THE ECONOMY OF HEAVY HA ,AGE BY SMALL TRACTORS.
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An Important Transport Development. II Many Purposes Can be Sei the Tractor and Trailer Score. How L Experiences of Users.
ONE of the outstanding features in the sphere of heavy haulage is the remarkable development of the light but powerful petrol road tractor used either in conjunction with two-wheeled or four-wheeled trailers, or, in a still more recent product, as a tractortrailer flexible six-wheeler.
When first such outfits were employed in ordinary service they were regarded as something in the nature of freaks, but they quickly proved their worth and, through their use, remarkable economies have, in many _instances, been effected.
From information we have received from users who have had experience with horsed transport, there can be no comparison between the two, either from the point of view of efficiency or of cost of running, both being heavily in favour of the tractor outfit, and there is tile. additional advantage that the tractor can be employed with any number of trailers, three being quite usual.
Suitably equipped, a petrol tractor of the International or Fordson types can perform a host of duties in a nanner impossible to the ordinary vehicle. For instance, one user, J. Baxter (N/C), Ltd., of Newcastle, employs an International tractor equipped with a neat jib crane and buffers. This machine pushes railway wagons into position by means of its buffers, unloads the wagons on to trailer (using the crane) and then delivers the loads to warehouses in the district ; In its spare time (sic) it assists horse-drawn wagons up certain steep gradients in the Newcastle area, this being effected by pushing from the rear.
Spillers and Bakers, Ltd., the wen-known milling company, of Bristol, works on what is known as the shuttle system, -using three trailers and one International tractor, and with this outfit 150 tons of flour is carried daily a distance of one mile. Such work is intruding into what is often claimed to be the almost exclusive province of the horsed vehicle.
It may be thought from this that these outfits are restricted to short-distance work, but this is by no means the case, and there are many instances of long hauls, as with many tractor and pantechnicon combinations, whilst as a specific example the outfit
owned by A. J. Puffin may be mentioned. This travels from London to Ipswich four times a week, starting at about mid-day and returning the next day. It carries a 10-ton load at an average speed of 10 m.p.h. The tractor is an International, and, incidentally, the sprung-drawbar connection with its height adjustment provided on this machine is found to be a great advantage, as it enables the driving wheels to be loaded to give increased adhesion.
One of the pioneers in the employment of tractors is Perkins and Co., Gravel Lane, London, S.E.1, this company having had four years' experience with this form of transport, using 12 tractors for towing trailers, each carrying 9-10 tons of paper for many journals, including The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express and
B32 that used in the production of this journal. The company has been doing this work for over 20 years, and, so far, has never failed to deliver the goods, but with the light tractors employed it was found impossible to deal satisfactorily with such loads as those it was essential to haul, owing to driving-wheel slip ; even devices designed to impose a certain amount of the load on the tractor, whilst improving matters slightly.. did not suffice, and at that time the tractors and trailers were often to be seen arrested on the slope leading up to Blackfriars Bridge from the south side of the river. Thus the company was faced with a very awkward problem, but, fortunately, a way was found out of the difficulty, for, after the matter had been placed before the Larkhall Motor Works, of Larkhall Lane, London, S.W., a flexible six-wheeler outfit was designed, the tractor being equipped with an extension frame to which a solid rear axle was attached through the medium of laminated springs. The original wheels were then replaced by large sprockets and the drive taken by roller chains to the new rear wheels, which, incidentally, were much smaller. The size of the sprockets was so arranged that they enabled a gearingup to be effected, thus compensating for the decrease in wheel diameter. Above the frame .extension was mounted the turntable for the forward end of the twowheeled trailer unit.
This outfit Is proving most advantageous.. To begin with, it enables the Tear wheels of the tractor to be sprung, thus making it more roadworthy and less liable to cause undue damage through hammer blows on the road surface; in addition to this, adhesion is very greatly improved, as a considerable portion of the load is now imposed upon the driving wheels.
The Idea has been welcomed and complete devices can be supplied by R. A. Dyson, and Co., Ltd., 76-80, Grafton Street, Liverpool. In the case of the former the cost for the complete outfit to carry 9-ton loads is £550, using Fordson tractors, or £650 with those of International make, but conversions can be effected at much less than this, the charge made by Larkhall Motor Works being £180, less the selling value of any parts which are removed. These converted outfits are equipped with Dyson sprockets, wheels and axles.
The International tractor, with dual rear wheels and solid tyres, costs £395 complete.
The average speed is 12 m.p.h. over almost any road, and with a little practice a driver can reverse a vehicle 25 ft. long with almost the same ease as in the case of a car.
Upkeep is quite moderate. 'As an example, in the case of the Perkins fleet of 12 such vehicles, only one mechanic is employed, and he is provided with a sidecar carrying spares and tools, so being ready to proceed at once to effect any repairs on the road. On one OCC:M011, as the result of an accident, a tractor was badly damaged, the radiator, sump, timing case and backaxle casing being smashed and the front axle and wheels bent. The total cost of replacements and repairs in this case, apart from the radiator, for which a spare was available, came to under £10, and the tractor was running two days after. The costs, as compared with the horsed vehicles previously employed, work out at 40 per cent. cheaper in wages alone, and a good comparison of the consumption of the fleet is that the company does not spend per month ?or petrol and oil as much as it used to for bedding and horse feeds, despite the fact that the tractor outfits do three times as much work. It would appear that those who talk of reverting to horsed vehicles, or who continue to employ them, would do well to study such points.
The Fordson-Larkhall tractors with Carrimore trailers do eight to nine m.p.g. with the full load. This is assisted by the fitting of Solex carburetters. No particular note has been made of oil consumption, this having been considered almost negligible.
The Limehouse Paperboard Mills, Ltd., using International tractors and trailers, hauls loads which average over 10 tons. Similar tractors are used for hauling many of the insulated meat vans to be seen at Smithfield Market. Eight have just been supplied to the London and North-Eastern Railway for shunting purposes, whilst one supplied to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for service at Leicester proved to be capable of hauling 134 tons gross without wheel-slip occurring. This tractor was of course, operating on the ground, whilst the load was running on rail.
Charringtort, Gardner, Lockett and Co. uses one of these trailers for shunting wagons at its siding behind Highbury Station, the same tractor being employed for hauling loaded . trailers during the afternoon deliveries.
Where thought necessary, pneumatic-tyre equipment can be provided, although in such cases the load which can be hauled is not quite so great ; however, in our opinion, it is an advantage, as these tyres form a better cushioningmedium for wheels on unsprung axles.
One point raised against the tractor and four-wheeled trailer outfit is that reversing is practically impossible, and it is quite admitted that this is the case. Where, however, it is necessary to run the trailer backwards, it is a comparatively easy matter to unhitch the tractor, turn it around and shunt the trailer. In respect of reversing, the two-wheeled trailer possesses certain advantages, in that it can readily be backed ; in addition, it can be so loaded that a good
portion of the weight is imposed upon the drivingwheels. This is particularly advantageous when the tractor is comparatively light, as with the I'ordson. Such trailers, of course, cannot carry loads as heavy as those possible in the case of the four-wheeled pattern, but they deal very efficiently with loads up to six or seven tons and lend themselves to the provision of tipping bodies, as in the case of certain types manufactured by the Eagle Engineering Co., Ltd., Eagle Works, Warwick, and the H.13., built by the Sheffield Steel Products, Ltd., Templeborough Works, Sheffield.
The International tractor and trailer outfit is mar-. keted as being capable of carrying loads of 8-10 tons ; actually, 10 tons 3 cwt. of useful load has been carried from London to Liverpool, but as a safe figure it is claimed that eight tons can be carried to practically any place where ordinary lorries can go.
One railway company is employing a tractor for hauling trailers carrying girders, in which work it replaces six horses, and much use of these tractors is made by Pickfords, Ltd., of London, this company owning some 14 of International make.
The experiences of one user with an International tractor may be of interest. During the snowy weather conditions just before Christmas several lorries owned by the same user were snowbound Qn Dedham Gun Hill, some having slipped back to the bottom after having endeavoured to climb the hill. Chains were fitted to the rear wheels of the tractor and the stranded vehicles were easily towed to the top of the hill.
One special trailer made by the Eagle Engineering Co., Ltd., is designed to carry long lengths of timber,
and for this reason is fitted with a telescopic drawbar so that it can be altered in length to suit any size of timber up to 40 ft. An eightton two-wheeled -Eagle trailer recently supplied to GuinnesS and Co., of Dublin, carries 27 hogsheads. each weighing 6 cwt. This trailer has a screw-down castor _wheel at the front and is equipped with a cab in which rides' a second man, who operates the brake.
A particularly interesting Eagle model consists of a long channel-steel frame mounted on turntables on two specially constructed trailers, which, incidentally, are provided with pneumatic tyres. This outfit is designed particularly for carrying boilers and is hauled by two Fordson tractors working in tandem. We shall illustrate this vehicle in a subsequent issue.
The tax, on a Fordson tractor and trailer is, owing to the light weight of the tractor, only £21, and for short-haulage work where several trailers can be used in conjunction with one tractor a very big saving can he effected. For instance, there is a fleet of Eagle trailers operated by the Birmingham Corporation, each carrying seven tons of coal. The trailers are loaded from railway wagons and have to be hauled just over a mile. One tractor can easily deal with three trailers, as the time taken to load proves to be much greater than that occupied in hauling and tipping at the destination.
The International tractor is of heavier build, weighing over the 2-ton limit for the 121 tax, and is, therefore, taxed at 125.
As regards the tractor-trailer six-wheelers, the conversion of these from simple tractors and trailers involves licensing them in a different category—that of the six-wheeler with the articulated frame. This means that each must be treated as if it he a single vehicle used for drawing a trailer ; consequently, it is taxed on the unladen weight of the complete sixwheeler with the addition of £6 duty for the right to draw a trailer.
As the Dyson-Larkhall outfit utilizing the Fordson tractor weighs some 2 tons 14 cwt., the licence fee will be £48 plus £6, making a total of .£54. In the ease of the International tractor the flexible six-wheeler licence is £55. It is unfortunate that an improvement of this
nature should be So. severely penalized. • - We have before us some cost figures which have been compiled by the maker of a well-known trailer used for tractor-trailer service, and these Will act as a guide to those interested in the matter, although certain modifications should be made. For instance, since they were compiled the cost of fuel has decreased by a considerable amount, and whereas the costs of these are shown as .employing vaporizing oil, they are now generally run on petrol. Many of these outfits do seven m.p.g. or more and with petrel obtainable at under Is. per . gallon the combined figure of 3d. for the fuel, lubricants and petrol would probably be brought down to something like lid. The figures also apply to two-wheeled trailers to carry six tons.
The capital cost is :—Tractor, £200 5s.; Trailer, £.141 10s.; total, 1341 15s. The standing charges are:— interest at 5 per cent., £17; depreciation on outfit. at 20 per cent., £67; insurance (vehicle only), £8; licence, £21; wages, £156; total, £269 per annum, or £5 3s. 4d. per week. The running costs are :—Tyres, 1.25d.; repairs and maintenance, .75d.; vaporizing oil, lubricants and petrol, 3.00d.; total, 5.00d. Per mile.
On an• estimated mileage of 100 per week, running costs at 5d. per mile are £2 Is. 8d., and the standing charges £5 Ss. 4d., making a total of £7 5s., or a total cost per mile run of is. 5.36d.