Coles 6x6 cranes (bridging cranes)

[john.k]

Is anyone here familiar with the last of the Coles 6x6 cranes sold in the mid 80s by the army..............Im pretty sure Ive seen pictures of at least one preserved by a collector at some Victorian rally.........Anyhoo,my query regards the mechanics............the chassis had a unit coupled to the transfer case PTO.......was this an electric motor ,or a generator.?..............next query regards the electrics...........one of the ones sold here had the crane cab filled with the typical army green batteries.........dozens of them............I wonder if the army had converted one to work without the crane motor running?...........this would have needed a whole new switchgear to cope with the high DC currents possible with batteries.............Anyone know?

[Richard Farrant]

Hi John,
Not sure if this is the same but many years ago I worked in British Army workshops (REME command wksp) and did a lot of work on the Coles bridging cranes that were mounted on AEC Militant 6x6 chassis. You could drive them from the crane cab using the power from the crane generator, it was a motor connected to the transfer box, there was allso a motor on the steering column in the truck cab and toggle levers in the crane to move the steering.
I have no idea about your bit about the crane cab being full of batteries, there was little room in the cabs from my recollection.

regards, Richard

[john.k]

Thanks Richard...........that was my idea too............I am quite familiar with Coles diesel electrics...............i suspect the army simply dumped the batteries inside the casing ,for no better reason that to get rid of them........To drive the crane with batteries would require different switchgear than the generator system.............You could get any of the truck mounts with the option of moving from the cab............The only reason I asked was a discussion on a truck forum about my Coles.......as in "seen abandoned in a yard"......yeah right.