First off, thanks for tackling this. As recently as a few months ago I made yet another attempt to get this produced and was met with resistance.
“Wouldn’t everyone prefer the later model?”
Well no, I prefer this one, exactly because of some of the archaic mechanisms it seems to employ.
I think it has to - otherwise how does the sled move forward?
I’ve pondered this as well when debating whether I should attempt a scratchbuild. It was not the deciding factor in not pursuing it, but it does make one wonder.
You see three hydraulic lines. Two go to the large cylinder. One appears to me to go to a coupling, and then routes underneath the fender. If there were a second, smaller cylinder, would it not have its own lines? Additionally, if you look at the rear of the cylinder, there’s plenty of fender outboard of it. It looks like the cylinder is very close to the hull. I don’t seem room for a second cylinder.
The solution might be much simpler. In several photos showing more of the vehicle’s frontal aspect, the pulley mechanism appears to be encased in a boxlike shroud. Perhaps it originally extended down the right hand side. (before the vehicle suffered obvious damage)