British Pipe-carriers for Burma
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More Leylands for Employment in the Oilfields. Special Features that Aid Rapid Loading
FOR six years, eight Leyland pipetcarrying machines have been employed continually in laying and renewing the important oil pipe lines in Burma and Assam. Recent ineteased activity at the oilfields has created a demand for snore transport and a further four machines are to be shipped to the Burma and Assam oilCoinpanics within a few days.
In appearance the lorries .are entirely unorthodox, and they have been designed so that two men alone are able to load a set of 40-ft. pipes or machinery weighing up to 7 tons, transport them over rou,gh country and offload them at the required site. The chassis are six-wheeled fully articulated Terriers, manufactured by Leyland Motors, Ltd., with bodies built entirely of -steel by Bromilow and Edwards. Ltd., of Bolton.
• Little alteration has been made to the new machines when compared with the vehicles now in use These can be loaded with a 404t. pipe in approximately 30 secs., the power being supplied solely by the chassis engine.
The loading method employed is by hawsers working from capstans located on each side of the frame, just below the driver's cab. When loading at the off side, the near-side capstan is used,
the hawser being placed around it, carried through holes in the centre of the steel platform, and eventually looped round the pipe to be loaded. The pipe is then rolled by the hawser up ramps, placed atintervals against the side of the body, and so into position on the platform, where it is secured by clamps, without the need for lashing.
Owing to their length the pipes overhang b o t Is the front and rear of the lorry. T h e machines will, therefore, be provided on their arrival at Burma with special narrow driving cabs, just wide enough to shelter ode man. For this reason the steering and comic-As of these pipe-carrying vehicles have beers centralized.
In addition to transporting pipes, each vehicle is suitable for carrying machinery, such as pumps, used in the course of pipe laying, When loading machinery of this type, the ramps are placed at the rear of the body, and the load hauled up by a winch under the driver's seat.