SMALL TRACK-LAYER DOES WELL ON BARGE TOWING IN an experiment
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carried out recently I in Yorkshire by the Calder and Hobble Navigation, a Bristol motor tractor was employed to tow a barge laden with coal on the six-mile stretch of canal between Horbury Bridge and Thornhill. The tractor, one ' of the smallest in production and weighing 23 cwt., has an Austin 10 h.p. petrol engine and is of the track-laying type. The gross weight of the barge and its78-ton load was about 100 tons.
Over most of the distance the haul was carried out in second gear at a speed of 2.6 m.p.h., but at times first par had to be employed because of eanal conditions.
The experimental trip, during which several locks were negotiated, showed a saving of about an hour and a half as compared with the time taken by a horse-drawn barge. By reason of the tracks of the machine, no difficulty arose through the ash surface of the towing path. Stability was helped by a castor wheel at the front of the tractor.
The manufacturer of the tractor,Bristol Tractors, Ltd., of Idle, Bradford, has previously supplied -a unit for barge towing to the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.
"HINTS ON ENGINE EFFICIENCY" BOOKLET
" nm you know that the Well
worthy Koetherizing process reconditions pistons which have become unduly worn? This is achieved by subjecting certain chosen areas, on the insicie of the piston skirt to the peening effect of a controlled shot blast.
You can read about this and obtain much other useful information from a small booklet recently published by Wellworthy Piston Rings, Ltd., 89, Blackfriars. Road, London, S.E.I. It is called "Hints on Engine Efficiency," and can be obtained on application to the address given.
PLASTICS IN THE BEARING FIELD
ATYPE of plain bearing which has been designed primarily for use where ball bearings have previously been employed, is the Delarmet, a product of De La Rue Plastics, Ltd., Avenue Works, Walthamstow Avenue, London, E.4. The outstanding feature of the design is that the load is taken on a plastic material which has been subjected to a special colloidal graphiting process that imparts to it practically permanent lubricating properties.
As with a ball bearing, there is an inner and outer steel member, the plastic forming the separating medium. These bearings are made in two main types, one being of the rigid class and the other possessing considerable selfaligning characteristics, but they are not intended for u..e where high rotational speedg are common.
In the machining of the outside member ofthe bearing and the diameter of the hole through the centre member, dimensions and tolerances, common to ball races, are maintained so that they can be substituted for ball races without introducing difficult or, perhaps, inconvenient machining operations.
There is a large number of types in the standard range, but special bearings can be supplied to meet any particular requirement. Full technical information and the service of its advisory staff can be obtained from the maker at the address given.