Mann Egerton Improve Bulk-grain Bodywork
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TWO demonstration vehicles of the Bulkfeed type now being built by Mann Egerton and Co., Ltd., Cromer Road, Norwich, incorporate a number of improvements made as a result of experience gained from the operation of earlier models.
The bodies are being based on Austin chassis. The smaltr has four hoppers and is mounted on a 7-ton forwardcontrol chassis with a wheelbase of 12 ft. 6 in., whilst the other has six bins and is built on a similar chassis with a Boys 5-ft. 6-in, extension and third trailing axle.
Price fixed for the four-bin body is £2,178 and the six-bin £2,495. Other types of 7-ton forward-control chassis considered suitable for the smaller body are the 13-ft.-wheelbase Bedford, 11-ft. 9-in. Commer, 13-ft. 7i-in. Dodge and 11-ft., 6-in. Thames Trader. The Leyland Hippo and A.E.C. Mammoth Major may take the six-bin body.
The company began building bodies of this kind five years ago, since when about 24 have been made. There has lately been a sharp increase in demand, and the newest design is chiefly intended for the distribution of animal feeding stuffs.
Advantage has been taken of the revised Construction and Use Regulations, and the bodies are built to the full legal width of 8 ft. This enables the overall height to be reduced to 10 ft. 7 in., of value when there is restricted clearance under a farm hopper, and the centre of gravity to 7 ft. 6 in. when laden.
Each bin has a capacity of 82 cu. ft. representing the following tonnages with different loads: wheat, 1.72; barley, 1.42; meal, L29; oats, 1.12.
The unloading apertures at the bottom extend for the full length of each bin, 3 ft. 4 in., and there are individual slides. This allows the hoppers to be emptied singly and in any order. Although the recommended procedure is to unload from the rear, it is not always possible to do so. The sides of the bins at the bottom are suitably angled, and the width of the aperture sufficiently generous to prevent bridging, a condition which occurs when material heaps over the aperture and checks flow.
Angled cut-outs in the slides allow the initial flow of material into the auger channel to be precisely controlled.
The auger is a Barron product and windows are inserted so that any blockages of material in the channel can be seen by the operator. There is no window under the front bin, as this is considered unnecessary. Others are placed on opposite sides to the slides, except that at the rear there is a window on each side so that a view right through the channel is given.
Material drops from the rear of the auger into a Callow seal. A Roots blower is mounted underneath the chassis on the near side under the front bin, in which position it is driven by a layshaft connected to the gearbox power take-off.
Reduction Gearboxes The power take-off is connected by belts to a layshaft mounted on a panel immediately behind the cab on the off side. After passing through a handcontrolled clutch, the drive is transmitted to two reduction gearboxes, one for the operation of the seal and the other the auger. A Hardy-Spicer override clutch is incorporated in the seal drive as a precaution against jamming.
A manual throttle is provided on the panel, and it is possible to control the relative speeds of the seal and auger by means of a variable-slip belt drive between the layshaft and the reduction gearbox for the auger. This facility is provided because of the different flow ;haracteristics of various loads.
The complete four-bin body with associated equipment weighs 2 . tons 7 cwt., and the six-bin 3 tons. Sacks may be carried on decking at chassis-frame level below the body sides if desired.