Two questions, first is there an early style steel pressed wheel for m3 lee's or m4 shermans, i recently saw a picture of a m3 with this in a reference book and the caption places the tank in N. Africa, second is there such a thing as a marine type spoked style wheel for sherman used in the south pacific ?just wondering

Hey milojko
Not sure about what you saw on the 'African' pic but maybe was the early spoked type with steel plates welded over the gaps? The pressed steel types I would guess came later than the African campaign...
As for a 'marine' type, I think they could have used all 'closed' versions of the wheel, including the latest concave dished style... MAybe this is what you meant?
HTH
Cheers
Brad

Milojko

I have seen some Sherman photos during the Pacific war that had the "open spoke wheels" However that type was rare From what I understand the Japanese could jam a log inside those open spokes and cause the tank to stop

I have a Concord book on tank battles on the Pacific war sadly it is no longer produced It did show some open spoke wheels Hope that helps

the pressed spoke type wheels did make it onto the M3 Lee production lines. I've seen pics of 1AD M3 Lees with them. It seemed that they were on machines that had other late-production characteristics like the longer 75mm cannon and the deleted right side hull hatch.

If there's any consistency with wheels on Marine Shermans, I'd say it was coincidence or perhaps, units in the field found certain types to clog less (or be less able to be jammed by Japanese infantrymen). I've never heard of a production order for a certain type of roadwheel soley carried out for the USMC -- the units that rec'd this ubiquituous vehicle were so broad -- how could you just take an order from one organization?

I managed to locate a picture of a Ist Armored M3 in training in Ireland before the North African campaign. This tank is a very late version with pressed steel wheels. It is also the death trap version with no side hull doors.

Marine tanks used all the styles of road wheels, it all depended on the tank. The open cast type were actually stronger than the early pressed type. Some Marine units welded plates over the openings, others did not. So, just do it the way you want and have fun!

The spoked wheels were welded not cast. Squadron's 'Walkaround M4' has a shot of most of the wheel types, including a spoked one with patches welded over the holes between the spokes.

Squadron's 'M3 in action' book has some coverage of the fighting in North Africa and was useful when I was trying to build something resembling a petrol-engined M3 out of Tamiya's hybrid mess.

Thanks for the clarification. An old belief not yet prurged from memory by new information. Silly thing is, I have very good pics showing most of the wheels! It is never too late to learn.