POLAR EQUIPMENT -- SAFETY CAB FOR TRACTORS.

• Main Author: Dykins,J. E.
• Other Authors: NAVAL CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB PORT HUENEME CALIF
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1963
• Subjects: SNOW VEHICLES; SAFETY; HATCHES; SAFETY EQUIPMENT; WEATHERPROOFING; ICE; POLAR REGIONS; Arctic; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0410924; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0410924

The movement of equipment and supplies over unfamiliar snow and ice regions can be hazardous for personnel who operate the equipment; this was demonstrated by the accidents occurring in early Deep Freeze operations. As a result, a tractor safety cab was developed which has the capability of simple and rapid disassembly and reassembly. This feature enables the operator, after having evaluated the degree of hazard in a particular operation, to initiate safety precautions to the point of completely removing the upper half of the cab in order to have an unobstructed exit from the equipment should it fall into a snow crevasse or break through a floating ice sheet. When the full cab is used, the operator is provided with an easy exit through an overhead escape hatch which will accommodate a man wearing bulky arctic clothing. The cab was evaluated for safety features, disassembly and reassembly, weathertightness, structural adequacy, operator visibility, and operator comfort. The cab performance was evaluated as highly satisfactory for all of the tests. (Author)