NEW EXSHAW WOOD FUEL STEAM WAGON.
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Designed for Use in the French Colonies, the Wagon and a Tractor Have Already Made a Favourable Impression.
T-GXSHAW steam wagons, formerly known under the name of Valentin Purrey and later as the Purrey Exshaw, have been successful in France for the last quarter of a century. In spite of the fact that so many steam vehieleS were produced in France during the early (lays of the motor industry, the Prirrey was the only one which survived and became a commercial success. The latest products of the Exshaw factory at Bordeaux are distinctly interesting and indicate that the firm is keeping well abreast of the times.
The new vehicles, which comprise a light 3 to•4-ton lorry anda special form of tractor, have been designed particularly for work in the French colonies. They have already met with a favourable reception in JudoChina and the French West African possessions. Superheated steam is employed, and The boilers are arranged for firing with wood or eliarcoal, a factor of great importance in colonial work.
When charcoal is used as a fuel, this is carried in a hopper which provides an automatic feed to the furnace. The two-cylindered doubleacting engine has a bore of 120 mm. and a stroke of 120 mm. Transmission is by chain and a differential is provided. Suspension, both front and rear, is by longitudinal semielliptic springs.
When the lorry is intended to be run on wood fuel an extra large fire door is fitted and a stoker's seat is placed on the right-band side of the lorry, just in rear of the boiler. The furnace can thus be fed continuously en route. The weight of the lorry is about 3,800 kg. and the useful load carried from 3 tons to 4 tons. A coupling is arranged for towing a light trailer (2 tons to 3 tons).
The lorry is mounted on 1,025 mm. by 185 nam. pneumatics, and two spare wheels are carried on the tailboard. Speed under load is up to 20 k.p.h. and empty up to 25 k.p.h. Fuel consumption under load amounts to about 3 kg. per kilometre when charcoal is employed, and 0 kg. or 7 kg. per kilometre when using hardwood with a 30 per cont. water content.
The standard open lorry body fated has a platform space of 3.8 metres by 1.9 metres. The water tank holds 400 litres, giving the lorry a normal working radius of 30 kilometres to CO kilometres.
In the special form of tractor designed for forestry work the engine and boiler are on similar lines to Uwe in the lorry, but somewhat larger. The boiler has a total heating surface of 10 square metres, as against WI square metres in the ease of the lorry. The engine has a bore of 153 mm. and a stroke of 140 mm.
An oscillating type of front axle is fitted, facilitating the use of the machine on bad laud. Steering is by chain working on a transverse drum. The rear suspension of the tractor is by coiled springs. The driving wheels are 1 metre 10. cm. In diameter and 40 cm. wide. Transmission is by roller chains and a differential is incorporated.
The maximum tractive effort obtainable with the machine when used on reasonably good ground is 2,800 kg. and the normal tractive effort does not exceed 1,800 kg. The tractor weighs 5,200 kg. without fuel or Water, or about 84 tons when ready for work. As in the ease of the light lorry, the boiler is Wood fired and an automatic water feed is provided.
The water tank has a capacity of 1,200 litres. When running light on the road the tractor has a speed of 10 k.p.h. The average water consumption when the tractor is actually at work on the transport of logs, etc., is about 250 litres per hour, and the fuel consumption, using wood with a water content of 30 per cent., from 100 kg. to 120 kg. per hour.
The engine runs normally at from 300 r.p.m. to 400 r.p.m. and develops about 35 b.h,p. In addition to the above model, Messrs. Exshaw are producing another tractor for use on very bad ground. In this machine the engine and boiler are identical with those in the tractor just described. The front axle is replaced by a barrel-shaped steel wheel working in forks, and the driving wheels are furnished with detachable rims. When these rims are in place the width of tread is increased to 60 centimetres, providing a large tractive surface. This tractor is provided with a capstan at the rear for the haulage of logs from a distance.
The makers -are Messrs. X. H. Exshaw and Co., 1 to 31, Boulevard Jean-Jacques Bose, Bordeaux.