EQUIPPING THE LORRY FOR SPECIAL JOBS.
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Hints on How to Do It, Contributed by Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
AT IS SELDOM that we hear from a
driver who has turned his hand to fitting his lorry up so that it may be better equipped for any special work upon which it may temporarily or permanently be employed. Many such ideas no doubt occur to drivers, but do not get beyond the " idea" stage, because of material difficulties, lack of time for execution, expense, and so on. The letters which we discuss below are, therefore, all the More welcome. That from "ELY.," of Paisley, well deserves the 15s. prize on account of its originality and .also because of the undoubted ingenuity and inventive capacity which it demonstrates.
It appears that his customary lead consists of 4-owt. bales of light ma
so that each package, besides, beirfg
obviously heavy for man-handling, was also very bulky. So large were these bales that, in order to load the 4-ton Halliard to its capacity, they had to be piled three deep. upon the lorry platform, a task which involved emmitlerable difficulty at both ends of the lorry's journeys. It was in an endeavour to minimize these difficulties that "R.Y." hit upon the expedient which is shown by one of the accompanying illustrations. The conditions obviously called for a crane or hoist to be mounted on the vehicle, but that one could be made and fitted at so little expense would hardly have occurred to most drivers. In principle this crane consists of a plain derrick pole, resting upon the ground, and maintained in equilibrium by
abaacket, mounted upon the framework of the body of the lorry. The bracket is built of four 18 in. lengths of Umber arranged (see sketch) in the form of a cross. The horizontal pieces are of the same thickness as the rear cross-member of the lorry body and of... convenient depth. They are arranged,one above and one below that cross-member, and close to it, so that they support the bracket, *bile 'permitting of a small amount of lateral sliding, for a purpose to which reference will shortly be made.' The vertical pieces must, be of the same. thickness as the derrick pole, for which th,eysact as guides and supports. Behind the horizontal pieces are two vertical bars of steel, bolted to the timbers, and passing behind the lorry cross-member, thus acting as supports for the bracket. The derrick is a plain square pole, 14 ft. long, and arranged with oneend resting on the ground. It slides in between the
two vertical is of timber on the bracket, and is restrained there by two horizontal, flat bars of steel, as shown in the sketch. This method of supporting the derrick allows the lorry platform to rise and fall, as the load is reduced or increased, without interfering with the derrick.
A pulley is mounted in the derrick pole, near the top, and projecting at both sides. A rope paases1.over this pulley, and receives at one end a grab 'hook, by means of which the bales are attached, and at the other a'hook which can conveniently khe engaged with a spoke of a rear road wheel. On the Hallford there is a space of 2 ins. between the wheel and chain sprocket; thus the exterior of the brake drum, may be used as a winch drum, the rope being taken round it and guided by a small swivelling pulley which is attached to the lower horizontal member of the bracket. The ability of this bracket to slide, referred to above, is useful, inasmuch as it allows the guide pulley to be put in proper alignment with the rope as it leaves the drum.
When about to use the crane jack the rear wheel which is to be used as a drum clear of the ground, carefully sketch the other, and haul away. The reverse gear is useful for the work and the twist is quite easy to control. A small bell is mounted in the driver's cab and operated for signalling purposes from the rear of the lorry. An :alternative method, when a portion of brake drum is not available, would be to run the rope round the wheel, between the band tyres. The hint embodied in the letter from "J.P., 'of Eastbourne, is only likely to be of use ix cases where a second-hand lorry has been acquired, with any sort of ordinary body, and the owner desires to convert it for use in timber haulage or like work, which was the temporary .purpose for which this correspondent made the alterations specified.
He removed the lorry body and laid four cross beams, of 9 in. by 5 in. section, 7 ft. long, in the chassis, securing them by LI bolts and plates. The ends of these beams were armoured to prevent splitting by shrinking on bands of A in. steel, 4 ins. wide. For stanchions lengths of old tram rail, 2f ins, wide on the flange, were used, being fastened by hinge bolt and easily removable clamp, as shown in the sketch, from which it will also appear that the beams were recessed at the ends to receive the stanchions.
As an additional help, to prevent the stanchions spreading as the load mounted up, chains were arranged coupling each pair together. The skids shown in the sketch are similar to those used with a brewer's dray; they were made at the same time
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On Saturday, July 8th, light your lamps at 9.48 in London, 10.16 in Newcastle 10.1 in Birmingham, 10.28 in Edinburgh, 10.10 in Liverpool, 9.58 in Bristol, and 10.53 in Dublin.