WORKSHOP WEDNESDAY: StuG III transmission disassembly!

[@christianvonschuckmann8241]

Actually this gearbox should be a ZF Aphon-6-Speed Gearbox SSG 77. It is used in various applications also Panzer III I think. I work at ZF, so I can check it up if you give me the data sheet

[@MicMc539]

''Made in Germany'' in 1943? Peace.

[@aritakalo8011]

@@MicMc539 In use since late 1800's

[@davidmartyn5044]

You could e-mail Aus Armour! Thanks for your offer. I don`t know if all these comments are read.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

why dont you email them ?

[@davidmartyn5044]

@@Rusty_Gold85 Cos I don`t work at ZF.

[@A-Yorkshire-Man-Abroad]

I love the fact we’re stripping it on auntie dottys curtains with lumps of wood and a couple of £30 hammers and punches I love Aussy mechanics similar to Brits . Keep up the great work, currently fighting cancer and this makes a fellow mechanic who can no longer do this stuff still feel connected.

[@IntrospectorGeneral]

The word is that it is Beau's granny's best duvet cover. You need the right tools for this sort of job and curtains just couldn't handle the massive forces involved when the lads start those fine adjustments with the hammer.

[@richardraby6266]

@@IntrospectorGeneral You mean the "tap it adjusters" ?

[@IntrospectorGeneral]

@@richardraby6266 Quite right. My expertise is in duvets rather than blunt objects.

[@cat637d]

🙏 for you my friend

[@A-Yorkshire-Man-Abroad]

@@richardraby6266 just got that😝

[@Zer0basscovers]

The workmanship of that gearbox is nothing short of astounding.

[@uio890138]

So hard to believe they designed it all with slide rules and drawing tables! Amazing.

[@code227stalker6]

no is german power

[@BenJamInn-q3o]

That's German

[@BenJamInn-q3o]

​@uio890138 That is German engineering... there is a reason products made in Germany have a well deserved reputation for quality and are much more desirable than contemporary products (nothing is equivalent or similar but all is inferior) from all other nations

[@JeffBilkins]

Let's be glad they spend their energy on nice engineering and machining and not optimising for winning the war.

[@brucehewson5773]

1:40 Mum's best table cloth - what else for keeping the gears clean.

[@geoffreyscheuerman2378]

Beautiful engineering in that gearbox, a work of mechanical art. You guys are the best. 👍

[@JeffBilkins]

And then consider how many they built, plus the engines and everything: it was a crazy amount of machining to build an army. Especially when every part seems to be super nice and complicated.

[@geoffreyscheuerman2378]

Indeed​ some 20,000 Stug Iii's were built, the most numerous fully tracked AFV of the war. @@JeffBilkins

[@k.-h.h.7670]

D.R.P. is not an abbreviation for the name of a manufacturer but is the abbreviation for "Deutsches Reichspatent", a German patent issued at times of the German Reich. Many thanks for your great work and best wishes from Germany.

[@Rudi-Mhz]

Hello Folks...i repaired a lot of different Transmissions, but this one is awesome ! So much is technically done to improve the comfort of shifting ! An Eaton/Fuller Transmission is not as half on parts as the Stug one . But very reliable. So good luck to you for the reasambling...do not change the directions of the Schalträder, even if they have the same size. They only fit in one direktion to funktion in progress. I keep my Fingers cross for both of you !!!!! Kind regards from Germany, Rudi👍🍀🍀🍀🍀

[@Rusty_Gold85]

The Germans were designing this sort of Transmission 80+ years ago? Amazing . Top work Beau and Steve

[@amcconnell6730]

Paper, slide rules, hand operated lathes and mills.

[@hanswurst-h3e]

thats the wartime version. there was a whole line so called "variorex" gearboxes in a number of vehicles, like half tracks and the early p3. That one had a gear pre selector with clutch initiated gearshift, in comparison the zf from this video is cave man tech

[@BenJamInn-q3o]

Everything the Germans did and had was of significantly higher quality.. and only Germany was performing quality control on every piece of equipment

[@BenJamInn-q3o]

Germanys low quality products is equivalent to 10x better than everyone else's best

[@Salamandra40k]

​@@BenJamInn-q3o Except german tanks would sometimes have over 30% failure to show rates on the front lines...because some parts were almost hand-fitted and wouldnt mesh onto other vehicles without fieldwork. Meanwhile, Americans had entire warehouses full of parts that could be assembled into tanks in hours and every single last piece down to the bolts could be interchanged because it was all perfectly machined and standardized. The germans didnt have that capability- period

[@Henning_S.]

DRP is not the manufacturer, it basically just means "Patented" (Deutsches Reichs Patent) The real manufacturer is probably ZF

[@petesheppard1709]

The sense of dread that comes with the music at 17:40...it means the episode is wrapping up--NOOOO!!😫 I don't know what's more awe inspiring; the incredible machining that went into building the tranny, or the artistic patience of the boys taking it apart...

[@timprice516]

Mate i know what you mean i could sit here and watch this for hours. Imagine this is actually their job, they get paid for this!! sure beats fixing MRI scanners

[@silentotto5099]

Lol... Almost the exact same thought crossed my mind when to music started too. NOOOO!!

[@meisterrumspuckl3965]

As an old tankie from Austria i think it´s marvelous how you treat this old lady...keep on the good work, looking forward to see it running again!!!

[@andrewsteele7663]

I am gobsmacked, the detail the Germans went to at that stage of the war is amazing. I'm so looking forward to the next video, Cheers

[@obsidianjane4413]

It was designed before the war when Hitler was lavishing industry with (borrowed) money. That is why it is intricately designed and precision machined. It really was an exercise in "machinist pron". By 1944 however, Germany could not afford the time, cost, and precision machining as demand from the front and bombing of factories meant that they could never build enough.

[@mske903]

was the transmission of the Sherman or T-34 much more simplified?

[@obsidianjane4413]

​@@mske903 Much. Both found more practical solutions that had greater tolerances and lower part counts.

[@BenJamInn-q3o]

​@obsidianjane4413 what borrowed money genius??? I think fools like you should be legally required to do research.. Germanys was never once at any point during the greatest period it ever had under the man who countless times tired to avert abd stop war borrowed money... Germany operated on barter system something Roosevelt tried but failed which resulted in FDR starting WW2. GERMANY NEVER ONCE BORROWED MONEY... ALL THE MONEY THEY HAD WAS THEIRS

[@BenJamInn-q3o]

​@@mske903the anerican transmissions had tolerances so loose that you could stuff dishwasher between the mating surfaces.. Wanna see anerican "quality" look at the trucks and the welds... every US weld looks like a 4 year old made them and every piece has machining marks

[@stephenhill560]

The brains that originally conceived this design, the engineering skill that actually made the item and the level of preservation never cease to amaze me. Along with the skill that your guys show in dismantling the item. Brilliant work

[@kkteutsch6416]

No electronic aided resources to developed those precision mechanisms !

[@shakesc]

Great to wake up to workshop Wednesday

[@rickd102]

It's in very good condition, hardly any wear or marks on the gears , remarkable,

[@Ganiscol]

5:09 - As per the British Merchandise Act of 1887, imported (machine) goods needed to be labeled with the country of origin. This must have been some generic part that used to be exported to the UK as well before the war. So, either old stock or it was labeled as such because the drawing said it has to be labeled as such and they just kept doing it. 😅

[@vsvnrg3263]

that writing is in english for the same reason that germany never attacked sweden. sweden was a source of bearings for uk and the only source for germany. if germany had attacked sweden, sweden would have totally destroyed its bearing factories leaving germany with no source of bearings. uk could get bearings from usa.

[@Henning_S.]

​@@vsvnrg3263but Germany also had its own ball bearing factories...

[@vsvnrg3263]

@@Henning_S. , you would think so. nevertheless, it needed sweden's bearings.

[@Ganiscol]

@vsvnrg3263 completely unrelated and also not accurate... what were you thinking when you wrote that?

[@vsvnrg3263]

ive just heard it mentioned on a video unrelated to this one about german ball bearing factories. germany did have ball bearing factories. it seems that i was incorrect.

[@juanalbertoperezfuentes5307]

El grado de conservación de esos piñones y engranajes es magnífico ahora queda solo el trabajo de limpieza y armado hacen un excelente trabajo 👏

[@Epitome63]

Very interesting and amazing German engineering and precision.

[@vf19blue]

No way was that 20 mins 😢 felt like 3 at most! Great work lads, really loving this.

[@naradaian]

What incredible workmanship whilst under mad bombing. Absolutely no compromise

[@BenJamInn-q3o]

And absolutely nothing in Hitlers Germany was ever built with "slave labor" as EVERY WORKER EVEN HEWS WERE PAID AND WELL FED

[@DavePocklington]

The amount of work and superb craftmanship of the German gear is astounding. No wonder they never churned out the numbers needed for the war effort. I remember reading an interview with a German mechanic who had been captured on the Eastern front. They made him work on Russian vehicles. He was amazed by the way Russians think when presented with a problem. They always went for the easiest and most simple solution. Without thought for future consequences. For instance he mentioned a case where they were asked to fit a small spotlight on the front of a truck, near the windscreen. Their solution to having to wire it up to the electrics was to crack the corner of the windscreen. No laminated glass in 1943 Russia. Then run the wire through the small hole to connect up to the wires in the dashboard. No thought was given to the minus 40 degree cold that would come through the hole straight at the driver.

[@madatlas3806]

It amazes me how more precision and work went into this one transmission, than in the whole drive train of a T-34.

[@Wayoutthere]

QUANTITY has a quality of its own. ;]

[@davidcastonguay25]

I love the appreciation for the precision of the design and machining. Have you folks ever done a video with a director comparison of German assembly compared to Russian assemblies? I think that would be fascinating!

[@jimmcfee3488]

I have found a 24 hour bath in heated FILTERED used transmission fluid a wonderful cheap way to dissolve dried out grease and oil. Makes it easier to pull apart and a great way to pre clean.

[@stephencox4224]

Hint when you want to clean sensitive parts with a glass bead blasting cabinet use sugar not glass beads because you will never have any potentially damaging glass beads hiding inside ready to wreak havoc. The reason you use sugar is it simply requires a hot wash to dissolve and remove the sugar wheras I have seen a nunber of engine components damaged due to improper cleaning after glass bead blasting. The only time I use glass beads in a gearbox is if they have brass synchro rings and glass bead blasting them brings them back to life allowing them to actually brake the required gears to enable a clean non graunchy gearchange without buying either expensive or unavailable synchro cones.

[@davidcoombe1811]

ive heard of wallnut bits of shell as being softer , but i do like the sugar for removal just hot rinse? just thought it not explosive is it celluloses? static spark

[@stephencox4224]

@@davidcoombe1811 We used it inthe RAAF for cleaning sensitive components

[@paulsilva3346]

Soda blasting, 17:35

[@Th.G.M.]

I am fascinated watching this transmission chapter being worked on. What elaborate and finely machined parts could be fabricated back then about 80 years ago. Would love to see more!

[@babuzzard6470]

And under wartime conditions.

[@mikeandhev]

Great presentation by everyone.

[@frenchroast1355]

It still amazes me that so much engineering, tooling, and design goes into something that could be ruined in seconds by solid shot.

[@stevecallaghan3245]

Beautiful machinery!

[@williamkennedy5492]

Great video, amazing what our forebears were capable of, They would be proud of you, Cheshire UK and sometimes Sisaket Thailand

[@ryanrohauer5940]

ya good luck guys if you get that thing back together and working again ill be very impressed what a monster of a transmission

[@whatwouldyoudo64]

So fascinating how well the Germans built everything! To well perhaps! Thank you for all your efforts!

[@mostly_accurate]

I'd be so terrified I'd break something. Amazing work as always.

[@cydery]

Fantastic Not quite a Morris Minor

[@benjenkins2211]

Kurt, looking good in a proper workshop shirt! How about an episode where you explain how these videos started, your journey filming them and maybe some stories of how the boys dealt with you, your camera and the resulting growth in views? Also how much you’ve learned about fitting while filming and asking what’s happening. Bit of a deep dive would be cool. Keep up the good work, I always get excited when a new one drops. You and the guys do amazing work.👍

[@ausarmour]

Maybe in another video ;)

[@VonRyansExpress-v3r]

What an incredible piece of engineering - fascinating to see it disassembled, looks to be in superb condition . . .

[@enormhi]

Lots of parts with incredible engineering and machining!

[@shanemossmoss]

The skill you guys have is amazing 👏

[@keithgarland3404]

Cracking piece of German engineering, whole episode very interesting, great work guys 👍

[@sethdunlap9868]

Are you Aussie gents just THAT talented or that nuts to even take on the task of dismantling this horror puzzle?? 😮 . ...😃👍 guessing nuts AND talented!

[@danielcotnoir3363]

Oh you're gonna get it when Nanna sees that you've done this work on her good table linens!

[@hansjorgkunde3772]

After all this years still in a very good condition.

[@DaveMHLV]

5:13 "Why is it in English" 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 Great video. Using an cut down Intermediate Bulk Container as a parts soaking tub is a brilliant idea.

[@SuperDarkSamurai1]

Yeah he does bring up a good point, why is there english text on a german tank part. Very sus

[@thomascampbell4730]

How incredibly lucky to find a transmission in such good shape. Rebuilding a heavily damaged one would have been nearly impossible. The amount of sludge and the location of it makes the total disassembly worth the effort. A hearty salute to the team for the dedication and precision that they bring to the project.

[@pattygman4675]

How good is Steve and Beau? Steve is like the Gandalf of mechanics. 😂😁👌

[@karensavarese5684]

Good thing its been completely torn down, for cleaning/inspection. Looks to be in fantastic condition. Workmanship/design, absolutely beyond reproach. Love,,Dubs

[@jimmcfee3488]

To lift it all out and more importantly back in you may consider making a C clamp out of RHS and adding a couple of center screws to engage the centre drill point on all the shafts.

[@DerekBagg]

German engineering at its best ,taken apart by Australia n engineers absolutely first class

[@bigmac60]

Got back from the school run. Made a Coffee and off we go. Perfect start to my day.

[@johnviney7919]

Great work guys'!! This looks like a real challenge to disassemble without problems and to document where things came from, clearances etc. Such an intricate assembly! Stay with it! 😀

[@hooXpoo]

The design and machining of 80 + years ago is mind boggling 😮

[@windforward9810]

In 1990’s the US navy was using Lathes and mills built from 1930’s to 1945 they where all rebuilt, we were able to hold incredible tolerances on those machines.

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

Watching a video like this is very much like a magic spell(like in those "Harry Potter" movies) giving us a glimpse into the past. In 1943 or so, the dominant heavy-equipment technology was in Railroads and Battleships; and the Germans were among the best in the world at those things. Basically, NOTHING was considered to be too big or "Unthinkable," and so they made gates for the locks in the Panama Canal and all those gates and locks in between Holland and the North Sea. It's simply awesome that this "bit of Kit" has survived this long unscathed, and I'm looking forward to seeing it go back together, hopefully with an understandable explanation of the function of those parts.

[@petrolekh]

I can barely wait to see how nicely it will go back together once refurbished.

[@carolann4819]

"Made in Germany" Ford and GM did supply the German military with trucks, maybe worth looking into to as where that part came from. LOVE what you guys do:)

[@Vexman2200]

truly an amazingly unique experience especially for a restoration of a WWII German vehicle

[@paullavallee1631]

Amazing the parts and work that goes into building one of those things when it could last 10 mins in a battle

[@kennethdahl4791]

It's great to watch how well Stevce and Bo work together!

[@erinna8298]

absolutly fascinating, the german engineering and the dedicated work by you guys!! 😍

[@stevenl7878]

I’ve been watching this series for some time now. I’ve regretted not knowing about your museum when I visited Queensland in 2015. I’ve put some of your techniques to remove stubborn screws to practice and was able to remove an adjusting screw on an old Stanley hand plane that I left for dead. It’s now being restored. Thanks for a wonderful series and if I’m ever in Queensland I will stop by for a visit.

[@rogerswyer5357]

Bloody interesting, I can do mine now.

[@daniellejones5981]

It never ceases to amaze me how well engineered German Machines are! But it's also no wonder that they couldn't more than they did! You guys are going to be Experts on everything German...

[@WillianOliveira-dx8kw]

One of the most incredible delicate and complex works I have ever seen on the channel. You have to have a lot of courage and expertise to disassemble, with the intention of reassembling and working again something so complex, rare and valuable!!!! We are anxious!!!!! I send my congratulations from Brazil to the entire Team..... Anxious for the next Movements!!!!

Incredible precision, German engineering at its best. You are all fantastic technicians.👍

[@toddbraddock236]

Really amazing and awesome......Cheers!!!!

[@SuperDarkSamurai1]

"Stug Jerkey" That was a good one lol

[@kalnieminen65]

Good luck getting that back together and working, and I'm not kidding. What a monster of a transmission.

[@ProjectFairmont]

Awesome work. A very rare and rather large manual box, but a conventional manual box nonetheless. Integrating individual clutch packs, definitely a novel idea since the transfer of forces is high 👍🏼

[@steamsoldier]

Nice job!

[@innerlight7018]

Great! Currently getting bored in home office. Now the day is saved. 😁

[@misterenigma2013]

You guys should sell Stug Jerkey for a limited time :) On a serious note I always love watching your channel. Still waiting for an outtake of Kurt "Workshop to welcome Wednesday"

[@the_lost_navigator]

Some 140yr-old Machinist would be appreciating your "precision-Fit" comment there, Steve. Respect to your Team.

[@mazambaan]

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this series..... ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️'s

[@christophernewbould9425]

I could watch these guys at work for hours. Addictive stuff indeed !! Just so cool what they are doing 😎👍. This kind of engineering needs preserving.👍

[@Ekatjam]

My father was a machinist in Germany and received his accreditation shortly after the war. The state (East Germany) issued a passport-like book that showed how he performed and his qualifications. True to German standards, the last section is his grade on political matters. He still laughs that he was a highly qualified machinist, but a poor political one. Ironically, he would come to America and machined parts for the camera system on the U-2 spy plane.

[@mikef.1000]

Oil and steel were made for each other -- of that I'm convinced!

[@davidlawrencebanks4610]

Awesome video, very heavy and complicated unit. I think I would have been tempted to split the casing remove the oil pump and clean along with the filter screen, then spin the box over with a degreasing fluid and very light oil, it may have been enough to clean the gear trains. The gears look brand new, a shame to split the shafts down to the tinniest component, I think with repeated cleaning fluids it could have saved the massive teardown. Hey ho, so interesting as usual guys good on ya!

[@keithhaycraft3765]

Parts lists can be very handy, as they often show the order in which those parts go together.

[@ulfhedtyrsson]

It's like the feed mechanism in a Swiss machinegun

[@jamesvcampbell]

The machine work that was done originally is very good

[@DR-lc9qg]

Amazing quality, fit and finish. Love these insights into what is inside afv inner workings.

[@ThomasMulhall]

I've worked on a few ZF gearboxes from the 1960's for the Maserati Ghibli and Aston Martin DBS. I thought that those gears were huge...until tonight! Wow, auto mechanics are trembling at the site of the size of these gears. Your narration is excellent- that Stug gearbox is a work of art. Just the ally casting of the case halves- I would have loved to have seen the factory that made them. Hope your viewers appreciate just how physically demanding this job is- just the weight and size of everything! Torque values must be enormous on those shafts. Great work, thank you.

[@AlbertRobinson-v3y]

What an astounding piece of machinery.. Aircraft standards for sure... I'm glad you guys are saving this for posterity.. Blessings

[@himaro101]

This is what amazes me. Wars are won in the factories, just as much as they are on the front line. We (the allied powers) designed things to be easy to make, easy (ish) to maintain and easy to build in the thousand, if not millions. The Germans, for all their engineering brilliance, designed engineering marvels, that required a high degree of skill to build and maintain, and could not keep them being churned out. This transmission is a thing of beauty, and I can completely appreciate the work that has gone into it, but this much have been difficult to make at scale.

[@jjbrown675]

Beau's toolbox must be really, really heavy!

[@babuzzard6470]

If it was me doing it Steve F wouldn’t stand for front!😩😂, another fantastic episode guys, thanks.🇦🇺

[@iancooper418]

When i do jobs like this, i get a length of metal tube and lay it on 2 axel stands. As i take parts off the shaft, i slide them on the tube. Keeps everything in order.

[@Hillbilly973]

I don't usually rate the "experts" in these comments, that love to tell everyone how much better they could have done things. But seriously... What an excellent, practical and simple piece of advice! I know nothing about these things, but the only thing i think might be a problem with that is the comprehensive cleaning and inspection they have to do, no?

[@iancooper418]

@@Hillbilly973 When i re-assemble, i have another tube set up, take 1 part of the first tube and when cleaned, slide it on the second tube. As he did in the video, mark your parts as you take them off the tube so you will always know what way they go back on.

[@ericweinraub8825]

As they take these apart you realize that not since they were assembled 80 years ago have they seen the light of day.

[@PiersLawsonBrown1972]

Considering it was manufactured under wartime conditions, it is a stunning example of beautiful engineering, machining, fit and finish. Now compare it to a gearbox out of a T-34 or ISU.

[@MGB-learning]

Great video!

[@KeithHeinrich]

That's an amazing thing, designed without computers, presumably machined and assembled by hand all those long years ago.

[@schwabrichard9829]

There is no comparison between this transmission and the one Beau had to tackle before! Other than the transmission jerky, formerly known as oil it looks in great shape. It was a great find. In great hands now Beau and Steve!

[@mariannewolthuizen3008]

Love this show… great sence off humor there is no director cut here… Love the part where it’s goes .. oh I just hit my thump 🤣🤣🤣

[@64mustangfan]

The comments already say everything and more than what I can contribute. So all I can add is, I'll bring the beers and the barbie on a Friday arvo, probably no salads, and just soak up the banter and marvel at your work 😊

[@scottburton509]

I'm amazed at how good everything looks on the inside after 80 years.

[@entropyachieved750]

Workshop Wednnnesdayyyy!

[@wesmatson5921]

wow wow WOW WOW

[@michaelkienhofer6394]

Amazing!

[@benjaminniven4210]

Great video guys! I had some issues with those damn pin spring things as well haha. The gears look like they are in beautiful condition

[@bobwilliams6752]

I’m amazed that the transmission is still in such pristine condition. I don’t know where you found it but bravo!

[@billy123174]

Great video