Dealing with a 7-ton Load of 57-ft. Length.
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AN interesting test of the hanling powers of a Fordson tractor was recently carried out on Sedgley Bank, which has a gradient of I in 12, and is located on the Tipton to Wolverhampton road. The load consisted of a huge water pipe, measuring 57 ft.. in length and 4 ft. 9 ins, in width, this formidable object turning the scale at approximately 7 tons.
During the first series of -tests the pipe was mounted 'on two bogeys, an arrangement which did not permit of sufficient weight being transferred to the driving wheels of this tractor, with the result that wheelspin occurred when ascending greasy pitches. Accordingly, it was decided to carry out a secorad test, in which a special bogey designed by Braithwaite and Co. (Engineers), Ltd., a Crown Bridge Works, West Bromwich, was used. With this equipment the tests were carried through satisfactorily, the tractor hauling the load at it speed of 10 m.p.h. and negotiating corners without any difficulty.
The principal test was the ascent of Sedgley Bank, on which, the tractor
successfully made a restart, and it was also able to stop and reverse On its return journey. As a result of these demonstrations, the Hanger Motor Co., Ltd., 187, Broad Street, Birmingham, were able to book an order for several tractors for delivery to Braithwaite and Co. (Engineers), Ltd., who are engaged in the construction of a water line in India. The tractors are to be used in the place of a light railway, and will haul the huge .pipes over a distance of nine miles to a site in the vicinity of Bombay.