The Motor Drivers News.
Page 15
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Stopping a Leak.
G. G. (York) sends the following on the 16th inst. in answer to a query from N. A. T. (Hartlepool) :• " I took great interest in your ' Motor Drivers ' page for this week, especially in the two last paragraphs. I once had a leaky tank ; the hole was a very small one, but I lost a considerable amount of water through it. It was repaired in the follow ing way. I enlarged the opening somewhat with a drill, after which I procured a soft copper rivel that would just fit the hole, and riveted it up in the usual manner. it has been in use for a long period, and is still thoroughly water tight. • N. A. T.' does not say whether the leak is from a crack or from a hole. if it is the latter the copper rivet method will be found satisfactory ; but if it is a crack I don't think there is another way to mend. it except by riveting a patch on and then caulking round the edges. I do not believe in soldering, as I think the vibration soon loosens the patch, and things become as bad as ever. I once tried solder on a small leak in suction pipe belonging to my pump, but it never did any good, and a new pipe had to be fitted.
" During the bad weather we have had lately I have had a good deal of time for thoroughly overhauling my wagon, and I ant pleased to say that everything is in splendid con.dition, with the exception of the superheater, which is nearly -completely blocked up with a hard substance caused by the cylinder oil caking inside the pipe. Like N. A. T.,' I should be very glad if some driver who sees this will be kind .enough to help me out of my difficulty. I am not certain that the accumulation is really caused by the cylinder oil or not, but I cannot see what else it could be. I was once driving .a traction engine, and the exhaust pipe became choked in the same way, but I managed to clean that with a long .chisel in a few minutes' time. A man who is driving a steam wagon recently asked me what I used to pack the glands of my pump with. I told him I used plaited asbestos string which had been soaked in water and afterwards in oil for a few hours. He tried this method of preparation, and found it to give better results than anything he had ever tried before. Both our pumps were driven directly off the crankshaft. Some pumps also seem to require new packing at very short intervals, and anyone who has trouble in this way would be well advised to try my plan. I hope to see an answer to my query shortly."
.Good Work with a Coulthard Wagon.
W.N. (Preston) writes us on the 24th inst. :—" I send you an account of a successful trial run with a Coulthard 5-ton motor wagon which I did in Edinburgh last September. In thirty-one days I ran the vehicie 472 miles, loaded, and 3634 miles, light ; total, 8354 miles. The wagon carried ,653 tons 51cwt. of wheat-flour in the thirty-one days. i had nine days' work in the country, each journey varying from eight miles to eighteen miles each way. For the remainder of the time I was running from Leith Docks to the Haymarket Flour Mills, Edinburgh, carrying wheat, and doing four trips per day. For this work a trailer was used, and a net total weight of 7 tons 12cwt. was transported each journey."
Delivery Vans to the Fore.
J.W.M. (Leicester) sends the following :—" I have at times forwarded you details of various roadside hitches and how I overcame them, for the Drivers News.' I now wish to communicate what one might term a successful day's work, which, when compared with the ordinary horseddelivery van, will show a vast difference. The vehicle with which the run was made is alight delivery van of tOh.p., capable of carrying mewl. I commenced inv journey from King's Cross at 9.30 a.T11. and proceeded to Holloway, where I left various small parcels. From there I went to Tottenham (one delivery), and then on to Enfield Highway, where three deliveries were made. On I ran to Waltham Cross, which was the finish of that direction. The return journey was by Enfield Highway, where we left the main road, and headed for Enfield town (four deliveries), and from there to Wood -Green, at which point we had one or two places to call atWe stayed for dinner at a neighbouring coffee-shop, after which, we proceeded to South London via Blackfriars Bridge. While todowing a bus down the Farringdon Road we had an unpleasant occurrence : a cab came suddenly out of a side turning in front of the bus, which caused it to pull tip suddenly. I had to apply the countershaft brake or t.innon into the rear of bus. The concrete road was wet and greasy, so round we skidded ; but, luckily, nothing was in the way, so we escaped injury and proceeded more carefully to Brixton, South Norwood, Croydon, and Thornton Heath, making deliveries at each of the above places. The van went excellently throughout the day, never once giving trouble. I think readers who-know the roads in the above districts will agree that a record day's work was done for a light vehicle. It proves the commercial motor is indispensable for carrying out extensive deliveries. I hope to see this in the • Drivers News.' "
A Series of Accidents.
J.H.H. (Hendon) writes as under :—" If this account of a day's work of mine finds a space in the • Drivers News' I hope it will prove interesting to your readers. I am the driver of a Straker wagon. I did two trips of about three miles each way a few days ago. We had a load of about five tons each time on board. The road to our destination was good, with the exception of the last furlong, which was very soft, as well as being up a moderately steep gradient. We finished our work somewhere about to o'clock at night. When we arrived home we were told to go to the assistance of one of our other motors, which was stranded about three miles away with a broken crank shaft. As we were going down the road on our way we found another of our wagons stuck in the soft piece of road which I mentioned above, owing to being overloaded. We hooked on our cable and dragged it out, and then we went and towed home the other wagon, which was loaded up with about four tons of stones. Our wagon had not enough power to haul this heavy load, so we had to press into service the wagon which we had previously helped out of the soft place. I have never had such an experience in the whole of my life : no sooner had my maw and myself started to go home, tired out, than we were ordered out again to help another of the wagons, which had broken down about io miles away, with all the bolts broken out of one of the pinions. We transhipped the loid on to our platform, and hocked the disabled wagon on behind, eventually arriving home without further trouble."
Snow-covered Roads.
F.H. (Leicester) sends the following letter :-" I am driving a 3-ton steam wagon fitted with the ' Goodwin ' patent snow shoes. On the gth instant I was sent out with a full load up, a distance of five miles. The road is a hilly one, some of the gradients being as much as i in 10, and to make matters worse the ground was thickly covered with ;now, in some places beingup to the axles for a distance of so yards or so. The shoes acted splendidly, and the wagon made good headway, notwithstanding the bad running conditions. I did the journey a second time on the same day in !hr. mmin. I used slightly more coal than when the roads were good, and a considerable increase in water consumpton was noticed, but otherwise the wagon ran normally. I am certain that this snow shoe has gone far to make winter running practical.''