How to Run Tiger 131 | Ep. 17 | Tank Workshop Diaries | The Tank Museum

[@thetankmuseum]

Hello Tank Nuts, we hope you enjoy going behind the scenes on how our Workshop Team gets Tiger 131 running! Do let us know your thoughts!

[@Wolfhead101]

Amazing! Would love to see a start procedure from the driver's perspective; which switches to activate, what levers to pull etc.

[@bonnsbee1527]

TANK NUTS!... Everyone knows you watch anything about 131 with nothing more than a mild passing interest! Lol.

[@Litauen-yg9ut]

Maybe one day I'll make it back to my Mum's home country. Bovington and Heathrow are 2 main visits on my list. Then Cumberland where she came from. Yes, I know, it's Cumbria but she never accepted the change...

[@jeffkeith637]

This is the video I have always wanted. Wonderful. Thanks.

[@rolandolopez5261]

I love this tank

[@Geniusinventor]

Can we all take a moment to appreciate these people who are keeping all the tanks running and keep them in very good condition? Thank you very much for keeping the Tiger 1 repair free.

[@evanderboynton3057]

No kidding. Having to make all of your parts. Dealing with old labor intensive technology like points and condenser.

[@42cerberus]

I have said thank you to some of the team that look after her. Was lucky enough to watch this process in September 2019.

[@ScandinavianHeretic]

You mean "Tank you very much" ...ill see myself out

[@Geniusinventor]

@@ScandinavianHeretic can we all tank a moment to appreciate

[@jakubukleja2553]

@@evanderboynton3057 Points, condensers and carburettors beat electronics when you have a microchip shortage.

[@knightstemplar6243]

That tiger was state of the art back in the day a very intimidating beast. And to be honest she’s still an impressive sight and a priceless peace of history

[@ZagadkaTeg]

That Sir, is a beautiful typo on "peace", much obliged! 😁

[@badcornflakes6374]

Your great grandpa was state of the art back in the day

[@scottlofye2495]

I flew from Dallas Texas USA to Bovington, UK just to see this tank run on Tiger Day in April. Yep, it was worth it.

[@badcallsign4204]

In most cases, when I hear these old engines they spit and sputter with the occasional backfire. Not this tank. Purrs like a big cat and sounds amazing. Well done maintenance team! Really outstanding job.

[@jakubukleja2553]

High quality fuel and oil probably contribute a lot to keeping it running.

[@ThePsiclone]

If that starter ever needs a rebuild, please video it. I'd love to see the insides of that between the handle and engine.

[@westmus]

It's probably quite similar to what was used on old air planes that also in some cases had a hand cranked inertia starter. They had now "forgotten" ways of doing things back in the day. You also got shotgun starters and some old planes where 1 cylinder got ignited manually by the pilot hand craking an ignition box, to get the engine rotating.

[@sd3457]

In essence, it's a bloody big flywheel, I'm assuming that there's a bunch of gearing-down to allow human power to get it going.

[@Tclans]

“When I say STOP, just move away” Proceeds to say: Okay Thanks for the clear instructions sir!

[@HEDST8]

Then a confused look on the younger lads face. haha

[@badcornflakes6374]

Exactly why you shouldn't work on tanks. You should understand when to stop even when not told stop. "okay" should be understood as stop considering the context. You need to understand. Okay?

[@elliswatanabe]

@@badcornflakes6374 okay

[@kolonkacity001]

@@badcornflakes6374 stop

[@f4t4lity0r4]

@@badcornflakes6374 yeah unclear instructions really help when working with heavy machinery. i actually love when im meant to assume every other command.

[@krissteel4074]

Big V12's are such a lovely sounding engine, that perfect primary and secondary balance and it just whispers along. (when they feel like working of course)

[@deejayimm]

"Shermans are boring because they never go wrong" Kind of sums up the WW2 tank story from the American perspective.

[@HaVoC117X]

I haven't seen a sherman firefly driving with its original engine for a while. Probably because the 30 cylinder Chrysler Multibank engine with 5 carburetors has a lot of potential for going wrong!

[@deejayimm]

@@HaVoC117X oh look at me!! I pointed out the ONE version of the most reliable tank of ww2 that wasn't totally reliable lol...

[@mightyTMP]

@@deejayimm Well, he is right though.

[@deejayimm]

@@mightyTMP I never said he was wrong, but he's talking about what? 10% of Shermans.... The Chieftain is the biggest Sherman lover out there, and even he says those engines are unreliable lol....

[@Arrrbol]

@@deejayimm That depends on how you define 'reliable'. Most reliability statistics are based on availability rates, which is very good on the Sherman as it's easy to replace and maintain components. The components themselves are not necessarily the most reliable of the war though. Arguably, anything can be reliable (i.e not break down) if it receives enough maintenance, including the Tiger actually. At least one of them is documented to have covered thousands of miles on the original engine on the eastern front. For overall reliability, the Valentine is probably the king (at least with the GM diesel).

[@___JW___]

The workshop diaries are the best videos the tank museum puts out. Great job!

[@c.j.zographos3713]

Fascinating; truly fascinating. I was at the Tank Museum a few days after Tankfest and the guys were giving the old lady a post Day once over.

[@Dutchy008]

In Britain, they don't also drive on the left side of the road, but also drive their trucks backwards! 3:00

[@hdezn26]

Well, I'll be.... Didn't spot that untill you pointed that out. Nice catch!

[@lex1945]

You guys do such a tremendous job, keeping these old warhorses alive and ready for display. I visited this tank in the beginning of the 90's, and she still had the old color scheme. Hapy to see she's still in such a good nick!

[@jordanoneil8094]

I'm not a museum professional, but I've spent a little time in the industry. I feel that keeping a running example working is more important than keeping its originality. As long as all of the work done is well documented, and any replaced part is kept and preserved, the effort of keeping it running over time becomes part of its history and provenance. In another 50 years, the story about how in 2030 they built a small scale bio-fuel plant to keep it running, will be just as important as any other event in the history of the vehicle.

[@jakedee4117]

All good points, the meaning of an artifact can change across time. the fact that the original engine was removed and sectioned as a teaching aid is a significant part of the story and also how the German army's most fearsome weapon was repaired and restored years later to become a British museum's most popular attraction.

[@kenbrown2808]

I am all in favor of building working replicas to keep the magic alive.

[@mikeyt3516]

I watched this wonderful machine running about this afternoon at the Tank Museum Spring Tiger Day 2024. It sounded beautiful, it looked incredible, and its eternally menacing presence gave me genuine goosebumps. Bravo to the great team of volunteers and professional engineers who look after this treasure of our history and keep it alive and healthy for us to watch it prowl in the flesh today!

[@norsehall309]

G'day from Australia, l really love the Tank and how to start it, glad it was saved for Historic preservation, cheers, Neil.

[@bankerduck4925]

Legendary folks on this video. Richard Cutland for one and Mr. Mike Hayton. Very cool seeing really what is done with the old and also legendary veteran Tiger 131!

[@Cancun771]

Crews were advised to avoid longer road marches if possible in order to minimize wear and tear, especially seeing as the average cruise speed was only about 50% faster than that of marching infantry anyway. So they mostly shipped it around on railroad flatcars. But the truly amusing bit is that they were not supposed to be marching together with other mechanized troops because the Tiger tank needed to stop for a quick inspection after the first five kilometers, and then again every 15 km after that. So they would have just slowed down all the others.

[@gavinbarker6602]

Do you have a source for that last part?

[@HO-bndk]

@@apis_aculei It is not nonsense! It is straight out of Merkblatt 47a/30 of 20th May 1943 : Merkblatt für den Einsatz der schweren Panzer-Abteilung "Tiger". Page 2, I quote: "Beim längeren Märschen ist eine Kopplung von Tiger Einheiten mit anderen Panzerverbänden aus marschtechnischen Gründen nicht durchzuführen". ["On long marches Tiger units are not to be mixed with other armoured groups due to technical restrictions on march capabilities"] "... Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit auf dem Marsch bei Tag 10 - 15 km/h ..." ["Average speed on the march by day 10 to 15 km/h"] "Häufige technische Marschhälte sind erforderlich. Es ist nach den ersten 5 km, hiernach alle 10 - 15 km, ein techn. Halt zu befehlen." ["Frequent technical halts are required. A technical halt should be ordered after the first 5 km and then after every 10 to 15 km"]

[@GuyChapman]

Workshop Diaries are my favourite Tank Museum content!

[@LongTail8443]

That's why I love to talk to old people, they knew something that never happen in my lifetime. And sometimes, those information is awesome.

[@gavcat2382]

Yep. They can help us understand how we arrived at where we are.

[@royalhero4608]

We're honestly so lucky to have one of these still running nearly 80 years after the war ended, to see the big cat moving and roaring in reality rather than just having to imagine it in a book or by watching old footage. Massive credit to everyone involved.

[@EmmEff3168]

Thanks!

[@t.jjohnson6317]

Love the Tiger ever since i first saw it. Thank-you to all for your time and talent-God bless

[@fancyultrafresh3264]

These gents are doing the lords work.

[@matiasguardaredes]

Awesome piece of machinery. And what a great team to keep it running! Congratulations!

[@charlesflint9048]

I must admit I noticed I’ve had a smile on my face throughout this vid!.

[@stephencunliffe3062]

I came to see that beauty many years ago from Manchester with four of my mate's don't think it was in running order then . Brilliant piece of kit.

[@floridastacker]

Definitely coming to visit the Museum on our trip next year. Really appreciate what you all do.

[@gman092803]

I have mad respect for all the work you guys do. You are the best

[@-TIGER_131-]

God I love the sound of a runing hl engine of a Tiger or Panther in the morning 😁👍

[@alanmoffat4454]

THAT'S JUST A BEAST THERES NO OTHER COMPARISON TOO HER .

[@gonnagetya1433]

I'd risk a heart attack to be able to turn that handle and be able to say I helped start it once. You are a lucky man to have had that opportunity.

[@kevincaldwell4707]

Love seeing this view of the Tiger as well as the Tank Museum too

[@Streetbob_Nomad]

Playing this vehicle in war thunder and world of tanks gives no justice to how big this tank really is. I was gob smacked when this man was sitting on the turret and there was enough room for him to lay down comfortably sprawled out on the turret…. And then when they’re walking around the back I realize that four men could hide behind the tank in a combat situation… I genuinely had no idea how massive this thing was I knew that it wasn’t small by any means but I didn’t realize how big it was

[@HO-bndk]

"Could hide behind it..." but were repeatedly officially ordered not to. Tigers drew a disproportionate amount of fire from the enemy and infantrymen also ran a serious risk of being casually pulped under the tracks (since the driver had only a small slot to see out of). Positions were sometimes overrun when infantrymen chose to follow "their" Tiger around rather than staying where they were supposed to be.

[@loosemeatsamich3689]

Magnificent piece of history.

[@KateFergeson]

What an awesome channel! I’m glad the algorithms brought me some thing they knew I would like. Keep up the good work! I’m obsessed with cav history which includes the tanks

[@zebwairau]

If I was rich I'd donate you guys enough to keep that going for years

[@guylelanglois6642]

If I was rich I'd buy it from them. Man what a machine

[@unbekannternr.1353]

The TigerMaster is feeding it Avgas100LL, good to hear!!

[@PpunktP]

Vielen Dank für die liebevolle Pflege - Wunderschön -- Thank you for the loving care - beautiful! and greetings from Germany

[@yolanda231000]

Super cool. I have been missing the Tank Workshop Diaries. My favorite part of the Tank Museum.

[@Hibernicus1968]

This really does typify German overengineering. The guy who maintains this tank says, at 3:40, "Shermans are boring 'cause they never go wrong." But from a military standpoint, that's what you want: monotonous reliability. Sure the Tiger was better armored, and had a more powerful gun. But for an army, it's far more advantageous to have your armored divisions at 95% strength, because almost all their vehicles are working as they're supposed to, than to have an on-paper superior tank, that's so unreliable that you only have 50-70% of your tanks up and running at any given time. The Sherman is underrated. One on one it couldn't match the Tiger. But it was far cheaper to produce, so you could turn three times as many out for a given cost; it was far more easily maintained in the field, so your armored divisions were always closer to full strength; and it was an overall superior vehicle with which to assert massive numerical superiority. Or, to put it another way. "It's a piece of junk! The fuel system leaks all over the place. It's a piece of junk!"

[@gregsiska8599]

"Again with those negative waves Moriarty!"

[@tonnywildweasel8138]

To me, the most beautiful and iconic tank. Tanks for this vid, and all the work you do on the Tiger! Greetings, T.

[@milanius6283]

Love my 131 just finishing the battle pass with it.

[@999torino]

Amazing bit of history, you folks put in so much work to take care of it.

[@Mr8up1]

Great inside look! Thanks tank museum!

[@elgato9445]

Utterly fascinating. You gentlemen are the best. Thank you so much.

[@JohnHoward_]

This video is superb please do more like this. It is just fascinating to see everything about such iconic machine.

[@stevebettany8778]

That video really brought the tank to life better than watching it roll around.

[@itzearlelfc527]

Thanks

[@waynemayo1661]

Love these behind the scenes videos. Keep them coming.

[@Deltarious]

Is there a reason the museum doesn't run the tank more frequently to help with ongoing maintenance? I know it's always a tradeoff, but to my understanding running most vehicles very gently but somewhat frequently significantly helps with keeping them running long term and reduces maintenance, is this not the case with Tiger 131?

[@alessiobubbles5345]

If I had to take a wild guess, it has to do on the wear and tear on the transmission, roadwheels, tracks and suspension, and the on the engine itself. Because while it is a fearsome warmachine, it's over 80 years old

[@EW742]

There is market for worn parts.

[@screamingfang]

If it is frequently ran , then parts will break. If parts break, then it will be difficult to replace. They only run 131 once or twice a year which is enough for 131. Tigers are notorious for breaking down and they don't want to run the risk of 131 breaking down.

[@enriquegarrido1580]

Amazing Video

[@georgesteffens7489]

Thank you for sharing!! Very cool video

[@JCStaling]

Big Tiger fan here.

[@bennybenitez2461]

Brilliant presentation

[@Convoycrazy]

Greatly enjoyed this video format… and that idling Maybach! Better than Beethoven!

[@davidstone-haigh4880]

Fantastic vid! Now for the other 16!

[@fivenine5905]

need more richard videos!

[@chestercallahan8856]

What a wonderful video!

[@MOTA_KRAMPUS]

Perfect beast.

[@oliver5403]

Such a good video. I hope to make it out to watch this tank move when I finally make it out to England for a holiday.

[@dougstubbs9637]

Sounds like Thunderbird Two when winding up the starter. I love this Tiger even more. Do the palm trees fall sideways when the Tiger drives into the arena ?

[@StickTheGlue]

Thunderbirds would be very different if they were going up an incline and the transmission broke 😂

[@HO-bndk]

If the tree trunks are less than 20 cm thick then yes, the Tiger would flatten them like straw.

[@RasmusDyhrFrederiksen]

Brilliant video, thanks!

[@battlefieldbartender5671]

Great video, thank you!!!

[@Rick2010100]

I have once seen a old video where the tank was started with a external starter tool. A tool in the size of a chain saw with a little combustion engine.

[@jordanthomas4379]

it's remarkable to actually see this old relic moving under it's own wait, I wonder if it would be possible to get another tiger up and running along with it.

[@PeetHobby]

I think there are enough parts but who is going to do it, cost many man hours. According to the internet there are seven Tigers left but only one is restored in working conditions.

[@TheArchaos]

Possible, absolutely. It'll just cost an arm and a leg, possibly the name of your firstborn too.

[@paoloviti6156]

In truth there are 7 Tigers of which one is of course the Bovington 131, one in quite complete condition in Samure museum but with transport transport tracks, one in Kubinka Tank Museum but I don't know if it is complete and finally one that was in Fort Knox but cut a part of the turret and the upper side but never mentioned the condition of the transmission but has been transferred to the new museum after being restored at, Benning I think. Regarding the other two I have no clue. Possibly one of them could be back in running condition....

[@HO-bndk]

@@paoloviti6156 There is also one at an artillery firing range in Russia but that one has been shot to bits and is now little more than vaguely Tiger tank shaped scrap metal. There is one in a village square in France which is in reasonable external condition (albeit with collapsed suspension) but has a funky non-historical paint job. The one that was at Aberdeen was sold to the Wheatcroft collection in the UK with a view to restoring it to working condition but that project has since been abandoned.

[@the-primered-thumb]

A model builders dream, thanks for putting that together 😉👌

[@NovusDawn1]

The head mechanic gave the best back handed compliment to Shermans I have ever heard "Shermans are boring because nothing ever goes wrong"

[@lyndoncmp5751]

That's because its peace time so nothing is blowing holes into them knocking them out left and right. Plenty went wrong in WW2. Most destroyed tank in NW Europe.

[@Chrester1]

Very interesting to watch, thanks for the video :)

[@tonyschram1260]

Great video, it makes you wonder how German tankers kept these beasts running in the field.

[@Sasha-jk6wo]

Man, that is cool!

[@tedstrikertwa800]

Great content. Thanks TTM!

[@tyree9055]

My favorite part was when the gentleman said "Shermans are boring, because they never break down..." 🤣👍

[@hagestad]

that was funny. they were fail tanks

[@bwehhueh5135]

Gotta appreciate it while it can still be maintained and kept alive

[@captainhurricane5705]

If you didn't burst into a grin at 9:10 please check your pulse!

[@Roller_Ghoster]

3:01 that van in the background must be feeling the effect of the Tigers engine going into reverse.

[@polticalme1677]

"We'll invade the USSR in four weeks from today. Make sure the men start cranking up the Tigers next Monday. We don't want to lose any time. And see to it that the men are well fed in advance, undestood?" "Very well, Herr Oberst!" I'm really impressed with the guys in the shop and the Tiger's engine. What a great job everyone's doing.

[@johnngrey1]

Thanks for teaching me how to maintain a Tiger so I can go.. to certain eastern countries and make one..

[@abitofapickle6255]

Now you are going to have to do it now. A video showcasing the maintenance of a sherman

[@benjamindover2601]

Massively over engineered but truly an amazing piece of history.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

No more over engineered than today's big tanks though. All finely crafted and highly expensive bits of kit are like that ☺.

[@bullettube9863]

Brilliant German engineering, no wonder they lost the war! Watching the mechanics start this tank makes me aware of just how much work goes in to maintaining an 80 year old tank!

[@iDuckman]

Please make more videos.

[@corsair371]

Fascinating machine

[@lzappa9109]

10/10! Grazie Mille!

[@davidbarnsley8486]

What an amazing vehicle I was surprised to see it was a petrol engine I did think the German tanks were diesel 👍👍👍

[@zafranorbian757]

nope pretty much all german tanks were petrol in WW2. There were some late war disel engines intended for use but by then it was to late to switch. There were german armoured card that used disel engines though. Some of the reasons for petrol were: Much lighter engines, smaller engines and much better acceleration times compared to Disel engines.

[@darreng745]

@@zafranorbian757 You can also argue that high power compact diesel engines were really a post war development, the Americans had built high power units for railroad use but you would not be able to fit an EMD 567 in that bay so to have a compact high power engine it had to be petrol.

[@thoriated]

Soviet tanks (T-34) were diesel powered. The lend-lease Shermans given to the Soviets had a pair of Detroit Diesel 6-71 for power, to be compatible with their fuel logistics. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5Woqmigab2cgM0

[@bryangrote8781]

I used to think the same thing, probably because they say it near the beginning of “Patton”. Funny thing about that movie inaccuracy is that is what most of the G.I.s believed also. The Germans recognized diesels would have advantages but nearly all their diesel fuel went to the Kriegsmarine. Not enough left to run many tanks and trucks. Partly the reason USSR did use mostly diesel tanks is they had no significant navy.

[@zafranorbian757]

@@bryangrote8781 That is actually a myth, Disel was available and the Kriegsmarine had no influence over the Wrhrmachts decision for petrol. If you understand german I would highly recommend the video series of the Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster on that topic.

[@Murphy007]

That was fantastic. Thank You .

[@rustypadlock5129]

It is still beautiful.

[@carstenweiland7896]

The engine sounds nice and the design is weirdly upward but it does not look bad, she looks like an icon.

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you

[@vinzvendivil1049]

I thought the bloody thing was about to go boom

[@lilpold9192]

Great video

[@jackmehoff1840]

I hope there is a team of eager young engineers learning from these experts

[@fredygump5578]

I'm just amazed by the super proprietary socket on the plugs covering the fluid fills! What thought process led to this decision? Using a standard square like a pipe plug would have accomplished the job and been easy to remove after you lose the fancy tool!

[@pjrebordao]

You don't get it... this way, if the russians stole it they couldn't do maintenance on it !

[@fredygump5578]

@@pjrebordao Yes, but....wouldn't that be a bit redundant on this tank? Russians prefer things that are easy to fix over things that rarely break....and this tank is neither of those!

[@grantm6514]

I wonder if it was an anti-sabotage measure? As long as that fancy tool is stowed in a secure place the caps are effectively 'locked' against sneaky people putting things in there in the dead of night.

[@blueduck9409]

The German tiger 1 is a fantastic tank. I wish there were more that are running. I would love to have a tiger 1 tank, or any ww2 Getman tank.

[@bucknertarsney7674]

Magnificent

[@2AToday]

LOVE this content!!!!!

[@JonWhitton]

Fantastic!

[@rebeccawarren2976]

Fantastic video, as far as I know the French have a running Tiger II!

[@venator5]

Yes and the actually more tiger 2 are getting restored!

[@briankrause2359]

I don't know if its just some kind of left over genetic memory from my parents or something, but even after 80 years of these things being around I still feel its imperative to stop whatever I may happen to be doing and gawk at Tiger tanks and various other German armor... (especially Jagdpanther). There is just something about their design and size etc that fascinates me to no end, and keeps me endlessly engrossed...

[@badcornflakes6374]

An unhealthy obsession if I do say so

[@jackg9581]

Nice work making it run and all, NOW ARM IT AND BLOW SOME STUFF UP!!!!!