TELEGRAPH LINES

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 12319, 5 April 1938, Page 3

TELEGRAPH LINES

FOR LIFTING AND HAULAGE The heavy and awkward operation of erecting the lofty poles for New Zealand’s telegraph and telephone lines is to be made easier and much more speedy through the more extensive use of mechanical power. Six winch trucks under construction in the Wellington workshops of the Post and Telegraph Department will shortly go into service and greatly 7 reduce the amount of heavy manual labour needed in line construction and maintenance. The full power of the six-cylinder engine normaUy designed for propelling the truck can, at a touch of a lever be diverted to the running of a specially-constructed winch mounted on the chassis as part of the permanent equipment. Though it is powerful, the winch when out of use lakes only a few feet of the deck space of this self-contained engineering unit, which carries to the job all the wire, cable, tools and poles, and then does the heaviest lifting. The winch is under very complete control from the driver’s cab, and it is used in conjunction with a tripod of hollow steel tubes, one being telescopic so as to give almost the same adjustment facilities as an ordinary crane. While the winch is being used, the chassis is supported at the back on heavy bottle jacks, which have simply to be swung down into position. To lift a disused pole, the wire from the winch is run over the pulley at the head of the tripod, a loop is dropped over the pole, and a mushroom hook tightens the grip as the driver, letting in the clutch, smoothly commences the powerful lift. The erection of poles on a line, instead of involving temporary shearlegs and a special form of excavation, is now simplified by the vertical drop made possible, by this engineer’s truck.’ Another useful feature is a heavy universal pulley block enabling haulage power to be applied in many directions, including the pulling of telephone cables through underground ducts. It is noticeable that in the construction of these specialised motor units for their Department, the Post Office body builders use the most modern of quick-action tools. Welds in the sheet-iron of the neatly designed cab are finished off in position by electrically-operated emery surfacers held in the hands. Where holes have to be drilled, an electric hand tool does work in seconds instead of the minutes which would be needed for the old brace and bit, and finally, the paint-shop staff provide a first-class finish of dark grey, highly suitable for the varied conditions under which these useful units will be operated in all parts of the Dominion.