This Machine Actually Existed And It Was Terrible... SO I MADE ONE

It's on the workshop: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
Welcome to another episode of Scrap Mechanic! Today I am replicating a machine that was a predecessor to the tank: the Boirault Machine. It was basically one giant terrible tank tread that couldn't even steer. It was quickly given up on over a hundred years ago. But I'm bringing it back to life!
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What is Scrap Mechanic?
Scrap Mechanic is a multiplayer sandbox game with imagination and ingenuity at its core. Create fantastic machines, transforming vehicles or sneaky traps. The possibilities are endless with Scrap Mechanics powerful tools.
Find the game here: store.steampowered.com/app/387... #scrapman #scrapmechanic

[@robinkesterlives]

"It's gonna to have to stay on track. It is a track. it is also going to have to stay on track within the track. So I need a track within this track, so I don't lose track of what we're doing." - You had me at track.

[@jackmaisel2839]

what

[@riccardopetrina4212]

Scrapman is raising the bar lately, and I love it

[@Daniel_45]

Timestamp: 6:10

[@getnug4467]

We got lost of tracks He said too many tracks

[@kittyn5222]

The badges work!

[@dianox_9990]

Sad thing that they didn't have a suspension-glitch back then. Would've been a lot easier.

[@randomstuff0070]

lol maybe theyre brain is black and white thats why they didnt think it back then

[@Liddylicious]

@@randomstuff0070 dont know if that would even work, just cause theyre two different creations.

[@o.pjuanshenobi6645]

Yeah, thrusters weren't also a thing back then

[@flightingfalcon4783]

lol

[@Dozav7]

I feel like they just attach a stick out the side from the inside vehicle into the dirt on the side they want to steer towards. It should work like rudimentary tank steering. Edit: a very large, very heavy stick.

[@MrNight-dg1ug]

The wiki literally said, when you were reading it, that "they used a winch-system to turn it, but they could only turn it 45 degrees", and something about automatic/manual steering

[@Maxikxng]

i saw something about a Jack system where you lift it up and then turn it by hand or with smaller jacks

[@bbittercoffee]

@@Maxikxng You LIFT it up?! How heavy was this? At least half a ton, right?!

[@LionsPlayHD]

@@bbittercoffee I think it was estimated at around 30 tonnes. Also i think it would have been possible to lift part of it up with a hydraulic jack.

[@bbittercoffee]

@@LionsPlayHD damn, they had a mechanism to lift this thing up and "turn it" but couldn't make it run faster than a km/h?

[@MrNight-dg1ug]

@@bbittercoffee Like scrapman also said in the video, it might be too heavy to go faster, and the tracks might sway/get stuck/get off the cogs

[@rocketeer8719]

I’m enjoying these quirky and weird creation concepts way too much. Great job keep it up!!!

[@Ayxl_Toh]

im getting comfortable with these weird mechanism recreate! : D

[@29485webp]

Quirky 😳

[@farciarzfunny5326]

It's not weird its unique

[@BobbyStacruz-bh7vl]

19:00 I like that he recreated this thing and had the same issues, that means he recreated it perfectly, well played my man

[@YoursUntruly]

Very historically accurate

[@nicksnews.]

There is a simple solution how they made it turn: [IRL] Suspension glitch, the answer to everything

[@undeadsecret]

spider turning, like how some cranes have stabilization legs, use those but on a rotor, the legs lift the machine and rotate it 30% lift, return to default and repeat process. slow yes, but heavily mechanized and probably really nice to look at, while still retaining the original devices purpose.

[@nyscersul42]

It's not really a bad idea. In a world where the tank track has not yet been conceived, the best first idea is essentially a rolling bridge... which is how they'd have thought at first. When you stand on the shoulders of giants, you forget what the ground looked like.

[@FastForwardPlans]

Yeah some people forget that there had to be a basic idea first, there had to be mistakes made. Which is why historians praise people like Da Vinchi who while not quite there, was on the right track for a astounding number of things.

[@XiaoYueMao]

"tank" aka tractor treads actually did exist before this. the first proper tank in 1916 was made utilizing tractor tread designs from the american tractor company Holt

[@musicfan9309]

To this day many countries still have two versions of the "bring your own bridge with you" idea... one is the tank/truck looking vehicle that has a bridge that is on top, then deploys when needed, and the other more common version are those trucks that turn into flotation bridge pontoons to cross rivers. Both still in existence.

[@Lappmogel]

What the hell are you talking about? Holt patented a practical track in 1907, i don't know what this is but it looks some charlatan wanted to cash in on some of that war time spending and needed his own patent.

[@Ewout761]

Now that we're into the tanks try making the Tsar Tank, made by Nikolai Lebedenko, Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky, Boris Stechkin, and Alexander Mikulin, also in 1914

[@DeltaSierra0605]

Honestly that's just a big trike with ridiculous wheels

[@Guitarplayerotherchannel]

You will prob be in next vid

[@ExaltedDuck]

Turning wasn't as big a problem as they realized. It's just that in 1914 they hadn't yet discovered the suspension glitch...

[@braydonattoe2078]

While your still on tanks how about that da vinci tank that's spins in a circle. I think its featured in assassins creed 3 or brotherhood

[@andrewspencer-foster9504]

I was thinking that too, itd b a good multiplayer monday

[@shwellava]

It would be great to see that!

[@dopebossgamerz]

Scrap man already made one before :)

[@shwellava]

@@dopebossgamerz do you mean the bayblade?

[@andrewspencer-foster9504]

@@shwellava ya I agree with u, ik I haven't seen a Da Vinci tank build

[@olivercooksey2243]

If we’re going through old tanks, perhaps try the tsar tank from WW1 or even a mark 1-7. Little Willie might even be worth a go.

[@Gremlinbaby55]

This is exactly what I've been waiting for, lol

[@DreadEnder]

Weird war inventions: 1: kamikaze submarine 2: v3 cannon ( huge chain of cannons 3:bouncing bomb 4:unrotated projectile ( mine launcher) 5:kugelpanzer ( tumbleweed tank) 6: gustav cannon 7: Fu-go balloon bomb 8: the great panjandrum I think in scrapmechanic they would all work except maybe number 7 and number 6 would be too big I’d say go for number 8

[@Mysda_]

I've seen tractors with this design as the wheels. It uses a cable system to keep the sections together

[@mikhail_from_afar]

I was going to suggest connecting two of these "wheels" to make tank steering possible. Also I think it is possible to make such wheel much smaller, while retaining full original functionality.

[@Mysda_]

@@mikhail_from_afar I think it wasn't able to steer yet. It was using it as 2 back wheels. I found the name of it : It's called the rotaped tracks

[@declanholmes7947]

Dude im impressed with the last few vids might have engineering potential rock on brother 🤘🏼

[@tshiamomonnakgotla8416]

You could've increased the ground clearance for the green triangle vehicle unit so that it wouldn't bottom out. But I guess it's preferable not to deviate from its historical counterpart

[@joonalehtinen5462]

im more worried that it was not included in the original version.

[@riccardopetrina4212]

@@joonalehtinen5462 We should remember it was 1915, they didn't have strong materials like now or the technology to build it. Also they didn't have a way to raise it because it had to be a big metal block as to not bend, suspensions were impossible and some kind of metal blocks to increase the clearance couldn't have sustained it's weight.

[@lameyeoman3795]

I have an idea: You could try to make the Tsar Tank, I think its possible in Scrap Mechanic. Love your videos

[@mayonasepizza]

I tried it, those wheels are almost impossible to move like I ended up puttning wheels on the wheels

[@riccardopetrina4212]

The monster? Those wheels are very round, but considering the scale of this it could be possible.

[@mayonasepizza]

@@riccardopetrina4212 how do you make the wheels perfektly round also then comes wheight.

[@chandradatmeghoo9s]

Scrapman:*gives a 6 minute history lesson* Me: *likes it* My history lesson teacher: *gives a 2 minute history lesson* Me: *bored*

[@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890]

the better the teacher, the better you’ll understand

[@steggopotamus]

I could see this sort of game becoming a standard in history classes.

[@undeadsecret]

here's a cool idea, taking old concepts like these and improving them, so while this iteration may have had trouble turning, you could make an iteration that has crab legs, lifts the machine and turns it at a certain angle, drop and repeat the process to turn, like a spider, fold back into the body, clearing the tracks for forward motion again.

[@riccardopetrina4212]

I would rather see old prototypes that failed miserably being built, and see for ourselves why they failed

[@RealPanzer999]

The original actually had a very similar turning system.

[@undeadsecret]

@@riccardopetrina4212 i do enjoy that myself, but this idea was more of a buffer for more content, seeing old archaic machines operate is always going to be satisfying

[@riccardopetrina4212]

Scrapman really enjoyed this one, especially making fun of the inventor. Would like to see more attempts at building prototypes that were failures like this one.

[@That_stupid_guy]

Please make a series where you make historical builds and learn about it on the run I think it would be fun and interesting! It’s something new and fun!

[@That_stupid_guy]

Guys that link is a scam don’t click on it! Please I wish I could delete it I’m sorry

[@johnderat2652]

Man, I'm loving these past couple vids where you just recreate weird "vehicles". They're so much fun

[@logik6414]

Great design dude Try the Archimedes screw in water or outside

[@papichulo9684]

You’re on a roll with these weird creations. Keep it up. When you have a few crazy creations made you should have a multiplayer Monday and race them or go over some obstacles.

[@dries-pederjanse6249]

Try out putting two of those between each other, maybe tank steering works.

[@MrMolotov888]

Loving these, maybe you could turn them into a series?

[@arce_95]

If you have ever seen phineas and pherb into the second dimention then you know the platypus badminton launchers, maybe you could try to make those they would be verry funny

[@Rovsau]

A triangle moving a hexagon - amazing! You could probably make a lot of interesting prototypes from this.

[@stenplayz4468]

Fun facts: It was used in ww1 to go over trenches, barbed wire and other objects, but it went only 6 kilometers an hour, and the driver had no protection. They then made a armored cabin for the driver kind of protecting it but then it went only 1 kilometer an hour. Then they discontinued the project.

[@isaiahcozza7048]

Make a pepperbox pistol? Small build, but could be fun. Love your vids, keep it up!

[@TheElectricCaveman]

These recent contraptions remind me of playing with passive dynamic walkers, you should give those a look!

[@velraven8944]

Gotta love how the whole point of the invention of tracks is to prevent the downside of wheels, which is bottoming out, and then your tracks biggest flaw is bottoming out... Gotta love it

[@eddielowe8189]

I get this vision of the enemy standing around having a smoke waiting for it to lob a grenade, to turn the soldiers marching past are deployed to push it so it can change direction.LOL

[@melody3741]

You should make like a 3 mile long lever and see how long it has to be before your characters weight can break the collission

[@RealPanzer999]

I wish that the character's weight actually did something to vehicles, though that would cause issues for some flying vehicles in the game.

[@brick8950]

i imagine there moment of realization that they just need to double it and made it small so less recourses to build it. i bet they felt dumb lol

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

I like that after many design improvements, "tank" is now synonymous with tough, unstoppable, etc.

[@CupcakeWSI]

Ok, now make a version that can actually steer like a tank by connecting two of these together. You could also go way more over the top by using 4 of them. But I don't think scrap mechanic will let you do that without some wierd stuff happening.

[@SwampyJ]

I'm loving this series(?) Of crazy vehicles! You need to make a Tsar Tank!

[@MystyDev]

From all of your videos, which I watched all of them, this one is the most interesting and funny! Do more like this one, and I will probably get an A in History Class :D

[@NEMDT]

Good ol me watching scrapman in the evening boosts up my energy after i watch it! I have been watching scrapmans vids since 2019 (side note, my account seems new cuz i made this account way after so dont judge that i created this acc)

[@immrnoidall]

It's amazing that this thing go developed and built , twice, before realizing the ground is rarely perfectly level.

[@vincsenzo]

This is the best series so far! Keep it up with it!

[@roachman1144]

I love how he made it even more historically accurate by doing a ''cut''

[@walufett]

You should make a car in Scrap Mechanic that is similar to a shopping cart in that all the wheels are at equal speeds except for the rear right wheel which is just slightly slower but still enough to be noticeable

[@FiLoRogue]

Makes me think a multiplayer Monday where you guys all have to use historical vehicles would be pretty cool

[@SapioiT]

You could even build an Arctic Land Train, and it would be much easier than this one, and it doesn't even need tracks, and it works on serpentine roads, too! I know you already did a multiplayer Monday with this idea, but you could do another one, with a race after building it.

[@EatMyYeeties]

So for the steering, the passage you were reading in Wikipedia about the steering being non-existent did mention how they tried with the second iteration. Essentially they used a central main jack to lift from the center of machine, and then they would get out and turn it manually by hand. Unfortunately it could only turn about 45 degrees in this state and would take forever "with great difficulty"

[@MetalRenard]

Keep these coming. Always hilarious.

[@die14die]

This has to be a series. It is so funny.

[@mission2858]

scrap mans 4th vid in a row of some crazy advanced mechanism

[@kiranvisser1422]

I love this "series". Keep up the good work

[@Zanmiester]

I think if you add another top wheel on top of the whole device, make some sort of track sandwiched between the wheels, also angle the bottom plate of the drive vehicle, giving it a better angle for bottom out issues. super cool you made it work!

[@tvbot6496]

Please create more failed vehicles in scrap mechanic! I really enjoyed it!

[@Anonymous-ie4xd]

Scrapman do more of this videos I love them alot.keep it up!!👍👍

[@aeresys]

I've been waiting for years for the return of Stupid Vehicles. Now that it's finally back, I'm at peace

[@italianbiscuit5170]

DUDE YOU ARE AMAZING BEING ABLE TO MAKE WHAT YOU MAKE IN THEESE GAMES ARE INSANE

[@PizzaCat1732]

I unknowingly was making one of these a while ago in scrap mechanic, its cool that its a real thing

[@wyattttison6918]

Hey scrapman really appreciate your videos, been going thru alot lately and your videos really help distract me from everything. Keep them coming😁😁😁

[@DHDragon]

"This is so historically accurate," he says, as the intro music to Tasting History with Max Miller starts playing. Also, the bottoming-out issue is incredibly easy to fix. You were already most of the way there with the engines mounted halfway up the triangular frame: all you needed to do was remove the bottom, so there's more clearance for the tracks.

[@RedPandaYosh]

Suggested improvement, make the top longer, roughly half the size of the bottom width. Add suspension and another set of wheels to the top. Raise the bottom up 2 blocks from the wheels and add set in the middle. Overall you made a very historically accurate representation in a video game.

[@andrewspencer-foster9504]

Excellent episode today Scrapman 👍

[@viniciuspaixao9088]

I would really love to see Scrapman trying to make this thing really functional

[@ExodusNexus222]

it said in the wiki that they used jacks to lift it up then people turned it and lowered it back down. love ur vids keep it up

[@rainneir]

I love this series. Looking forward for more

[@dylanw.4533]

You could try a multiplayer Monday where you have an electric engine set to a low speed, and the goal is to make something that handles rough terrain easily. Your speed won’t save you, your stability will.

[@spikeborn1984]

I think if seesaw hinge and maybe shocks on the top of the vehicle with wheels or pipes at the end of it, the top of the vehicle might stay in contact with the track better.

[@JustanOlGuy]

Learned something new, Thanks... always good stuff...Bow the bottom of the frame of the drive unit...

[@littleumbra6526]

You look so concerned or confused

[@boxed_in4357]

You should make this a series, Making weird vehicles based off of real weird vehicles!

[@textiedude6852]

12:00 when the idea of the video worked sooner than expected and scrap man had to find an excuse to make the video longer

[@DigitalJedi]

This reminds me of the Rotaped tracks on some tractors. They have one on each drive wheel and then basically regular steering on the front wheels. It's basically one of these instead of each wheel, but with cables connecting the segments at angles to maintain more structure. They also use gear wheels inside the tracks to drive them along. I think this would be possible to do with the same of a very similar gear system to what you used on the attack tack.

[@Nightman5694]

for more grip, you couldve out two cactus blocks and each side of one of the segments, plus, you also couldve added one concrete slab block on each edge of the segments, adding more grip.

[@shafty7262]

Turned out better than I thought nice job scrapman love the daily uploads

[@Cosmic_Tortoise]

In order to turn, a piston system with an extra wheel or two on each side is needed. When wanting to turn, the wheels lower against the ground first. Then press one wheel(s) side down further than the other to go in the opposite direction, or away from the extra depressed wheel. Ex- To turn left, both external wheels lower, followed by more depression from the right wheel. This will Tilt the tank tread to the left, and over time should turn the Tank left as well. This is assuming Scrap Mechanic Physics are similar enough to real physics. (similar to when leaning on a bicycle or monocycle, you turn slowly in the direction you lean).

[@ProjectNoDarkNight]

Is this a new series? Finding the strangest creations in existence and building them?

[@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890]

*i’ve seen stranger*

[@thepoglin8479]

The fact that this thing was supposed to move around in a battlefield and yet it honestly looked so fragile that it could probably break if you jammed a rock in certain parts

[@_Wheels_21]

I think it'd be pretty cool if Scrapman recreated a radial engine, but actually made it functional in a vehicle

[@loeffel4144]

@ScrapMan They say how they turn that vehicle. At 3:43 you just need to read the text after the "better" model was described. There is this little part, "A second test on 13 November showed however that it was still extremely difficult to change direction. The whole assembly had to be lifted by a main jack, after which it could be turned for a maximum of 45° by hand from the outside or by a system of smaller jacks from the inside of the machine." So they explain it although I would call that a scrappy turning mechanism, if we are allowed to call that a mechanism at all.

[@harrin1982]

This should be a MultiPlayer Monday challenge. You, Kan, Moonbo, and one other, and you goal is to take this device, and 'improve it' in any way possible to make it combat ready. Last man standing wins!

[@crawdinger]

Love these "historic" reimagining builds. It is nice to see jets and f1 cars but I really like these more physics mechanical things translated into scrap mechanic

[@superiorfpvvlogs2942]

Scrapman, it's 6am, I woke up to my alarm and boom, video

[@aseem5662]

On the topic of bizarre, please try the "Giant Ekranoplans"

[@notjackiechan9420]

very satisfying vid :). maybe others suggested this, but if you make it so two panels Can't bend beyond 180, you wouldnt have bottoming out problem. though probably a bunch of other problems i dont see yet ;D. good stuff!

[@ArinJager1]

now you have to build the _Boirault No2_ as well

[@bsg75husker]

another great creative work ;). keep up the challanges with those builds from real constructions ;). love it.

[@Spinosaur_32]

While we are on topic of tanks , so try to bulid the Tsar Tank .

[@16alpacas46]

to quote "It was extremely ungainly, and very difficult to steer. There was no form of turning the beast, except by the use of lifting jacks"

[@EpsilonRosePersonal]

Another website said their "turning mechanism" was to have the crew use jacks to lift one side of the vehicle and rotate it. So, if you put it on a lift, you'll have a perfectly accurate turning mechanism! I do wonder if it would have run better with bigger wheels, that way you'd have less of an issue with the gaps and a bit more surface area moving the tracks around.

[@zodiakgames]

I hope scrapman does a video where he ‘fixes’ this vehicul, busy giving it turning and solving the bottoming out problems somehow

[@PatriciaCross]

You might be able to fix the "bottoming out" issue with shocks. Using springs to push the wheels into the track, so they match the track when it overextends into a lower ditch/hill.

[@starstuff11]

It may be possible to add turning by leaning the left and right tracks (just like parallel turning in skiing). Or on a version of this vehicle with circular tracks! Though keeping it upright might be really tough 👀

[@ragabufragsome3426]

That invention probably gave rise to tank tracks so even though the machine was bad its its still a win.

[@darioferretti3758]

There is something very similar to the boirault, mainly smaller scale, a rotaped, you can try to make that

[@soldjahboy]

Loving these builds ScrapMan... you could do a whole series on weird tanks and real world vehicles, or even vehicles from retro cartoons and TV shows... hmmmm

[@zh84]

On turning the original Boirault machine: the Wikipedia article says that to turn it they had to stop it, jack it up, rotate it to face the new direction and let it down again. This took a long time and it isn't something you'd want to do on a battlefield.

[@ratheonhudson3311]

This is very faithful rendition to the original, 19:10 included. I wonder if they ever considered two separate tracks for steering. Two side by side machines attached to a joined central pyramid.

[@steeljawX]

To be absolutely fair though, Scrapman. The war that this thing was being prototyped for, there was little need for turning. The trenches weren't going to dodge around this thing's path. But that doesn't excuse how pathetic it was. I mean you look at the mobility of the T-28/T-95 Super Heavy Tank with it's quad tracks and compare that to the purpose it was intended for, breaking through the Siegfried Line, and turning becomes an optional feature, not a requirement.

[@Muchhunk]

Its easy to fix the problem when it gets stuck but it's legit impossible to make a manual turn without using thruster or glitches.

[@kevinbruins4944]

Now this is how history lessons should be given in schools.

[@JF.90]

that is oddly satisfying to watch it crawl

[@Chexmix6]

Great video! As always! 👍

[@genginjengjeng6978]

There was another version of the boirault machine which was later abandoned because it's top speed was 1kmph and blankets were able to replace when it came to barbed wires