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THE MOBILITY OF THE SIX-WHEELER.

24th August 1926, Page 43
24th August 1926
Page 43
Page 43, 24th August 1926 — THE MOBILITY OF THE SIX-WHEELER.
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Brief Details of the Work of Morris Vehicles with the Cavalry.

MUE cavalry exercises at Aldershot have afforded the rigid-frame sixwheeler an opportunity for giving convincing demonstrations of its wonderful mobility and of the way in which it can act as first-line transport for the cavalry.

The vehicles actually employed in the exercises were Morris 25-30-cwt. sixwheeled lorries, which are capable of averaging 30 m.p.h. on ordinary roads, and, as has previously been described in The Commercial Motor, are equipped with special track chains, which pass round the two pairs of driving wheels at each side, and so permit the vehicles to operate over soft ground and to obtain a grip in places where the plain tyres would be of but little use.

These track chains and the special suspension system employed both originated in the mechanical transport branch of the Royal Army Service Corps, and the . arrangement of the bogie is such that there is no tendency for it to tilt under heavy torque.

The ordinary subsidy lorry has, in previous years, proved its claim to a certain degree of mobility in crosscountry work, for it can transverse -wet grassland, but it must certainly bow to the capabilities of the six-wheeler in this respect. ,

The speed of the multi-wheeler is such that when working with cavalry it can remain a fairly safe distance to the rear and yet be able to regain contact with the advanced troops in a few minutes. This means that each horse is called upon to carry less weight, and, as the mechanical transport can traverse rough country at a speed even greater than that of the cavalry, rapid advances can be made with no fear that supplies cannot follow.

The vehicles themselves are worthy of close study. Details of the chassis have already been published by us, but the bodies are of a special type, having a fairly deep well and so permitting the driving wheels scope to move' within the wide limits imposed by their suspension. Until this class of body was evolved the question of the wheel arch was one of some difficulty. Incidentally, the well-type body enables troops to be carried in comparative comfort, as the widened parts above the well form seats the whole length of the sides.

Detachable tilts are employed, and in, some cases the middle hoop iron is so shaped as to accommodate at its centre a light anti-aircraft gun. The special track chains are, of course, not employed when the vehicle is running on hard ground or roads, in which case they are accommodated on trays which really take the place of, and closely resemble, the familiar type of running board.

Such vehicles as these are capable

of drawing trailers carrying loads at least equal to those carried on the bodies of the vehicles themselves, and tremendous torque is provided by the supplementary gearbox with which each is fitted. The power unit employed is a 15.9 h.p., similar to that used in the Morris 25-30-cwt. chassis.

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Organisations: Royal Army Service Corps
People: Morris Vehicles

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