The Scammell Explorer 6×6 was used mainly for recovery of soft-skin vehicles but was also used as a ballast tractor for the transport of tanks to and from REME workshops but as such was hard pressed with 50 tons of Centurion tank on its trailer. To get the 80+ tons of unit, trailer and load on the move usually required the lowest gear in six-wheel drive and thence a quick change to four-wheel drive once the mass was on the move, hills were to be rushed and down changes handled with great skill for to miss a gear and come to a standstill on a gradient could mean that the whole outfit would be almost impossible to get on the move again with the power available. Downgrades were the opposite with every effort made to contain the load from pushing the outfit to a too greater speed and running away.