A DEMONSTRATION OF MUNICIPAL MOTORS.
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A Representative Collection of Vehicles and Appliances Which Took Part in the Event Organized by the C.M.U.A. and Gave Practical Demonstrations of Their Capabilities to Municipal Officials.
TT was a timely and fitting idea that /impelled the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to invite the Comniercial Motor Users Association to organine, in conjunction with the Society and the Hammersmith Borough Council, a demonstration of municipal vehicles and appliances prior to the termination of the Commercial Vehicle Exhibition at Olympia. • In the first place it served as a 'useful means of providing municipal engineers and transport chiefs with an excellent omiortunity for, inspecting a comprehensive array of machines and of witnessing their capabilities—in siime instances under service conditions—whilst it also stimulated interest in the Show itself. . The Venue chosen for the demonstration, which took place on Friday, November 6th, was 'Brook Green, Hammersmith, and the adjoining roads, and by reason of its proximity to Olympia and the fact that little ordinary traffic was encOuntefed, it proved ideal in many respects. • According to the official programme of the event, 23 different machines wenc dim to put in an appearance, .but this number was exceeded, for we noticed at different periods between 2 .p.m. and 4.80 p.m: several others which attracted much attention as the' sped around the Parade ground. Notable in this COIMMUCITA were a S.D. Freighter for refuse collection and a Lacre road sweeper of the type which is largelt used by the authorities in Glasgow and other im portant centres. Then, again, taking their place at the end of the line of tipping wagons, were a Fordson tractor, to which was hitched an Eagle tipping trailer, operated through the•medium of a single vertical screw, and a Leyland chassis with an Eagle attachment con verting
vertimi.tractor-lorry the vehicle into a tractor-loy eapable of dealing with 10-12-ton loads.. This -Eagle product is .a new one, of which we shall have more to say in a
later issue. • Representatives of the various manufacturers Were in attendance to explain the working of the various tipping gears 'and to give tests of their capabilities, whilst practical and instructive demonstrations . were given with . gully7 emptiers, street sweepers, flashers and sprinklers to an interested crowd of onlookers; many of whom paid, considerable attention to thecomparative performances of the competing machines.
Such was the interest displayed that
many people who were keenly following the tests of the Laffiy road sweeper, sprayer. arid washing machine -received an unwelcome shower-bath as it demonstrated its ability to deliti-er • a highpressure spray of water to the full width of a wide road. Tliia machine .was not listed in the programme,' but it gave a most creditable display. . •
Another Machine' which gave a good account of .itself in the watering and washing tests was the Dennis 1,000gallon gully emptier and washing machine. It is somewhat unusual to combine these two functions in the one machine, but this particular Dennis model was built to, meet the requiremeats of the authorities' in the .Borough of Watford, where sufficient work is not available to enable it to find profitable 'employment in one. form or the other. With its two flushers delivering water through swivel heads At a pressure up to 801b. per -inch this machine showed how effectively it could undertake the cleansing of a' roadsurface. • • Further demonstrations were given at this point with a Karrier sweeper; sprinkler and collector anda •LafIly sweeper. The former showed up to exer.nent advantage in removing debris
spread in its path, whilst the latter showed how mud and grease could be swept to the side of the road whilst the machine was travelling at a high rate of speed and without the brush throwing up the debris. This machine, by the way, has seen four years' service in the employ of the City of London Corporation, during which it has covered 4,500 miles.
While these tests were being coneluded the gully emptiers took up preerranged positions in Augustine Road, Caithness Read, Aynhoe Road and thrdiers Road—all on the east side of Brook Green—and set about their . allotted tasks. The machines which took part in these tests were the Dennis, Garrett, Laffly, Leyland, Super-Sentinel, Thornyeroft and Yorkshire, of Which four were petrol-propelled appliances. We spent a few minutes observing the rerformanee of each machine, and they all appeared to tackle the work expeditiously and well, in spite of the fact that many of the gullies contained hard-set sludge, which, in some cases, had to be liberally watered before it could be sucker up.
Tests for the Gully Emptiers.
The Garrett gully emptier, operating in Girdlers Road, met more than its full share of difficulties, for on the first gully it tackled it had the unpleasant experience of sucking up two large stones and a large nail, badly twisted, which flogged the suction hose and impeded the passage of the sludge to the tank. How stones of such a size could find their way into a gully of this type is a mystery. The suction pipe disconnected, however, and the offending obstacles removed, all was plain sailing and the machine continued its work of emptying gullies and resealing them in good style.
It fell to the lot of the Leyland marline to clear one of the worst gullies Aynhoe Road, the contents of which were badly clogged and set.
During the time that the practical demonstrations were proceeding, the tipping wagons were, of course, lined up' for inspection and demonstration and attracted the notice of large numbers of monicipal officials. In order that a better impression of the tipping capabilities of such vehicles can be judged, we think that on such occasions it should be arranged, wherever possible, for loads approaching capacity limits to be carried.
Having now referred to the main features and incidents of the demonstrai ion, we will proceed briefly to describe the outstanding details of those machines listed in the programme.
The products of the Albion Motor Car *Co., Ltd., were represented by a 24 h.p., 2-ton, hydraulic end-tipping wagon which is used on refuse-collection work by the Chelsea Borough Council. This machine has 18 months' service to its credit and has covered approximately 8,400 miles. The body is an end-tinper and its operation is controlled by a Brcmilow and Edwards gear.
The sole representative of Automobiles M. Berliet was a 5-ton tipping lorry in which the control of the tipping en3 return of the body to its normal position sre effected through the medium of a Walters gear.
A 2-1-tonner with a tipping body served to give an indication, of the class of vehicle built by the Daimler Co.,
Ltd., for municipal work. The vehicle which was demonstrated has a steel body with drop tailboard and rounded sides, which make for easy discharge of the load. The tipping gear fitted to this vehicle is of the Horizontal 'Hydraulic pattern marketed by the company.
The name of Dennis Bros. was upheld by two vehicles, the combined gully emptier and washing machine already referred to, and a 2i-ton end-tipping refuse collecting machine with a low load-line.. The chassis used for the former machine is the makers' 5-6tonner, and the cylindrical tank which it carries has a capacity of 3,000 gallons. As is usual with machines used for gully emptying, a suitable jib is provided for lowering the suction hose into the gullies. The machine has a Reavell rotary air pump, which can be used as a compressor or exhauster, and the whole of the rear end of the tank forms the orifice through which the sludge is discharged. In the Dennis refuse wagon which was demonstrated, the tipping operation is controlled manually, the maximum angle of tip of the body being 40 degrees.
Richard Garrett and Sons, Ltd., entered an example of their 6-ton steam gully emptier, this being provided with a sludge tank having a capacity of 900 gallons and a flushing tank holding 600 gallons of water. The gully emptying body on this vehicle is interchangeable with that of a standard three-way tipping body, and the change-over can be effected in a short space of time.
The Only Electric Paraded.
The only electric vehicle which participated in e:s event was a 5-ton C.V. in the service of the Woolwich BoroughCouncil. This vehicle is fitted with a Glover patent end-tipping body designed for refuse work, and is sheet-metal lined throughout. The tipping gear is electrically operated, the drive being through an independent motor fitted in the cab.
Two vehicles for refuse-collection work, but of a somewhat different type, were entered in the name of Guy Motors, Ltd., one being a 2-tonner and the other a 3-tonner. The former is of the forward-drive type in which the driver's cab is fitted alongside the engine. An outstanding feature of this machine is the 20-in, wheels with which it is fitted and which enable the loading level to be brought down extremely low. The body is hydraulically operated and is tipped to an angle of 45 degrees. The ether Guy vehicle which was demonstrated also had a refusecollection body. but in this case its movement is rontrolIed through the medium of a Bromilow and Edwards vertical ram-type gear.
The U.S.C. type sweeper, sprinkler and collector which was entered by Karrier Motors. Ltd., attracted considerable attention by virtue of its ability to effect three operations by the one machine. The sprinkler attachment, which can give a spray of 15 ft., is fitted ahead of the vehicle.
Lally (England), Ltd., demonstrated a road sweeper as well as a gully emptier, the latter being in the service of the Woolwich Borough Council. The company was also represented by a road sweeper, spraying and washing machine, although this machine was not included in the programme.
A combined petrol gully and cesspit emptier and a 2-ton tipping wagon were the representatives of Leyland Motors,
Ltd. The former machine has a cylindrical tank built up of steel plates, with dished ends, the. tank being securely attached to the chassis by mans of straps and wood cradles. The air pump is arranged so that the operation of a single lever creates either a vacuum for suction purposes or a pressure to discharge the contents of the tank. In the 3-ton tipping wagon which was shown, the body is operated by hydraulic mechanism. An oil pump driven from the gearbox pumps oil under pressure to the rams which lift the body by means of pin hinges. The basis of the latter vehicle is the company's standard 3-ton chassis.
• Another gully emptier which attracted much attention was that entered by Sentinel 'Waggon Works, Ltd. In this Super-Sentinel model the tank is placed at an angle of about 12 degrees to allow the more solid matter which is removed from gullies to settle at the rear end. An ejector is used for exhausting the tank, it being mounted on a small dome at the front end. '
Five Thornycrofts Demonstrated.
John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., entered a greater number of vehicles than any 'other maker and, actually, had five vehicles and appliances participating in the demonstration. There were a gully emptier and road-watering machine, three tipping wagons and a lorry fitted with a silent-acting winch. Per two of the tipping wagons and the gully emptier, the company's 50 h.p. type J chassis is employed, and in the case of each of the tipping wagons in which this chassis is used the Wood hydraulic tipping gear was employed. one example being of the vertical telescopic ram pattern and the other of the nnderbody type. The other tipping lorry w"...-!ch was shown is built for 25cwt. loads and its basis is the makers' 15 h.p. type Al chassis. The tipping gear in this model is hand-operated. The 'total tank capacity of the gully emptier is 1,200 gallons, the main compartment for the silt holding 700 gallons and the fresh-water compartment 500 gallons. This machine is fitted with front sprinklers, which give a spraying width up to 60 ft.
The only representative of the Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co. (1906), Ltd., was a 2-ton vehicle fitted with a hydraulic three-way tipping body of the type which is shown in one of our pictures reproduced in the accompanying group. The body has a high angle of tip and is fitted with a hinged tailboard and sides.
One of the smallest tipping lorries which took part in the event was an Overland 20-25-ewt. model entered by Willys-Overland-Crossley, Ltd: The angle of elevation of the body is 40 degrees, •and it is tipped through the medium of screw-type gear. The machine which was demonstrated had nnemnatic tyres on the front wheels and N.A.P. cushions on those at the rear.
The final entrant as shown by the programme was a gully emptier of an improved type built by the Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Co. In this model the sludge tank has a capacity, of 750 gallons and is.inclined at an angle Of 30 degrees. The D-shaped water tank has a capacity of 900 gallons and is arranged so that there is A residue of 50 gallons for feeding the boiler after it has ceased to function, for sprinkling, resealing and other purposes. The Yorkshire 7-ton shaft-driven chassis serves as the basis of this appliance.