In 20+ yrs as a U.S. Army tanker I never met a tree that my tank (or most Armored vehicles for that matter) couldn't knock down...with the right technique.
You can't just go smashing into a tree at high speed, or you will damage your vehicle and/or your crew. Inertia plays a big roll here. Picture the irresistable force hitting the immovable object.
Remember that the crew is only loosely held inside by their seats and whatever grips they can take on available surfaces and controls. Ouch.
I never appreciated having to explain how I managed to damage my vehicle/crew to the Unit Commander, and I certainly didn't like spending my time-off doing extra maintenance on my track.
Small trees (2"-6") don't present much resistance, but they tend to snap at the base of the trunk, and then fall on top of the tank, damaging antennas, Roof mounted MGs and mounts, Sights & Sensors, and anthing else sticking out of the top of the turret...like crewmembers heads and limbs.
Larger trees are very tough, if hit at high-speed they tend to shed large branches that fall onto the tank. Or they fall sideways damaging fenders, tracks and sponson boxes.
Don't try this at home... but the best technique is to center the bow of the tank on the tree trunk, and begin a slow and steady push...giving the tree a chance to topple away from you.
Once the tree starts to fall, you need to quickly back off, or you'll get caught by the root-ball as it pops out of the ground. It's quite easy to get tangled in the root-ball, or find yourself high-centered on the stump or trunk.
High-centering is a condition where your belly plate rides up on an object, and in the process lifts one or both of the tracks free of the ground, rendering you unable to maneuver or extricate yourself.
When this happens, it's time to call for the recovery vehicle.
CptA
