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Comparisons.

26th March 1908, Page 29
26th March 1908
Page 29
Page 29, 26th March 1908 — Comparisons.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

To-day s Standard Types Embody the Lessons of Extended Use.

One does not need to go back further than the early months of the year 1903, in order to recall a period when the commercial motor industry of this country was passing through the critical stages of its development. Little more than six years had then elapsed, since the date of the passing of the first Motor Car Act, which came into force on the i4th November, 1896, and only during the last three of these had there been any considerable effort to turn to practical account the very numerous and disjointed experiments which had been undertaken, both on the Continent of Europe, and in this country, by the pioneers of the movement, whether manufacturer or would-be user.

Overloading.

So far as the delivery van was concerned, constructors had killed their chances, by selling pleasure-car chassis to traders, although it must be admitted that these very traders themselves helped to bring about the early destruction of their own purchases by fitting the clumsiest of body-work, and by overloading the machines even beyond the very rosy estimates of the vendors as to their capacities,

Back to the Pioneers.

Then emerged the steam wagon, whose lines had been broadly settled by the specification of the Council of the Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association, whose set of conditions for the 1898 trials was published on the 16th November, 1897. The first " Poids Lourds " of the French Automobile Club had taken place in August of that year, and various steam systems had competed, but it was not until the conclusion of the third series of Liverpool trials, in June, 1901, that the judges had felt justified in making any strong recommendation in favour either of the petrol van for 3o-cwt. loads, or the steam wagon for loads of four tons and upwards. Immediately after these trials of 1901, orders were placed, with comparative freedone both for the petrol vans in question, and for numbers of the steam wagons to which gold medals had been awarded. Some buyers preferred to take the risk, which was clearly indicated in the judges' report, of using steam wagons which were built strictly in accordance with the 1896 Act, i.e., whose unladen weight, exclusive of any fuel or water, was less than three tons ; others elected to take other risks, also clearly indicated in the report named, of placing orders for vehicles whose tares were illegal. The former had to pass through a sea of trouble, owing to breakages, and the latter were not without undesirable experiences.

The space at our disposal in this brief review and comparison does not allow of our going into too much detail. We can usefully, however, emphasise some of the reasons which justify a reference to those early days of commercial motoring as " the period of disaster," because such reminders must satisfy new students of the movement that they are now entering a field where an enormous volume of hard experience exists, and where they can, metaphorically, place their own feet upon the heads of the pioneers who bad to suffer for the benefit of later buyers. Broadly speaking, the universal trouble, five years ago, was the lack of interchangeability of parts, and this probably led to more waste of time., loss of earnings, and unanticipated expenditure upon ni am tena nrc, renewals„ and repairs, than any other single cause. We are happy to be able to state that production strictly to gauge, by the use of jigs, and with honest inspection methods, is now the common practice of the industry.

The might of the Three-ton Tare.

Turning, more particularly, to the steam wagons of 1903, the difficulties associated with their commercial employment included : the obtaining legal limit of three tons unladen; the lack of trained drivers; the want of access to any records of long experience; the fitting of small boilers, which had to be badly " forced " on the road; faulty and inefficient cylinder lubrication ; undue cconsumption of lubricating oil, by leakage from the engine casings; insufficient strength in parts and shafts, so as to save weight; rapid wear of tires and wheels ; unsuitability of pumps and

feed gear ; and narrowness of wheel treads. Many of these faults were directly traceable to the efforts which were necessarily put forth to comply with the three-ton limit of tare, but others were equally due to want of knowledge. That knowledge, as is recognised and admitted by everybody who has been in touch with the industry from its initiation, has now been acquired, whilst the old bugbear of the three-ton limit was removed by the Order of 1904.

The Independent Tractor.

The independent tractor, Or steam horse, which we have several times compared with the steam tug in dock and estuary work, did not make any rapid strides until after the five-ton limit of tare became legal. Wallis and Steevens, Limited, of Basingstoke-, and W. Tasker and Sons, Limited, of Andover, were the pioneers in this branch, under the old conditions, although leading traction-engine makers, of whom we may quote Aveling and Porter, Burrell and Fowler, had made their own private experiments and trials, whilst another prominent maker (Foster, of Lincoln) rapidly came to the front in more recent years. The faults of the early tractors included : lack of adhesion, owing to the small weight upon the track axle; direct gearing of pumps, instead of reduction, gearing; smallness of grate area, and of heating surface. in the fire box; insufficient heating surface of tubes; difficulty of access to valves; inadequate cleaning-out facilities; and excessive vibration. To-day, however, the tractor may be said to have reached standard lines.

Internal Combustion.

Third in order comes the petrol vehicle. Going back to the early days of 1903, there were, with but one principal exception, the following drawbacks in the way of their use : ignition faulty and unreliable; rubber tires costly and of uncertain life, Whilst no maker would give a guarantee; toothed gears very expensive to maintain, owing to want of data in regard to the right class of blanks from which to cut them, and to their being unskilfully cut ; wearing parts badly hardened, or not hardened at all; radiators leaky; high frictional loss in transmission, once a little wear had occurred; excessive noise from gears; valve, governing, and other gear of engines in embryonic stages; and poor fittings the rule. All this has been altered by the lessons of the past five years, and the excessive demands in omnibus work have capped the whole by their teachings. Petroleum spirit, too, is cheaper, and supplies are more assured, whilst paraffin carburetters are more practicable.

The Greatest Contrast.

Wide as are the divergencies between the running and performances which are obtainable to-day, and those irregular happenings of the earlier years to which we have referred, an even more striking contrast is found when one looks into the matter of references and testimony from owners. Scarce could a maker induce a customer to do aught but complain and grumble, if not curse, and mutual were the recriminations that aid occur. The user alleged that the machines were defective : the manufacturer retorted that they had been badly treated, and overloaded. To this, the frequent rejoinder was, and not without reason, that the commercial motor which did not stand up to overdriving and overloading was unworthy of its name. .

Gradually, but surely, have builders of vehicles been able —partly with the help of improved materials, and partly by reason of improved design—to get away from the state of impasse which thus arose. Be that as it may, we invite any critic of the commercial motor vehicle to ask one or I note of our leading makers for references to customers of several years' standing, and we know that satisfactory replies will be forthcoming. It is upon these references to satisfied users, and upon the evidence which is found in the frequency of repeat orders, that comparisons are rendered convincing. Lastly, the aptitude of newcomers for turning other people's experience to account in connection with their own productions, whereby the newest manufacturer of all may fairly deserve to do business alongside with his old-established competitor, must not be overlooked.


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