# What is the worlds largest land vehicle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190 "2001-08-20T17:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/21 "2001-08-22T01:35:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) is the volume of space within the hull and enclosed spaces above the deck of a merchant ship which are available for cargo, stores, fuel, passengers and crew. > [@](#): > > Dwt (dead weight tonnage) is the total carrying capacity of a ship for cargo, fuel, water and other equipment and supplies and is measured in long tonnes of 1016 kg. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/22 "2001-08-22T02:13:38Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Demo \* > [@](#): > > Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) is the **volume** of space within the hull and enclosed spaces above the deck of a merchant ship which are available for cargo, stores, fuel, passengers and crew. _Highlighting mine._ DWT I understand but I don’t get this Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) thing. Since when is volume measured in weight? If DWT is the total weight a ship can carry then what does GRT have to do with anything? I’m probably missing something obvious here but please help me out. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/23 "2001-08-22T02:36:42Z")
I suspect it’s another one of those Maritime English things. (My dad was in the navy, so we had a lot of unusual expressions around the house when I was growing up…) I believe the word ‘ton’ originally came from ‘tun’ which was a large barrel used on the sailing ships. So on ships it became a unit of volume, not weight. But I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/24 "2001-08-22T06:32:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sunspace \* > \*\*I suspect it’s another one of those Maritime English things. (My dad was in the navy, so we had a lot of unusual expressions around the house when I was growing up…) I believe the word ‘ton’ originally came from ‘tun’ which was a large barrel used on the sailing ships. So on ships it became a unit of volume, not weight. But I could be wrong. \*\* I don’t know about the etymology of the word, but yes, GRT relates to cargo volume, not mass. There are more ways to measure a ship than you can imagine. I have a book on my desk with a whole chapter on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![gorewonfla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@gorewonfla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorewonfla)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/25 "2001-08-22T06:58:12Z")
I should have figured as much, but he did have a large following outside of Maine. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/26 "2001-08-22T07:34:36Z")
I hear that [these things](http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/atat/index_movie.html) are pretty damn big… ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/27 "2001-08-23T05:28:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Whack-a-Mole \* > **As for the tunnel boring machine I don’t think it makes the cut. While definitely huge it just isn’t in the same class as some of the machines I’m talking about** You are probably right, but the only weight I saw on the tunnel boring machine was that the head weighed 95 tons. Since it is 300 ft. long that is only part of the weight. That enormous machine you found a picture of says that it is designed for the site to be excavated, so I assume it has to be dismantled or scaped after the digging is done. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/28 "2001-08-23T05:38:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kamandi \* > **You could climb to the top of the boom and see for miles.** In another thread it was mentioned that the highest point in Kansas is an overpass on the freeway. That means that temporarily you were standing on what was at the time the highest point in Kansas. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Princhester_ > > **I have a book on my desk with a whole chapter on the subject.** Oh, boy! Can I borrow it? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/29 "2001-08-23T15:50:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Kamandi \* > > **You could climb to the top of the boom and see for miles.** > > In another thread it was mentioned that the highest point in Kansas is an overpass on the freeway. That means that temporarily you were standing on what was at the time the highest point in Kansas. > \*\* The poster was being facetious, of course. The high point in Kansas, as I posted a link to in that thread, is “Mount Sunflower”, which is over by the CO border (and very close to the LOWEST point in CO), and is about 4000 ft (and is only a mountain to somebody with a very vivid imagination). It’s in the middle of nowhere, and it is doubtful that there is a highway overpass in the vicinity which can beat it. Flat as Kansas is, it slopes up running east to west, and, in most of the state, it would take a very tall manmade object to reach 4000 feet. Wichita, where the big vehicle is, is under 2000 feet. Now, there ARE several states in which manmade objects beat the highpoint - the highest point in Florida is 345 feet. I’m sure there are buildings in the major cities which top it. Strangely enough, “states in which permanent manmade structures top the highpoint” doesn’t seem to be a category the highpointers club has considered. You would have to disallow structures actually placed on or near some of the highpoints I suppose. BTW, US highpoint info may be found at: [http://www.americasroof.com/usa.shtml](http://www.americasroof.com/usa.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/30 "2001-08-23T19:42:39Z")
Okay, so this doesn’t even rate on the “biggest ever” scale, but the largest tank ever built was the KV-5 “Maus” weighing in at a puny (compared to “Big Muskie”) 188 tons. Only 3 were ever made and they proved basically useless as anything other that a stationary pillbox due to the huge amounts of fuel required to run it (in a time of extreme fuel shortages), it’s incredibly slow speed, and the fact that it was far too heavy to cross most bridges in Europe at the time. More information, as well as some pictures can be found at [http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/8662/giants.html](http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/8662/giants.html) or [http://www.kithobbyist.com/AFVInteriors/maus/maus1.html](http://www.kithobbyist.com/AFVInteriors/maus/maus1.html) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190/31 "2001-08-23T20:01:34Z")
> [@](#): > > … Flat as Kansas is, it slopes up running east to west, and, in most of the state, it would take a very tall manmade object to reach 4000 feet. Wichita, where the big vehicle is, is under 2000 feet. > > … Oops. The poster said he drove 7 hours from Wichita to see it. On further inspection, the vehicle was in southeastern Kansas somewhere. Remarks concerning the elevation still apply - it’s probably even lower than Wichita. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worlds-largest-land-vehicle/77190.md?page=1)