The Motor Drivers News.
Page 25
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Worn Magneto Bearings.
" W.W. J." (Bridgwater) writes :—" I am a driver for one of the railway companies, and I average 65 miles each day. My vehicle is fitted with low-tension magneto ignition. While driving up a steep hill here with a load on board, there was a continued 'popping' in the induction pipe, causing a reduction of speed; when this happened, the noise would cease. On returning home I examined the plugs and firing gear, also the valves. I then looked at the carburetter jet and petrol pipe, and found them in good condition, yet the vehicle still remained noisy. On the next journey, at night, I noticed a good deal of sparking at the magneto when the vehicle was on a hill; this did not occur on the level. When I returned home, I examined the magneto, and noticed that the bearings were worn, causing the armature to rub on the side of the field magnets. I fitted a new magneto, and the vehicle ran well afterwards. I hope this will be interesting to others."
A Temporary Clutch Adjustment.
" W.B." (Slough) sends this letter for insertion :—" I am glad to see that your Drivers News columns are being filled with good ideas. Recently, while travelling on a 28h.p. vehicle, we had the misfortune to break the clutch spring. In the type of car under consideration, the clutch operation bar lies in front of the gear box. After the driver and myself had considered the position for a time, I hit upon the foliowing way out of the difficulty :—We obtained a piece of strong rope, which we placed round the operation bar and through the scroll of the right-hand front spring—taking care to see that the clutch was "in "— and then tied the ends of the rope tightly together By pressing on the clutch pedal, it was possible to strain the rope, and so withdrew the clutch. The driver then put in the required ratio gear, and I placed a tommy bar between the ropes and twisted it up so that the two halves of the clutch were drawn together. We recommenced our journey and got along splendidly. When changing speeds, I unwound the rope a good bit, and the driver told me to tighten it up when the gear had been changed. I sat on the step, and we worked the vehicle home without the least trouble, to the joy of both ourselves and the passengers. The diagram shows how the repair was effected."
A Trying Winter Journey.
" --" (Uxbridge) sends this experience :—" I had a rather troublesome journey during the winter. I was sent with an 8h.p. tractor to take four tons of corn to Bracknell, in Berkshire, a town about 25 miles distant. I got up early that morning, so as to get a good start, but there was a sharp frost, with snow on the ground. I got as far as Iver Hill, about four miles along the road, where the tractor started to slip, so I had to jump off, and then we pulled the trailer up the hill by a long chain. The tractor again started to slip, and I stopped the engine, but I managed to run a distance of about 25 yards, after which I succeeded in getting the tractor to the top of the hill with great difficulty. Just as I was off again on the level, bang went my gauge glass, so I pulled up and put a new one in. I went on, and everything seemed to run all right till I reached Langley. Here I struck a bit of bad road, and the wheels started to skid round. I stopped the engine, got down, and had a look. Then I saw the reason. My back trailer wheels had dropped into a newly-made drain. As the roads were slip pery, I could not get my blocks to wedge at the wheels to get a purchase for the winding gear, nor could I find anything to moor the front part of the tractor to. I said to my mate that we had better throw off part of our load, so we discharged bo sacks of corn. We eventually started off again, with only about eight miles of our journey behind us. We got to Windsor, where we took in a tank of water from a trough. We ran through Windsor along the roads until we reached Winkfield, where it was very dark, and snowing and freezing hard. I had run out of water again, but we found some in a wood about too yards from the road. We carried a few pails-full to carry us on, and we made another start. We came to another hill, and the tractor started slipping all over the place. I stopped the engine, and asked a man who was passing what the length of the hill was. He said it took about eight minutes to walk to the top. We decided, after many fruitless efforts, to spend the night where we were, as the wheels could not get hold of the ground. This was at to o'clock, so I got our tarpaulin up round the engine, and we made ourselves a shelter as well as we could. Morning came at last, and with it the rain. The tractor ran all right until I got to Ascot, when, all of a sudden, the engine nearly stopped dead. I shut the steam off as quickly as possible. I had a look round, and thought there was something the tnatter with the slide valve, so I opened the drain cocks, and put the lever in the centre notch. Then I took the steam-chest cover off, and had a look at the slide. What had happened was this : the locknut had shifted about an inch out of its place, so I reset the valve and made a new joint. We teached Bracknell about 4 p.m., making two days and nearly two nights on a 40-mile journey."
[The writer of this letter has omitted to send his name. If he will do so, a remittance will be forwarded to him.—ED.1