HINTS ON SALVAGE WORK-III.
Page 37
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A Further and Last Instalment on the Subject of Rescuing Heavy Vehicles after Accidents, Primarily Intended for Repairs.
By " Vim."
WITH the aid of pulley blocks and ropes, or chain tackle, the heaviest of lorries can be got out of the most uncomfortable of positions, always granted that fortune has favoured the brave repairer by arranging for the smash to occur where there is something to which to hitch the tackle. An overturned lorry lying in the bed of a river, without a friendly tree within a hundred yards, or even any of the works of man likely to resist much pulling, is not a cheering sight. But the more difficult the job, the greater the interest arid•glory in accomplishing it, and so it comes about that the person in charge of a breakdown gang usually han several opportunities in his lifetitne of covering himself with honour, not to mention mud on occasions.
These hints that I am giving are, as will have been guessed, 4ilite at-random, because accidents have not Yet been standardized or classified, and it is bestir, fact, necessary----that they should be dealt with in an accidental fashion ; that is, just " any old how." Except in the case of a simple kind of smash, all salvage work is similar in one respect : that the foreman of the rescue party must spend time in thinking before doing a stroke towards retrieving a wreck— unless the wreckage happens to be on fire! It is waste of energy, and, worse than that, detrimental to the faith which his men and the onlookers have in him, to make half a dozen abortive attempts to get the damaged vehicle out of its resting place before striking the right way to do it. Here I may mention that the foreman must see to it that his position is not usurped. Personally, I never formed one of a salvage party but there were at least five or six amongst us or the onlookers who were keenly anxious to direct operations, each on a different plan, and whose remarks about the way things were being done would have been disconcerting, had they been noticed.
Making a Derrick.
If the breakdown lorry is equipped with a derrick, rescue work is often greatly simplified. A suitable derrick is not difficult to make, and,may consist of a couple of legs, formed of stout, sound timber, or of H-section steel joists, fastened together at the top and with their bases securely fixed (preferably by hinges) one at each side of the rear of the lorry. A chain from the top of the legs, anchored to some forward point of the chassis, and sufficiently long to allow the top to overhang the back of the car by about 2 ft. 6 ins., will then support a pulley block hung from the apex, and the apparatus will prove very valuable, not only for direct lifting purposes, but also for slinging up the front or back of a damaged vehicle for towing, should one or other of the axles or wheels be damaged past running.
Where nothing better offers, a purchase for block and tackle can be rigged by driving one or a series of posts into the ground, so that they make an angle of about 60 degrees with the surface of the ground, and point towards the object which it is required to haul. If the posts are not too strong, or the ground is soft, the number of posts can be increased to any extent, but they must all be in a direct line behind the first, and the top of the first must be connected by a chain to that part of the second which is just above the soil, and so on. The distance between the posts should be as great As possible, so that the con necting chains may be aa.nearly parallel to the surface of the land as is practicable. The reason why it is a mistake to follow the pcominon,,and seemingly more natural practice, of fixing stakes with their heads pointing away from the pull, is thatathey act as levers ; their lower ends being in the compact soil found at a depth, they tend to Gm about these points, and the force, whichsis applied at a point above the soil, is therefor.., increased by the leverage and will lift the earth in front of theposts. On the other hand, with heads in the other direction, the first application of the force, so long aseit is:at an angle to the stakes great enough to preclude any tendency for the posts to be drawn directly out of their holes, compresses the earth in front of them whileethe fulcrum gradually moves upwards so th4 the power of the pull to lift the earth behind the stakes is diminished, both by the leverage and by the fact that the weight of earth which must be lifted before the lower points of the stakes can turn, is very considerable.
Righting the Overturned.'
If a vehicle is lying on its aide on a slope or in any other precarious position, steps should be taken to secure it so that it will not move into a worse one when the actual salvaging commences. 1 have seen several hours' work undone in a moment through neglect of this precaution.' In general, the best way to right an overturned lorry is to pass ropes or chains over the top and under the side next to the ground, fasten them to the wheels, and then, by hauling on the ropes with the breakdown vehicle or through pulley blocks to roll it back again to right-side-up. Take off the body first, if this does not appear capable of standing the twisting which it will get while the ropes of chains are resting on it. A few shovelfuls of earth dug from under the lower wheels, will help matters. Lifting alternately the fore and aft of a ditched car with jacks or tackle, and building up beneath it a false floor of planks, bricks, or even soil, will sometimes enable it to be brought into a more favourable position for handling.
A car " ambulance" is a useful machine for a repairer to own. Such ambulances are sold in America as a regular line by firms specializing in garage equipment, but I am not certain whether they can be bought from stock on this side. A typical ambulance has two strong wheels of small diameter, carried on an axle which supports a member on which are mounted a counle of jacks with forked heads, and is provided with a rigid shaft for coupling it to the breakdown vehicle. The ambulance, when in use, is placed under either the front or back axle of a disabled car, the jacks screwed up to lift the car's wheels clear of the ground, and the victim can then be towed on its pair of sound wheels and the wheels of the ambulance.
The possible variations in the types of smash-ups, and consequently in the methods of dealing with them, being infinite or thereabouts, I had better leave the subject here or I shall become boring. One more thing I must say, however—which is, that a repairer should invariably take photographs of a smashed vehicle just as he finds it in the first place. The photographsennay settle a, big legal dispute after„wards ; and, apart from this, they willbe of great interest to himself later on.