75mm PACK How Paracrate Cart: need info

[ZUJ-A-TIC]

I was told this was used to parachute ammo in a self contained hand cart/container.

 

It consists of a trash-can sized corrugated barrel that has parachute attachment rings. It splits in half when opened. One side contains an axle, wheels, T-handle and 2 D-handle pull ropes. The other side has what appears to be room for fourteen rounds of ammunition, axle and handle attachment brackets. The axle, wheels and segmented T-handle lock on with snap pins and can be assembled and ready to roll in a couple of minutes or less.

 

I have never seen another or any pictures or reference to it.

 

Does anyone have any knowledge of it or information about it..?

 

Thanks

[ZUJ-A-TIC]

more pictures.

[Johan Willaert]

http://www.questmasters.us/M18_Paracaisson.html

 

http://handcartz.smugmug.com/CARTS/M9A2-PARACASSION/895456_Hh5nkM#!i=46475869&k=ZDrrKhn

[1canpara]

That's a very cool cart, and I expect it's quite a rare find! Thanks for posting it, I've never seen one before.

 

Rick

[ZUJ-A-TIC]

WOW! Thank you so very much!

 

I have been looking for information on this item for many years and never knew where to begin, not knowing the proper name, terminology, associated weapon or if the information we had about it was even in the ballpark. We have always called it "The Mover" and I can personally attest to it's phenomenal load capacity as we routinely used it to move massive stone and concrete items weighing more than 1,000 lbs.

 

I took a chance and posted it here figuring it would get more traffic.

 

Now I'd like to post what I have on it to the correct forum. I'm not sure which forum would be the most apporpriate for it.

 

Can someone tell me in which forum it belongs.

 

I'm thinking MILITARY VEHICLES ("MISSILES & ARTILLERY (FIXED, TOWED, AND SELF-PROPELLED") is this correct?

 

Also does anyone know if this is a common item?

 

Thanks Again

Carl

[Johan Willaert]

I have moved it and changed the title of your topic.

 

Both webmasters of the sites I have posted are members here. I am sure they will chime in with more info

 

Johan

[ZUJ-A-TIC]

I just want to say what a great resource this site is. I had been trying to learn about this piece for many years to no avail. I didn't know the right name for it so I didn't know where to begin.

 

Two hours after posting it here (in the middle of the night !) the mystery was solved. (It took a lot longer to get through security and get my access approved than it did to find an answer.)

 

In the last few days I've learned a lot, cleared up some misconceptions and been contacted by a member with a wealth of information about the M9A2 Paracaisson and it's relationship to the 75MM Pack Howitzer.

 

I have been using it for over fifty years without ever really knowing anything about it. What I have learned from using it over the years is that it is an astoundingly well designed piece of equipment. It has never failed to accomplish whatever impossible task I've applied it to. By putting it to the test so many times over the years I feel like I can understand a little bit, the satisfaction and surprise the Howitzer crew must have felt in the heat of battle over difficult terrain. I know that under pressure those heroic guys had little time to think about it but I'm sure that at some point they appreciated and maybe even silently thanked the brilliant designers of this little wonder. I don't know what a full load of ammunition would weigh but I have picked up, maneuvered, and unloaded a half-ton block of granite over rocky uneven ground without help many times. It has incredible strength and capacity, surprising maneuverability and perfect balance so that one man can balance a thousand pounds with his fingertips and those wheels will take it almost anywhere.

[craig johnson]

Nice to see another survivor. The hardest part to find is the top half though. I suppose they were used for barbecues and pig feeders or whatever. Well if it ever finally collapses from carrying to much rock I could use the baffle with the holes in it.

 

This is mine on display. Would have to say out of all the Hand Carts I had on display my Military Bicycles and the garbage can looking thing received the most comments.

 

I just have to throw this out there because if you dont say anything someone else will. I would be willing to build a baffle that would drop right in your Cart and some cash for the value and time if you would be willing to trade. I think if the baffle was missing it would probably collapse.

 

 

 

[ZUJ-A-TIC]

"maybe even silently thanked the brilliant designers of this little wonder...."

 

 

 

 

Holy Cow!

 

 

Many times in the past fifty years I have thought, wondered and appreciated the work of these guys, without ever knowing who, when, where, etc. Now I have names and faces...

 

Thank you for posting that!

 

 

What a great collection you have there.

 

I agree that without the baffle it might have collapsed from the tonnage my cart has hauled. It's always been a mixed blessing that it's there. Often things would fit better without it, but it may have crumpled and not survived.

 

People working with it and with me have often grumbled that it should be removed. My kids too resented the fact that I would give them hell if I caught them mis-treating it or if they left it outside overnight.

 

It's the Historian/Collector in me that would not stand for it. And it's the same instinct that would not let me remove the baffle and replace it with a functional substitute. It's value to me is more it's place in history and only secondarily that it's the best damn stone mover I've ever seen.

 

It has also become something of a beloved family artifact because of the story of how it was acquired and the people it has helped and places it has been.

 

I unpacked and assembled it with my Father in the 50's and the top is still in the shed where he put it that day. He kept it for a back-up if we ever wore out the bottom half. He was an engineer in the Army in WWII.

[ZUJ-A-TIC]

I have the tow ropes around somewhere too.

[ZUJ-A-TIC]

I dug out the top half yesterday. It has three baffles in it. Two have the large opening and one has the many smaller holes.

 

Is this cart dropped with a single round of ammunition in it?

 

I also found the wooden 'adapter'.

[robinb]

It was dropped with 8 rounds inside. Once the top half was discarded and the cart assembled, 10 more rounds will fit for a total of 18.