Panther Vs T-34 - superior hunter ?

Now, while I fully appreciate the advanced design and such of the "Panther", since it did have some wonderful designs incorporated into it. It had a fatal flaw which was NEVER addressed in its entire production life to my knowledge.
This is the terribly over-stressed, poorly designed final drive gears. They just weren't up to the task, as straight cut spur gears they couldn't deliver the power to the ground with reliability. They had to be driven slowly to extend their life, and when a final gear system went down the crapper, it was a lengthy process just to get to and fix the bugger. An immobile Panther is far from a 'hunter', it is a pill box.

Goto:

http://military.discovery.com/videos/tank-overhaul-the-panther-part-1.html

 

Yes the final drive gears were a problem. But this didnt seem to bother Otto Carius much as he hunted more tanks than any T-34 commandeer did. And I do believe the gear was actually corrected later on.

 

It (spur cut final gear) was never corrected, so I will stay with that being the "fly in the ointment" with the Panther, in spite of all its other innovations.

 

Otto Carius was the commander of a TIGER not a PANTHER.

 

slonisk Otto Carius manned the following tanks throughout his career sir Panzer (38)t, Panzer IV, Panther, Tiger I, and Jagdtiger. but yes you are right he did man a tiger and wrote about it.

 

but slonisk if you like since i already know what you are getting at then how about ernst barkmann as he built his career almost entirely around the panther? would that be better?

 

and dirt okay i cant debate the final rive so we will say it wasnt corrected but still what about the people like Barkmann who seemed to not have a problem with it?

 

No Panther for Carius. He got his Tiger in 1942 before the Panther arrived on the scene.

But he did. His Panther had engine trouble' just before his famous 'Barkmann's Corner' episode. The one where he knocked out 2 Stuarts and some trucks and then claimed it was 10 Shermans.

 

Kenny I believe Carius was wounded in 1941 and did not return to action untill 1943. I believe he was one of the first to field test a Panzer V before being transferred to the 502nd for his tiger. With that said I realize that minimal part of Carius career would have been in the V. so I just picked another one. The point is not the tank ace. The point is none of these guys seemed to have trouble hunting.