Modeller – John Paulding
Branch – Cambridge MAFVA
Model – Viet-Nam Rome Plow – converted from Tank Workshop D-7 Dozer
The ‘Rome Plow’ name refers to the Rome equipment company in Georgia USA who produced conversion kits for bulldozers to make them suitable for forest clearing duties in the Viet-Nam war. The kit consisted on a full cage to protect the driver from falling tree trunks and branches and incorporated a water tank in the roof to help cool the engine in the tropical climate. The engine was also encased in protective armour. The blade was totally different to the standard blade fitted to D-7 dozers. It was set at an angle and incorporated a ‘stinger’ blade on the edge to split trees to weaken the trunk before pushing them over. The Tank Workshop kit was built out-of-the-box apart from the dozer blade and operating cylinders. The complete Rome kit was scratchbuilt and added to the D-7.
