A NEW INDUSTRIAL TRUCK.
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Petrol-driven, this Useful Little Haulage Machine Offers Itself as a Rival to the Electric Industrial Truck.
THE GROWTH in the employment of the small industrial truck or small haulage vehicle for
• use in and around factories, for inter-works' transport, and really for one hundred and one uses, has, in recent years, been considerable.
So f' ar the electric thick has largely held the field, perhaps because more attention has been paid to this type of vehicle than to the development of the small -petrol-driven machine. The success Of the.agrimotor type of construction is now leading to the development of the petrol-driven industriak-truck, and it is claimed for it that, by Using the petrol motor as the motive power, the cost of running can be lessened and the atiention entailed by the use of storage batteries can be . eliminated, It is not alwayseasy to discover in the works an engineer who can be relied uponto get the longest life and the best results from 3 torage batteries, although, to one with some slight knowledge of electrit apparatus and its proper treatment, it does: not seem to entail a very big tax upon the mechanical intelligence in order to keep batteries in their best _condition and to get quite good. results.
Our n_wn opinion. Upon the question. of the relation of the electric and petrol-driven types of industrial trucks is that each offers • certain advantages, and neither has -the monopoly of all the merits.
We are illustrating on page 821 a vehicle now being
developed in America by the Towraotor Co.,. of Cleveland, Ohio, the -Vehicle being known as the Towthotor," the claim for it beingmade that it is faster, more .powerful, and requires less attention thanelectric machine' s, whilst the cost is 14s.
As will be seen froth our illustration, the Towraotor is compact., being mounted on 22 in. (overall) wheels shod with rubber tyres (single in front and twirl at the rear), the engine being rated at 22.5 hp., but being capable of delivering 44 h.p. at 2,340 r.p.in, Its length Overall is 7 ft. 6 ins., and its overall width is 4 ft. 5 ins. It has a turning radius of 10 ft., and is able to travel at all speeds up to 16 m.p.h., an-d, of course, is able to be reVersed. IL. wheelbase is 4 ft. 10 ins., and its track 3 ft. 8 ins. It is able ca•sily to be operated along 7 ft. passage ways. It is controlled entirely according to automobile practice, the steering 'colitinn being' placed on the left. side of the, vehicle, with the gear and brake levers brought to a central position. It is claimed to be able to pull, under average conditions, a. trailing load of from 10 to 16 tons, but the torque of the motor and the drive ratios furnish a drawbar capacity which is approod, mately three times the t•ractive capacity of the tyres. By means of special hooking up and traction arrangements, a considerably larger percentage of the reservetorque of the Motor can be utilized in exceptional eases.
One of the uses to which it is put in the depots of one of the American railways is the shunting of loaded railway trucks, the thrust being taken through a beam, which is held by one of the shunters against an abutment on the frame of the railway truck, the Towniotor then, through its front collision plate, thrusting at the other end of the bar, and applying its power for the moving of the railway truck. The engine is four-cylindered, 3i in. bore by 5i in. stroke, with movable cylinder heads and overhead valves. It has large bearing surfaces throughout and is particularly suited to heavy duty pulling, having a high torque and an abundance of flexibility. It can be governed to run at a speed of from 1,000 r.p.m. to 2,000 r.p.m., according to the conditions of the plant among which it works. The power is taken through a 10 in. single • plate clutch and a, three-speed-ancl:reverse gearbox to a Terbensen internal gear type of rear axle with a reduction ratio of eight to one.
The mechanism is mounted in a frame of 41 ins. channel section, the axles being spring mounted and heavy steel plate bumpers being fitted at the front and rear and carried to the full width of the. chassis, so as to give protection to the vital parts in case of collision and to be strong enough to be used when conveyors are being moved by it through a pushing operation. Heavy couplings of a simple character are fitted fore and aft at a height which, if necessary, can be made adjustable. The petrol tank holds nine gallons, being mounted, as will be seen in one of our photographs, between the engine and the steering column and high up, so as to feed by gravity to the carburetter.
The rear wheels are equipped with internalexpanding type brakes, which can be operated either by hand or foot. .
The Towmotor is being used very largely the
United States by manufacturing and shipping concerns, and in a great variety of trades, and it has already earned a very great reputation for its towing capabilities. On greasy roads it has towed as much as eight tons.
One of theiphotographs in the group on the previous page' is extremely interesting, because it shows the Towmotor hauling a commercial goods vehicle across the gangway on to the " Seeandbee." This is one of the finest and most costly boats running on the Great Lakes. The Towmotor goes right on board and tows the truck loads of cargo about the holds for stowage purposes. The owners of the vessel, the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Co.,. say that they have used the Towmotor for some time in and about their docks and ships, and they have found it useful and helpful in many ways, their only real difficulty being the shortage of trailers. The" Seeandbee " carries a large amount of cargo of a motor character, such as component parts, between factory and factory. The Tow/rioter Co. is represented in this country by the Western Transport Co., of 167, The Albany, Liverpool, their position being that of agents for Lancashire and Cheshire, but, at the moment, they are the only agents appointed in the United Kingdom, negotiations at present being in hand for representation of the agency in other directions. We understand that delivery can be given within one month of receipt of order. The vehicle is sold for cash and is guaranteed to _perform satisfactorily the work it is designed to do, and we understand that five days' trial will be given free at the purchaser's plant and, if the Towmotor then fails to meet the requirements, the machine may be returned to the agent and the purchase price will be proqiptly refunded, than which nothing could be fairer orserve to create greater confidence.