The Bulk Transport of Grain
Page 63
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by Six-wheeler
fp HE bulk transport of certain
classes of load is, without doubt, a profitable proceeding. It is a method which not only dispenses with the need for providing suitable. containers for the load, but it generally results in the saving of considerable time in loading and unloading operations, apart from enabling greater pay loads to be dealt with.
One has, of course, become accustomed to the bulk transpOrt of quite a number of commodities, including motor spirit, milk, beer and other liquids, some of them being of a corrosive character, but the method also possesses distinct merits when dealing with other classes of load, amongst which can be mentioned grain.
We have had several opportunities for referring to the bulk transport of grain, but, hitherto, standard four-wheeled vehicles have generally been used for the work: Now, however, as the result of the enterprise of the Sentinel Waggon Works, Ltd:, of Shrewsbury, six-wheeled vehicles are being used to undertake this service. The company has designed particularly for this duty a special type of hopper body which enables from 12-15 tons of grain to be carried in bulk, and already a number of Sentinel D(46 chassis has been equipped with such bodies. We publish an illustration of one of the vehicles, as well as a sectional drawing, which clearly shows the construction of the floor. The roof of the steel-lined body consists of three sliding sections which are secured by quick-acting clamps. They are of light construction and can he readily moved when a load is to be precipitated into the body interior.
The angle of the floor Is so arranged that the load can be fed by gravity to two discharge chutes, one being in the centre of the vehicle and the other at the rear. The precipitation of the grain through these chutes can be easily regulated by control valves. By this method the grain can be discharged on to a transporter belt, or into storage bins. The chutes are of 12-in, diameter, so that the flow of the grain is not likely to be dinpeded. as would possibly be the case with narrower openings.
We are informed by the maker that the time required to fill the hopper body from an elevator is 30 minutes, whilst the complete contents of the body can be discharged in 15 minutes.
The vehicles of this type which are at present in use have been found to have an economic radius or action of as much as 100 miles. They are proving to theirowners that, by adopting this modern method of transporting grain, they are effecting considerable economies in their costs, and it is interesting to learn that, in at least one instance, Sentinel six-wheelers are transporting big loads direct from the port to the mill.