THE FORDSON FOR ROAD HAULAGE.
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A ,DEVELOPMENT of great interest 1-i is the adaptation of the Fordson tractor for general haulage work. The concern -which is assisting in this developm6nt in this country is the MuirHill Service Equipment, Ltd., of Lloyds Bank Buildings, King Street, Manchester, who have arranged for the supply of tractor wheels and tyres and brake equipment for the purpose, 80 being the added cost for the conversion of the machine to read purposes. In the States already over 5,000 Fordsons have been sold for road haulage work, and a certain number of concerns are making the experiment here. The development should materially assist the Ford agents, who, under the current policy of the Ford Co., are compelled to take a certain proportion of tractors with their purchases of Ford vehicles. What is now required is the education of municipal officials, manufacturers, builders and contractors, distributors of materials and haulage contractors in the usefulness of the vehicle.
Certain difficulties have had to be overcome, namely, the question of securing the maximum.of adhesion, so that wheel slip shall be avoided and the correct positioning of the drawbar. The Muir, Hill Equipment, Ltd., have been closely studying these problems as they arise in connection with conditions prevailing in Great Britain, and they are prepared to say definitely, when they know the class of work to which it is proposed to put the tractor, whether or not it is suitable
for it.
The necessary alterations include the removal of the wheels employed for use on the land and their replacement with hollow cast disc wheels equipped, so far as the rears are concerned, with 40-in. by 5-in, solid rubber tyres, the front wheels, of like construction, being shod with 24-in. by 31-in. tyres. The wheels, being hollow, can be filled with sand, cement, or other heavy material when the hauling is likely to be unusually heavy. This improves the adhesion and permits a drawbar pull of approximately 2,000 lb. Employed to run beside the railway track in a works siding at the Ramsbottom Paper Mills (as shown in the accompanying illustration) the Fordson is hauling 60-ton loads over the railway track, whilst Messrs. Frank Allen, Ltd., have just completed a contract for hauling 1,500 tons of material in 5-ton loads, and have made quite a success of the job. The brakes are supported in housings clamped to the rear axle sleeve, and are operated by a pedal, to which the brake gear is bonnected. In order, again, to meet the require ments of the farmer who. may wish to take the tractor over soft ground, extension rims with strakes on their peripheries can be supplied, available for rapid attachment to the rubber-treaded wheels, which are drilled and tapped ready for the application of these rims.
Another interesting development (one amongst many, it may be added) is the equipping of the Fordson tractor with equal-sized flanged wheels, coupled by means of connecting rods, in order to give increased adhesion. The Forclson can then be run on rails.
The tractor is, of course, unsprung, but, as the weight is within the 2-ton limit, there is no question> of infringement of the regulations tinder the Motor Car Act.