Pioneer tool rack ID

[pfarber]

Seems that just about *any* pioneer tool rack is 'WWII' issue. Even the post WWII war ones that are easily identified as such.

First, a WWII issue pioneer tool rack. They were never issued with a CCKW, but were additional items added as needed. The late 43 CCKWs had the integral tool mounts on the running boards.

picture from http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/showpho ... e=big&cat=

Items to note: leather straps and buckles. Canvas webbing could also be used (repair). The biggest item is the tip of the shovel head. Note the 'u' bracket is made of round bar. That is the #1 tell. Post war/modern racks are identical (save webbing being nylon) but the shovel tip U bracket is FLAT bar, not round.

[retro-roco]

Paul,

What information are you basing this daclaration on? I was aware of differrences between war time and post war pioneer tool racks, but had always been told that the biggest difference was with the plate a steel located across the middle back of the rack. Photos were always used to illustrate how the post war racks had a plate that ran diagonally across the rack, rather than perpendicular like the one you show. Even this obvious difference was brought into question recently when someone showed me what appeared to be a war time photo of a CCKW, with a hood mounted tool rack. The very curious thing was that the back plate was obviously a diagonal plate, not the typical "war-time" plate...

I can't seem to locate the photo right now, but I'll keep looking...

[pfarber]

Here are two more comparison pics:

POST WAR:

postwar.JPG (20.9 KiB) Viewed 5013 times

WWII

While there are many differences between the two, of that parts that are carried over (the shovel head bracket) you can see that the green post war (from an M35 IIRC) is flat stock, while the WWII one is round.

This has been consistent over the dozens of racks I have seen. Now did tool layout/loadout change? Were they modified? Were specific vehicles given specific racks for specific mount points? Don't know.

I can post more. If you have a WWII production rack using flat stock for the shovel head upload a pic.

[pfarber]

I'll also throw out the 'Becker Book' page 62

[pfarber]

This is the best WWII pioneer rack photo I can find:

Note the round bar for the shovel head.