N.Z. ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27993, 13 June 1956, Page 16

N.Z. ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

Conversion of Wheeled Tractors SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS 11 IN NORWAY i * ! (New Zeaia-na Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 12. j Experiments in Norway with the » conversion of wheeled tractors to 1 tracked vehicles had been so success- » ful that the New Zealand Antarctic ; Expedition would probablv use these > inexpensive substitutes, said Mr J - Holmes Miller, a former Masterton surveyor, who returned to New Zea- ■ land in the Ruahine. 5 Mr Miller has been away from New Zealand for seven months, the first t four months as a member of the New ; Zealand party in the British icebreaker ; Theron on its voyage to the Weddell Sea. Since the Theron returned to Britain she has been helping to arrange supplies and equipment for the New Zealand expedition, with emphasis on the “winterised” surveying equipment, which will be his special i concern in the Antarctic. !> Tracked vehicles of the “weasel” > type cost four or five times as much : as an ordinary tractor. Mr Miller said. 'He was completely satisfied with the tests carried out with endless tracks ■ made of rubber strips and metal i cleats, run over the road wheels of a ■; standard tractor. Other tests were also carried out in i, Norway of special low-temperature skis. Mr Miller s*»id. Ordinarv laminated hickory skis had shown" a tendency to fracture'at temperatures down to 40 degrees below freezing ooint. and the new idea was to use solid hickorv : instead. The supplies will Mme to New Zeaj land in the expedition’s ship Endeavour. and they will all have to be ■ unloaded and loaded again in careful I sequence with the goods from New | Zealand. They are mostly engineering land mechanical supplies, though there i is some food. ■ All the New Zealanders gained valu- , able experience in the Theron, especiI ally in unloading goods out of a ves- • sei on to the bav ice wall. Mr Miller . said. Some of the difficulties encountered by the United States and British expeditions had also taught valuable lessons.