What kind of land transportation can be used for plowing through hordes of zombies?

Question

Set in a zombie apocalypse world somewhere in Chennai, India.

News report shows an estimated 90% of the population here has turned into zombies overnight, soldiers setup a human chain perimeter blockade and a kill order has been given to terminate any trespasser with extreme prejudice.

Those infected show aggression and violence even unprovoked, they seem to lose their mind and will even attack family members and friends. They are alert to sounds and study shows they could complete a marathon in 2 hours. A zombie bite is considered to be extremely contagious and any bodily contact must be avoided at all costs!

As an escape on foot seems impossible. What kind of land vehicle could the survivors drive to reach safety in the neighboring city from a curious horde of zombies as well as stray bullets from SAF Carbine 9mm 2A1? Retrofit must be realistic and no military vehicles are allowed.

I'm thinking of an SUV (fuel type: diesel) and with metal drain grates tied all over the chassis including the windscreen. Would it work or should I hijack an ambulance instead?

Answer 1

Frankly, I would not bother with cars or trucks.

Use a train!

Any large diesel engine, or several combined, with a snow plow up front.
As a bonus, you can add waggons for any goods you may want to carry (such as extreme amounts of ammunition and fuel for your flamethrowers), and most of all you can navigate without a problem: you know in advance where the tracks will lead.

The weight of the train will give it all the momentum you need, and I doubt it could be possible for the zeds to stop or even overturn it.

This kind of mass will give you enough speed that the zeds will be unable to pursue you. That means, unless they anticipated your move, you will be out of danger as soon as you leave the city, and should not need to prepare for any further hindrance of your escape.

Answer 2

So it needs to plow through zombies (other things a plus), and hopefully survive stray glancing shots from rifles. Has to be realistic as well, and nothing military.

I do believe Myth Busters has a solution to your little problem: a dump truck fitted with a heavy reinforced bumper. Take a look for yourself:

^{From youtube}

If your story is set in the northern areas of the world, a snowplow truck could work well.

Answer 3

May I interest sir in the Paramount Marauder.

It can take 10 people, is bomb proof, mine proof and described as the world's most unstoppable vehicle. You will get where you want to go!

There's also a good infographic for other vehicles!

Original Source

Answer 4

Dump Truck with plow or forks

This will surely plow through any horde of zombies. To fortify the dump truck, I would weld on an exterior wall surrounding the frame of the truck fashioned with sharp objects to cut the zombies, and use run-flat truck tires. With the bed in back, you can install in weapons of your choosing, fuel, supplies and maybe add in a few extra spare tires just in case!

And why not have a ladder? In the event your zombie plowing machine breaks down (which it will eventually since you are to plow virtually 90% of the world's population of zombies) and you are surrounded by a horde of zombies, you can use a ladder if the truck broke down near a building to escape.

Answer 5

None of these other vehicles being posted will be available in Chennai. Also, Indian SUVs are small and the ambulances are quite flimsy.

In your situation, your best bet would probably be a large Tata:

Most of the ones on the road at any given moment are roughly 40 tons overweight, so you don't have to worry about anything stopping you. They're made of solid steel, so just keep your head down if shots are fired. Anyone possessing such a weapon in India will be highly trained in its use, so I wouldn't worry too much about stray bullets.

I would head north on the Guntur-Chennai freeway. If you can make it to Vijayawada, the Krishna River would make a very defensible natural barrier.

Answer 6

Combine Harvester

Hoard of zombies? What hoard of zombies you'd say while festering body parts are flying all around. It may need a few modifications to secure the cabin a bit better but other than that you're good to go.

Answer 7

I think the combine was a decent idea, except that combines aren't really meant to chew through stuff as tough as bones. It would probably work for a while, but I'd have some misgivings about its long-term survival.

For roughly the same idea, but considerably heavier duty (not to mention faster) I'd consider the kind of snow-blower used to clear highways and airport runways:

Or:

To give some numbers: this one (the second) has a 2000 HP engine, and is rated for chewing up and spitting out ten thousand tons of snow zombies per hour.

You'd probably want to weld on a few steel plates to act as armor, but required modifications should be pretty minimal.

Answer 8

Dude! Go big or go home as zombie food! Go with the BELAZ 75710:

Definitely want to modify so the front ladders can be raised, but with that height, top speed of 64kmph and the thickness of tires, I think you could make it out pretty safely, unless the zombies were as good with pole vaulting as they are with marathons!

Also, you can carry quite a large number of people in one trip.

Large-scale mining operations are where these huge dump trucks are used, so if survivors can get to a nearby mining operation, they could commandeer one.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend picking one up, just in case.

Answer 9

I'd go with a bulldozer. You'll need to install extra fuel tanks and weld a protective framework around the tanks and any vulnerable components. You'd wind up with something like the D9 armored dozer. You'd want a certain amount of thought to go into your choice of protective material, and you'd definitely want to make sure you tested all your welds, but other than that I don't see a problem. One of the enduring lessons of military history is that steel is much stronger than flesh. 1/4 plate, especially if angled, should be proof against 9mm.

Slow but steady wins the race, and in George Patton's words, "They'll be grease for our treads."

Answer 10

Why not a monster truck?

It won't have a crazy amount of built in cargo space, but why drive through them when you can drive over them? And it'd generally be a decent all terrain vehicle for those ill-maintained post apocalyptic roads.

Answer 11

If you're not in a hurry and just want to be sure you can destroy without being stopped i would suggest using an excavator like the Bagger 293 .

Would take forever but could move through a whole horde of thousands unhindered, When driving you're very high so they can't get to you, you can plough through them, and if there's no road to where you want to go, you can just dig one anyway!

Answer 12

The M4 Dozer (aka Sherman Tank)

There has been many variants to the M4 Sherman tank, the large dozer blade in front with it's massive motor should be able to plow through any mass of zombies.

If you get bored with that the T2 Sherman can provide with some fun and carnage, originally designed to trigger mines, but i assume it could be a blast against zombies!

The best part is the Sherman is decommissioned since eons ago and can be found in surplus stocks around the US, (and a few in EU that the us left behind), restored by passionate people. So it is running as if it was new and not impossible to get your hands on.

The reason i picked this compared to @WhatRoughBeast 's suggestion with the bulldozer, was i assume that the zombies are unintelligent and would have a hard time opening the hatches.

Answer 13

Going on the theme of giant airport vehicles, an Oshkosh Striker 8x8 Firetruck would also work well. You would also have a strong watercannon to shoot if you need it as well as some foam.

However, you might need to armour it a little bit, so some system like the M270's "cockpit" would work on the 8x8.

Anyways, the end product will probably look more or less like a Stryker IAV with waterguns.

Answer 14

If you consider plowing there are specific scenarios you should adress:

1. You will not move at full speed, probably not faster than walking. So Zs climbing on the vehicle will be a real issue. While weapons might take care of the first 100 on the long run it might be better if the vehicle wouldn't expose parts to climb on.

2. The vehicle needs to push it's way through the horde. So its movement is less driving but more pushing through a gelatinous liquid. It will need serious horsepower.

3. Near visibility will be bad. The odd splatter of blood and gore will cover windows. It would be good to have a way to clean the windows - or get rid of the glas and just have grates for protection.

4. Farer visibility will also be problematic - the horde will cover the ground. Hiding all kinds of obstacles - till you hit them. It might help a lot if one could come up with a way to disperse the horde. Also it is a must that you have somebody elevated over the horde just to navigate. In a regular car you will lose orientation immediatly as view in all directions will be blocked by Zs.

5. The ground will be covered by bodies, gore and stuff. Very easy to get stuck or hide the odd spike that might pierce a tire. Definetly large wheels for slippery ground would be advisable.

6. It may be a risk that the vehicle might topple by a push of the horde - or just an unlucky hole in the ground. Ideally the vehicle would be rather wide and stable.

Looking at this I would start by adapting a plot truck. It should fullfill many of the requirements. Just replace the windows by grates and cover the easy to climb parts with flat slippery walls.

On the professional side riot control vehicles would be equipped perfectly (they are not considered military - though might be against your intentions). But have look what they build into them for ideas 1 2 3

All that said - given that Zs mass at one place means there are other places where they are sparse. It would be less effort finding a path around them than upgrading a vehicle.

Answer 15

Perhaps a gas-turbine powered M1 Abrams would provide the instantaneous power that is necessary to negotiate the apocalypse and provide unrivaled safety to its occupants. The artillery is merely bonus

Answer 16

Another possibility could be a valuables armored car:

Readily available in most cities, but maybe not as good for mass transport of many survivors, or rolling over huge piles of zombies.

Answer 17

I'd say your first problem is not the zombies, but that ALL the tank stations are....permanently closed. Also a plain tanker will make you a sitting dunk unless it's modified to eat its own payload.

So, with the caution NOT to smoke, I gladly steal this finished product to present to you: Mad Max's The War Rig.
There are two left up for grabs after filming ended. You just have to find them.

Answer 18

The simplest modification you could make to a land vehicle, maybe even a mid-size car, is a cow catcher on front. The real fear is being bogged down by the bodies as obstacles, which could seriously hamper the movement of a small car. The cow catcher would just push whatever's in front of the car to the side, the car hopefully not losing all its momentum.

Answer 19

A large 6X6 dump truck would be ideal. The body is too thick to be vulnerable to most small arms. The ground clearance and massive tractor tires will easily roll right over any group of zombies. The drivetrain is designed to climb over extremely rough terrain. Unlike the harvester or the bulldozer, it can even get up to a pretty good speed depending on the model.

Put a couple manhole covers or whatever steel plate is available over the lower half of some of your windows and roll wherever you want! Bonus: tons of cargo capacity, so you can store food, water, and fuel cans in the back (or boulders, if you really want to).

Answer 20

Its India. There is only one choice. While its lost its cachet, its basically the indian vehicle. While british in origin, its earned its place in history, being the vehicle of choice of politicians, and the standard taxi for many years.

Its the Hindustan motors ambassador. I'll carry 6 people through the worst roads India can offer. You would probably want to go for a dual fuel conversion, running off either CNG (so you can scrounge a standard gas cylinder) or petrol.

As for armour? Rebar or rebar mesh sounds good, though if you could find yourself a decent workship and have the time. A cow catcher sounds good. I'd think cast iron "dosai kal" or tavas would make improvised bullet proof armour,

Answer 21

A (somewhat) real world example: 2 families fled from east Germany, breaking through 3 barriers and surviving machine gun fire, in 1962. Their vehicle was a 20 year old bus built in 1941.

(Image source: http://fotoarchiv-alex-waidmann-berlin.de/s/cc_images/cache_2155731002.jpg)

So you don't really need a high-tech vehicle, which might not be available during a zombie apocalypse anyway.

The bus was retrofitted with steel plates and steel tire guards, and a snowplough to clear the nails from the street that they expected to be at the crossing - this should clear through zombies as well. A German source says the steel plates were made from 9 mm well covers, and the bus had (only) 150 hp, Something like this, or better, should be available almost anywhere.

Answer 22

Lots of going big here. Much Ahab. But zombies are like Moby Dick. No matter what, Moby is bigger.

I will go with Starbuck, and take a page from Michonne's playbook.

Zombies do not attack other zombies. So: a car with giant gas tank in the trunk. Zombies are tied 2 deep facing out all around. Maybe they have castor wheels nailed to their feet. Also tied sitting on top, and sitting on the hood and sitting in the bed. Windows have one-way sunshades. No armor. No weapons. No radio dang it! I am going to unplug that radio just be sure, because it is going to get boring. We will bring lots of nice quiet books.

Nothing to see here. Just a humble heap of zombies, moving down the road with all the other zombies at a steady 2 miles per hour.

Answer 23

From the real world:

This is what happens when corrupt pen-pushers in the land zoning department decide to make someone's life hell, and it happens to be the wrong someone. He armored a bulldozer with metal plates and just razed a large part of the town. See destruction in video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zRsmcIaB1Q

Sturdy, unstoppable, zombie-proof, bulletproof, but probably too slow.

Answer 24

Can I suggest you take some inspiration out of the Syrian's armored cars?

They were made by people strapped for resources and without access to much else then you would find in a common garage.

Answer 25

Can I go all sci fi and fantasy here, because I found the perfect vehicle.

Bagger 288 ghost rider version.

Excellent speed due to the ghost rider! Has a wicked weapon to plow through zombies! Is on fire!

Tell me!

Who can stop this beast?

If no sci fi and fantasy, I think the bagger 288 is still a pretty good vehicle. Just need a few adjustments to build a bunker on top and a fuel truck behind me and we're good for days.