The Motor Drivers News.
Page 21
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The Result of Hill-climbing.
" W.F..S." (Battersea) writes :—" I have returned from trials with a steam wagon extending over a period of about three months, so, perhaps, some of your readers would like to read an account of some hard work done with a wagon by a well-known maker. 1 have made demonstrations of the wagon at Sheffield, Burnley, Newcastle, Gateshead, South Shields, Sunderland, Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Swindon, and Manchester, with the result that I have obtained orders for six 5-ton steam motor lorries. The vehicle 1 am writing about carried 5 tons scwt. of stone setts in Newcastle, and I have had it loaded up to 6 tons 14ewt. When carrying this weight, I did nine miles in i hour 45 minutes, using only one tank of water when starting out, and returning home with 6 inches left. One of the orders I obtained was gained by the vehicle's being brought to a standstill and started again while going up a hill with a gradient of i in 7, and about a quarter of a mile in length, in the vicinity of Burnley."
Damage to Steering Gear from a Bad Road.
" G.T." (Penge) says :—" 1 have read the Drivers News concerning interesting journeys with steam wagons, so perhaps you may find this interesting enough to insert. I was taking my machine with a five-ton load of manure to a certain place in Northumberland, about 16 miles from home. We found the roads very hilly indeed, but the wagon climbed them easily, although some of the banks, as they call them there, had a gradient of i in 8. A hill like this means heavy work, especially when the roads are soft, but with a good supply of water and a proper pressure of steam we managed all right till we gut to the entrance of the farm road where we had to discharge our load. Then our troubles began. The narrow road up to the farm was only about half a mile long, but, originally, it had been clay, and quite recently cartloads of big stones had been thrown upon it to make a surface; some of the stones were 6 inches in diameter. I told my mate to go up to this farm, and tell the hands to bring the carts to the road end and unload, but the answer was that we were to take the load to the farm, or take it back again. I decided to try and get the wagon into the farmyard, with the result that my steering gear smashed. We were within so yards from the unloading spot when this happened, so the farm hands had to bring the carts after all. The next thing was to inspect the damage, and to overhaul the toolbox. I wanted a bit of mild steel; the only thing I had was an old spanner. Then I looked round for a sharp chisel. Mine was broken, so we filled up the boiler and damped down the fire, and myself and my mate went to a blacksmith's shop. There was nobody at home, but I soon made myself at home, and lit the forge fire. I repaired my chisel, made a new key from the spanner, fitted it in, heated my worm gear and straightened it, and then I proceeded home. We reached our destination at I o'clock in the morning."
Hints upon Care of Water-circulating Pumps.
" S.O.B." (London) writes : " No doubt the following trifling incident will be of use at some time or other to a good many drivers of self-propelled vehicles. We used to be bothered a good deal by buses coming off the road into garage owing to the circulating pumps failing to work. One springdriven type of pump was an especial offender in this respect. In almost every case we found it possible to turn the pump by hand when the spring was off, so that settled the seizure idea. One day a bus came in with the water in the radiator,
steaming, and with the pump spring broken, although the pump could be turned by hand. Some other adjustments gave me an hour or so in which to investigate the trouble. I took the pump down, and to pieces, and in the casing I found an innocent globule of solder, which, of course, had come through from the radiator after some previous repair. I experimented, and found that the particle of solder would just wedge itself between one of the vanes of the pump and the casing, which made it impossible for the moving portion to turn. At the same time, the slightest backward movement of the vanes released the little wedge, and allowed it to fall to the bottom of the pump casing. It was evident that this was the cause of the bother with the pumps, and the slight rebound that always takes place when a moving body suddenly stops invariably released the obstruction, and made the stoppage seem very mysterious and unaccountable. 1 may say that this is not an isolated instance, as I have had to deal with it myself at least half a dozen times. The moral is obvious : Use as little solder as possible in all cases, and that as carefully as possible. I have some reminiscences of radiators (and their design), which you may perhaps find space for later on." [Please send details.—ED-1
The Undesirability of Tram Lines.
H.F." (Newcastle) sends the following :—"1 am sorry to see that the London County Council are laying tramlines along the Embankment. As a motor wagon driver, I should be glad to see the abolition of these on all our roads, as they are a great nuisance. My lorry is shod with steel tires, and directly I steer the vehicle on to a tramline after the roads have been watered I begin to have trouble, owing to the skidding of the back wheels upon the metal surfaces. Tramlines, after they have been laid down for a time, invariably protrude above the road level, owing to the subsidence of the ground on each side of the rails. I have been out on my lorry, with a loaded trailer attached, and have found it almost impossible to steer the vehicle, as the raised rail catches the steering wheels and guides them in a wrong direction. This action must put an immense strain upon the wheels and axles, as well as upon the springs, to say nothing of the danger incurred by the lorry, for the time being, not answering to the steering wheel. In commercial vehicles, which have wheels shod with rubber tires, the trouble is minimised to a certain extent, but then another unpleasant fact makes itself apparent ; this is the cutting of the tires upon the roughened edges of the rails. "I have driven many types of lorries, propelled by steam and petrol, and I think for heavy loads nothing at present can beat steam. A steam wagon may want a little more care to drive ; even this is a debatable point, but it is undoubtedly easier to control in traffic owing to the elasticity of steam. I always find it very tiring to drive a heavy petrol lorry for long periods, and I dare say there are others who will agree with me. On the other hand, for light work a petrol engine is equal, if not superior, to a steam engine. I should like to see some opinions relative to this question appear in the Drivers News."
A Clutch Query.
" T.W." (Shrewsbury) sends the following query :—" I have been driving a petrol lorry, fitted with an ordinary cone clutch, for some considerable time. It seems to me that the leather is badly worn now, as, when I take my foot off the pedal, the male portion of the clutch goes in too far. The clutch is very fierce, and will not slip at all. How is the new leather cut so that it fits the face of the cone properly " without undue forcing?