cletracs were easier than the Cats for getting out of deep mud. Does anyone know why? The fact there was a war going on not withstanding, he gave me the impression the physical conditions in the Pacific, especially New Guinea, were about all he could stand.
 
The biggest difference with the Cletrac is the planitary differential steering system. On a conventional cat to steer you disengage one track and for sharper steering you apply a brake to that track. So essentially you have lost the tracction of one track and if you apply the brake to that track you are making the powered track work even harder. With planitary differential steering both tracks are engaged at all times. To turn you are applying a brake to one side or the other of the planitary differential to force one track to speed up and the other track to slow down. Both tracks have traction all through the turning process. The only disadvantage is that they cannot turn as sharply as a conventional cat. The planitary steering system has tremendous advantage when working on steep terrain and is almost as good as a hydraulic drive system.
 
It's been a long time, but the planetary drive was what my Dad talked about. He described being able to smoothly walk the machine out of trouble. Thanks for responding.
 
Another advantage to the Cletrac was the weight of the track frames. They were a big heavy forging that put the weight right where it was needed, over the tracks. Probably not a big advantage in mud but certainly for sidehill work.
 
My dad was in army air core during WWII and he said he liked Cletracs. He always said would like one to do repair on equipment out in the field. He said the ones they had had air compressor, generator, welders, cutting torch, and winches on them and he called the a mobile work shop.
 
Pic my Uncle took on Guam in Army Air Corps during WWII.
a213317.jpg
 
Most crawlers of that era used steering clutches. CLETRAC used a system called "controlled differential steering, power to both tracks all the time. They had more traction that way.
 

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