OPINIONS and QUERIES
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Chassis Manufacturer's Name Altered. The Agrimotor Necessary in Profitable Farming. S.T.-type London Bus.
Maintaining 15 Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles and Cycles. Relative Merits of Wet and Dry Cylinder Barrels.
Reasons for a Change of Title.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3171] Sir,—May I beg the use of a small space in your valued publication to inform your readers that the name of Tilling-Stevens Motors, Ltd., has been changed to T.S. Motors, Ltd.?
In order to forestall possible criticism I would like to be permitted to state briefly the reasons for this somewhat unusual step.
(1) To remove the lingering impression that our products are confined to the manufacture of petrolelectric vehicles.
(2) To emphasize again that the operating company bearing an almost similar name has no financial or other interest in our company, and such support as we receive has depended and is dependent on the merits of the Express gear-driven chassis.
(3) To assure Government, railway and municipal authorities that when purchasing our passenger-carrying vehicles they do not support in any way their competitors, since we have no financial or other interest in any operating company or group of operating companies, nor are we ever likely to adopt such a policy. (4) To enable the representatives of our manufacturing competitors to refrain from supporting tacitly or otherwise any contrary statement which may be made. For the information of your readers who are transacting business with us, may I say finally that beyond the change of name the affairs of the company will be conducted as heretofore.
W. R. SHEPHARD, Managing Director, For T.S. Mofors, Ltd.
(Formerly Tilling-Stevens Motors, Ltd.). Maidstone.
Power the Way to Success in Agriculture.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3172] Sir,—Last May a book written by Mr. C. S. Orwin, principal of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Oxford, and entitled " A Specialist in Arable Farming," was published by the Clarendon Press, Oxford. The work was a review of the enterprise of Mr. George Baylis, well known thrOughout' Berkshire and Hampshire, who farms over 12,000 acres of land.
During the 'eighties and 'nineties, a period of rare agricultural depression, when corn growing had almost gone to the dogs, Mr. Baylis seized upon the results or the researches of the Rothamsted Experimental Station into the manuring of crops and was able, by the development of what is known as a new technique, to make corn growing pay.
What Mr. Baylis did was to cut out all the labour or procuring dung for corn-crop growing, by using artificial fertilizer instead of farmyard manure, and he made a success of the enterprise, for after beginning on borrowed capital he now farms over 12,000 acres, 0,150 acres Of which has become his own property at a cost of £98,300. From 1910 to 1912 Mr. Baylis found that the a.verage cost of cultivating the land amounted to 50s. per acre. Since that time these costs have in
creased to £4 per acre, and for the past few years the business has not paid. The report states, apparently quite correctly, and Mr. Baylis admits it, that labour costs have, at the present juncture, defeated the business.
Mr. Baylis has done wonderful things in his time. To ignore the trend of events and keep land under the plough in the 'eighties and 'nineties instead of seeding it to grass, took more courage than the layman could ever imagine, and it is hardly to be expected that Mr. Baylis could make a fresh start at this time of day ; but for the benefit of those who have to carry on the business, or those others who contemplate entering arable farming of any kind on a large scale—which, by the way, is the direction in which farming is going—the suggestion may be made that any hope of success in such circumstances without mechanical power cannot. be entertained.
Mr. Baylis uses steam cable tackle, certainly, hut most of the work is still done by horses, for be owns over one hundred two-horse teams. The tractor is not used for cultivating nor the motor lorry for hauling. No figures of horse costs that can be used as a comparison are given in the report, but as labour appears to be the item which is now rendering unprofitable Mr. Baylis's methods of farming 12,000 acres, it would seem, even On a superficial consideration, that the motor, in the form of the lorry and tractor, is capable of turning that loss into a profit. Under present conditions of working the undertaking, man power costs too much. Obviously the remedy is to secure more output per unit of man-power costs and it is quite safe to assume that the motor would effect a saving of at least 50 per cent, in these costs, for farming on such a large scale gives advantages of organimation and economy of use in the employment of the motor that are not available to the farmer working on a =alter scale.
This farmer's success in the past points to the wisdoni of large-scale production and to the utilization: of science—in his ease the science of manuring. Cannot the science of engineering do the same now, as the position is almost identical with what it was when he started? L. M. MARSHALL. Evesham.
,Criticisms of London's New Buses.
• The -Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3173] Sir,—For weeks past, on receiving The Cormareiai Motor on Tuesday mornings I have turned first of all to "Opinions and Queries" to look for any criticism of the London S.T.-type bus. At long last it has appeared.
• I am a conductor employed by the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., and I will answer the two questions of Mr. Hassell from the reports that my driver (whom I believe wrote you on various occasions re windscreens) and I have gained from conversations with drivers and conductors who are at present operating the two types of bus in question. Dealing first with the L.T. type. Are they being put into service as new models or overhauls? If they be
only overhauls let us forgive the L.G.O.C. and trust that the company is "all out" for the S.T. The six-wheeled bus for operation in London is, from my point of view, not a success. After all a conductor is human. Stand at the junction of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Boa.cl (St. Giles Circus) and watch a No. 29 being mobbed either on its way to Southgate or Victoria. Believe me, sir, there you will have (unless the conductor is very active and in the prime of life) some `! elastic pen'orths."
Can a L.C.C. or M.E.T. tram conductor obtain a full load of passengers and then have all his fares collected within half a mile? It is impossible with a load of 50 seated passengers and five standing, making a total of 55, or even only 54. In the ease of the S.T. bus any conductor could or should have them all in within the half mile. I take the half mile as the approximate halfway of a penny ride. Well, let's raise our glasses to the S.T.—the bus of the future for London—and a " silent " bus at that.
As regards the second question. Believe me, sir, some of the " die-hards " on this company have sat at the back of .a piece of tarpaulin for so long that suddenly to be given a spring seat and windscreen is a revolutionary thing to happen. Think of it, a windscreen in London in 19301 Years ago motor coaches with windscreens were speeding along ouvroads from, say, London to Glasgow, and through narrow roads in the dead of night, but who could think of a London bus driver on a pouring wet night with a loadof human beings—the most• valuable cargo in the world—sitting in his seat at the back of the steering wheel with a windscreen to protect him from the rigours of the elements—not excluding " summer " weather I Your valuable journal.did much to bring to the forefront the plight of the London bus driver. I now have in front of me a cutting from one of your issues of a few years ago. One depicts a driver in his cab with the rain beating on to the windscreen. The other, the rain beating in the driver's face, his only protection being a small tarpaulin sheet.
Our company supplies us with mess-rooms, uniforms and many other things which help to _make the workers' lot more comfortable. It is unceasing in its efforts to make improvements which will be of great value to the staff, either directly or indirectly. When after several experiments an excellent type of windscreen is found, up come the die-hards with their complaints. The younger drivers realize to the full that a well-sprung seat, a modern vehicle with a windscreen, four-wheel brakes and many other technicalities which appeal to them, represent progress which deserves every encouragement.
In conclusion let us summarize your correspondent's two questions from the point of view of the two men who actually operate the vehicle. The L.T. pattern is not being modernized as regards its staircase, because the bus of the future is the S.T. type. The company is prepared to give drivers the protection of a windscreen, but at the moment the drivers themselves are suffering from a diversity of opinion.
The company may reply to Mr. Hassell's criticisms in an entirely different tone to this letter of mine, but I. write from the point of view of one of its employees— and a very satisfied one at that.
London, N.13. GENERAL CONDUCTOR.
What Maintenance Staff is Required ?
.Tire Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3174] Sir,—As a regular subscriber to The Commercial Motor I wish to place a question before your readers, •both employers and those in charge of fleets similar to the one here mentioned.
My query is, what is the minimum staff necessary efficiently to maintain in good working order a fleet consisting of 12 Ford vans and lorries (old type), one Morris ton van, one Bean 30-cwt. lorry, one Vulcan 2ton lorry, two motorcycles and seven tradesmen's carriet cycles?,
B36 I may add that none of the vehicles is under three years old, whilst most of them are over five and up to ten years of age, also they have to negotiate ploughed fields and in some cases traverse becks (small streams) for some 400 yds. along the routes they have to go. The average weekly mileage of each vehicle is 200 and the drivers are allowed no time for cleaning or small repairs; further, there is no spare vehicle.
Scarborough MAINTENANCE.
[We gather that the fleet with which you are concerned consiots of 24 units and that most of them are rather past their first youth; in addition, the work which they are called upon to do seems to be strenuous, and the absence of a half-day a week for small maintenance jobs is an adverse factor for the repair shop to contend with.
Working on the basis of 15 per cent. of the vehicles requiring repair-shop attention at one time, this gives, roughly, three machines in dock at one time, counting them as being in for repair whether the matter be trifling or serious. As the minor repairs will predominate, it should not be necessary to allow a full day for the work on each machine. We take it that the duty of the vehicles is not of an extremely urgent nature, because there is no spare machine kept. Therefore, we should be inclined to suggest one fully qualified mechanic who can take charge of any and every job coming in. He should be assisted by a capable man who can be entrusted to do such tasks as valve-grinding, decarbonizing, brake adjustments and so forth, while the chief mechanic is engaged with such items as scraping bearings and other work requiring a greater degree of skill.
These two men should be able to keep the fleet in good order, providing that they have the assistance of an outside concern capable of reboring cylinder blocks, boring out new main bearings when assembled in position and the more delicate operations which involve a large expenditure of time. Obviously, the two men should not be expected to tackle such ambitious work as this when the ' calls upon their time would be fairly heavy. Perhaps, as you request, other readers will give their own opinions on this matter.—ED.]
Cylinder Liners and Valve Seatings for Commercial-vehicle Engines.
Tire Editor, TEE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3175] Sir,—Mr. D. Mackenzie may be correct in saying, in letter No. 3,102, that " dry " liners are merely
a transitory stage on the road to " wet " liners, but the latter involve the redesigning of engines, and we think he will agree that " dry " liners are of great value for the purpose of reconditioning existing cylinder blocks.
Provided they are of suitable quality and are fitted properly by competent mechanics, having the necessary plant at their command, " dry" liners are entirely satis factory, and indeed they are the only proved process that at present exists for restoring worn bores to original size, thus avoiding stocks of odd-size pistons, which are a source of worry to owners of large fleets of vehicles.
In addition to this great advantage, centrifugally cast liners have a much closer grain than ordinary cast iron,
take a finer, finish and have a much harder wearing surface than the original bores. It is, therefore, not surprising that more and more commercial vehicle users are having seamless liners fitted to their cylinders when the bores wear.
Detachable valve seatings, however, in our experi,ence are not entirely satisfactory, owing to a tendency to work loose. Also, in the course of time, cracks some times develop between the recesses machined out to take the seats and the tops of the bore. Several cases of this kind are undergoing repair here and they are typical of a considerable number of cylinder blocks that has been sent to us for rectification on account of the detachable seatings having proved a source of trouble. This annoyance is eliminated and a permanent repair effected by welding up the seatings with high-grade longwearing material and then re-machining the settings to their original size, making them an infegral part of the casting itself. C. W. BRETT Managing Director, London, W.C.1. For Barinaar, Ltd.