The Fordson as a Loader.
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JJUST AS the ubiquitous Ford car has been "roped in " for doing a lot of useful work for which its designer never considered its utility, so, in America, is the Fordson tractor being pressed into other useful work than that of traction, by the introduction of special devices, by means of which its power can be utilized. The latest., and not the least useful, of these is known as the Speciality Loader, and is well illustrated in the accompanying pictures.
It is an adaptation of the principle of the endless chain of buckets type of elevator for use with a Fordson tractor, and is so designed that not only can the power of the engine he employed for working the elevator, but the elevator itself is carried on the tractor, so that we get in the combination the novelty of a portable mechanically driven elevator, which can be moved under its own power to the dump, or sand-pit, or other place where the material to be dealt with may be—which is useful.
The equipment, which appears to be very well thought out, consists of a multiple bucket elevator, and an end
less conveyor working in unison. The top of the elevator stands up over 11 ft. and is supported on two uprights of structural steel resting, by means of saddles, on the rear axie of the tractor, and this carries suitable guides, endpiece3, and rollers, around which two endless steel chains work, which cum, 15 steel buckets 16 ins. by 8 ins., with rollers to operate on guides attached to each end and furnished with hardened steel digging edges riveted on. .
This elevator is worked off the power shaft of the tractor, which is furnished with a sprocket wheel instead of a belt pulley, and this, by means of a chain, drives a countershaft from which the power is taken by the bucket system. Overhead, an 113-in, rubber conveyor belt is mounted, running immediately above the tractor and projecting well forward of the radiator, to the sides of which the front supporting arms of the conveyor are secured. This belt conveyor works on steel rollers with sell-oiling bushings.
Approximately 80 per cent, of the weight of this equipment is carried on
the rear Wheels of the tractor when it is travelling, the rear end of the elevator having the,snme ground clearance as the tractor. When it has come to the material which is being worked, tho tractor is backed into the heap and, by means el gearing, the rear end of the elevator is lowered into the digging position, when the buckets just scoop up the earth, or whatever material is being dealt with, and the tractor is backed farther into the heap as required.
It will be seen that the outfit rests with the elevator at the rear and well into the heap, the tractor projecting straight for ward, with the conveyor above and running -beyond it. The conveyor then scoops up and raises the material to the level of the conveyor, which carries it forward and drops it straight into the cart, which has been placed in position to receive it. It is claimed that loads can be dealt with in this way at the rate of one ton a minute, or thereabou4s, according to the nature of the material, and that this necessitates two men only, viz:, the driver of the truck, who operates the machine, and one helper to feed or control the feed to the buckets. For corporations, contractors, and businesses having to deal with large quantities of loose material, such an outfit as this should be very useful and a great time and money-saver. It is said that it can be mounted on to any Fordson tractor in a couple of hours. There is no doubt that both the Ford vehicles and the Fordson tractor provide a very wide field for the efforts of the inventor. This is chiefly because the types are practically standardized.