# What happened to half-tracked vehicles?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 30, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405 "2012-04-30T11:18:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/1 "2012-04-30T11:18:29Z")
Up until the 1950s, half-tracked vehicles cars or trucks (with two front wheels at the front and caterpillar tracks at the rear) were quite popular as military vehicles. The Allies alone built something like 50,000 M3 Half-Tracks during WWII and the Germans had their own half-tracked vehicles as well.
But after that, everyone seemed to have collectively lost interest in them. I realise with around 50,000 units produced there probably wasn’t a _need_ to make any more of them, but even so.
So, what happened to half-tracks as a vehicle design?
---
### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/2 "2012-04-30T12:55:56Z")
I have to wonder why they where used in the first place. What’s the benifit.
---
### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/3 "2012-04-30T13:10:16Z")
> [@enipla](#):
>
> I have to wonder why they where used in the first place. What’s the benifit.
A nice summary from Wikipedia:
> [@](#):
>
> A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels at the front for steering and caterpillar tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the cross-country capabilities of a tank and the handling of a wheeled vehicle.
>
> It is not difficult for someone who can drive a car to drive a half-track, which is a great advantage over fully tracked vehicles which require specialized training. Half-tracks thus facilitate moving personnel and equipment successfully across varying terrain.
>
> The main advantage of half-tracks over wheeled vehicles is that the tracks reduce the vehicle’s overall ground pressure and give it greater mobility over soft terrain like mud and snow, while they do not require the complex steering mechanisms of fully tracked vehicles, relying instead on their front wheels to direct the vehicle, augmented in some cases by track braking controlled by the steering wheel.
The Wikipedia article mentions some half-tracks were used recently with good results, but does explain why they fell out of favor:
> [@](#):
>
> Half-tracks were in use by the Israeli Army until recently, where they were deemed to outperform fully tracked and fully wheeled vehicles for non-combat payload tasks such as carrying telecommunications equipment.
>
> As of March 2008, 600 half-tracks were still officially listed as on active duty.
---
### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/4 "2012-04-30T13:11:42Z")
they give more traction on a loose surface, like sand and snow.
---
### Author:  [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/5 "2012-04-30T13:31:51Z")
They were replaced either by fully tracked APCs like the [M75](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M75_armored_personnel_carrier), [M59](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M59_(APC)) and eventually the ubiquitous [M113](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M113_armored_personnel_carrier); they had the advantages of having overhead coverage for the passengers, being amphibious capable for river crossing, and well, being fully tracked or by fully wheeled APCs such as the most of the Soviet [BTR](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronetransporter) series and the French [VAB](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9hicule_de_l%27Avant_Blind%C3%A9) which also had overhead cover and were usually amphibious.
ETA: It’s not really that hard to learn to learn to drive a tracked vehicle where steering is accomplished by differential track speed. It also gives the added advantage of not having a turning radius; tracked vehicles can pivot to infinity by putting one track in forward drive and the other in reverse at the same speed.
---
### Author:  [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/6 "2012-04-30T13:57:19Z")
Seems to me (with no knowledge in the field, please be kind) that tracks provide two advantages: added traction and ability to cross chasms, ditches, etc. in proportion to the length of the caterpillar tract. A vehicle with wheels in front basically loses the latter advantage because the wheels can still get stuck.
And I can imagine that tracked vehicles don’t provide much of a traction advantage on paved roads, are probably slower than normal trucks, and will probably cause damage to the road itself.
So, in the mid-20th century, as nations developed paved highway networks that could be used to move vehicles around, it became less attractive to use tracked trucks that would need to be loaded onto normal trucks for ferrying.
(The preceding has been a huge WAG.)
---
### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/7 "2012-04-30T14:33:16Z")
> [@Heracles](#):
>
> And I can imagine that tracked vehicles don’t provide much of a traction advantage on paved roads, are probably slower than normal trucks, and will probably cause damage to the road itself.
Tracked vehicles also damage themselves, in a sense – tracks wear out pretty fast compared to standard tires. “Throwing a track” is a pretty common problem for tankers.
---
### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/8 "2012-04-30T15:32:49Z")
> [@Heracles](#):
>
> And I can imagine that tracked vehicles don’t provide much of a traction advantage on paved roads, are probably slower than normal trucks, and will probably cause damage to the road itself.
Consider a truck wheel might have a footprint of, oh 16 square inches x 4 wheels = 64 square inches. Now consider a crawler track having a footprint of maybe 20 square _feet_. They do quite well on paved & unpaved surfaces. And despite weighing a lot, they distribute that weight over the entire track surface which yields a significantly lower weight per square inch than a weeled vehicle. That means, when you get your hummer stuck to the floorboards in muck, any old tracked vehicle can waddle on out into the bog, chain you up and haul you out no problem.
Tracks kick all kinds of ass.
---
### Author:  [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/9 "2012-04-30T16:41:21Z")
One of the toys on my short list is a [Kettenrad](http://www.kettenkrad.com/Kettenkrad.gif).
Perhaps next year I’ll get one.
---
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/10 "2012-04-30T17:09:44Z")
They make [farm tractors](http://www.challenger-ag.us/products/tractors/mt800c-series-track-tractors/)with a half-track design. Supposedly they pack down soil less than the giant wheeled models, but that’s a point of debate.
And, no, they aren’t really designed to travel on paved roads.
---
### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/11 "2012-04-30T18:30:02Z")
> [@kunilou](#):
>
> They make [farm tractors](http://www.challenger-ag.us/products/tractors/mt800c-series-track-tractors/)with a half-track design. Supposedly they pack down soil less than the giant wheeled models, but that’s a point of debate.
>
> And, no, they aren’t really designed to travel on paved roads.
I’ve never seen half-track versions. They’re either conventional full track designs, or articulated 4-track designs.
---
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/12 "2012-04-30T20:20:55Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#):
>
> I’ve never seen half-track versions. They’re either conventional full track designs, or articulated 4-track designs.
Come to think of it, I believe you’re correct.
---
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/13 "2012-04-30T22:13:12Z")
> [@ducati](#):
>
> One of the toys on my short list is a [Kettenrad](http://www.kettenkrad.com/Kettenkrad.gif).
>
> Perhaps next year I’ll get one.
Go cruising down Main Street, the Highway Department will just _love you_.
---
### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/14 "2012-04-30T23:09:15Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#):
>
> I’ve never seen half-track versions. They’re either conventional full track designs, or articulated 4-track designs.
You see this kind of thing from time to time:
> **[Rubber Tracks For Tractors, Combines](https://www.farmshow.com/view_articles.php?a_id=1284)**
>
> The latest
> new rubber track system for tractors and combines comes from Gilbert &
> Riplo, a long-time leading manufacturer of add-on steel half-tracks.
>
> ...
---
### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/15 "2012-04-30T23:29:04Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#):
>
> You see this kind of thing from time to time:
> [FARM SHOW Magazine - The BEST stories about Made-It-Myself Shop Inventions, Farming and Gardening Tips, Time-saving Tricks & the Best Farm Shop Hacks, DIY Farm Projects, Tips on Boosting your farm income, time-saving farming advice, farming tractors and Agriculture equipment reviews](http://www.farmshow.com/view_articles.php?a_id=1284)
I stand corrected. That looks like an aftermarket thing to replace drive wheels with tracks.
---
### Author:  [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/16 "2012-05-01T00:18:04Z")
WAG:
Hasn’t tire technology improved significantly over the years? It seems that that may have influenced the half-tracks becoming less favorable.
---
### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/17 "2012-05-01T01:49:14Z")
Wouldn’t a snowmobile count as a half track? Sure, the front part is skids instead of wheels but isn’t the principle the same?
---
### Author:  [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/18 "2012-05-01T02:13:16Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#):
>
> Wouldn’t a snowmobile count as a half track? Sure, the front part is skids instead of wheels but isn’t the principle the same?
Not quite. A snowmobile requires a large traction footprint, given it rides on snow. A half-track would be quite happily at home on any road driven by a wheeled vehicle.
---
### Author:  [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/19 "2012-05-01T04:12:29Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#):
>
> You see this kind of thing from time to time:
> [FARM SHOW Magazine - The BEST stories about Made-It-Myself Shop Inventions, Farming and Gardening Tips, Time-saving Tricks & the Best Farm Shop Hacks, DIY Farm Projects, Tips on Boosting your farm income, time-saving farming advice, farming tractors and Agriculture equipment reviews](http://www.farmshow.com/view_articles.php?a_id=1284)
[This company](http://www.mattracks.com/media/) has them for trucks, ATVs and even trailers too. Pretty much anything with wheels and enough space in the wheel wells for them I guess. These aren’t half tracks though, they are just neat, although there’s probably nothing preventing a person from only installing two of them and making a half track.
---
### Author:  [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405/20 "2012-05-01T10:59:47Z")
[Here is a good article about the merits of wheeled and tracked military vehicles.](http://ciar.org/ttk/mbt/armor/armor-magazine/armor-mag.1998.ma/2wheels98.pdf)(pdf)
It concludes that both have uses. Tracked vehicles are better for tactical off road uses. Wheeled vehicles are more reliable, and faster for use in logistical operations.
A half track has the advantages and disadvantages of both, making them a vehicle without a special use.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-half-tracked-vehicles/620405.md?page=2)