A Useful Fleet on Coal Delivery.
Page 67
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ONE OF the most successful tipping gears on the British market is the Wood hydraulic type, manufactured and supplied by the Hydraulic Hoist Co., Ltd., Lord Street, Southport.
The original model consisted of a large cylinder between the cab and body, the ram of which carried, at its head, two ponies engaging with cables attached to the base of the cylinder and the ram of the body respectively, and this model is still being marketed. The latest type, however, has a horizontal cylinder, the ram of which has at its head rollers running along horizontal girders, whilst in contact with these rollers are cam-shaped brackets secured to the bottom of the body so that as the ram is forced out rearwardly the cam brackets, which are fulcrumed to the rear of the chassis, are forced upwards, thus raising the body.
The illustration accompanying this article is of an A.D.C. 204-type chassis, which has just been supplied by the Hydraulic Hoist Co., Ltd.. to J. H. Martin and Co., coal merchants and colliery agents, Deeptlale Junction, Skeffingtern Road, Preston. This company has its own railway siding and railway wagons, and purchased its first tipping lorry in 1922, the latest vehicle bringing the number up to five.
Previous to using mechanical transport the work was performed by horses, and it has since been proved that one tipping lorry does the work of four horsed-vehicles on journeys of 14 miles and over. The bulk of the fuel supplied by the company goes to works and mills in Preston and the surrounding district, and in this connection the tipping wagons have done the work most effi
ciently, effecting a great saving in time, thanks to the fact that a load can be deposited in from 10 to 20 seconds without the driver even leaving his cab, the whole operation being controlled by a small lever in the cab.
The following figures from the records of the company ,.and .concerning two vehicles of the fleet will certainly be of interest to our readers :—No. 1 wagon, working days during 1926, 257; mileage, 8,947; tonnage, 4,248; number of tips, 1,415. No. 2 wagon, working days during 1925 and 1926, 543; mileage covered,
13,582; tonnage, 7,625; number of tips, 3,820. The second of these vehicles, as will he noted from the figures, has been used on rather shorter journeys.
In a reeent communication received from the company by the Hydraulic Hoist Co., Ltd., it was stated that the combination of an A.D.C. wagon and a Wood tipping gear is proving ideal for the work which has to be performed. It should be noted that the steel body and cab with which the vehicle is equipped were also supplied by the makers of the tipping gear.