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A HEAVY HAULAGE PLANT FOR THE CONTRACTOR.

24th April 1928, Page 62
24th April 1928
Page 62
Page 63
Page 62, 24th April 1928 — A HEAVY HAULAGE PLANT FOR THE CONTRACTOR.
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A Tractor Easily Capable of Handling 10-ton Loads in a Tipping Hopper of 30 cub. ft. Capacity.

TEM Miliars' Tructraclor has been described in these columns, particulars having been given a few months ago of the apparatus which was being built in France for the French market. Arrangements have now been made for constructing the machine in this country so far as possible of British parts, imported units only being used where they happen to be more suitable than equivalent parts obtainable in Great Britain.

The machine is three-wheeled, and is being built in two forms, first as a tractor,, the single centrally pivoted steeringwheel then being at the forward end and the driving wheels at the rear, and superimposed upon the frame above the axle being a ballast box having a capacity of 6 cub. ft. In the second form the vehicle is, as it were, reversed, the steering pillar being placed slightly more to the centre, so giving room for the sprung driving seat to be mounted over the rear end of the engine bonnet. The single steering wheel is now at the rear, and the clear platform at the forward end is suitable for a tipping hopper with a capacity of 30 cub. ft. This hopper has two curved feet, each of which has a series of studs engaging with holes or depressions in the upper web of the frame of the machine. These studs and holes form a toothed rolling path for the hopper so as to permit of band tipping.

The tractor is able on normal roads to haul a load of 10 tons. Actually, one of the type has been hauling about the yard of. the ;Millar& Machinery Co. a..16-ton. asphalt machine, and handling it easily, so the Makers are almost prepared to say that the machine could, in certain circum stances, haul a 20-ton load. "

The ballast box can be fillei with wet sand if it be desired to assist road adhesion, but, normally, the box is used for carrying a supply of petrol and water.

The tractor is equipped with a dashboard and a cab mounted on four pillars, around which, if necessary, screening can be added when working during inclement weather. The tipping hopper machine has neither dashboard nor cab, but the hdpper itself forms a partial shelter for the driver.

The power unitiS a 16 bl.p. four-cylindered monobloc petrol engine made by the Le Roi Co., the cylinder bore being 3k ins, and the piston stroke 4:i ins. and the speed is

governed to 1,600 r.p.m. The B.T.H. magneto has an aerotype impulse starter, and the engine is cranked by a handle which connects with the camshaft and is removable. The air is drawn in through the Vise° air cleaner, which is capable of being easily cleansed by sluicing with petrol, after which dipping it in oil coats the air passages with lubricant which will pick up the dirt. Power is taken through the single dry-plate clutch to a three-speed gearbox with a reverse, the total gear-reduction ratios ranging from 3.88-1 to 101-1. A Hardy Spicer universal joint is interposed between the gearbox and the back axle, a heavy internal gear drive axle with enclosed gears being employed in conjunction with a separate load-carrying axle.

There are two independent brakes positively contracting on drums on the transmission shaft. One is operated by hand and the other by foot.

The wheels are of cast-steel in disc form on taper roller bearings, and they are shod with 28-in. by 7-in. solid tyres for the driving wheels and a 20-in. by 5-in tyre for the steering wheel. The front wheel is insulated by means of a coil spring in an air cylinder, whilst the rear axle has halfelliptic underslung springs with a quarter-elliptic auxiliary on each side. Grease-gun lubrication is employed throughout:

The maximum dimensions are :—Wheelbase, 6 ft. ins.; track, 3 ft. 5 ins.; width overall, 4 ft. 5.ins.; ground clearance, 6 ins.; turning circle, 17 ft. 6 ins.-; length overall, 9 ft ; whilst the total weight of the machine is 27i. cwt. (19 cwt. being the load on the driving axle) and it is capable of a speed of from to 12 m.p.h.

The height of the drawbar-pin bracket above the ground is 20 inches. _ The price is intended to be in the region of £300 for either type complete, but the full specification has not yet been agreed upon. The aim of the makers is to be able to offer the machine at a low price compatible with the best quality.

We watched a demonstration of, the two machines. The tractor was set to haul a lorry loaded with a gross weight of 10 tons up Fitzjohn's Avenue, Hampstead. It made a completely successful climb without a single falter, being stopped at the steepest part of the hill, where the gradient was gauged to be about 1 in 14, and restarted, which it did without any difficulty.

The steering is effected through a worm-and-cam gear and the machine appeared to be capable of very easy con-. trol. The driver's seat is a steel pressing supported on a double-leaf spring.

The tipping hopper with a full load of wet sand made extremely easy work of the hill, stopping and starting and acting almost as a runabout to the other machine engaged in the heavy task. The hopper is tipped by gravity, a handle releasing a sprung locking bar and the movement of the hopper being limited by chains. The hopper tips with upper edge almost vertical, so effecting a full clearance, and it can then easily be returned to the horizontal by hand.

The maker of the machine is Millers' Machinery Co., Ltd,, Pinners Hall, London, E.C.2, r

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Locations: London

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