Four-Wheelin' InThe ice-Age

And of course you all remember that beasties evolving in cold climates tend to get bigger to retain heat, even to the point of the ice-age megafauna; and megafauna is what this thing resembles.

This is the Austro-Daimler M17 artillery tractor.
Those steel wheels are just under five feet tall but she needed to be big. She was designed to tow the Skoda, 30.5 cm siege mortar when said artillery piece took to the road.

We mentioned the Skoda a few years back in connection with Dicke Berta. The Skodas doing a big chunk of the Belgian-fortress-destroyin' while they waited for the Big Girl to show up.

These guys got to that party in Belgium in 1914 by means of the conveyance pictured next.
This is an earlier photo and shows the gun being towed by an M12 tractor.
Note that the tube gets its own wagon.
And those guys hanging around? They're the gun crew, fifteen to seventeen of them. They ride in the tractor for added ballast - and 'cause it's easier and faster - and 'cause it wouldn't du for the crew to arrive after the gun.
Being that the M12 was rated for twelve tons but the Skoda weighs ten tons more than that, it must have made for slow going and the smaller front wheels couldn't have gone far off-road

Enter the M17 in 1916.
She could pull twenty-four tons and had four-wheel-drive. No cab though. Those Zugwagen-eers must have been a hardy bunch.
A four-cylinder engine blasting out 80 horse-power (!) must have sent this thing sailing.

But with twenty-two tons of Skoda in tow, the crew in the back along with eleven shells (Around two hours quick firing for a Skoda) at either 630 or 850 pounds each, it was still faster than draft animals.
What's more, it took up far less road space than the livestock needed to tug the big girls would have needed.
And you must admit, the boys looks awfully smart up there.
Another plus: The cranking handle was about chest high so one could get one's jaw broken without having to bend over.