B.I.F. Holds Interest in Handling Equipment
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Navel and improved•Earth-moving Equipment and Industrial Appliances Displayed at Castle Bromwich VARIOUS well-known makes of mobile crane and dumper pre. viously exhibited in the hardware section of the British Industries Fair at Birmingham are not shown -this 'year. The display of-equipment in the transport class is consequently less comprehensive than before, but interest is maintained by heavy earth-moving machines, fork-lift trucks, small industrial units and other types.
Although a prototype of the Vickers VR-180 crawler tractor powered by the Rolls-Royce 180 b.h.p. oil engine was shown in 1951, its appearance this year in production form with a range of matched equipment is one of the highlights of the outdoor section. The tractors and equipment are exhibited by lack Olding and Co., Ltd., Hatfield, Herts, on outdoor Stand 1334, one tractor being fitted with a cable-operated dozer blade and another attached to the Vickers 12-cubic-yd. cable-operated
scraper. _ The tractor has been tested under arduous operating conditions in this country and Australia, and has performed satisfactorily. Its top-gear speed of 9.73 m.p.h. combined with a rated draw-bar pull of 3,140 lb., is a favourable factor in the reduction of operating costs, and it is claimed that the dozer. with a comparatively small blade of 138 ins. by 38.4. ins., is capable .of a higher rate of, working than machines in the same class manufactured abroad.
At reduced speeds in any of the six forward gears. a greater draw-bar pull is available, the maximum in the sixth ratio being 3.600 lb.; in -bottom gear the pull is 29,500 lb., compared with the
usual 26,100 lb. The scraper has a 104-in, cutting edge, and its maximum depth of spread is 12i ins. The maximum ground clearance at the rear of the howl is 18 ins. and 24 ins, at the front axle. The estimated dry weight is 23,400 lb.
The Galion motor grader, powered by the Leyland AU450 100 b.h.p. oil engine, is also shown on the Olding stand. Steering servo is provided by hydraulic boosters. Ample clearance between the front and rear wheels permits the hydraulically operated moldboard to be completely reversed for operation in either direction. The blade has a reach of 8 ft. beyond the rear tyres.
Onions and Sons (Levellers), Ltd., Bilston, Staffs, exhibiting on outdoor Stands 1341 and 1240, is now under the financial control of the Vickers company. The Onions concern makes a wide range of scrapers, dozers _and rippers, including a scraper with a 10-ft. blade • which has a struck capacity of 18.35 cubic yds. A feature of many of the Onions bulldozers is the use of an overhead rope hoist.
The Aveling-Austin 99-H motor grader and the Euclid motor scraper are both British-built vehicles based on well-proven American designs. The first of the Euclid machines was completed a few hours before the Fair opened.
The 99-H grader is manufactured by Aveling-Barford, Ltd., Grantham, Lines, and is shown on outdoor Stands 1217 and 1116. The machine has four-wheel drive, and all controls are hydraulically operated. The 13-ft.
blade can be completely yeversed, and moved to any blanking position, including the vertical, by the operator in his cab. The range of attachments available includes an 11-tine scarifier, bulldozer, earth-loader and snow plough, and the machine can be used with equal facility for forestry, haulage and road construction, the trimming of open-cast coal seams and irrigation banks, aerodrome levelling and top-soil stripping.
The Euclid scraper. which, is „shown by John Blackwood Hodge and Co., Ltd.. Hunsbury, Northampton, has . struck-measure capacity of 12 -cubic yds. and a heaped capacity of 16 cubic yds. The tractor is of the fourwheeled 'type and is powered by a Leyland 11:1-litre -154-b.h.p. unit, or a • Rolls-Royce 12.18-litre oil engine developing 165 b.h.P. The
single stage, single acting hydraulic hoists are connected direct to the bowllifting linkage, and a similar mechanism .operates t h e apron through multi-strand cables. For the ejector lift, an hydraulic hoist is mounted between the ejector dump lever and the box section of the scraper axle. The net weight of the tractor and scraper unladen is 42.000 lb. Intended for long-haul dozing, the 8U bulldozer shown for the first time by the Birtley Co., Ltd., Birtley, County Durham, on outdoor Stana 1302, is fitted with an 11-ft. 11-in, blade designed to reduce end-spillage to a minimumwhen travelling straight ahead. When hard or rocky material is likely to be encountered, the blade is tipped forward and acts in the manner of two ripper bits. The maXimum lift of the blade above the ground is 50 ins., the maximum bladepitch adjustment is 10 degrees and the maximum tilting adjustment is .16 ins.
One of the most comprehensive ranges of earth-moving equipment and contractor's plant is exhibited by BlawKnox, Ltd., Euston Road, London, N.W.1, on outdoor Stands 1303 and 1202. New machines include a David
Brown Traclunaster 30 crawler tractor with Blaw-Knox angledozer and type F power-control unit, and the BK10 medium motor grader, a small version of the BK12 grader. • it has a 10-ft blade.
The flame-proofing equipment of the oil-engined Model FTF fork-lift truck shown by Coventry Climax Engines, Ltd., Widdrington Road, Coventry, on outdoor Stand' 1342, comprises a 20gallon exhaust-gas washing tank.Protected by a multi-plate labyrinth-type explosion flame trap, and a corrugatedcoil flame trap between the engine induction manifold and the dry feltcartridge air cleaner. The engine is started by a compressed-air unit and no electrical equipment is employed. The truck has been supplied to, or is on order for, 28 oil-refinery installations. The brick-lifting method shown on the stand is by means of a series, of metal-strip formers into which briel:s are placed at intervals as headers to support the load. The cost of the formers is low and they enable a full load of bricks to be lifted by a truck without a pallet.
The use of an Austin four-cylindered unit in the Staeatruc petrol-engined 2PH truck has eased the servicing• problems in many overseas areas. The Rodman grab device is shown fitted to a battery-electric truck, the equipment comprising two clamping arms operated hydraulically.
Described as a small fork-lift truck for use in congested spaces, the Model 10 shown by Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies, Ltd., Ipswich, on outdoor Stands 1317 and 1216, is a batteryelectric vehicle with a hydraulically operated lift having a capacity of 10 cwt. at a 15-in. load.centre, and lifting heights of 8 ft., 9 ft. and 10 'ft., according to specification. The machine can travel at 5-1m.p.h. fully laden, and its full-load lifting speed is 20 ft. per minute. The turning circle is 10 ft.
Shown for the first time in this country after being exhibited in Geneva and Milan, the Wrigley fork-truck shown by Wessex Industries (Poole), Ltd., Poole, Dorset, on outdoor Stands 1333 and 1232, is powered by a Villiers. 350 c.c. four-stroke engine and can lift 1.000 lb. to a height of 7 ft. 6 ins. The Wrigley power-steering head is standard.
Light Lifting Truck
The production model of the 10-cwt. truck manufactured by Molyneux and West (Industrial Trucks), Ltd., Urmston, Manchester, and shown by B.S.A. Cycles, Ltd., on outdoor Stand 1326, has a maximum lift of 8 ft. 4 ins, and a top speed in the highest of the two gears of 4 m.p.h. The power-steering head is fitted with a B.S.A. industrial unit developing 6 b.h.p., and it gear pump is chain driven from the engine to provide hydraulic control of .lifting.
The Conveyancer Fork Truck Co., Ltd., Warrington, Lanes (Stands D717 and 616) exhibits the Model 60 machine with Brockhouse Salerni torque-con A36 verter transmission and powered by a Ferguson oil engine. By mounting the engine high in the frame, the complete unit can be changed by two men in about five hours.
Ease of loading is an all-important factor which is receiving increased attention, and the Green-Ibbett retracting-wheel suspension demonstrated on outdoor Stands 1215 and 1114 by the Ibbett Engineering Co., Ltd., Kempston Hardwick, Bedford, indicates the great usefulness of ground-level loading for trailers.
The whccl arms, with quarter-elliptic springs, are operated by hydraulic cylinders, and an automatic lock relieves the hydraulic mechanism of load when travelling. The floor of the four-wheeled 3-ton trailer shown can be raised from ground level to a height of 13 ins, by the hand-operated pump, the vehicle being suitable for the transport of any equipment or load which can be wheeled, driven or rolled on to the platform. The concern's office and a'.two-wheeled trailer provide additional examples of applications.
The range of Hydrum mobile loaders exhibited by R. H. Corbett and Co., Ltd.,Burgess Hill, Sussex, on outdoor Stands 1347 and 1246 includes the nontilting platform machine which has a capacity of 7 cwt. and a lift from 3 ins. to 4 ft. 6 ins. Hydruin clamp gear for lifting two or four barrels of standard size is fitted to the 1-ton electric forktruck manufactured by Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies, Ltd.
In addition to the well-known G.F. light dumper, George Powell, Ltd., Rabone Lane, Smethwick, Staffs (Stands 11309)208 and A230), is exhibiting a new 10-cwt. flat -'platform four wheeled truck, powered by a 98 c.c. Villiers engine. The combined foot-brake and clutch pedal engages the clutch in the " down " position and applies the brake when it is released. The machine , has a turning circle of 10-ft. diameter and can operate for eight hours on half a gallon of fuel. , A new machine shown by R. A Lister and Co., Ltd., Dursley, Glos, on Stand D205 comprises a telescopic tower ladder, mounted on the threewheeled Auto-Truck chassis with a 600 c.c. single-cylindered engine. The ladder is in four sections and is extended by means of a handor power-operated hydraulic pump to its maximum height of 24 ft. 6 ins. When the tower is closed,the overall height of the machine is a little more than 11 ft. The rotating platform accommodates two men.
Elevating Platform
The Lister 2-ton elevating truck is shown fitted with a well-type platform which can be lowered to the ground for loading and unloading purposes. For travelling, the platform is raised 5 ins, by hydraulic means. The single driving wheel is fitted with a pneumatic tyre and the rear wheels with solid tyres.
An interesting novelty exhibited by Autoset (Production), Ltd., Stour Street, Birmingham, 18, on Stand D426, is a dolly with independent suspension units. These comprise castors which are supported by spindles mounted in bonded-rubber bushes. It is claimed that the design obviates shimmy.
Other exhibits of interest include flashing-light signals shown by Trico Folberth, Ltd., Brentford, Middlesex, on Stand C318, and screen-washing equipment displayed by Kigass, Ltd., Shenstone, Staffs, on Stand D116.