The Mann Steam Tractors, Carts and Wagons.
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We herewith give four illustrations and a description of the steam vehicles built by Mann's Patent Steam Cart and Wagon Company, Limited, of Pepper Road Works, Leeds. The latest and most interesting of these is the new tractor which has been designed to meet the requirements of the new Local Government Board regulations, which make it necessary that all heavy motorcars must have smooth tyres or, when shod with cross plates, the grooves between two adjacent plates so narrow as to give very little extra " bite " on the road surface. Consequently, tractors can only have limited loads over greasy roads. To obviate the slipping of the driving wheels Mr. Jas. H. Mann, the managing director, has designed this tractor with a small platform, which is capable of carrying a load of about two tons. The placing of this additional weight over the back wheels affords such an increase in the adhesion of the wheels that practitically any road, no matter how greasy, can be negotiated with ease. In dry weather, when the roads are in good running order, the platform can be utilized for carrying extra fuel, etc. The engine, which is of the horizontal compound type, is mounted on the top of the boiler. The high and low-pressure cylinders are, respectively, 4in. and 61in. in diameter, with a stroke of seven inches. The whole of the wearing surfaces are extra large, and all necessary parts are case-hardened, The engine has separate small lubricators where required, but the whole of the machinery is completely covered in to exclude dust and extraneous matter. A steam tractor of this type has certain advantages over other types of vehicles which have the whole of the machinery placed underneath a platform. Of these, the acoessibility of all parts of the engine is an important feature, to which attention should be paid when considering the best type of vehicle for hard daily work. The steel crankshaft is machined out of the solid
from a forging, and runs in long, hard phosphor-bronze bearings; the intermediate shaft and axles are likewise steel forgings of the first quality. All these shafts have phosphorbronze bearings with projections on them which accurately fit into holes of large diameter bored in the horn plates, thus relieving the holding-down bolts from any strain transmitted to the bearings from the engine. The road wheels are driven by gearing entirely, no chains being used for propulsion. Two speeds are provided, giving approximately five miles per hour for the fast gear and 21 miles per hour for the slow. All the gearing is of cast-steel cut out of the solid, giving good wearing qualities, and the gear wheels are extra wide on the face. Compensating gear is provided to enable the vehicle to turn corners easily, and this is placed on the back axle in an easily accessible position. Reverse motion is effected by means of the company's patent single eccentric reversing gear, which is capable of being notched up, and it can therefore be used for braking when the tractor has to be stopped suddenly. Although the use of the reversing motion for a brake is not to be recommended as a general plan, in cases of emergency it plays a very useful part in the control of the machine. A winding drum, equipped with a length of steel cable, is fitted on the standard tractors for use should they sink in soft ground, and two powerful brakes are fitted in a convenient position. The first brake is of the band type, operated by a foot pedal within easy reach of the driver's fool; the second is a shoe brake, brought into action by turning a hand-wheel. The foot brake will be found most useful when running through traffic, as it can be instantaneously brought into operation ; on the other hand, the screw-down brake takes an appreciable time before it can be brought into useful action. Mann's Limited is deservedly proud of the success which has followed the adoption of its short locomotive type of boiler. It is simpler than most forms, and requires no skilled labour to keep it in proper working order. The fusible plug is placed at the top of the firebox and, consequently, is at the highest internal portion of the boiler, so that, in the event of a shortage of water, the plug is melted out before any damage can be done to any of the tubes or the fire-box. If the fusible plug should by any chance be melted, no harm is done, and the driver is automatically punished for his negligence by having to put a new one in. Compared with some types, this form of steam generator has a larger fire-box heating area, and is also comparatively easy to keep clean. The waterline area is a large one, and steam is given off gently and without priming ; also, the water content can be kept at a fairly constant level. A large man-hole is placed at the top of the boiler, and mud doors are provided for examination and cleansing purposes, whilst the working pressure is
18olb. to the square inch. A steam water lifter is providea to which zo feet of suction hose is attached, enabling water to be conveniently picked up when required. The front road wheels, which are 2ft. oin. in diameter, are built up of mild and cast-steel; the back driving wheels are 4ft. in diameter and are also built throughout of steel. The company has,
after exhaustive tests, come to the conclusion that steel built-up wheels are preferable to wooden ones for all-round hard work on average roads. On frosty and snow-covered highways, however, steel is found to skid to some extent, so to obviate this difficulty the company has patented a woodentyred wheel for use on roads which are covered with snow or ice. Mann's patent consists of a cast-steel inner wheel having a polygonal rim, to which hard wood blocks or segments with the grain running radially are bolted. To prevent any tendency on the part of the wooden block to split, side plates are bolted up against both the inner polygonal rim and the blocks themselves. This type of wheel is found to give good results where a steel-tyred wheel would sometimes merely turn round without gripping. The footplate upon which the driver stands is placed at the right-hand side of the tractor, and all the controlling levers, including the brakes, are within his reach. The driver is enabled, by being placed at the side of the engine, to see behind him when occasion arises for backing into a gateway. A complete outfit is supplied with each machine, which includes spuds, frost nails, tarpaulin cover, spare fusible plug, and various small tools. The overall dimensions are—length, 72ft. 3in.; width, 6ft. 3m.; and nett weight about 4 tons. The platform, which is shown in the elevation we repro,. duce, is sft. 61n. long by 6ft. wide, and is provided with detachable hinged sides, and loose removeable ends are fitted, making a useful and adaptable carrying platform. The price of the above tractor complete is -.4:425 ex works.
The hopper, which we illustrate, is one example of a number which testify to the ingenuity of these manufacturers in bringing to perfected use sundry applications of their steam vehicles. The object in view is that, when employing a motor vehicle which has a capacity four to five times as great as an ordinary horsed cart, the time occupied in the loading and unloading at the terminals shall be reduced. The hopper, which has approximately the same capacity as the body of the vehicle to be loaded, is lowered to a convenient height, filled by a labourer during the time the steam cart is away delivering a load, and hoisted into position ready for the cart to be backed under it upon its return. It has a sliding door in its base for discharging the contents, and it can be worked by the driver from the footplate. For the purpose of moving it about in a yard or dep6t, the hauling being done by the engine, the hopper is mounted upon wheels, as shown, and four drag shackles are fitted. The cross stays at the bottom of the standards can be easily lifted out of their sockets in order that the steam cart may be backed in from either end. Contractors and builders will find this system one offering great possibilities of economy.
Another of the details advocated by Mr. James 1-1. Mann is a hand force pump for washing out boilers. There is no question that the principal explanation of excessive renewals in boilers is because they are not washed out as often as is necessary to prevent mud and sediment in the water spaces from depositing and caking on the fire-box plates. Washing out with a force pump is a simple means of avoiding difficulties, and is specially effective in dislodging deposit from amongst the stays and tubesA force pump of this kind should be purchased by every steam wagon owner who has not a good pressure supply from his water mains.
Mann's Limited has recently built a steam wagon for the use of furniture removers, which we hope to illustrate very shortly; also a compartment wagon for the retail delivery of coal will be placed upon the market before long. The advantages of a steam-propelled furniture removing van over the horsed-drawn pantechnicon are so obvious as to require no explanation. The transhipment of a full load of house furniture to another dwelling is to-day a long and tedious process, especially when horses have to draw the van the whole distance between the two points. It is quite possible for the owner of the self-propelled vehicle to make two journeys to every one done by horses, and this means increase of business, not to mention the valuable advertisement gained by the appearance of the vehicles in the streets.
Great advances have been made in the Mann system during the last few years, nearly all of which are the outcome of actual road experience. There are now several hundred of the company's steam carts and wagons in regular daily service for users in all classes of work, and the makers have been specially attentive to results yielded in purchasers' hands. This excellent practice has enabled them to take advantage of many little hints gained from the employment of their machines under all conditions of road surface, gradients, and weather, and the result is apparent in the increase of orders which is being taken by the company.