Motor Vehicles for Colonial Use.
Page 5
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Summary of the Points which require Consideration by Purchasers and Vendors.
It has always been recognised by merchants and manufacturers that there are vast fields for the utilisation of the motor lorry in our Colonies, where the railway service is inadequate, the journeys necessarily of great length, and draught animals scarce and slow-moving. Great tracts of country are being opened up, and the farmer, the manufacturer, and the miner are everywhere in want of cheap transit for their products. In the early days of the Motorcar Act, colonists, generally, were imbued with the idea of employing commercial motors, and
FLOODS OF ENQUIRIES
were received, through London merchants, by the English builders. The vehicles then in vogue were, however, designed for running on English roads, and the conditions under which the wagons sent out had to work were altogether inimical to success; hence, the exploitations resulted in loss to the enterprising colonists, and brought discredit upon the trade in general. Now, however, a great deal of experience has been acquired, and there are many motor vehicles eminently suited for working under the conditions prevailing in primitive countries, although the prominent characteristics of the country for which they are destined, and the capabilities of the machine itself, should be seriously considered before the purchase of a vehicle is completed. There are, doubtless, many places in the Colonies where wagons of the normal home-service type would be found useful, such as the leading towns with well-made roads, and where suitable fuel could be cheaply obtained, and, when the lorries are to work within the precincts of such towns, the English type of vehicle would no doubt answer the purpose. But, obviously, there are a great many more instances in which the wagons would be required to work outside the towns, where the roads are very rough, or even where no roads exist, and where indifferent fuel only could be procured. In advising prospective users of utility vehicles under such conditions, it will, of course, be impossible to consider any adventitious circumstances which may occur in any particular district, but, in all primitive countries, the general conditions are very similar, and the point's dealt with in this article will, it is hoped, be found to be fairly comprehensive. The great majority of the vehicles sent out, so far, to the Colonies from this country, are steam wagons, and this" type of vehicle will, no doubt, for the present, continue the most suitable for service of this kind. It is
BETTER UNDERSTOOD THAN THE PETROL VEHICLE,
owing to the experience gained with traction engines, and other steam machinery; is capable of more arduous work ; and its requirements in the way of fuel are more easily met in remote countries. As will be understood, the petrol vehicle has, in one respect, a peculiar advantage over the " steamer " for colonial use, but the latter type of vehicle will be principally considered here. The predominant feature, naturally, of primitive countries is bad roads, and, for a vehicle to be able successfully to negotiate these with its normal load, and without undue deterioration, it must necessarily have an ample reserve of strength, and be so constructed that an uneven or soft surface, or steep gradient, has the least retardative effect upon its velocity. To this end, a steam vehicle designed for this work should have
ALMOST 00051,5 THE POWER
found requisite for normal home service, should be of great strength and well sprung in all parts, and, in addition, should be provided with steel road-wheels of exceptional width in the tread, and of large diameter. These large wheels are indispensable for running over uneven and soft ground, and their utility is increased when fitted with diagonal " stropes " or "spuds." When it is required occasionally to traverse exceedingly bad pieces of road, or ground
in a virgin state, a winding-drum is often of great service. To the uninitiated, it may be well to explain that this is a contrivance, which is often fitted to the back axle of a motor vehicle, and to which the whole power of the engine can be applied to wind the wagon out of a difficult position. A length of steel hawser is provided, and this is made fast to a projecting object ahead, so that the vehicle can be drawn up by the action of the drum winding on the steel rope. This device can, also, be employed for drawing a trailing vehicle up to the motor vehicle, when the latter is incapable, through insufficient adhesion and resulting skidding of the driving wheels, of hauling the trailer behind it, in the usual way, over an exceptionally soft spot. The procedure, in this case, is for the motor vehicle to journey on alone, for a distance equal to the length of the hawser, and then, after the "scotching " of its own wheels, to haul the trailer over the intervening distance into position by the aid of the drum and cable. The winding-drum is only brought into operation on very rare occasions, but its possession will enable drivers of vehicles to traverse extremely bad places, and to climb short grades of exceptional steepness. In most of our Colonies, unfortunately, the bridges over the streams and rivers have not been constructed to carry heavy loads, and, where these structures occur over the route on which it is desired to employ motor vehicles, the gross moving weight of the lorry should be ascertained. Such bridges will, no doubt, be strengthened or re-built as tune goes on, but, in the meantime, vehiculartraffic will have to be adapted to them if it is to utilise the existing structures ; to take a present-day type of colonial steam wagon out to work on a route where bridges are frequently met with is often to court failure. It is here that the petrol vehicle has an advantage over the steam wagon, in that it has a considerably less tare than the latter. However, it may be that these bridges-are occasionally found, and no more, in which instances the difficulty may be overcome by
TRANSFERRING THE LOAD FROM THE MOTOR VEHICLE
to a trailer, and then hauling this latter over the bridge by aid of the winding-drum, the motor vehicle having previously crossed the bridge light. Or, provided the necessary adhesion can be obtained on the driving wheels of the motor, the load can be normally carried on a trailing vehicle when a certain route intersected by these bridges has to be occasionally traversed. An independent tractor is sometimes preferable to a motor wagon.
The scarcity of skilled labour and repairing shops renders the breakage of a part of serious moment, and the colonial type of motor wagon, to be successful, must be of simple design and devoid of all unnecessary complications, but, in order to provide against the possibility of protracted delays while renewal parts are being obtained from the makers at home, a good supply of" spares " should be purchased with the wagon. The maker's opinion will, of course, be taken as to the nature of these, but the following are likely requirements for steam wagons : bearing springs ; transmission and engine bushes; boiler tubes ; connecting rod; eccentric rod ; pistons ; piston rings ; length of driving chain (when employed); fire-bars ; packing ; valves and valve springs; pressure gauge ; and an assorted supply of nuts, bolts, split pins, taper pins, unions, lubricators, etc.
Tools and accessories, such as suction hose, soot-cleaning hose, jack, tube brush, tube expander, slice, rake, tomrny bar, chisel, various spanners, hammers, oil feeders, gauge glasses and rings, are usually included in the price of the wagon, but, when possible, the purchaser, or his agent, should make a point of seeing that they are all sent with the wagon, as they are sometimes overlooked in the packing, and their omission will cause serious delay.
If a number of vehicles are ultimately put in service, it will undoubtedly be a great advantage to have a properlyequipped garage for the effective repair and adjustment of the machines, but, even when only one is used, it will help matters considerably if a shed be provided and fitted with a lathe, vice bench, a few simple tools, and a stock of "spares," where repairing bases are few and far between.
THE DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING WATER
along the route has often been urged against the successful employment of steam motor vehicles in the Colonies, but the obstacle is really one that can be surmounted by the exercise of a little ingenuity. The extent of the water
upply should be ascertained, and, if this is inadequate, artificial resources may have to be considered. Resort has, before now, been had to tanks placed along the route to catch the rain water, or to be filled at intervals by the motor vehicle itself when making special trips with a supply of water. The difficulty may, also, be overcome by carrying water in barrels or tanks on a trailer, or among the goods on the lorry platform, and especially when journeys are over a course where scarcity of water is only an occasional trouble to the steam wagon. Some steam-wagon boilers, by more effectually superheating the steam, are more economical of water than others, but the feed tanks normally provided as part of the equipment of steam wagons have an average capacity of 12 to 15 wagon-miles under colonial conditions, and, with this fact in mind, the prospective user will be able to .judge what special arrangements, if any, will be necessary. The use of condensers has
• been found impracticable, except with generators of the " flash " type, owing to the practical impossibility of eliminating all grease from the condensed water, which is irp compatible with efficiency in a fire-tube or water-tube boiler"; excessive vibration, too, may produce serious leakage.
The boiler is, perhaps, the part most susceptible to injury on a colonial steam wagon, and from which most trouble is to be anticipated. It is not proposed, here, to go into a discussion of the relative merits of the various types of boiler now in use, but, in all cases, features essential to success, under the conditions holding in primitive countries, are large heating surface and grate area, to enable inferior fuels to be consumed ; great strength ; facilities for easy repair, cleaning, and firing ; safety valve of ample area ; and plenty of steam space to prevent priming. The boiler should be so designed as to be safe when
PLACED AT A CONSIDERABLE ANGLE
while under steam, and to provide for quick drawing of the fire in case of shortage of water, a very important feature for colonial use. The feed pipes and steam pipes should be he strong, and well supported, or the excessive vibration will cause leakage. Either water-tube or fire-tube boilers should be so constructed as to allow of easy replacement or repair of tubes. A boiler of the home-service type, which is entirely adequate when burning Welsh coal, or coke, is altogether unsuitable for colonial work, because wood is often the only fuel obtainable. In some trials carried out by the War Orrice with a Straker vehicle, ordinary brushwood, cornposed of leaves and twigs, was burned with satisfactory steaming results, and this represents about the worst possible class of fuel a steam wagon would be called upon to consume. A spark arrester fitted to the funnel, when wood fuel is used, is a very desirable attachment, as this fuel is very productive of sparks, which render the driver's scat an uncomfortable position, and might do serious damage to the goods carried on the lorry platform. The fire-box of a colonial steam wagon should be high off the ground, to permit the fording ot shallow streams where no bridges exist. The possibility of using oil fuel under ordinary wagon boilers has been the subject of much experiment on the part of manufacturers and users, but it is doubtful if any real success can be recorded at present; the extreme conditions under which the wagon boilers have to work, and the necessity for this part of a steam wagon being designed with the object of getting the maximum efficiency from a small space, make the burning of oil a very onerous condition in the maintenance and upkeep of the boiler. In fact, the disadvantages in this direction are so great that it practically precludes oil as a fuel for colonial wagons, owing to the frequency of repairs to the boiler which it necessitates.
A low, hill-climbing gear is a sine qua non to the successful working of a colonial steam wagon ; it is a considerable advantage when a vehicle of this type is fitted with the two normal (high and low) road-running speeds, and, in addition, an unusually low one, allowing an abnormally high engine revolution for use over specially bad ground or steep gradients. The steering gear should be of the traction-engine type, effected by worm and wheel and chains, and should be cased as much as possible. Other
ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A STEAM WAGON
compatible with the requirements of colonial service are : large-surface bearings throughout; channel frame, well braced with transverse members, tee irons, angles, or gusset plates; all parts specially accessible, so that, in the event of necessity for repairs or renewals, these can be executed without involving much waste of time or other inconvenience; all working parts, so far as possible, boxed in to prevent the grit from the roads grinding in with the oil and setting up rapid wear of gears, bearings, and transmission generally, but these dust-proof casings to be readily removable; lubricators of large capacity. Where chains are employed in the transmission, the provision for adjustment should be simple. An awning should be fitted over the driver's seat, and the boiler should be well surrounded with asbestos to diminish any inconvenience from heat. Exceptionally large capacity bunkers should be provided. Adequate braking arrangemnts are of the highest importance; a powerful screw-down brake, acting upon brake rims on the driving wheels, is a very desirable fitting. The innumerable advantages possessed by the motor vehicle designed to meet the emergencies of colonial service will be apparent to everyone familiar with the conditions prevailing in all primitive countries, where great tracts of land are still very sparsely inhabited, and the means of transport deficient. Its superiority is especially manifest in that it is invulnerable to the many diseases which ravage beasts of burden in the tropics.