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It's a track pin "wiper."
The track pins simply slide through the tracks to join them. They have a tendency to work their way out over time. The wiper has a very shallow tent shape-as the pin meets it and moves forward it is forced back into place.
Correct. This one is from a late T-34-76 or T-34-85.
The first ones were bolted on to the transmission housing, and appeared in 1942 with the first 500mm tracks. They could be removed to fit wider tracks. By 1943, 500mm tracks were standard and a simpler pin-wiper was welded on the hull of all T-34s and related SUs. That is what is in the photo, and yes, it belongs there.
Cheers
Scott Fraser
From what I've been able to find so far the wedged shaped wipers that were welded to the hull, as in your photograph, seem to have become common only near the very end of T-34-76 production or even perhaps
after the introduction of the T-34-85.
I've found them on no Model '42s or even '43s (turret with the commander's cupola) with the exception of two or three that were obvious post war/very late war rebuilds.
There may well be exceptions, this is an area of the tank that is very difficult to see in most wartime photos but from the fair handful of recovered tanks and wartime photos where this area can be seen it does appear that the welded on wiper did not appear commonly until after 1944 at the earliest (and possibly later).
That said though I think I'm on very firm ground when I say that you
should not add this type of wiper to your Model '42.
Mark
