ANSWERS TO QUERIES.
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Our readers will be informed by the Editor on any points connected with the consiruction or use of commercial. motors.. Where a direct reply is desired, a stamped addressed envelope should be enclosed : if a.request for privacy is not specially made, any query and answer may be published. Some replies, owing to pressure on our space, are held over several Weeks.
Windscreen Advertising.
• [4339] (Castle Hadleigh).—There is no reason why you should not use the upper part of your windscreens for advertisement purposes, providing the advertisement does not interfere in any way with the driver's view of the road.
Driving Licence for a Youth of 16.
[4340] (Lichfield).—We can only refer you to section three of the Motor Car Act of 1893, which says that a licence to drive a motorcar cannot be issued to anyone under the age of seventeen. We are afraid, therefore, -that you would have extreme difficulty in getting a licence, even under present conditions.
Steam or Petrol for a Miller ?
[4341] (Derby).—It is even more difficult to give a plain answer to your question at the present time than it would be under normal conditions. -The rival claims of the two main types of commercial chassis are so nearly equal. At present we think, in view of the necessity of exercising the strictest economy of imported fuels, you cannot do otherwise than to order a steam wagon. Apart from this question of fuel, the following are the pros. and cons. of the two types.
We will consider only the use of rubber-tyred chassis of either class. Steel-tyred steamers are in the minority of recently-delivered wagons of either the three or •five-ton ,size. On this basis there is little to choose between petrol and steam in regard to speed when travelling. On a long journey, the steamer will lose on account of its. having to stop to pick up water. The steamer stands second also, since it has to suffer a,delay in starting while steam is being raised. Further, it needs more attention in a Mechanical sense than its rival. On the other hand, given the requisite attention, its rate of depreciation and the cost of r6pairs is less than are the corresponding charges for apetrol chassis. Its total working cost ib much less, too. The all-in costs.for three and five-ton lorries, are at the preseat time is. and Is. -6d. per vehicle-mile in the ease of the petrol wagon, and 9d. and is. Id. for the Same distances for the steamer.
When it is desired to draw• a trailer, the steamer is almost the only possible choice. It is eminently suited for this class of work,which the petrol chassis undoubtedly is not, notwithstanding its occasional use for that purpose. -When it is intended to haul a trailer regularly, Users frequently decide against rubber tyres, a mistaken ,policy, which becomes very evident during the winter months, When the roads will not afford the necessarygrip to the steel. You must bear in mind, too, that you are almost compelled, owing to the design of the controls and the necessity of having a man to look after the fire while the other is steering, to employ two men on the footplate of the. steam wagon.
The Clarkson coke-fired steamer is a class by itself. It appears to be giving good service' in the hands of those few who have purchased it.
What Can I Ask for Hiring-out a Two-tonner ?
14342] (Houghton-le-Spring).---You should ,obtain at least £2 a day for the hire of a two-ton van, you to provide the driver, and the hirer to provide the petrol. We presume that you are to provide all the other essentials, the oil, etc., and also that you are to be responsible for keeping the van in running order. In fact., as we understand it, the hirer is only providing the petrol on account of his having to obtain a licence for it. The extra expense of a drayman must be added to the above charge. If the van is. out after six o'clock you should charge an extra 6s. an hour on account of that work. We have noted that you are only contracting for three days per week, . but the above charges are reckoned on the assumption that you will be able to find work for the vehicle during the other three days. if.you cannot do so, you should obtain, if possible; a little more than this, though we think the, hirer will prolaahly Oblect to paying for your idle time, unless you can snow him that you could. obtain full-time work of a remunerative character but for taking on his work.
Safety Starling Handle.
Preventing the Disastrous Effects of Engine Back-fire. .
There have been from time to time numerous attempts to devise an arrangement of starting handle wbich will eliminate altogether any risk of injury to the user. Moreover, now that the fairer sex is becoming more and more actively engaged in the handling of motors, both for commercial and touring purposes, the need for someaeuch safeguard as that which we are about to describe becomes expedient. This device, which is described as an anti-back-fire handle, is made by the Foster Engineering Co., Ltd.,
Morden Road, Wimbledon, S.W. 19. The ordinary starting clutch as found on the car is utilized ; the starting handle, however, is free to revolve upon the spindle of this clutch, and may be suitably bushed for the purpose. Actually, keyed to the spindle of the starting handle is a cam-shaped piece, indicated on the drawing.
Attached to the starting handle by means of a bolt is a pawl. Normally, upon going to start the engine in the ordinary way, revolving the handle pushes this pawl on to the cam-shaped piece, and tills operates the starting clutch, starting, the. engine in the usual manner. A small pin in the centre of the pawl has a bearing in a groove on a ring behind this cam-shaped piece, and this groove is so devised that pressure upon the starting handle holds the pin in positien.It has the effect when the starting handle is being used in a normal manner •of holding the pawl in its correct position with* regard to the • cam ; furthermore this pin is held down in the starting position by means of a light spring which is shown in the small sketch inset on our drawing. Immediately a backfire occurs, however, the cam rotates sharply in the reverse direction, and in doing so pushes the pawl backwards, overcoming the pressure which this light spring exerts on the pin, and causes 'the, pin to slide up the groove, and the pawl to come out of engagement with the cam. A free wheel roller within the piece within which this groove is cut, prevents it from reversing also. Upon the driver taking hold of the , handle and preparing to make another attenipt to start, the parts immediately fall into the correct relative positions for this operation. We ourselves tried this handle on a large-engined touring ear, and found it to work perfectly, deliberately turning the engine over several times with the spark fully advanced, and getting a back-fire on each occasion. There should be very little wear. The parts are only brought into use when the engine is started; they are carefully designed 80 that there is practically no vibration on them during the running of the ear.
It should be pointed out that there is no longitudinal movement of the spindle or starting hancl:e when a back-fire takes place, as has been customary on several other designs which we have examined. So far as the user is concerned, the connection between the starting handle and the engine is merely automatically cut off, so that the operator feels no shock whatever from the back-fire.
New Shrinking .Press.
An Appliance for Shrinking Solid Tyre Foundation Bands.
The name of Hollings and Guest, Ltd., of Thimble Lane, I3iriningham, as general engineers ma, of course, well known, but in the commercial-vehicle world the name of this company is particularly to the fore on account of the variety of tyre and other presses which it makes for use in garage and repair shop. In this Connection, it is interesting to note that the company has recently designed and manufactured a, new type of shrinking press, which is claimed to be particularly suitable for shrinking the foundation bands, for solid rubber tyres. when they have been forged too large, or for shrinking steel felloes on to a wooden wheel. The working of this-new press will be obvious to our readers from the illustration included herewith. The body of the press is manufactured either as a steel casting, or it can:be of cast iron. It is bored for the ten. rams, and all the cylinders are lined with gun-metal. The rams themselves are steel forgings, and the projecting tools are of cast-iron machined to the largest size required.Any number of sets of tools can be supplied for different size bands.
There is an arrangement fitted, . which, however, cannot be seen inthe illustration, whereby . all the tools axe forced out by hydraulic presseee to the same extent and returned to their normal positions in a like manner.
This new press is made in various sizes, the largest taking a band 6 ft: in diameter and 15 ins. wide. We are given to understand that the press can be worked by a standard Hollings and.'Guest hydraulic pump, or alternatively, by one of the company's welltried tyre presses. This latter point should make particular appeal to garage and repair-shop proprietors with whom a shrinking press of the kind described should find much favour.