The Motor Drivers News.
Page 21
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Car-v Bags of Gravel. "
AN.'' (London) writes as follows :—" I am sending you an account of two incidents which have recently occurred to me while doing my work. Both the affairs might have had very serious consequences, had I not had the forethought to carry some tall canvas bags filled with rough grit. Well, I was driving my wagon, with seven tons of beer on the platform, up Blacl-heath Hill, which was in an exceedingly greasy state, when suddenly the driving wheel began to skid badly, with the result that the vehicle started to run backwards down the hill. I left my mate in charge of the steering wheel and, picking up one of the small bags, I dropped it behind one of the driving wheels. The bag immediately burst and so caused the grit to fly about, thereby pulling the wagon up splendidly. If I had dropped a wooden scotch instead of the bag of grit, it would, in all probability, have been pushed out of the way and so no good would have been done, The road was in a dreadful state, and, to make matters worse, there were a lot of small children playing about at the time. The second incident was similar, I was driving down Pentonville Hill, with the brakes hard on and the road in a very greasy condition, with the result that the wagon wanted to go at 30 miles per hour instead of half that speed. I dropped a bag in front of the wheels and so pulled up about two feet from an omnibus that was travelling in the same direction as myself. It was rather amusing. The people in the omnibus were hastily scrambling out, thinking that we were going to pay them a hasty visit. I should like to see more drivers taking bags of sand with them when travelling, because 1 am convinced that there is nothing to equal them in cases of emergency on greasy roads."
The Shed Day Cleaning. "
ES." (London) writes :—" The following notes may be of interest to those of your readers, who, like myself, have to do a hard week's work. it is the custom with most firms to allow their steam-wagon drivers one day a week, as a shed day, in which to overhaul the vehicle and do any necessary repairs to the engine or transmission generally. The day that is usually given is a Saturday, which is, strictly speaking, only a half-day, if the driver is allowed a wellearned rest in the afternoon. I am sorry to say that I know a number of drivers who, instead of getting early to work on the shed day, and so finishing the job quickly, take advantage of the time allowed them and lounge about the yard for the best part of the day. They seem, to have an idea that, when they have washed out their boiler, and put a couple of gallons of oil in the engine bed, their duty has been adequately discharged, and that they are entitled to a rest. These men never think of examining any part of their wagons unless it is absolutely necessary, and yet they wonder why breakdowns occur with monotonous regularity. I have found, from long experience, that a short amount of time, spent periodically over the working parts of the vehicle, will do away with the possibility of the wagon having to stand in the shed for, perhaps, a week. Nowadays, it is different to the old, 3-ton-tare days, when breakdowns occurred without any warning whatsoever. The bottom of the engine bed dropped out, so to speak, or the back axle gave way, as I say, without any warning. But, now, it is quite a different matter. As a general rule, it may be taken that, if a breakdown occurs on a vehicle of a wellknown make, it is the fault of the driver or mechanic in not keeping the machinery in proper condition. With all self-propelled vehicles, it can be truly said that a " stitch in time saves nine." My routine work every Saturday is as follows :—T begin by removing the mud-hole doors, and plug, from the boiler and thoroughly clean out all loose scale, etc., turning a good force of water through the boiler from a hose pipe. I then open all the cocks on the water gauge and insert a piece of stiff wire into the passages, to ascertain if they are clear of all obstruction ; this procedure also applies to the pump and injector fittings. Next, I replace the mud-hole doors, and the plugs, making sure that all the packing is in good order, and, while J am doing this, I allow water to run into the boiler so that, when the plugs and doors are in plabe, the boiler becomes half-full. I then turn my attention to the fire tubes, which 1 clean out thoroughly with a stiff, wire brush, and, having done this, I drain all the water from the tank and wash it well out before re-filling it. This washing out of the tank is impprtant, because many boiler troubles are directly attributable to sediment from dirty water which has been allowed to accumulate at the bottom of the tank. The next operation is to pack all the glands that may require it, as the " man in blue" is soon on the spot with his notebook, if a wagon shows too much steam when running. Having done this, I remove the covers of the engine bed, and make a careful examination of the working parts, to see that no bolts or split pins have become loose. My mate turns the flywheel round so that I can see whether the brasses are in good condition. Having satisfied myself that all is in order, I put in the requisite amount of oil and secure the covers again. After I have looked round the frame for loose bolts, examined the steering gear, driving chains, and the brakes, for any signs of undue wear, there are only the hubs of the road wheels to clean out and fill with oil. While I am doing this work, my mate is giving the vehicle a general clean round so that, when it leaves the yard on Monday morning, it will look "spick and span." As regards the time occupied in doing this work on shed day, I find that, when I start at 7 a.m., I finish about 3 p.m., so that I have the afternoon in front of me."
Notes on Lubrication.
" S.E." (Devonshire) sends the followingletter for inclusion in the " News " ;—" I am surprised to find that so few drivers give their views upon the topic of lubrication, especially when one takes into due consideration its importance with regard to heavy motor vehicles. It is not too much to say that all vehicles which are run for a profit have to rely on a correctly-proportioned lubricant to keep the maintenance bill within reasonable limits. Most of us know with what rapidity a thrust-pin will wear out when it does not receive a sufficiency of lubricating oil. Some manufacturers are now fitting syphon oil-cups to the bearings of main shafts, but I am very much against this feature, as, in many cases, when a driver is pushed for time, he is liable to forget to replenish the cups. If these bearings were oiled from sight-feeds upon the dash, the driver could make certain that each was being properly lubricated. The only work would be to clean the sights whenever they became dirty, and this is not a matter of much moment. I am, myself, greatly in favour of using a gravity-feed system of lubrication, because I have found by experience that there is always a danger that the pressure may decrease from some cause, a very likely one being a leaking joint. But, on the contrary, in the case of a gravity tank, which is fitted high up on the dash, it is always under the eye of the driver, and, at the same time, there is practically nothing to get out of order. The gravity tank could have a relatively large capacity, and could be made to feed the sights by a connecting tube. I have fitted such an arrange_ trent to the dash of my vehicle, and have found it to work perfectly in practice. I am sure that if more attention was paid to the question of lubrication on heavy motor vehicles, especially those on public service, more successful results would be obtained."