Does Any one know of a kit that has been made of the Gamma Goat? I have longed for this kit to have with my 21/2 tons and Arty kits. Please no resin or $150.00 kits that would set a fellow back a fortune. I thought this vehicle was a very interesting subject for its time, Probably the first Articulating vehicle in US inventory. Any Help would be appreciated.

No sorry I cannot help you.

Spider

Is the Gamma Goat still around? I remember when this beast came out back in what 70? Looked like something catapiller and land rover would have come up with. Our unit had them for unit tests. Show me was the normal response to the statment that it had a 3 cyl. deisel engine and that it would run on only 2 cyl's for economy when load and road conditions were right. . At the same time the army was unit testing another vehicle an articulated 1/4 or 1/2 ton. About the size of a jeep. Was a tracked vehicle with tracks on the cab and tracks on the trailer. Powered by a 6 cyl. chevy corvair engine. Wonder what ever happened to that.

Nope, the Gamma Goat has gone the way of the Dinosaurs. The other vehicle could be what is called the SUSV. It is used by arctic troops and is simmilar to a Snow Cat with a trailer. Here is a link with further info: SUSV and a photo: SUSV Photo

I believe the Gamma Goat was replaced for the marines by an Oshkosh Trucks product.I can't remember its designation but it looks alot like a Hemtt with center articulation(Like a Cat front end loader).Then there is The Oshkosh design of the palletized loading system(yet again,lost the book and can't remember it's designation either).There are no kits of these as well as the Gamma Goat so,scratchbuilding is the only way to go,unless converting a hemtt is possible.These kits would be nice to see in plastic.I'd buy them.

Hi all
There are some Gama goats still about here in the UK.I can think of at least 5. At one stage there were loads in a field somewhere in Holland but i believe the engines all got flooded. The only other model of the goat that has been around is one by Roco minitanks in 1:87 scale but i understand that this is also out of production.
A scrapyard on the south coast of England once had 3 goats in,all with only 49 miles on the clock.Unfortunately they had to De militarize them (the US army sent officials down to see it done).What a shame.
happy modelling
Peter

Thats the girl.She is a beauty.I had an Oshkosh history book that disappeared so,I couldn't look it up.Thanks for the designation.

There was one other articulating vehicle in the X-stage that never made it into US stocks because of, you guessed it, too many maintenance problems. Don't remember the designation, but there is one located at the Ft. Knox historical vehicle site in a warehouse designed to look like an LST. I think I still have the old Schmidt kit of the goat. If I find it, you can have it for free. Will look sometime soon and post something here. Tom

Last time I saw Gamma Goats was at Ft. Bragg in 1985. Never seen them in the Guard during my tenure in the early 80s. Strangely, my Ordnance Materiel Handbook, (TC 9-9) still has them listed and the manual is dated 3 September 1993. It lists two models of the Gamma Goat:
Truck, cargo, 1¼ ton, 6X6, M561 (3-cylinder diesel engine)
Truck, ambulance, 1¼ ton, 6X6, M792
They look identical except for the cross on the rear canvas cover and blue warning light.

Gamma Goats were replaced by CUCVs and later HMMWVs.

Disclaimer: If this question was answered in error, or an answer not required/expected/wanted, please notify me and I will delete the post. This post is not intended as an attack on any persons posting prior to or after this post. Please feel free to disregard/disbelieve/discount any information contained in the post.

No, it was a much earlier vehicle. I may be wrong, since senility seems to be my trademark lately, but I believe it was an armored car type of vehicle.

I have Seen the US MARINE CORPS using about three or Four versions of this vehicle instead of the US Army's HMETT. The regular cargo truck, Recovery vehicle, and Arty Prime mover. I have also while stationed on Okinawa Seen the Front Section used as Tractor trailer version hauling M60 tanks. I would like to Thank all Who have sent Reply to my request, maybe the model companies would come out with a kit of this Vehicle and the Gamma Goat soon.

One of the old Armor Profile series books (pamphlets, really) was devoted to unusual US vehicles such as the Gama Goat, the Lockheed Twister and the GOER family of vehicles. When I was stationed at Ft Hood in 1973, the variety of concept vehicles being evaluated was, in retrospect, astounding. You could find a Twister snaking down a tank trail, or see an XR-311 being washed down at a motor pool rack. We all kept our fingers crossed, as we just knew how cool it would be to have the Army adopt such vehicles. Just another item on the Christmas wish list, both then and now!

For all the testing done during those times, the only vehicles that were adopted that I can recall were the Dodge pickup M880-series trucks. Even those were declared from the beginning as a stop-gap to bridge between the costly tactical vehicles and the next generation trucks.

Jim Peterson

Actually, the Gama Goat and the GOER were adopted for service, but didn't last very long. They both developed a similar problems after they were in service. Basically, although they were designed to bend in the middle, they didn't bend far enough and the articulated joint wasn't strong enough. I recall the spate of problems that occurred in mid 70's while my father was stationed at Ft. Hood. The Goats kept snapping in half, which proved disconcerting to the operators. Going through a steep sided ditch, or over a sharp hilltop, the articulated joint would either break or tear loose, and the Goat would be broken. There were several attempts to limit the use of the Goats in certain situations, but soldiers don't carry protracters and survey equipment, so they kept exceeding the maximum bend. The Goats went away pretty quickly as they began breaking apart for no immediate reason.

A neat idea, but difficult to execute in a soldier-proof way.

Actually, the Gama Goat and the GOER were adopted for service, but didn't last very long. They both developed a similar problems after they were in service.

I was on active duty from 1973 through 1980, and the Goat was in use through those times. During Gallant Eagle 82 at (what was to become) NTC at Ft Irwin, the "cutting edge" Rapid Deployment Force from the 82d Airborne Division jumped into the Mojave, and their Combat Engineers were still using the Gama Goat as their primary squad vehicle.

No spare tire for them,,,, There was a "truss assembly" that locked the tractor and carrier bodies together, and one of the middle axles tires would replace the flat one on the extremities of the truck. Completely removed the articulation feature when that happened. Smarter units just kept a spare tire/wheel assembly in the cargo area for those times.

Thete were incredibly noisy, low-geared and only had the "armstrong" power steering, but that truck could literally climb a tree. Drive up to a large truck, place the winch assembly against it, place the transfer into 6 wheel low, transmission into first, and gently slip the clutch. The front of the cab would lift off the ground as the rest of the wheels shoved the tractor up the trunk of the tree!. Nah, we weren't bored, just,,,creative, shall we say?


Jim Peterson

Jeffry,

Could be the one I'm thinking of. Haven't seen it since I was stationed at Ft. Knox in 1982. 20 years is a long time.

Spuds