Worm 1)rive for Steam Wagons.
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The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, [2413] Sir,—With reference to the correspondence regarding various forms of final drive which has been published in your pages, as you know, we are using the Bostock and Bromley patent enveloping worm gear on our 7-ton steam wagons, and we can say with every confidence that the results we have achieved up to date are absolutely satisfactory, and we believe that we have solved the problem of the final drive in the best possible manner.
The first wagon we turned out some 12 months ago has run over 10,000 miles on demonstration work, and has since been employed for several months on heavy hauling and shunting work in our works. When we say that this involves the shunting of as much as 90 tons of railway goods wagons, and heavy steam-ploughing engines and other machinery, over badly laid surfaces, you will realize that this is a most exacting test, and one likely to show up any weak points in the transmission gear or any other part of the wagon. In all this time we have never had the slightest trouble from the worm gear—or, indeed, from-any other part of the wagon—which is running just as well now as when new.
The same applies to all the other steam wagons we have turned out, which are giving the most satisfactory results, and in no single case have we had to take a worm gear down after completion or had any complaints about them after the wagons were put into commission. This is already strong evidence that the worm gear is proving satisfactory under working conditions, and substantiates the claims made above, mad in view of the advantages obtained we consider that a worm drive is strongly to be recommended for steam-wagon work. The total enclosure of the whole transmission gear, ,so that dust and dirt are definitely excluded and proper lubrication ensured, must improve efficiency, whilst the other advantages obtained of better ground clearance and absolute silence cannot be lightly disregarded. It is only necessary to consider the simplicity of the worm drive compared either with a double-reduction drive or with a chain &I've to realize its superiority in red.:wed wear and tear and smaller risk of breakdown.—Yours faithfully, JOHN FOWLER AND CO, (LEEDS), LTD. Leeds.