inventor modifies used tractor into all-terrain armored 'rhino tank' with hemispherical wheels

COLIN FURZE brings back rhino tank from 1950s

Inventor and Youtuber Colin Furze transforms a farm tractor into a fully functional, all-terrain, and steel-clad armored vehicle called Rhino tank. The design draws inspiration from the all-terrain vehicle concept Rhino by Greek-American Elie Aghnides which was first introduced in the 1950s as an alternative to military tanks. In the original design, Aghnides fitted the wheels with a colossal hemispherical design that seemed to be able to weather all kinds of terrain. In Furze’s version, he manages to pull off the same style, perhaps a few inches far from the tractor’s frame, and creates a functional all-terrain armored tank that can easily wheel away.

As Furze states in his test video, what the original inventor of the Rhino tank wanted was that the more the armored vehicle sinks into the mud, the more traction it gets. The recent inventor takes his modified tractor into the mud to test whether the original mastermind’s desire can be carried out. Since Fruze only covers the tractor’s body frame and wheels with custom-built parts forged in steel-like material rather than overhauling the entire vehicle and trading every part for steel, the movement of his all-terrain armored Rhino tank is smooth and seamless. Yet as soon as he plunges into the mud, his real adventure begins.

video stills from Colin Furze via Youtube

Reinventing all-terrain armored tank from used tractor

Colin Furze, who has been inventing and modifying vehicles for over a decade, tests his all-terrain armored Rhino tank in the mud, hoping that his converted vehicle can make it back up. As soon as he bulldoze his way through the mud, the first few seconds of relief that the vehicle can in fact roll through the sticky earth dies down when Furze gets stuck. The front wheel revs and whirs, creating a noise even the inventor himself does not know the reason. In the video, the other front wheel is no longer moving, and Furze is stuck in the middle of the muddy forest inside his immobile vehicle.

Furze says that a potential problem might be the fitting. The used tractor has slots for smaller wheels, but the inventor and his team instead inserted huge wheels on them. But the vehicle does not have enough torque to spin them, making them unmoveable when stuck in muddy terrains. Luckily, Furze has a backup, bigger crane machine that picks up his Rhino tank from the mud and puts it back on the safe path. Viewers might think it is time for Furze to go back to his workshop and take a look at what he can do to further improve his modified tractor. That happens in the latter part of the video, only before he tests it out once again; this time, in the water.

Colin Furze tests his Rhino tank with hemispherical wheels in water and mud to see if it is all-terrain

Can rhino tank float in the water?

Furze drives his all-terrain armored Rhino tank in the water. He says that Aghnides intended the hemispherical wheels of the tank to help the vehicle float, but believes that given the amount of displacement and considering the materials used in the modification, his version of the Rhino tank might be quite heavy to float in water. Still, Furze wants to find out – a way to also help him understand how he can refine and enhance his ride – and dives into the water in his all-terrain vehicle.

Watching the video, it seems that Furze is successful in making his way into the shallow water. His Rhino tank can still move around, splashing water all over the place as the hemispherical wheels beat and whip the mud-colored reservoir. Perhaps it is not a test about floating given the level of water, but it does give an impression that with enough tweaking, the all-terrain vehicle can drift and glide on the water’s surface. Once again, as Furze carries on with his test, his Rhino tank gets stuck and picked up by the crane.

At the end of the video, Furze enumerates some reasons why the Rhino tank did not make it as a substitute to armored military vehicles, one of them being if they tank gets shot, the water fills up the inside and makes it difficult to surface again. The inventor shares that he normally does not upload ‘failure’ videos like the Rhino tank, but ‘it is good to show your mistakes and we can all learn from it,’ he says.

Furze fitted a used tractor with his custom-built parts and design