Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 18
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Ten Shillings Weekly for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for anything else published.
Drivers of commercial motor vehicles and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shops, are invited to send short contributions on any subject which is likely to prove of interest to our readers. Long and successful runs,' services with no" lost journeys" ; workshop tips and smart repairs: all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter how short, or how written, or how worded. We will "knock it into shape" before publication. When writing you must mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides (not for publication), and you should state whether you wish your own name, or initials only, to be published. Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, "Tan COMMERCIAL MOXOR," 7,15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
The Choice of a Steamer.
[519] " H.B." (Cardiff), in the course of a long letter, which he sends to us in reply to that from " (Leeds) which appeared in our issue for 8th April last, throws doubt upon the latter's claim to have hauled 7 tons up a gradient of 1 in 10 on first gear. " I would not mind losing a day's pay," he writes, " to see the feat performed again on the wagon he drives. W.H.1V‘' should change about a bit and get on some of the other types of wagons. He would soon find a difference in driving : he would not want to stop at the bottom of every hill to get up steam. He would not have to make a second attempt at any hill on a Leyland."
To Withdraw Tight Ball Races.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the los. prize this week.
[520] " J.S.I." (Coventry) submits the following description in a letter with which he encloses a drawing of the device in question. This arrangement is not unlike one which was described in letter No. 433 of our issue for the 10th September, 1908. " J.S.I.'s " device, however, has several interesting differences which warrant the publication of its description. " I have noticed the many useful tips which are given in your pages of contributions from drivers and mechanics every week, and I therefore have pleasure in submitting the enclosed sketch, together
with a description, of a tool which I have found to be exceedingly useful and a great time-saver. It is well known that the removal of the outer half of a ball race from the hub of a motor-vehicle road wheel is usually a difficult task; especially is this so when the inner diameter of the ball race is larger than the inner diameter of the hub. I have made many attempts in the old-fashioned
way with a round-nose drift and hammer, but I eventually decided I would try another method, and this is the way I got at it. I procured two pieces of key steel and cut two three-inch lengths by half-inch square. I used them in the first place by placing them together like a V, with the two tops of the letter resting on opposite points of the diameter of the ball race. I placed a copper drift up against the apex thus formed by the two strips, and by hitting this copper drift, I invariably found that I could shift the race. This proved so successful that I finally made up a tool, of which I send you a diagram [We have redrawn this.—E.. I have never yet come across a case where this new fitting of mine has failed to remove a tight ball race, and no doubt many of your readers will be glad to know how they can deal with similar troublesome cases. The tool is made of two pieces of half-inch square key steel, which are pivoted at one end into two side plates, which for my purpose I made of 3-16 inch cast steel. The other end of these side plates hold one end of an eye bolt, as shown. A pull was obtained by this eye bolt through a suitable washer. I found that this last should be about four inches in diameter and finch thick for all ordinary purposes. I hardened all the parts excepting the bolt and the washer."
Taking Water from a Public House.
L521] " W.P." (Manchester) sends us particulars of a difficulty. which he met with recently :—" One day a few weeks ago I was taking a load of cotton on a long journey in this district. I had had a lot of trouble, as the road was thickly covered with snow. Skidding, of course, was the order of the day, and the journey took so long that I ran out of water about a mile and a half from my destination. The tank was quite empty, and I only had about an inch of water in my boiler glass. The only thing for me to do was to borrow a bucket from a public house which I had just passed, and to ask the landlord if I could take some water, and I set to work and filled up my tanks with as much as I wanted. Just as 1 was about to set off again, a waterman came up to me and asked whether I had a permit. I, of course, told him I had not, and explained to him the position in which I was placed. He said that he would have to book the water, and apparently did so, as I afterwards had to answer to a summons, and the fine was 5s. and 13s. costs. My employers, who only pay for Manchester water, told me at the time that they would pay half of this, but I went to the office to see them about it and they told me they would not pay any of it. This seems unfair, and I want to know whether I have any redress."
[We are inclined to think that the employers of our correspondent must have hal some reason for withholding assistance from him in this case. In default of other explanation, it would seem that the weather had caused very heavy Tunn ing conditions for the wagon, and it hardly seems reasonable to hold the driver responsible for such a state of affairs. It was certain that he had to have water, and apparently he adopted the only course available.—End