A Garner Articulated Outfit
Page 57
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IN these days of fierce competition, all discriminating operators are interested in vehicles having the largest possible pay-load space, yet which comply with Ministry of Transport regulations as regards maximum axle weights, overhang, etc. An interesting vehicle has just been produced by Garner Motors, Ltd. Tyseley, Birmingham, which is intended to provide fast transport for medium loads. It is an articulated six-wheeler, the particular outfit illustrated incorporatinga Garner mode-AB6 chassis for the motive unit and a Brockhouse non-detachable semitrailer.
The motive unit has a wheelbase of 10 ft., whilst the centre of the rearmost axle is 15 ft. farther aft. Although the overall length is 30 ft., the freight space is large, the platform measuring 10 ft. 6 ins. by 6 ft. 9 ins. inside the timbered sides. These, by the way, are 2 ft. deep, with 2-ft. raves -above them (made detachable to increase the allround. utility).
With 32-in. by 6-in, twin tyres on the driving and trailing axles, the platform height'' is 2 ft. 4 ins, on the straightframe model as illustrated. There is, hOwever, a drop-frame type, in which this dimension is as small as 1 ft. 4 ins. The machine is rated at from 4i tons to 5 tons capacity.
Although the motive unit is, to all intents and purposes, a standard Garner chassis, the rear part of the frame has been considerably modified in order to make it capable of dealing with the con
centrated load at the point of attachment for the trailer. Actually the frame side members have been shortened to a point just behind the rear eyes of the springs and a deep channel-sectioned cross-member, well flitched to the main channels, is inserted; additionally, the side members have been stiffened by utilizing a pair of 3-per-cent, nickel-steel flitch plates. Furthermore, the channels have been blocked with oak and another plate fitted on the outside.
The power unit is a six-cylindered model having bore and stroke dimensions of 70.5 ram. and 114.5 mm. re
spectively, which give a piston-swept volume of 3.4 litres and an B.A.C. rating of 23.5 h.p. ; at 2,600 r.p.m. the engine develops 56.5 b.h.p.
The design of the whole unit has already been dealt with fully in the pages of this journal, so that it is necessary only to give the leading features. Side valves are contained in a detachable cylinder block which is surmounted by an easily removable cylinder head. No fewer than eight bearings are provided for the crankshaft, all of which, together with the big-end journals a the connecting rods, are pressure-fed with oil.
Built unitwise with the engine are a dry single-plate toggle-operated clutch and a four-speed gearbox having a central control lever. The indirect ratios provided in the box are 1.82, 3.26 and 5.71 to 1 for the forward gears, with 8.23 to 1 for reverse ; these, in conjunction with an axle ratio of 6.5 to 1, give an ample driving -torque to allow rough and uneven ground to be negotiated when the vehicle is fully loaded.
The semi-trailer illustrated is a Brockhouse non-detachable type, the main framing of which is built up of steel channels 3 ins, deep with 2-in. flanges. The frame runs throughout the whole length of the platform and the extremities are fully supported, so that an unevenly distributed load can be carried. A Neate trailer brake is part of the equipment, the operating gear being situated in the driver's cab.