// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Fordson WOT say? "I'm tractor-ly tired
(Redirected from Ford WOT 2)
The Fordson WOT2 had a nominal 15-cwt (3/4 ton) payload
WOT3 Model D
The Fordson WOT (from War Office 'type' or 'truck'[a]) was a military truck line produced by Ford of Britain in the Second World War. From 1939 to 1945, around 130,000 units (almost half being the WOT2)[2] were produced at Ford Dagenham, where Fordson tractors for the British market were produced since 1933.
Five models, WOT1, WOT2, WOT3, WOT6 and WOT8 were produced. The WOT1, 2 and 3 were rear-wheel drive and had the cab behind the engine; WOT6 and 8 were all-wheel drive with a cab forward configuration. The same engine was used across the range - 3.6L Ford sidevalve V-8 petrol engine delivering 85 hp at 3,800 rpm. The transmission was a four-speed manual with an additional reduction gearbox for the four wheel drive models as well as the WOT 3D.
Models
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- WOT1
- 6x4, 164 in (4.2 m)
- WOT1A was a 178 in (4.5 m) wheelbase version.
- 85 bhp V-8 engine four forward and one reverse gearbox with a x2 transfer box
- WOT1 and 1A was mostly used by RAF eg as Fire Tenders[3]
"Ambulance, Heavy, 6x4 (Fordson WOT1) [4]
Conventional "long-nose" 4x2 lines
[edit]| WOT2 | |
|---|---|
 Norwegian soldiers transported in WOT2 | |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 3.327 t (7,395 lb) |
| Length | 14 ft 9 inch (4.50 m) |
| Width | 6 ft 7 in (2.00 m) |
| Height | 7 ft 6 in (2.28 m) |
| Engine | V8 3.6L petrol 60 hp (45 kW) |
| Payload capacity | 15 long hundredweight (760 kg) |
| Transmission | 4-speed |
| Fuel capacity | 23 imp gal (100 L) |
- WOT2
- 4x2, 15-cwt
- WOT2A - first model
- WOT2B and WOT2D - "tilt covered van body"
- WOT2C - horizontal windscreen
- WOT2E - late style cab
- WOT2F - steel body, no tilt
- WOT2H - like WOT2E
- Fitted with a flatbed rear and 20mm gun it was "Truck, 15cwt, 4x2 AA"[b]
- WOT3
- 4x2, 30-cwt. used by RAF
Cab-over 4x4 lines
[edit]| WOT6 | |
|---|---|
| Service history | |
| In service | 1942 - |
| Used by | UK |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Ford |
| Produced | to September 1945 |
| No. built | approx 30,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 3.87 long tons (3,930 kg) |
| Length | 19 ft 11 in (6.07 m) |
| Width | 7 ft 6 in (2.28 m) |
| Height | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
| Engine | V8 petrol 85 hp (63 kW) |
| Payload capacity | 60 long hundredweight (3,000 kg) |
| Drive | 4 x 4 |
| Transmission | 4-speed, and 2-speed transfer case |
| Fuel capacity | 35 imp gal (160 L) |
Operational range | 280 miles (450 km) |
| References | [5] |
- WOT6
- 4x4, 60-cwt (3 ton).
- 11 ft 11 in wheelbase
- Produced January 1942 to September 1945
- Cab top could be removed to reduce overall height for shipping[6]
- WOT8
- 4x4, 30-cwt.
- 85 bhp V-8 engine four forward and one reverse gearbox
- derived from WOT6
- 9 ft 10 inch wheelbase
- 16 ft 8 in long, 7 ft 6 in wide, 9 ft 2 in high
- 3 tons 16 cwt
- fixed cab roof
- Used as artillery tractor in North African campaign. Also with office body.
- Supplied to USSR where it was used for Katyusha rocket launchers
Production
[edit]| Load capacity
(cwt) |
Wheelbase[8] | Gross Vehicle Weight[8] | Total quantity produced | Production
period | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOT8 | 30 cwt | 299 cm 9 ft 10 in[9] |
6,900 kg (6.8 long tons) |
2,516 | 1941 – 1942 |
| WOT6 | 60 cwt | 360 cm 11 ft 11.5 in[9] |
8,100 kg (8.0 long tons) |
29,693 | January 1942 – September 1945[5] |
Notes
[edit]- ↑ "Fordson WOT (1939)". truck-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Ford WOT2", www.armyvehicles.dk
- ↑ Graham, Chris (27 November 2020). "Fordson WOT 1 airfield tender". Heritage Machines.
- ↑ Vanderveen, Bart H. (1969). The Observer's Fighting Vehicles Directory, World War II. London: F. Warne. p134-135
- 1 2 "Ford WOT6". Danish Army Vehicles - past and present. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ Vanderveen 1969 p151
- ↑ Reich, Simon (2018). The Fruits of Fascism: Postwar Prosperity in Historical Perspective. Cornell University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-5017-3215-7.
- 1 2 "Tableau des characteristiques des vehicules de recuperation agrees". Moniteur Belge/Belgisch staatsblad (in French and Dutch). 27 November 1949. p. 10544.
- 1 2 Royal Armoured Corps Tank Museum (1983). Data Book of Wheeled Vehicles: Army Transport, 1939-1945. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-11-290408-3.
References
[edit]- Bishop, Denis; Ellis, Chris (1979). Vehicles at War. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. ISBN 0-498-01699-4.
- Georgano, G. N. (1994). World War Two Military Vehicles: Transport & Halftracks. London: Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-406-7.
- Ware, Pat (2012). A Complete Directory of Military Vehicles. Wigston: Anness Publishing Ltd.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fordson WOT.
- Ford WOT6 - 3 ton 4 x 4 truck
- WOT8 30-cwt 4x4 and WOA1 4x2
- WOT8 - "Katyusha" Rocket Launcher BM-13-16