Mechanical Horse Turns Fire-fighter
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Attractive Scannell First-aid Outfit of 50 g.p.m. Capacity and Incorporating a 350-gallon Tank RE are many purposes to which the three-wheeler of
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the type commonly known as the mechanical-horse may be applied. Last week we described a refuse collector having a chassis of this description as its basis, now it is a fire-engine. In both cases the vehicles are products of Scammell Lorries, Ltd., Watford.
This company has recently built a number of machines similar, in the main, to that shown in the accompanying a8
illustration, which was constructed to the order of Stewarts and Lloyds, Ltd., for service in its steelworks. It is, in point of fact, a first-aid unit, carrying a 350-gallon tank, The pump, which is driven from the power-take-off, has a capacity of SO g.p.m. at a pressure of 50 lb. per sq. in. In accordance with the usual practice, the system is equipped with a control valve which permits water to be pumped and delivered from the tank, from an external source, or directly into the former from the latter.
In addition to the vehicle pump, a portable self-contained fire-fighting set is carried at the rear. On this particular machine it is a I3eresford Stork unit capable of delivering 20 g.p.m. with a head equivalent to 175 lb. per sq. in.
As will be -observed, there are two hose reels, an extensible ladder, suction hoses, etc., included in the equipment, whilst two rows of seats are provided beneath a steel canopy.
For operation in a works, or similar environment, the three-wheel type has much to commend it, particularly because it can be manceuvred in awkward places with considerably greater facility than a four-wheeler, and it possesses certain advantages over the outfit comprising a tractive unit and two-wheeled trailer, handy and generally efficient as this type unquestionably is.
In so far as appearance is concerned, this mechanicalhorse fire-engine is businesslike and of pleasing proportions, whilst there can be no question of its mechanical efficiency in view of the long-established popularity of the type and the excellent service that has been rendered by it over a long period and under notably arduous conditions,