Fitting an Oil Engine in Australian Backwoods
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FITTING an oil engine into a lorry chassis is usually considered to be work for a well-equipped shop, but when necessity arises it is remarkable what can be achieved by improviza
tion, as is indicated by the following experience in the Australian Bush. A few months ago Mr. H. E. Ding, of Yunta, South Australia, purchased a 68 bh.p. Gardner oil engine for installation in his Diamond-T lorry, for regular operation on the 390-mile mail service between Marree, South Australia, and Birdsville, Queensland. The engine was sold and prepared for fitting by Rasch Motors Pty., Ltd., of Adelaide, the South Australian agent for Gardner engines. The crated unit was railed to Marree, 440 miles north of Adelaide, loaded on a lorry and taken the remaining 390 miles to Birds vile. It It was necessary to transport the engine for this distance because of trouble with the original unit, and the expense of a long tow over such diffi u28 a chain-block, poles and cross-piece, and the other gives an idea of the difficult type of country covered by the vehicle. The latter picture was taken in the sand desert, 160 miles from Marree, over the worst sections of which boiler plates are carried and laid down to form a track for the wheels. When this particular picture was taken the lorry was travelling forward in low gear with the engine running at idling speed, whilst the driver kept moving the sand away from the wheels as the vehicle proceeded slowly forward. The high torque of an oil engine at slow speed is particularly valuable when such arduous work, as is the common task of this vehicle, has to be performed.