Hi!
I do have a question regarding a stowing device on the left side of FV434. In most cases, this device is empty. If not, it seems as if there are some sort of earth anchor nails are stowed, with an arrowhead pointing forward and an eye to the rear. You can see this device on the picture below, just forward of the Chieftain bin below the exhaust pipe. However, earth nails to not make much sense, since the vehicle has no winch? In the FV434 manuals, no hind canbe found abozut what is stowed there. Does anyone have a close up (the one that I have show it empty all times) or has any clue? (Picture from internet sources for discussion only)
Interestingly, even the Maintenance manual parts list makes no reference to what they are for and only denotes a single part number - for the lynch pin!
I think they are tent pegs - there seems to be a loop at the end to secure rope through…
These type of fittings are usually made to secure something under the swivel plate and behind the locking flap, not on top of the tube fitting of them, so pegs would not be secure resting on top. It may be this shows a later mod to the fitting?
Hi guys,
and thank you very much for your input. Yes, oddly enough, the manuals do not give any clue. However, when writing “earth anchor nails” here, I got an idea and searched for exactly this in the net. And I found this, which seems to be the clue:
(picture from ebay offer). These are ground anchor spikes from a Tirfor winch (which is a manually operated winch), a full set is 9 spikes and the part laying in the middle, and when using this (the spikes go about 1m in the ground), you have a fix point to tow up to 5to with. It is part of a lot of british light vehicles I think, and I remember to have seen that on a FV105 Samson ARV with two sets also. Even swedish ARVs use a similar set. No idea why FV434 only carries half a set here. The rack only houses 4 spikes.
Anyway, petbat and Johnny, thank you again for your input and extra pictures, also the detail with the empty rack gives a clue how to scratch that!
I get the impression that the eye on the peg slides onto the rod with the lynch pin hole on the rear fitting and the pinned flap holds them in place. The swivel tab on the left fitting just holds them on top of that fitting.
What you are looking at is an AEH Set (Anchor Earth holdfast).
They are often used in conjunction with a 3/5 Tirfor Jack, but are not designed to be used exclusively with it.
Believe me, as an Ex-Sapper, i’m very familiar with this equipment. The AEH can be used singularly or in ‘crow’s foot’ combinations to increase strength. Mainly, they were used as anchor points for bridging equipment (particularly with M2 Rigs) or as the anchor for an aerial ropeway (when indeed, they were used in combination with the Tirfor).
Incidentally, a 3/5 Tirfor denotes that the jack could pull 5 tonnes (along the ground) or lift 3 tonnes (off the ground).
I can’t recall ever seeing a REME 434 crew using this stowage, but thats not to say it wasn’t used that way. AEH sets had a multitude of uses, so its not unreasonable to assume that 434s did carry them.
