ADMK Mulus

The ADMK motor cartridge Mulus was a wheel chain vehicle of the Austrian Federal Army from 1935.

History

The design of the ADMK was started in 1933 and already in 1935, the first samples could be built by Austro-Daimler. The extraordinary thing about this design was that it had a chain drive "up" and wheeled "down". The driver could simply fold the wheels and thus turn the vehicle over. So, the driver could decide how he wanted to drive.

From 1935 to 1938 the ADMK produced 334 examples for the Austrian army. In 1938, with the annexation of Austria, production stopped. The vehicle is a half-track vehicle. The front axle is leaf-sprung and has rubber-tired wheels, whereas the rear axle has both a track drive and conventional wheels. The chain drive had a drive wheel at the front and a tension wheel at the rear. The chain links were made of steel. Two small rollers each supported the chain during the return. The production model already had a new chassis with four smaller rollers each.

The chassis was designed quite simply and was designed to transport three people (driver and two passengers) as well as additional payload. The driver's seat was on a raised platform in the middle of the vehicle. The steering wheel and controls were also located here. The two passengers sat directly in front of the driver in separate seats and were protected by a small metal shield. The engine, which produced 20 hp (15 kW) at 1400 rpm, was located in the rear. The torque from the engine was transmitted via a four-speed gearbox. The vehicle had mechanically operated brakes.

The vehicle was powered by a four-cylinder Daimler FB 12/20 gasoline engine with an output of 20 hp (15 kW) at 1400 rpm. The maximum speed with wheels and on the road was 45-50 km/h. With chain drive, the ADMK only reached 17 km/h. Depending on the operation, the ADMK had a turning radius of 8.4 m (wheels) to 2.1 m (track). With the chain drive, one side was braked while the other side continued to run. The range on the road was a maximum of 200 km. Some sources also mention 450 km, but this was not possible with a tank capacity of 39 litres. The ADMK was able to travel 110 km off-road.

In order to switch to chain operation, the front wheels were turned up using a chain-driven lever. They could then be removed and transported in the rear of the vehicle. The rear wheels were then raised to the road by lowering the crawler track and could then be removed and also stowed in the rear