"Kneeling Semi-trailer for Desert Transport
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ASEMI-TRAILER which can be let down to the ground at the front for loading has been designed by Taskers of Andover (1932), Ltd., Waterloo Iron Works, Andover, Hants, for use by contractors to oil companies working in the Libyan desert. Five such semitrailers, together with four A.E.C. Militant six-wheeled tractors, are being supplied to the operators through the Automobile Trading Co., Ltd., Tripoli.
The semi-trailer is built to carry a load of 25 short tons, and has a platform 36 ft. long by 8 ft. 6 in. wide. Its four wheels arc mounted on two beams pivoting about the axle. Like the tractor, the semi-trailer has Michelin X Sahara tyres. The coupling is of the S.A.E. pin type. Behind the tractor cab is a winch, driven by a power take-off, and the cable is connected to the front of the semi trailer. When it is desired to incline the platform for loading, the cable is paid out and the tractor is driven forward. The front of the semi-trailer slides down a ramp at the rear of the tractor, and then over a roller. For the last part of the movement, the fall of the semi-trailer is against the tension of the cable.
With the semi-trailer in an inclined position at about 10 degrees to the ground, the tractor can be brought behind it so that loads can be winched up the slope, a roller being provided at the rear of the semi-trailer. The fully laden height of the platform when level is 5 ft. 9 in.
The floor of the vehicle is of hardwood, and steel-mesh side sections may be fitted into brackets when general goods, as distinct from machinery or heavy pieces of equipment, are to be carried. The semi-trailer weighs 11 tons and the tractor 10,1 tons. The tractors have been fitted with Duramin cabs and Darlington winches, and one has a Hobbs body allowing it to be adapted for use as a mobile crane,