What Kind Hydraulic Tipper 'Should I Buy
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IT is probably correct to say that .few other types of commercial vehicle have become
more necessary to the haulage contractor than the tipping wagon. It is, therefere, surprising that there are so many contractotg who do not know how to select the type of tipper which will be of the most value to them, and that consequently there are so many vehicles being operated on tipping work which are not able to give the best service to their owners.
My present object is to enumerate the points which an operator should bear in mind when choosing a vehicle, so that he will be running a wagon which, as a whole, will be best suited to the particular conditions under which it is operating..
_Obviously the first points to be considered are the nature of the load to be carried and the conditions of the ground on which the vehicle will have to operate. According to' whether the loads mostly carried will be of a compact heavy nature or of light bulky materials, a small or large body is, required. This will also determine whether a shortor long-wheelbase vehicle is desirable. Wherever possible _short-wheelbase chassis should be used for carrying tipping bodies. Chassis frame members should be deep and the frames of sound construction, well bra'eed and, for preference, free between the •cress-mernbers from any components such as servo brake cylinders; brake cross-shafts, etc., which components might pO"ssibly interfere with the movements of the tipping gear when in operation, if the gear to be fitted is a'type having rams underneath the body.
With regard to the actual discharging of the material from the body, in the majority of instances, conditions will be such that end tipping will be satisfactory, but there are certain conditions under which it is advantageous to be abre to discharge the load to either side of the vehicle as well as the end. In such case a three-way tipper is called for. For instance, a-vehicle, during its normal work, may have to take coal to a boiler house which may be close to an adjoining building, and where it cannot end-tip, or it may have to discharge its load at the side of a road carrying a great volume of traffic where it is most undesirable that it should be manoeuvred across the carriageway so as to cause an obstruction while end-tipping. This is clearly the case where a vehicle should draw up at the side of the road and discharge the load off the side of the body.
Flare it should be stressed, that when side-tipping has to take place, the three-way tipping "body, if possible, should be constructed with a drop-side door, which should fall level with the floor and make a close joint so that no fine-material can drop round the rear wheel and thus prevent the vehicle Irina being drawn out after side-tipping is eorapleted.
A82 discharged* well clear of the rear wheels when side-tipping., Where it has been decided that end-tipping 'will satisfy all discharging conditions, the operator still has to settle what type will be most suitable for his use. It does not necessarily follow that the simplest and cheapest form of gear will make the best return for the initial outlay. So far as hydraulic apparatus is concerned, the least elaborate and least costly type ,of end-tipping gear is that haVing a single ram of telescopic type immediately behind the back of the driver's cab. This type of gear, however, is not recomended for long-wheelbase chassis or on any tipping vehicle which will have to discharge its load on uneven ground. ‘ Where a short-wheelbase' vehicle is not overloided and carries materials Which have to be discharged on a level surface, such as a railway goods yard, this front-ram type will be suitable and will give good service. For tipping on uneven ground such as building sites, the obvious choice lies between a power-operated twin-underbody-ram type of
damage than is the case when they are positicnied within
the frame.
Hauliers in certain spheres where the goods to be handled are not of what 'mightbe called " a tippable nature," should consider tile question of loading and discharging their particular commodities by means of an end-discharge moving-floor body.
This, in one form, notably the Principality, a pioneer product, and now made by l3romilow and Edwards, Ltd., Bolton, incorporates a rubber belt supported by small rollers in the floor of the body, the belt being attached at each end to a steel driving „roller. Each driving roller is coupled to-a reduction •gearbox, placed ust.illy at each end of the nearside floor frame member. A detachable handle enables the operative to actuate either, the front roller or the rear roller, thus winding the motring-floor belt either
forwards or rearwards. •
This apparatus is particularly well adapted for longwheelbase chassis, because the load is distributed and does not impose concentrated stresses on the chassis frame members as iethe case with a tipping vehicle. For carrying glazed bricks, tiles, boxed and bagged goods, and for parcel collection and delivery, this form of equipment is extremely sa-tisfgctory.
The belt can be wound on to the rear roller and a row of commodities placed on-it just inside the open end of the vehicle; it can then be wound forward a little to enable more goods „to be loaded on to it then this process is repeated until the whole available floor space is fully loaded without there being any need for men to climb in la shift the load to the front end of the body. Again, when discharging is necessary, the above procedure is reversed with a minimum of handling taking place, For carrying material such as mortar, cereals, etc., on a moving floor, a squeegee sealing strip should he fitted along the bottom edges of the body sides to prpvent any of the load from working its way past the edges of the belt to the rollers beneath it. It is possible for a moving floor to be actuated frofh the vehicle power take-off, and for this it is necessary again to consider the type of load being carried, as it will readily be seen that a high-speed ratio is suitable for the discharge or loads such as grain, barley, etc., but that for the loading and unloading of parcels on collection and delivery work the slow moving belt is essential.
Whilst the foregoing deals broadly with a number of the main carrying problems as applied to tipping vehicles, still further examinations of conditions will, in many .instances, enable an operator to use ettuipment of a specialized nature, that will earn greates dividends than standard types of mechanism.
For example, certain collieries have found that for stacking coal in restricted yards during the summer months, or for loading coal over the bulwarks of a boat at high tide, a big labour-saving device is the power-operated elevating and end-discharge gear. This appliance, in point of fact, is an end-tipping gear incorporating an elevating sub-frame, which, when the tippiog mechanism is set into operation, elevates the body In a horizontal position to a pre-determined height and then discharges the load from the body off the elevated sub-frame. By its means one load can be tipped on top of another without the need for a squad of labourers to trim the heap, etc.
In certain circumstances a vehicle may never be required to end-tip its load at all, so that doubke side-tipping equipment only can then be fitted.
My 'experience is repeatedly showing that -if o2qrators would give only a little more thought on thelebove lines to their Specific needs, before selecting their hydraulic-tipping gears and moving-fl9or 'designs, their equipment would earn them greater profits and afford more trouble-free service than is the case when mechanism isthade to operate sunder conditions for which it was neither designed nor built.