MOTOR SWEEPERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10167, 23 July 1924, Page 7

MOTOR SWEEPERS

RESULT IN BIG ANNUAL SAVING. Of the few remaining horse-drawn vehicles left, one of the most prominent is the road sweeper. Where motor road sweepers have been adopted, big annual savings have resulted,, that in the city of Westminster, for instance, being estimated at £951. The sweepers used, however, have been big, heavy vehicles; a lighter type has been lately developed which i$ very suitable for smaller townships, as with its tipping body it can be used for general carrying purposes as well as for sweeping. The r' ds calls for little comment, be- . ery similar to that for a two-ton lorry, states a writer in “Chamber’s Journal.” A four-cyclinder motor of 25 horse-power is fitted under the usual bonnet, behind which is the driver’s seat. Next comes a side-tipping body wieh a capacity of 60 cubic feet or 90 cubic feet of w r et or dry road sweepings respectively. At the rear of the chassis is a tank which holds 150 gallons of water for sprinkling dry roads ahead of the brush. From this tank the water is supplied to a sprayer under the front of the bonnet by a semirotary pump, having an adjustable stroke to vary the quantity. One. of the most interesting features of this motor sweeper is a species of elevator for lifting the swepings into the body. This consists of three rotating brushes mounted one above another, in a steep-ly-inclined frame. The top and bottom brushes run in the same direction, but the middle one rotates the opposite way. These conveyer brushes run at high speed, those at the top and middle turning at 3GS' revolutions per minute, while the bottom one runs at 370 revolutions per minute. The diameter of the two upper brushes is 20 inches, that of the bottom brush 24 inches. The road brush, which is 24 inches in diameter and 7 feet 6 inches long, tuins •at 140 revolutions per niinue. As the brush is fixed diagonally across the vehicle, the mud swept into the scoop travels across towards the conveyer. This vehicle has a sweeping speed of 6.3 miles per hour and a travelling speed of 9.9 miles per hour, while it can proceed backwards at 2.9 nines p ei hour. At a test in Westminster, a street, 11 yards wide and 90 yards long, was swept clean in nine minutes. Other trials have veen carried out at Newport with equally convincing results.