Service Neglect and the Costbf Rectifying It.
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wi ERE WE ASKED to name that wilich, in our opinion, is the most distressing sight in-connection with the commercial vehicle industry, we should, unhesitatingly, choose a park of vehicles returned, by one or other of the Services. This matter has been referre.d to before in the Columns . of The Commercial Motor, but a. recent visit to one of these parks has served again to set the blocil at the waste of public money that was allowed to
occur after the Armistice.
Neglect, exposure to the elements, pilferage, apparent wanton destruction are evident throughout not one chassin. in a number but every ehassia---and that is the surprising part of it. It can be no explanation 'that the Services retained the good and disposed of the had, because the bad occupies far too high a
. proportion of the whole of the purchases.
Like beauty, much of the injury is barely skin deep, and because our manufacturers had builded well, the -vehicles come through their reconditioning remarkably well. But we are convinced that only when the work is done on a large scale—when the machines entirely lose their identity and pass thrqugh the finished stores in the form of stripped details and components—may the term "reconditioning rightly be applied to it. To take a single vehicle, clean and overhaul it and replace only such parts as are required to make it run, is not the way to secure lowmaintenance costs when it again is put to the stress of a. daily task, There is a. difference in the coat, of course. One company now reconditioning vehicles of its own, make is spending not less than 2350 per vehicle: sometimes the cost, where the neglect and \damage are stupendous, will run to 2600.. It is obvious that a lorry properly reconditioned. cannot be sold at 2500 or 2600.
Cantilever Springs for Coaches. .
THE FACT THAT one ,maker has a:Trendy equipped a heavy passenger carrying chassis with double cantilever springs opens up the question of improving the springing of motor coaches in general.
It must be admitted that. there is much room for improvement in this direction, though the problem is by no means an easy one. Although, for some time past, cantilever springing has been adopted on nearly all the best makes of heavy touring cars, it is rather significant that the most experienced bus builders have favoured springs of the semi-elliptic type, and there must be strong reasons for thi4% preference.
Nevertheless, the problem of bus 'suspension is rather different from that of the motor coach. The bus has to carry a continually _varying load, ranging from an almost negligible minimum to a very heavy maximum, and from the point of view of comfort. in all circumstances its suspension 4must be necessarily amcompromise. The motor CoaeE, per contra, is dependent, in most cases, for economical Working on a full load, and generally carries one. This fact should simplify the problem considerably, and Make it possible to provide a system of suspension 'which should give a greater degree of comfort than is possible in bus design—provided that the coach chassis is to be used for no other purpose. That, however, is just where the difficulty comes in, and we can appreciate that., at this particular period of development, yhen there seems to be some uncertainty as to whether the coach will preserve reserriblanee to its char-à-bands fore-runner, or veer towards what is nothing more or less than a salbon bus (likely to be used as such at certain tiines and seasons), Makers cannot be expected to.rnake drastic innovations in their Methods of suspension.
For all that, in the light of touring car experience, the -fitting of cantilever springs seems to be anmove in the right direction. There is no question but that, on heavy touring cars, their advantages have beet amply demonstrated, and it seems reasonable to expect that their use 'on coach chassis, if they are properly designed; should be equally advantageous, provided that the difficulties of sideways sway, which must be an appreciable factor in the coach springing problem, can be overcome.
"Market" versus "Mechanical" Efficiency.
IN THE TOURING oar. world it has been customary, in the past, to regard the American ear builder as aiming at theattainment of what might be called a market efficiency" in his products, whilst we in this country have been more concerned, on the whole, with getting'" mechanical 'efficiency." There has been a contrast in ideals which has often been deplored by far-sighted persons. So far as the heavy vehicle industry is concerned, however, there can be An question as to which policy is the better, and it is very satisfactory to reflect that British makers, with no exception that we,can call to mind, have invariably made the question of mechanical efficiency'of primary importance. There have been few attempts, on this side of the water,. to throw a vehicle :together, of a specification likely to appeal to a certain class of user, for the sole purpose of 'making a certain amount of money in.
• the shortest possible time, and without regard to those requirements ohneehanical performance, without which no husinesa can be built up on a sound footing.
Orphan" Vehicles are seldom produced in this country, though they abound in the United States, :and it would be a great pity if.the practice of assembling a vehicle for a 'time, merely as. a business proposition, with no intention of continuing manufacture. indefinitely, should gain ground in this country.
Not only is it essential that users shall be able to rely upon the mechanical construction of the vehicles they buy, but they must be assured that the concerns Who produce the -vehicles are -likely to be in existence long 'enough, at any rate, to be answerable for the performance of their products in after years to the persons to whom they have been sold.
Coal v.Oil Fuel for Steam Vehicles.
FOR' SOME considerable time4rriany owners of steam road vehicles have been exercising their minds as to the advantages which might accrue by utilizing oil, instead of coal for firing the boilers of their machines, and from time to time we have commented in the columns of this paper on the possibilities which appear to lie in this direction. Until comparatively recently the great difficulty lay in the want of a suitable type of burner. Experiments showed that, where oil was sprayed through fine apertures exposed to considerable heat, these soon became choked, owing, to the oil carbonizing before it could be expelled, and it was not until the Scarab patent burner was evolved that much progress in this direction tould be made.
In the Scarab burner oil is allowed to flow under gravity over a small weir, immediately under which is a small orifice, through which air or steam is forced under a pressure of some 15 lb. per square inch. The jet of air or steam catches the oil as it flows over the weir and atomizes it most. completely into the form of a fine mist, which ignites readily and burns with a
fierce, white flame. .
Those who look to oil as a means of reducing their fuel bills to. any appreciable extent will be disappointed. It is not in this direction that the economy of oil fuel lies, but in its rapid steam-raising-powers, remarkable controllability, freedom from the need for handling fuel, and cleanliness while burning—no, clinker dr ash being formed. On long runs the 'benefits derived from the use of oil fuelare particularly apparent ; the steaming capacity of a boiler is increased by some 20 per cent., and the steam pressure can be regulated to a nicety, with the result that thd average speed of a vehicle is increased considerably, owing to the time saved on hills.
As regards preparing a vehicle for work, the fillin , of the oil tank is a matter of a fewminutes. only, an steam can be raised from dead cold in from 30 t
40 minutes. .
Conservation of space is a matter of considerable importance in all vehicles designed to carry goods ; any space not occupied by the latter is so much waste, and the tendency of moderradesign is to eliminate this waste so far as is practicable. In the steam
• road vehicle so much space is usually. taken up by the boiler, etc., that little can be devoted to the 'fuel, with the result that the radius of' action of a steam vehicle upon one supply of .coal is necessarily restricted. With oil fuel a small tank can carry sufficient fuel for a journey of 70 miles, and this tank can be positioned in any convenient place where it will give the necessary head.
Tests show that the consumption of oil fuel on the average steam wagon is in the neighbourhood of halfa-gaIlon per mile, and with oil at 112 per ton—the present price in this country—this gives a. fuel cost of 6d. per mile. With coal -at.3 10s. per ton and with a fuel consumption of 15 lb. per mile, the fuel cost per mile is 51d., so that the difference in fuel cost is practically negligible. We understand that the inclusive cost of converting a steam wagon or tractor for oil fuel is approximately c4 1116, but the advantages obtained would appear more than to balance the initial cost.
The Talk on Alternative Fuels.
0 UR EXPRESSED fear with regard to the fuels section of the Imperial Motor Transport Conference, held during the Commercial Vehicle Show period, was to the effect that it would merely prove an opportunity for more talk, and that it would require exceptional 'ability in argument to cause the talk to lead to action. As the outcome of the conference, we see not the slightest move in the direction of the production of, fuels—preferably Empire grown—alternative to those petroleum products which leave us entirely dependent upon the conditions of production and. demantl in the United States. We can quite understand that it is altogether a slow business; we do not overlook a single one of the many difficulties in the way, but it does seem to us that so much light has now been 'thrown on to the stage, that inaction upon the part of those who have chosen to take a stand in the limelight only becomes
more flagrant. ' . The time has now come when the whole of the ascertained facts should be brought to the notice of the Cabinet, with a request for approval pf a definite course in the development of new sources of fuel that shall free the motor transport industry from its present thraldom. The task calls for State aid, and State protection.. There is nothing to be gained by delay, except by the petrol supply concerns; which, with a price per gallon whatever petrol may fetch as the guiding star in their trading relations with their customers, listen with unbounded satisfaction to the volume of chatter among their victims that takes the. place of action.
A Lesson of the Tractor Trials.
ASHORT TIME before the tractor trials at Lincoln we commented editorially upon the decision of the promoters to enforce the rule whereby every tractor in any one class should be compelled to use the same type and make of plough. We expressed the opinion that, on the whale, the rule was,a good one. In a subsequent issue our agricultural contributor, "Agrimot," challenged our:argument. As his article was written, and appeared, on the eve of the trials, we decided not to deal with the matter further until the event itself decided the point at issue. We now consider that we are correct in saying that the promotors and our argument were justified up to the hilt. The soundness.of the procedure was borne out in every way by the results, but more particularly was it advantageous in that one particular wherein it had been considered by some authorities to be detrimental. We refer to the propaganda point of view, and, in particular, to tractor propaganda. It was obvious tous that farmer spectators, coming on to the field, looked first, as is their wont, to the plough. Quickly discovering, however, that all the plou.ghs seen were of the sime type, they immediately turned their attention to the tractors and concentrated on them entirely, to the exclusion of the implement employed. No better way, in fact, of directing their attention to the tractor only could have been devised. Again, although the quality of the actual ploughing varied to some extent, largely, no doubt, on account of the various speeds at which the tractors travelled, yet it was, on the whole, uniform from one side ot any field to the other, and the appreciation of the tractor by farmers was half won by this circumstance alone.
,These are two points which, we believe (and we are sare that tractor manufacturers will agree With us), are sufficient in themselves to justify the retention of this practice so far as is practicable in future trials.