Tank transporter

A tank transporter is a combination of a heavy tractor unit or a ballast tractor and a mating full trailer, hydraulic modular trailer or semi-trailer (typically of the "lowboy" type), used for transporting tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles.

Some also function as tank recovery vehicles, the tractors of which may be armoured for protection in combat conditions.

The lighter tanks of World War I and the interwar period were carried on simple rigid flatbed lorries.

Placing the wheels at the ends also allows the chassis to dip down into a "well", giving a lower centre of gravity during transport.

This avoids the need to ballast the tractor, making a greater proportion of the total weight available for the load.

The simplest semi-trailer is "half of a trailer", having wheels at the rear only and an articulated connection to the tractor unit.

A strong metal post or kingpin on the trailer fits into a socket or 'fifth wheel' on the tractor.

As with drawbar trailers, it is simplest if all the axles of a semi-trailer are concentrated at the rear, away from the tractor unit.

A manual hydraulic pump tilts the empty bed, bringing the loading end close to the ground.

[3] More commonly a disabled vehicle is loaded with the assistance of a recovery tractor, either winching or pushing it on board.