MOTOR DRIVEN FIRE APPARATUS
Part Eighteen.
The selection of suitable tire equipment for high speed motor-driven fire apparatus is a problem of some magnitude and one that calls for considerable study, inasmuch as the ordinary forms of solid tires do not answer the requirements of high speed service while the pneumatic or air filled types are suitable only for the lighter forms of fire chief’s and chemical automobiles. The prime factor to be secured is absolute reliability, this being more important than easy riding or resiliency, while the factor of endurance, that is so important in commercial work, is not of much moment in connection with the heavier types of fire apparatus which are not used as much in a year, as far as mileage is concerned, as some of the motor trucks are in a week. Even the heaviest motor-driven apparatus should be capable of a speed of thirty or thirty-five miles per hour and as these are much too heavy to be supported on pneumatic or air-filled tires, a number of cushion tires have been devised that have given very satisfactory service.
If you are a current subscriber,login hereto access this content.
If you would like to become a subscriber, please visit ushere.
