Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 23
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Ten Shillings Weekly for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for anything else published.
Drivers of commercial motors, and mahanics and foremen of garages or shops, who are engaged in any branch of the industry, are invited to contribute short, personal experiences, opinions, or suggestions, on subjects which are likely to prove of in'erest to our readers. We shall be glad to hear of anything interesting that has come under any driver's or mechanic's notice, either an the shops or on the road. Long and successful runs ; services with no "lost journeys" ; workshop tips and smart repairs : all are suitable subjects. Send us a post.card, or a letter, or a sketch—no matter how short, or how written, or how worded. We will "knock it into shape" before publication. When writing, it is as well to mention your employer's name, as a guarantee of bona fides (not for bublication), and to state whether you wish your own name, or initials only, to be published. Mark your envelope "D. and M.," and address it to The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR," 7-75, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
A Foden Record-19,254 Miles Without Trouble.
[341] A proportion of the correspondence which is intended for the Drivers' and Mechanics' columns every week consists of short accounts of the satisfactory running of different commercial vehicles under varying conditions. From time to time we are happy to find room for a selection of the most remarkable of these performances, and we are always happy to hear of any authenticated records which equal or eclipse others we are enabled to publish. We reproduce below a letter from " JR." (Hereford) in which he recounts the satisfactory service performed by a standard, five-ton, Foden, steam wagon :—" In reply to your invitation for drivers and mechanics to forward contributions, am sending you herewith an account of my experience with a Foden steam wagon during a period of over three years. During that time, I have had practically no repairs of importance to carry out, but the road wheels, of course, have had to be re-tired. With the exception of one working day off per fortnight, for washing out the boiler and general inspection, my wagon has been running every day, and has, at the time of writing, completed a total mileage of 19,254 miles. The average daily load exceeds five tons, in some cases by as much as a further 31) cwt. I think it worthy of record that I have not had a leaky tube during the time the machine has been in my charge, and it is of interest that the present piston rings are the identical ones which were fitted when the wagon arrived here new in March, 1905. I attribute the successful running to my habit of keeping everything well oiled, and all nuts well tightened up."
To Remove Obstinate Cylinder Covers.
[3991 " W.H." (Leeds) forwards the annexed letter :—" send you details of an idea of mine, the application of which I have found very useful indeed on more than one occasion. The dodge is in connection with the detaching of cylinder covers. I used to have a good deal of trouble sometimes when I wanted to get my covers off, as they are in rather an awkward position and there is no room to use wedges. One day I was at work, and I hit upon an idea which I have since used with good results. The first thing was to have a couple of tapping holes drilled in each cover, the holes to be diametrically opposite one to the other. Two a-inch, set screws were then fitted into the tapped holes in the cover, the points of the screws being first filed flat. To prevent any possibility of steam leaking out past the set screws, I fitted a nut to each, and then wrapped some asbestos string round the screw between the cover and the under side of the nut. The operation of removing a cover fitted with this arrangement is, I think, clear to anyone, but perhaps I had better explain the method I employ. First of all the nuts on the holdingdown studs are removed, then the nuts on the set screws are slacked back, and the set screws turned further in. This has the effect of forcing ,the covers outwards, but, if they stick or jam, A hammer should be lightly used to help the cover off. This idea does away with wedges which, no matter how carefully they are used, very often cause burrs on the faces which are being parted, and these burrs have to be subsequently filed off. Another advantage of using set screws is that the jointing can be saved, which hardly ever happens if wedges are used. There is very little room between the back ends of the cylinders and the boiler, in some makes of steam wagons, and it is really very difficult to do any job in such cramped quarters."
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
Another Temporary Clutch Adjustment.
[401] The communication from " J.C." (Cardiff), which was published in our issue Of the 27th ultimo under the above title, has called forth a reminiscence from "E.C." (Eastbourne), who, in the course of a letter to us, says :--" Whilst reading Another Temporary Clutch Adjustment ' in "rim COMMERCIAL MOTOR,' I was reminded of an experience I had a few months ago with one of the old-type, 16-2oh.p., MilnesT)aimler motorbuses. On this type of machine the reverse drops into mesh with the two pinions of the lowest gear. The vehicle in question shed its clutch-leather a little above the foot of a hill, down which it had just been •driven, the hill being about a mile and a half from the garage. I at once ordered out the spare bus to maintain the service, and, after cutting some strips of leather off new clutches and at the same time getting a few tools together, I went out to examine the stranded vehicle. A few moments' thought decided my course of action. I drew the male part of the clutch well out, and slipped some short pieces of leather between the male and the female portions, where the proper leather ought to have been. I arranged the pieces of leather about an inch apart, and then adjusted the clutch well in, and the gear in neutral. I started the engine up and climbing into the front seat, I put in the reverse without withdrawing the clutch, and drove the car backwards to the top of the hill. Here three roads meet in the shape of a V, the hill I had ascended forming the tail of the letter, whilst, of the other two, one went up and the second, which was the road leading to the garage, ran down. I drove the bus a little way along the up hill arm of the V and then allowed her to run free down again to the cross roads. In this way, I was able to turn her into the road leading to the garage, and while she was running free, I engaged the top gear. Thus I was able to get my vehicle back to the garage. Of course, this can be done with almost any make of machine, but the gear must be engaged, and the car pushed forward, to start the engine."