'Amphibious Tractor for Swamps
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SPECIALLY designed to carry heavy oil-drilling equipment in the Niger Delta, an unusual amphibious crawler tractor will shortly be delivered to the Shelt-B.P. Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria, Ltd. Known as the Water Buffalo, the machine, an Alhion-Cuthbertson, will penetrate areas impassable to vehicles a fraction of its weight. It exerts a ground pressure of 11-2 psi.: a man's tread is about 61 p.s.i. The Water Buffalo has been supplied with two amphibious trailers, one a 211-tormer and the other a 10-tonner„ The smaller trailer can carry reels of cable which can be run out across a swamp to assist the tractor to winch itself over the worst surfaces when hauling the larger trailer laden.
The tractor has a front-mounted capstan winch, a hydraulic bulldozer blade, an A-frame at the rear for use as a crane, and an oilfield-type winch with a line pull of 70,000 lb.
An all-welded watertight compartment encloses all moving parts except the Tank-type undercarriage, and this has a semi-rubber track capable of flexing freely in every direction. Extensions to the body sides make the vehicle amphibious in deep water, and the two trailers have sufficient freeboard to enable them to float fully laden. The Albion-Cuthbertson is powered by a Leyland direct-injection oil engine developing 150 b.h.p., with a maximum torque of 450 lb.-ft. The drive is taken through a Leyland Pneumo-Cyclic semi-automatic gearbox and centrifugal clutch, taking up the drive automatically at 750 rpm.