As an Australian thank you for thinking of us but we normally just lock the screen and flip it ourselves 😂

Top tip: We NEVER tried to start our Chieftains (ARRV, in my case) without firing up the genny 1st. Unassisted battery start was a big no-no. The main reason was that your DEF (dust extraction fan) uses a huge amount of Amps to run, and you have to switch that on before you engage the starter to flush the air filter cyclones. If you don't do that, your roots blower and L60 engine will breath in about 0.5kg of dust and sand on its first breath, which isn't too good for the life of the engine.

Those urban paint jobs, can be a bit of a nightmare, when serving in Berlin as an infantry battalion we still had a number of armoured vehicles that needed to be painted in urban cam. Prior to The Queens Birthday Parade, we had to repaint all the vehicles, normally a bit of a pain, but as they were going to be on parade, detailed guidelines were provided showing in detail the paint patterns for each vehicle, we spent hours measuring up, masking taping up the blocked areas, making sure every nut bolt & fitting were painted to the standard required, when inspected anything that was not precise would have to me repainted. On the day of the parade the vehicles parked up in again in precisely marked spots, I think they were about 250-300m back from the front of the parade & spectators, never to be moved or be seen close up by anyone!!!!! That was the army then…good times 🤪

One of the advantages of not using an autoloader is having an extra man in the vehicle crew to help with maintenance tasks which on a tank is almost always big and heavy!

It amazes me they are 20 years old and still good 👍

I love the sound of tanks in the morning 👍🇬🇧😎

The Chieftain has such a cool sound. Your content is awesome man, it's pretty cool seeing all the intricacies that go into maintaining and repairing these beasts. Thanks for bringing us along. From Michigan

That's reminded me of having to do my Armoured Engineer (Chieftain AVLB) D and M course at Bovington TWICE! We learned our "trade" specific skills on an engineer variant in a hangar/classroom, but to keep the hours down on the AVLB fleet the purely driving phase was carried out on a Mk 10 gun tank and/or the 'Chieftain GTi' (or wedge - just a hull, plated over, with neither a turret nor the AVRE/AVLB kit on it). One day, after a day on the cross country driver training area, and washing down, we were back on the tank park, post use servicing. There was a lot of chitter-chatter about what pub we were going to drink at before heading to The Venue at Tower Park in Poole, and the usual banter. There was also an element of "too many cooks" on the rear deck. In short, we were distracting one another. As the radiators were stowed by another student, it was left to me to finish off by closing the engine deck panels. That's when I looked up at my mate, who was standing on the top of the turret, and I dropped a panel into the well, whereupon it bounced out of the well, it's progress into the stowed position having been hindered by my big toe (right foot) overhanging the corner of the well. Well, bugger me if that didn't smart a little! I hopped alongside the (stowed in the crutch) gun, up the mantlet, over the roof of the turret, and somehow got off the turret onto the track guards, and down the front hull. Turning the air blue, I continued to hop and swear my way across the tank park. Eventually I sat on the tarmac and people began to realise I was in serious pain. And that was that. I was so close to finishing the course but there was no way I was in a fit state to complete it. I was posted at the time to 23 Engr Regt in Osnabruck, and they didn't want to fly me back only to fly me to the UK again on sick leave, so I was sent home instead, and as soon as I was fit to return to duty I was loaded onto the next available course to finish what I'd started. Ironic, too, that after only a short three year stint as an Armoured Farmer I was posted back to the UK as a Draughtsman and drifted away from tanks to never again drive a tracked vehicle bigger than an FV432...

This brought some memories back! Hefting batteries in and out of Mk5 Chieftains in Osnabruck in 78/79, and I was scrawnier than Seb. Can still remember the vein standing out on my neck - my Troop Sergeant thought I was about to have an embolism! 🤣🤣🤣

Us colonial outcasts in the great land down under really appreciated the clip you filmed especially for us, in fact you guys should come on down to see life from our perspective, I think you would feel quite at home. I always thought working on boats was the worst pain in the ass but whoever designed the interior of tanks had a particularly warped sense of humour.

To you guys, there is no such thing as a problem. Merely a challenge to be overcome.

Thank you so much guys for showing us everything , the work and the mechanicing I am learning from your videos all the time

might be the most work sebs done in one video so far; lifted a couple batteries for 10 seconds and some powerwashing. He's really come a long way :D

True story & I love old Landrovers to bits , they are tanks . . had a Leyland truck whilst working for a blasting mob . . that was designed apparently for Lovecraft old ones , no handle or control was designed to be used by a human . . the cab access handles were only an octopus could use . . going in backward

Bedford M Type four wheel drive worked on them for years, they used to have a very reliable electric stop that worked like a car aerial mounted in the chassis with a Bowden cable to the fuel pump. Ignition on it extended stop to run position Ignition off it retracted inner core and engine stopped, never went wrong in a fleet of them. Air stops are the worst water gets in and freezes or rust unit slight misalignment they jam, take a lot of maintenance to keep them running. The electric stop used on the Bedford worked all year round no problem. Matra joints on front axle simple reliable, do not use non genuine studs on housings, one site did and nearly lost the swivel axle, they are high strength studs. There was a company that put hinges on the front of the cab mounts so you could undo the rear ones and tilt the cab with a screw jack fitting they supplied. Tight to get in a service access to thermostat was tight. Pretty reliable beast if serviced properly. They where used in fields every day spreading sludge and where good off road. Flame heater for starting, some leaking ff diesel returning to tank filled a little reservoir, operating cold start heated a coil and the heat shrank (yep shrank) some teal and allowed fuel from reservoir to leak onto heater coil igniting it heating the air drawn into the engine. A little disconcerting with air pipework removed seeing a small flame burning away when you operated the cold start device, stop sing it and it dies down as the metal pin expands again and shuts of the fuel. Happy Days😀.

2:20.. thanks for the change in aspect view, it made it so much easier to watch. I didn't have to keep standing on my head. 🤣

Absolutely love the Australian view. As an Australian, this makes it easier to watch! 🤣🤣🤣 Hurt my knee badly yesterday and this just made me laugh and made my day - thank-you so much.

Brilliant video guys,love hearing the old beast starting up and revving up, nothing like it, still makes me shiver 30 years after I last served on Chieftain.

I love it when a plan comes together. Good work chaps.

I feel your pain on the batteries mate. I have a 1954 PD 4104 Greyhound bus that takes a pair of 8D batteries. I don't know about the weight, but they appear to be the size of two of those NATO batteries side-by-side. Luckily, it only takes two and they side-load into a bay from outside and only need to be lifter a foot or two. And god _damn_ I love the sound of a two stroke diesel. FWIW, the bus mentioned above is powered by a Detroit Diesel 671.

As Another ,I appreciate you thinking of us down here.Just watching while having dinner and a beer..Love the sound of those big engines,,,you must have so much fun driving those beasts around.Regards Steve down under.

I love this channel..! Joe and crew are so funny but do a great job on their toys and is very interesting to see how they revive all these old gals of great machinery!

Changing batteries on the Chieftain what fun. We did use a large bent tube bar with 2 simple brackets that hinged and twisted on its axis. The brackets simply sat on the battery handles and the weight of the lifting kept them secure. The driver sat in his seat as you did and then another crewman or ' volunteer' lifted them into the cab. Because of the shape of the bar and the bracket spinning 360 degrees, it wasn't really the hardest job to remove or replace them. The gun was obviously over the front of the tank to do this job. Worst job was deffo realising you'd removed the last track link before a track change was gonna be on the horizon.....really enjoying your channel.

Hi guys, I’ve come across your videos today and really enjoyed them. I’ve done nothing today I set out to do, but well worth it. Cheers guys. 👍👍👍

I was an M60A3 driver, gunner and Commander in the US Army. The Cheiftan is so similar. These videos bring back some great memories!

The door on the lorry looks like it needs shimming under the bulkhead area/bolts, Good luck guys 😊

When you mentioned half a carburettor on the intake, that butterfly controls the vacumn governor on the injector pump. I believe the 2 wires you were touching together are for the heater plug in the manifold. love the videos by the way.

Chief still sounds great

🤣cheeky bugga , im used to watching everything upside down , that 3 seconds of the right way up hurt my eye's

keep them coming amazing videos and work. cant wait for the next installment

Bedford M Type, when I worked for Thames Water we had a fleet of them. They had a flame heater using diesel fuel from the return line to assist starting and an electric motor like an extending car aerial to stop the engine. They never went wrong. Pretty reliable engines simple layout. Biggest thing to maintain was brakes as they where off road most of their lives spreading sludge. Getting access under cab was a pain until a aftermarket cab tilt kit became available. Much easier after that, front mounts changed out for pivots and a mechanical screw jack jack kit fitted a lot easier to maintain! It is possible to hone or even re-sleeve rare brake cylinders, there are companies that specialise in it. All over forty years ago. Pretty rugged off road truck.😊

Weirdos keep going on about ‘everything gets given to you’ but from where I’m sitting the only things you’re given are problems to mend 😅

Nice, good timing for some quality content

Those batteries weigh 88 pounds each so somebody who hardly has an ounce of flesh on him he did really well

From an old Chief/ Cr crewman When changing or lifting the drivers batteries it’s easier to use the track rope and pass it through the battery lifting handles then pass it up through the hatch. Easy peasey.

Nice MK, my dad used to have one but it needed a new cab so he flogged it sadly. One of my favourite lorries.

Nothing like a good tank crawl to start your morning! A great job as always, it`s always the simple things that drive you crazy!!!!!

So glad there are people like you around that have the time, patience and money to keep these old heroes going so people can see them working. Thank you.

4:21 That colour and the what I believe is laminar flow or at least something similar is BEAUTIFUL!

I’m Down Under and I’m finally glad that for a second you put the video up the right way, but then I had to turn my iPad around again so I could see things properly

Christ, that's some outrageous way to tension the tracks, XD Loved it.

I used to love having the gearstick by my elbow. Superb!

Great job Tony, think after that you should get the german half track (If still available) and the 88mm gun .have a great weekend with the family in this wonderful rain we are having today 😢😢😢😢

The Chieftain engine sounds much happier. But being a 6 cylinder 12 piston two stroke it’s going to sound very revvy even when it’s not revving too much. You should fit 2 micron oil bypass filters. They take a small %age of oil flow and hoover up the crud that degrades to oil. Then you test the oil at service intervals (or more often if you like) and only need to change the oil when it’s quality drops.

Excelente trabajo. Me encantó ver el chieftain con ese nombre de un héroe Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar" El cid"

Fun, fun, fun. I feel your pain. Me & a mate have a rally car (mid engine Toyota MR2 Mk1). The gearbox used to have to come out with monotonous regularity. If we had sense, we would have bought a transmission jack, but we don't, so I was the jack. I'd just lay under the car and they'd drop the gearbox out onto my chest. Putting it back ment bendh pressing it into place and waiting for someone to get a couple of bolts in. Not much room, working with the car only up on axle stands. Also fun when someone drops a 22mm socket through the engine bay which hits you in the face whilet you're holding the gearbox. I kept all my teeth, but my top lip wasnt so good. When I got out from under the car, everyone agreed that I looked like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons.

All good with your Aussie viewers. We always watch TV here with our TV's turned upside down so everything overseas looks fine lmao. As the batteries go, try two different things. First, hook something like a amber rotating beacon ( they draw 5 amps) to the battery for quite a few hours to flatten it, then recharge it. Or second, if you are able to remove the battery caps, drain out all the acid and replace it with fresh acid and then recharge it.

The miles I've done in Bedford MK 4 tonner trucks, on the back loadbed, in a sleeping bag. Asleep. Happy days...

Thank goodness the Chieftain started, before then you didn't sound like you'd last the day Joe! This show isn't sponsored by Monster energy drink, but if anyone's watching from there, I'm sure a few gallons would be greatly appreciated! 😁👍👍👍👍🙃😁

I don't know what I watched to get this content to show up in my feed but from what I've watched so far you seem to be very good at what you do you have a new sub

Been enjoying all the chieftain ( urghhh ) vids , whilst at shrivenham the lesson learned on the chieftains was the best tool for removing theveginesvwas a fork, helps shovel,out all the shrapnel debris when they exploded . Another time we was up on the ranges at Warminster,the MOD range setter was the mighty and anti hum@n Johnny Weiss, last time we went to his yard was to harvest a load of parts from his “stolly wall “ about 60 stalwarts piled up to form a wall . Outside the yard at around 07:00 were three mk11 chieftain hulks that had been APFSDS,d , the three foot thick chobham armour did SWFA to repel the penetrators, these un fortunate MBT,S were dragged back dead ( tracks wheels etc blown away ) the humble “leyland” DROPS was used to drag the hulks back to the yard . “Jonny , did them drops struggle dragging these back across the muddy ranges ? “ Arrrrrrrrrrrr, gearbox got hot , boiled it a few times , but here they is

Pretty cool like the paint job looks sharp.

Thanks for turning the video up the right way for us aussies, been having a hard time watching them otherwise!😁

That chieftain sounds pretty evil at the end 👍

I crewed the M60A1 in the 70's, where your batteries are was ammo racks on both sides and fire extinguisher tanks on the left of the driver., batteries were under the turret floor, turn the turret and remove a panel. Not a bad job all told.

Bad batteries mean slower cranking rate lower voltage and higher current, that kills starter motors. The starter rotates at slower speeds meaning each set of coils is subject to higher current for a longer period of time causing the starter to cook. To test batteries charge them fully at max one tenth of their AMP HOUR capacity until fully charged the disconnect charger and allow to settle for two hours then do a load test. Nice toys to play with! Lifting batteries can someone standing outside somewhere pull with rope while you guide out

Watching you shift those batteries reminded me of when back in the 1990’s I used to have to change the batteries on Boeing 747-200’s (I was an aircraft engineer) they had two huge batteries the same size as those Hawker batteries, they weighed 90 pounds each, one for the APU and a main battery in the rear of the flight deck. The APU battery was fitted in a bay under the tail, this meant having to lift the battery above your head up through the hatch. Oh nearly forgot to mention the hatch for the APU battery was around 30 feet from the ground! The later 747-400 had the same sort of battery, but their positions were changed to something as awkward as the ones you were trying to fit, which meant lifting them over all sorts of structure in confined spaces. I feel your pain!

I thought it was a Moped until you gave me the down under Australian view, it’s a bloody Tank!

Love these videos, makes me appreciate working on me little RC tanks 😂

Bad batteries at cranking means low cranking speed, low cranking speed means high current flow through the windings in the starter with no time to cool. That’s when the smoke leaks out and the starter is toast. Consistent cranking a low speed smokes starters. Love what you do you just keep going guys. Lifting batteries how about a bit of rope through the loops and buddy standing on deck takes the weight and you guide it in or out.

When testing batteries, they should be properly charged before testing otherwise you might get a bad reading from a battery that's ok. Those testers are awesome for a bit of warmth in the winter as they use a heating element as a load. 👍

I agree with what "Not-Much-To-Suck" said but with a slight difference. Being an Aussie also, when I go to watch a Pommie video I just turn the TV upside down! Nice little joke though, mate. Nice to be recognized. A bit of trivia for you. I had a cousin who was in the Australian Army in the 70's and 80's. He was a driver of the Centurion tanks. I was a little over 5ft 7in and he was a head shorter. He told me he , and others, had to really work on their thigh muscles because the clutch, in a Centurion, was as heavy as all sh .... um ... 'get-go!' But it was a lot of fun as well. Also, could you talk up a little louder. Because, with the machinery in the background and the wind, you were a little hard to hear. But love you videos though.

As a portable starter, you should get yourself a 5p6s or 5p12s LTO battery. LTO are a kind of practically indestructible lithium battery and you should easily get plenty of cranking amps out of them.

39 minutes?! Hang on, let me get a beverage 😁👍

Your a young man with a head full knowledge love your video

Brilliant video👍

Tips and Tricks ,If you put a hose that sits firm on Brake bleeder nipples then into a container bottom as the oil goes into the container it`ll be sucked back up the hose providing a do it yourself brake bleeder system No air goes back in just tighten nipple before removing hose , Air goes out oil goes back ..- PS - Wouldn`t having a portable hoisting lift on the tank barrel help lifting and lowering the batteries ?

Love the L60! Can’t beat a 2 stroke diesel noise. And who says BL were crap? Napier Deltics also sound pretty good.

The previous owners 'bodgers incorporated' mods worked back in the day. It still moves!.🤣🤣 Nice one!. Nuff said.

Nice and beautiful tonks

great job guys you always make us laugh 🤣😂🤣

That huge spanner had just the right way ajust the track. Is the torque over a thousand? Yes😅 You need to make a clever hoist for things like those batteries. Low low clearance swing arm.

I bet the Foden was pissing itself laughing when it heard that Bedford roar into life ;)

Man, when you were jerking the engine cover open with your back, my back started hurting for you. I know, you know, but shit like that is gonna make for a very uncomfortable late 30’s and beyond. Ask me how I know.😂😂 love the videos, keep it up 🤘

If you overtighten banjo bolts on fluid system you crush the flat faces and cause leaks. Brakes, Fuel systems, hydraulics, Have seen it many times. Anneal the copper washers or fit new and tighten firmly but not super tight. If someone has done it previously it’s a pain.

We will see you guys there on Sunday.

If i remember correctly from working at the Depot in Bicester 20+ years ago them batteries are about 40kg each. Always fun! :D

fairy washing up liquid is great for softening brake seals

Wonderful. TY

You peeps make it look like if them batteries are heavy, luckily tanks are easy to work with. 😁

Just been to the Harborough show. The 2pm slot the highlight of the day.

Well that’s a nice modern battery discharge meter lol 😂 when I done my apprenticeship in auto electrics we used a funny looking device it was to long prongs connected with a zigzag bit of metal between them with a gauge in the middle , you just stabbed the battery terminals with the probes given off sparks good enough for any firework display 😳🤨😂😆 great video as always lads keep up the amazing work 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻❤️

I feel your pain Joe, I changed all 4 drivers batteries on a Chieftain once, still traumatised over 40 years later 😀

I dislike those types of battery testers. Sometimes they just don't put enough of a load on a battery to see if it's truly bad. I had a dump truck here that would stall when you went to put the bed up with the electric lift. I tested the batteries independently and both came back good. The truck would start fine, and the hydraulic pack was relatively new. It ended up that the batteries just couldn't handle the current load from the lift. New batteries solved the problem.

Fair play lifting that batteries out, As you say, they ain't light. Twist to open

Mate love your styles, tech methods like the track tightener were designed here in NZ 😂 Bar the telehandler that is, we would just use the Massey!

Glad to see the thoughts on how to fix the picture mate. but as far as the hair, I think it's a case of ( there's something about mary ) you might of had a case of over presure or a bad wind issue, either way you need to learn the" splash guard method "when handling that turret of yours.

The Centurion AVRE is one of my favourites.

Love the sound of the chiffon

On the Bedford, if you look at the side of the block, you will see where the distributor was in the petrol engine.

Oh the joys of working on a chieftain...

Brings back memories of tightening the tracks, changing batteries and looking like the swamp thing from the oily swamp

Hope you use a imperial 8 inch adjustable and not a metric 200 mm on the batteries. 👍

I thought they had two starter motors one each side of the engine. I only ever did Gue engine starts.... I spents 9 months putting batteries in armoured vehicles as my first army posting... The Chieftain MBT had 6 X 100 AMP batteries if memory serves me.

cracking video great to see

Those 6TN batteries are a pig. I was always having to swap the NATO ones out - they just never really seemed to last. Even just changing them on the REOs was an arse ache, and they have a pull out battery box.

to change driver cab battery's Travis gun off centre front, drop driver seat into recline and have someone pass battery down to you.

That Leyland engine, like the Deltic is awesome British engineering

Just a quick note when testing batteries they should be fully charged first and if possible a hydrometer should be used to test the specific gravity. Putting a drop tester on an unknown battery can kill a good battery it if not fully charged. Also electronic drop testers are better than the “ Heath Robinson unit” you have. Did you also try testing the Tank batteries in situ and connected?

As an ex-Chieftain crewman, I can assure you that you don't need a sense of smell to know when your batteries are cooking, as your eyes start streaming, your larynx melts and your nostrils burn! BTW, if you can smell, it smell like a mix of rotten eggs and burnt cordite, with a hint of caramel ... sort of.