WORLD WAR 2 IN REVIEW: American Armored Tractors

John Deere Model A armored tractor equipped with trailer, Aberdeen Proving Ground, January 9, 1941.

The John Deere Company produced two prototypes for tractor tanks during World War II. John Deere’s great grandson, C.D. Wiman, wanted to build the tractor tanks on a mass production scale. Wiman thought he could build 100 tractor tanks per day at a unit cost of $6,500 to $8,000, including the machine guns. He then planned to sell the armored units to the United States defense department for combat.

The vehicle was made from a 1940 Model A John Deere tractor with 5,000 pounds of steel armor. This tank would be supported by a three-man crew: a driver and two gunners. The tank’s two machine guns were placed in steel turrets that were able to turn up to 190-degrees; each turret being able to be turned either by the gunner or the driver.

Wiman proposed to the U.S. Army that armored John Deere tractors be used as machine gun carriers, or at a minimum, as armored prime movers. Toward this end, a prototype was constructed based on the John Deere Model A, and shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where testing began in January 1941. The Armored Model A tractor had a narrow front end. The tractor weighed 9500 lbs, had six forward gears and one reverse, and a top speed on hard roads of 13 mph.

The narrow, tricycle-type front end with which the prototype was equipped proved to be wholly unsuitable, as it tended to bog down in sand and deep mud. Following February 19, 1941 recommendations from the Army, the design was modified to include a wide front end. Further testing was done with this configuration, along with a similar unit, without the machine gun turrets, beginning in April 1941, with an eye toward the unit being used primarily as an armored prime mover.

Because of difficulty operating the narrow front end in deep mud and sand, trials were made with a machine fitted with a wide front end. Armament consisted of two .30 cal. machine guns in armored turrets, with a crewman in each turret. Interphones connected the gunners to the driver.

The tractor was not really suitable as a combat vehicle, but a similar variant was considered as an armored prime mover. The trailer, seen here behind the tractor, was used to expedite the movement of the unit to the front, with the tractor as payload. With the tractor unloaded, the trailer was then to be towed behind, laden with supplies.