Big-capacity Workshop •
Page 33
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for Machinery Repairs on the Spot for Machinery Repairs on the Spot
Leading London Contracting Concern Takes Delivery of a Fine Thornycroft Mobile Workshop which Will Enable Much Time to be Saved on Machinery-repair Jobs
THE well-known London contracting concern of John Mowlem and Co., Ltd., recently added a novel Thornycroft wOrkshop lorry to its fleet of over. 2'00 vehicles, which comprises a wide variety• of types, including many Thornycroft four and six-wheelers for certain specialized tasks.
The basis of the workshop vehicle is a 12-ton • rigid six-wheeled petrol. engined chassis providing a body space of over 24 ft. To carry the heavy load, the floor has been made of 2-in, pitch pine and there is .clear headroom of .8 ft. The sides open out to form, in the case of the lower sections, a convenient work table, whilst the upper sections give shelter from the weather. The total floor area with the sides and tailboard supported in. the liorizontal position is over .8,260 ,sq. ft. The lowest possible loading height has been
obtained by fitting 36-in. by 8-in, twin tyres to the four rear wheels.
In front of the workshop are the switchboard instruments, charging bench and tool cupboard, the firstnamed including a Sangarno ampere meter, which indicates the total reserve capacity of the Nife batteries. The battery assembly consists of 70 cells giving a total of 110 volts, and they are carried on the, near side of the body in a series of boxes, the weight of which is over 12 cwt. Incidentally, the value of these batteries exceeds £350.
The whole of the machinery can be used without runnin., the charging set and provision is mad for charging the batteries through a resistance. The charging set itself comprises a Standard 40 h.p. stationary power unit,. inrhich includes a three-gallon capacity radix-
tor and a petrol tank holding six gallons, this being sufficient for eight hours' continuous running with the batteries on charge. ,
The machinery is all separately motor driven and consists of:—
(a) A 7Fin. all-geared lathe which is capable of handling large jobs and is driven by a 2-i h.p. motor.
(b) A power hacksaw driven by an electric motor through a special worm reducing gear.
(c) A horizontal back-geared milling machine for gear cutting, etc.
(d) A two-wheeled grinder driven by a 1 h.p. motor.
(e) An electric two-speed drilling machine which runs in either direction and can be used as a hand drilling machine with a lead plugged in from one of several points in the workshop.
(f) A small bench with a vice.
The workshop is lit at eight points, so that ample interior illumination for night work is available.
The whole of the planning and installation of the workshop equipment has been carried out under the supervision of the .chief -mechanical engineer of the operatin., concern, in its own shops at
Millban12 • As can be seen from one of the accompanying illustrations, which shows the Thornycroft with the sides opened, all the machinery is compactly arranged, yet there is no over-crowding and access can be gained conveniently to each machine and to the other items of workshop equipment.
It is anticipated that much valuable time will be saved on urgent contracts by the fact that this vehicle will be able to carry out a wide field of repairs to machinery and plant " on site." Previously, such repairs have had to be carried out in the company's engineering shops, which„ in many cases, may be considerable distances from the scene of operations.