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Automobile Experiences in the Great War.

31st August 1916, Page 17
31st August 1916
Page 17
Page 18
Page 17, 31st August 1916 — Automobile Experiences in the Great War.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A Paper Contributed to the American Society of Automobile Engineers by W. F. Bradley, Our Special Correspondent in Paris.

(Concluded from pc2g,e 540.) Tractors Developed by French Army.

The French army has developed two different types of four-wheel-driven tractors : a heavy tractor .capable of hauling not less than 12 tons, generally. on two trailers ; and a lighttractor hauling a minimum of 8 tons. The unloaded weight of the heavy traotor is limited to 51 tons, and the light tractor must, not scale more than 31 tons, these weights comprising the complete vehicle, two 'drivers, gasoline, oil, tools and spares. Although some six cylinder engines were used for this work in the early stages, at present fourcylinder engines are employed exclusively. Every tractor is fitted with a power-driven winch Or capstan. This is absolutely essential, war experience hiving shown that even a four-wheel driver cannot work successfully across country without this.auxiliary. As a general rule the winch placed horizonstally across the front of the fiaine has been the most successful tgpe. Towing hooks are fitted front and rear, an artillerytype elastic coupling is provided at the rear, a powerful sprag or ratchet is fitted, and the tractors have equal size dual tires front and rear. The use of these . tractors has been confined largely to the haulage of 120 mrn. and 155 mm. field guns, which is heavy artillery that must nevertheless . possess a reasonable amount of mobility., 75 mm. Guns on 31-ton Lorries.

The four-wheel-driven tractor has not been used to any great extent in the haulage of the 75 mm. field piece. Nevertheless, a certain number of the 75 rum. batteries have been motorized. The weight Of this gun, without its carriage, is only 1014 lb. Thus it can easily be carried on a chassis designed for a 31-ton load. The problem to be solved was a, system of quick-acting jacks that would take all the weight off the springs. when the gun went into action and give the same rigidity as 'Sir ith the ordinary gun carriage. For these automobile .guns the authorities have selected De Dion-Bouton and Schneider 3i-ton chassis similar in general design. The engine is a four-Cylinder of roughly 41 in. by 6 in. bore and stroke ; the gearbox provides four speeds; and final drive is by internal gears. These batteries have been extensively and successfully employed for anti-aircraft-work. The. ammunition wagons are of the same general design as the gun-carrying chassis. Unlike the ordinary. trucks the hood-is armour-platedThe gasoline tank is placednt the rear inside a steel box without a top. This gives it adequate protection against bullete and shell splinters. An entirely distinct class of work is the use of automobile tractors for the haulage of heavy artillery14 in., 15 in., and 16 in. guns. . For this class of slowspeed heavy haulage, steam has been abandoned in favour of the internal-combustion engine. Even the British. who have always shown a partiality towards stearn, have adopted gasoline tractors for the haulage of heavy guns. Although varying considerably in do-tails of design, these tractors are all' on the same general lines. They embody little of the automobile type chassis. In one particular case a Pure traction-engine chassis, made by a steam traction-engine manufacturer is employed, and is fitted with a six-cylinder Knight engine of about 6 in. by 61 in. bore and stroke. The engine operates the large diameter metal road wheels through internal gearing, and in addition drives a powerful winding drum. The tractors haul loads of 25 to 30 tons distributed over two or three trailers. Their rate of travel is 3 to 4 m.p.h. Special Advantages of the Caterpillar Tractor.

For this work the caterpillar tractor is being used to a moderate extent by all the Allied armies. Except for agricultural purposes Europe has paid little attention to the caterpillar tractor before the war. Thus the machines now used by the aimies are practically all of American origin. On certain occasions when the enemy's lines have been broken by heavy artillery fire followed bS, well-ordered infantry attacks, it has been found' difficult to make this temporary success a_ permanent advance by reason of the slow rate at which the supporting artillery has been brought up over the broken country. It is under such conditions that the caterpillar tractor can be used to best advantage. There is no kind of country over which it cannot znove,,and it is capable-of bringing up guns more quickly, than they, can be hauled by horses. The necessity has been shown for 'specially trained crews for the handling of.four-wheel driven tractors and of heavy artillery tractors and caterpillars. An ordinary automobile driver is not sufficiently experienced.' The men, and the' officers in command of them, should know immediately what kind of country can be traversed with and without chains and paddies on the wheels' what hills can be climbed with the full number of trailers ; where to drop the load ; and where and how to put the winch in operation. The adoptien of motor traction for a heavy howitzer battery means that the entire work of the battery is performed by mechanical traction. Thus a .battery with 45 tractors will hate attached to it about 40 five-ton trucks and 20 threevas trucks for bringing up ammunition and supplies, as well as about 15 cars for repair service._ Work oil Armoured Cars.

Practically everything on wheels capable of carrying a machine gun has"been fitted up for service at some time or other and termed an armoured car. Nearly two years of fighting is a sufficient length of time to allow many errors to be 'corrected, and to give plenty of a.ocurate information on what armoured ears can and cannot do. Even now, when the unsuitable types have been eliminated there are several varieties of armoured cars. At one end of the scale are the inotoicycle and sidecar carrying a machine gun„ and at the other end'the heavy truck, weighing about. 12 tons, and carrying four machine, guns and one-field piece. It should be pointed out, however, that an exaggerated importance has been given to the armoured car. In the present, stage of' war on the Western front, with men in trenches 10 ft. below the ground and in dug-outs 20 ft. below the earth's surface, there is not much opportunity for a scouting automobile to show its merit: But before this underground warfare was adOpted armoured cars were important, and they will doubtless again be important when open fighting is resumed. The most suitable type of machine has been found to be a powerful touring car type of chassis with a four-cylinder engine of approximately 4 in. by 6 in. bore and stroke, or its equivalent. The single compartment body is built up of steel plates, generally 0.3 in. thick, capable of resisting rifle fire at close range. The plating extends over the engine and the radiator, with louvres to allow a sufficient draft of air for cooling purposes. Steel disc wheels are fitted,

Automobile Experiences in the Great War—con.

with twin pneumatic tires at the rear, and fenders designed to deflect bullets without interfering with the accessibility of the wheels. l)ouble steering, although a decided advantage, has not been adopted in the majority of cases. No ordinary chassis is built to steer from both. ends, and rather than undertake additional work the cars have been sent out with ordinary steering. In practice, the double steering is never required except at rare intervals and for short periods ; when it is needed, however, it may be, wanted badly. These cars usually carry one or two machine guns in a turret, or sometimes a machine gun and a cannon. A powerful wire cutter is an important adjunct.

Trailers Behind All Kinds of Cars.

It is worth noting that the war, has brought about an extensive use of trailers. Their'firstiapplication was in the automobile service, where loads are bulky and light. Their use has been extended in this,service, and has also been adopted by other branches of the army. Naturally the four-wheel driven 'tractor has tended towards a considerable increase in the use of trailers, but these are vehicles originally designed for operating with trailers. The trailers are now being attached behind all kinds of automobiles, which, it was originally thought, would never have to. receive them. Thus *ton trucks working with bulky loads are being made more efficient by the addition of trailers. A large number of light trucks of and 1-ton capacity, mounted on pneumatic ,tires, are fitted with the special army type elasticvoupling at the rear, and will take one or two two-wheel pneumatic-tired trailers. These are extensively used for the transportation of men working in the rear of the lines. For instance, at a big aviation depot employing 500 men, who have to work five miles from their billets, these light tractors and trailers are used to take the men backwards and forwards morning, noon and night. The machines are not kept specially for this purpose, but are used on general haulage work around the-depot. The trailers are merely two-wheel floats with canvas tops on detachable hoops ; the front is closed, and entrance is at the rear ; there are two longitudinal seats. In a few minutes the trailers can be stripped to mere plat

form bodies suitable for carrying aeroplane wings or a complete aeroplane. As a speed of 35 m.p.h. can be maintained on good roads, these outfits are valuable, in case of necessity, for the quick transportation of troops to threatened points. Many of the smaller munition factories not having sufficient work to justify the purchase of a truck are using ordinary touring cars with a trailer attached.

War Standardization Lessons.

Innumerable arguments can be found in the war zone in favour of standardization. The military tendency the world over is towards uniformity, and attempts will doubtless again be made to standardize design. 'This is a tendency that should be energetically opposed, for no single vehicle can monopolize the good features of automobile design. As already pointed out, the attempt to impose on manufacturers a purely military type is doomed to failure.. Noarmy can maintain in peace all the trucks it will require for war conditions. Any military type that can be developed is bound to be swamped by the thousands of purely commercial models that will have to be enrolled when the nation goes to war.

Features that Should be Uniform.

Certain features can be insisted on—and indeed are required in Europe at the present time—without handicapping the designer or making it difficult for him to adopt improvements as they are suggested by experience. The features that should be uniform are :—Size and style of bodies wheels and tires (in France these have now been ;educed to one size); magneto bases and couplings; carburetter flanges; towing hooks ; turning radius ;• clearances ; driving chains ; threads for all bolts and nuts; and control.

All these features can be adopted, for trucks of a given capacity, without interfering in any way with the scope of the designer and without,arresting progress. Although the army type body may not be suitable for all classes of business, it is an easy matter to make the one adopted interchangeable with it. But it is in the repair shops, that the real lack of standardization is felt. The repair staffs that have to handle every kind of vehicle from the automobile factories of the whole world, can be excused for believing that not even the fringe of this problem has been touched. Not only does there appear to be an

entire lack of uniformity between One firm and another, but then the product from individual factories is not' .sufficiently standardized: The military authorities have every reason to encourage the 'movement to . Wards standardization in' automobile engineering.

Uniform Nomenclature Needed.

The archaic system of naming automobile parts is another difficulty that ought to be removed. White has a set of names that are not in concord with those of Packard or Peerless ; English terms are not the same as those of America ; French terms are more uniform than English, but they are open to improvement.. The confusion is so great that in the big stores, where French, American, English and Italian spares are given out, it has been necessary to adopt a new international code. It is one of the curiosities of the war that France should be interested as much as America in the standardization of the technical terms of the American automobile industry.


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