"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
One question: sure about it being a ROAD ripper? Doesn't make much sense as such: plowing a furrow in the middle of the road?
Couldn't it be a RAIL-road ripper, for tearing up the sleepers, thus disabling the railroad? The Germans used a similira but much larger device during WW2.
The caption says zum Unwegbarmachen der Chausseen. Die Chausee is a word borrowed from French (as are almost all German words beginning with 'c'; there are only about 40 of them) and it means highway or carriageway, so I can only assume it's for tearing up metalled roads. Can't work out how exactly it would be used, but it looks as if it's designed for pulling behind a vehicle; probably only a traction-engine would have the necessary purchase.
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nothing wrong with your translation, but maybe the caption was a mis-labelling. i'm just thinking that there weren't many metalled (for non-english speakers that means surfaced with asphalt or tarmac) roads back then. and a lot of people do call railways, 'railroads'. and rail was a very quick way of moving around russia (which didnt have a lot of metalled roads). i think peter is probably on the right track. (ha ha! track! get it?!)
-- Edited by philthydirtyanimal at 16:11, 2007-11-19
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At the same time - I must contradict myself here - IF it was supposed to be used on Railraods, why not attach it to a railway carriage. Notice that it has some sort of STEERING, and that would be pointless if used if towed on a railway.
At the same time - I must contradict myself here - IF it was supposed to be used on Railraods, why not attach it to a railway carriage. Notice that it has some sort of STEERING, and that would be pointless if used if towed on a railway.
Hmm, I'm not sure what to think anymore...
I was going to point out the steering. And the large wheels aren't flanged like railway wheels. There are two towing hooks, which suggests it might have been horse-drawn. If it were used to unseat railway sleepers, after the first two or three the chassis would lift off the ground.
It's possible that the caption is wrong, but I can't see what else it would do. One slim possibility (going back to my landscaping days) is that it might be something to do with trench-digging; "ripping" earth breaks up a hard surface so it's easier to dig or till. Pic of a modern one below. It could be that it's an agricultural one pressed into service or even, as PDA says, a case of mistaken identity.
Come to think of it, did the Russians have traction engines?
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
I don't think it would be used to rip up rail lines. There are far easier ways of disabling rail lines. Bend and break the rail line and a derailment is assured if the damage isn't noticed in time. For a more subtle and just as effective way of disabling train lines, remove several dog-spikes (the pins that hold the track to the sleepers) from either one or both rails. The damage isn't obvious and as soon as the first train moves over the section, the rails spread and the train falls between the rails or if it is moving at any speed, it may jump one of the rails and derail. NOTE: Do NOT try this at home! Rail authorities take a dim view of these practices.
Various makes of steam engines were exported to russia in the 1900's so it could possibly have been pulled by mechanical power. The single jockey wheel at the front would be for stability and the "box" would be for extra weight to provide extra bite to the 3 tines underneath, the steering wheel is more likely for altering the pitch of the tines depending on the type of surface encountered. Just my thoughts Paul
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I don't think it would be used to rip up rail lines. There are far easier ways of disabling rail lines. Bend and break the rail line and a derailment is assured if the damage isn't noticed in time. For a more subtle and just as effective way of disabling train lines, remove several dog-spikes (the pins that hold the track to the sleepers) from either one or both rails. The damage isn't obvious and as soon as the first train moves over the section, the rails spread and the train falls between the rails or if it is moving at any speed, it may jump one of the rails and derail. NOTE: Do NOT try this at home! Rail authorities take a dim view of these practices.
I've seen that film. Burt Lancaster. Brilliant.
Not to mention Sherman's Bowties . . . .
Paul - that all ties in with it being a soil ripper. It might have been a perfectly innocent piece of farming equipment, or maybe the Russians pressed it into service and attempted to break up dirt roads by repeatedly going over them.
-- Edited by James H at 14:07, 2007-11-21
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James H wrote:I've seen that film. Burt Lancaster. Brilliant. . . .
Actually, I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it. I was going off personal experience. Being at the front end of a fast-moving train makes you very aware of rail defects.
I don't get it. How effective would this be really? A machine for splitting sleepers on a rail-road would make sense, but clearly it isn't. But making vertical furrows in a road? Naah! You had to make a hell of a lot of furrows to make the road impassable. Anyway, there is much more effective ways of doing that: blowing it up at choosen points, felling trees over it, etc.
Vast area's are un-wooded and explosives may not have been readily available, So dragging that down the road ,maybe even zig zagging as you go for mile after mile would slow down horses and troops,who would all be aware of the difficulties of broken or badly sprained ankles.
Paul
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Perhaps this is actually a piece of road-building equipment.
As Paul B says, it's got a wheel for making fine adjustments. That might mean it operates like a grader - removing varying thicknesses of topsoil to leave a level surface underneath.
If it's a ripper, it won't just dig 3 furrows. When I was a student I used to work for a landscaping firm in the summer, and I had to operate rotovators and rippers (no Health and Safety Executive in the 1970s). A rotovator chops up soil into a fine tilth so it can be levelled and raked. Compacted, dry earth can be like concrete, and the rotovator can't bite into it; it bounces off (which is rather unnerving) and each pass of the rotating blades causes it to "pan" - smoothing and hardening still further the ground underneath. There are two consequences: the machine bounces out of your hands, and everyone has to retire to a safe distance; and the blades, which are very expensive, quickly wear out. We were told not to rotovate hard ground unless it had been ripped first. Ripping doesn't produce furrows; it breaks the earth up into large clods. Then the rotovator blades can get amongst them and break them up. (Imagine trying to dig a rock-hard flowerbed with just a spade. Much easier to break up the surface with a pick, then chop it up with the spade.)
So this is my latest theory: this machine is for loosening the surface to a precise depth in road-building. It might even be a combined grader/ripper, although those seem to be a much more modern invention. If it were to be used on an existing road, the area it would break up would be bigger than that immediately beneath it. The result would certainly slow traffic, and if it were to rain the surface would turn into mud much more quickly.
I can't say any of this is definite. It might have been used in such a way, or maybe the Germans came across it and jumped to the wrong conclusions.
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James , one of the last sentences of Your post is the point i missed that you guys overlooked the whole time i followed the topic since days.
MUD - or " General Schlamm " as german soldiers said in II WW was a very effective
enemy in russia. A ripped off road -road ? they were only stamped earth -sometimes
layed out with wooden sticks- then called "Knüppeldämme " was nearly impossible to
use for millitary transportation -also for marching troops.
So this russian-simple machine must have a great effect for holding up military movement and verry cost -effective too.
Father told me that he and his comrades allways grumbled when tanks pulverised the top of the "roads " with their tracks cause of mud -danger by following rain .
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