Hello,

Does any one know how the weight of a Tiger I turret?
Could it be lifted by the 10ton Bilstein crane?

Greetings

Yves,

According to info provided (with some citation) on Wikipedia, that Tiger I turret weighed in at ca 11 metric tons (metric ton = 1000kg = 2200 lbs).... so, if your Bilstein crane was actually limited to 10 US tons (or somewhat near to 9.5 metric ton), or even 10 metric ton, you (or your putative repair crew) are out of luck (or crane)!

I am pretty sure that that 11-ton figure included the gun and all associated mount, turret basket, etc. Seems about right, given an all-up vehicle weight of over 50 US ton and up to perhaps 60 or so tons. Notably, the hull had a lot of heavier armour on it, along with all the drive train, suspension, etc.

BUT, you do have some alternatives... The gun could be extracted easily from the tank for servicing and repplacement without dismounting the entire turret- this could leave you two possible Bilstein crane-loads (gun followed by turret shell). Or... examine some period repair pics and maybe discover what crane was being used to pull a complete turret with gun still mounted (which, admittedly, seems to have been a typical removal operation).

My best guess is that these big turrets were most likely pulled in some rear-area shop using a heavier overhead hoist- as pulling the turret must have been for some significant repair operation, either to the insides of the chassis or to the turret, its gun, and/or its mounting gear. All of which is certes not to say that the Germans did NOT or could not have done this in other locations and settings using more field-expedient measures and equipment...

Cheers!

Bob

The Germans used a tripod-style crane that could be assembled on the battlefield for servicing heavy items like a Tiger turret. Perhaps Frenchy. Gerald Owens or David Bryden can post some photos.

A Fries Portal Crane was assigned to Tiger Battalion maintenance platoons to lift the turret. Just Google the words Fries Crane and you'll get plenty of images.

If your referring to the crane which attached to the pilzen, found on top of tank turrets in the latter part of the war, its capacity was only 2 tons. They were used to remove/replace engines, deck plates/hatches and such. Turrets on the Tiger I and II were removed in the field, using a Fries gantry crane which was located at a field maintenance facility.

Edit:

Like Gerald said.

Here's the bar you've got to get over, LOL!

That's what I've seen used when researching Abteilung 653, granted they're specialty became heavy jagdpanzers.
Great link btw Bill

@Joe:

Exactly what I was thinking about- rear-area shops with set-up overhead gantry cranes. I don't think pulling turrets was something usually done in forward areas, unlike swapping engines. As noted in the post above, the "pilzen" were mounts for that tripod crane used to lift off rear deck plates and pull engines whenever needed. Swapping out engines was a more frequent chore owing to the notorious reliability issues associated with those over-worked and oh-so-sensitive engines, and was something actually pretty much designed for in the vehicle. Swapping the turret was much less likely to need to be done, and would have been a much more complex task needing that much bigger crane.

@Bill:

Great pics! They show exactly what we-all are talking about, here! Beat all heck outta the couple I have!

Bob

Thanks for all the information and the pics.
I think i will start saving some money for the Des Kit Fries Crane.

Is it a nice kit? I'm not that familiar with resin kits.

Greetz

It looks like it builds into a pretty nice model, Yves. I'm planning to purchase one in the near future too. Knowing the way I am, I'll probably end up replacing the tube frame components with brass tubing.

Waldemar Trojca's Pzkpfw. V Panther Vol. 8, from AJ Press' TankPower series, has 1/35 scale drawings of the Fries crane. They would serve as a good reference when building the DES kit.

It would indeed be a nice diorama.

It costs 122,00 euros (160,00USD) directly from Des Kit in France.

I saw one sold on ebay for only 105,00 USD. But what's the chance it will be offered again on ebay.
I costs 191 USD on Great Models Webstore.
I have never seen a Des Kit on sale in my environment.

I could inform with Des Kit how much shipping costs would be.
It can't be that much from France to Belgium.
I've heard they only understand French. No problem for me, thats my second language.

Greetz

Living in Belgium, next to France, is like New Jersey is to New York -
THISCLOSE.

I'm sure that there'll be an international shipping rate involved.