Pile driver

“ When I arrived on the spot with my steam pile-driver, there was a great deal of curiosity in the dockyard as to the action of the new machine. The pile-driving machine- [Pg 253] men gave me a good-natured challenge to vie with them in driving down a pile. They adopted the old method, while I adopted the new one. The resident managers sought out two great pile logs of equal size and length,-seventy feet long and eighteen inches square. At a given signal we started together. I let in the steam, and the hammer at once began to work. ”

“ An even bigger pounding machine is the pile driver. It can hammer a great thick log down into the ground almost as easily as a man can hammer a nail through a board. One kind of pile driver does its pounding job with a steam piston. ”

“ The pressure required is 224,000 lbs.: this exerted over a space of 0"·45 would be 8,400 units of energy; hence the pile would be driven 0"·45. The more the resistance, the less the [Pg 258] penetration produced by each blow. A pile intended to bear a very heavy load permanently must be driven until it enters but little with each blow.
541. We may compare the pile-driver with the mechanical powers in one respect, and contrast it in another. In each, we have machines which receive energy and restore it modified into a greater power exerted through a smaller distance ”

“ The fact that timber piles, which are chiefly supported by the frictional resistance of their surfaces, will not sustain a rolling, i.e., a vibratory, load equal to that of a fixed load, and also that the method of driving in soils easily disturbed, such as sand, is also considered as reducing the safe load according to the percussive action and frequent vibration caused by a pile-driver, whether worked by steam, hand, or by means of an explosive substance. ”

“ The construction of small docks, wharves, piers, and foundations or bridges, buildings, and other structures, by the driving of piling is interesting out-of-door play, in which boys will find much fun. A pile driver for this work is shown in the page plate, Fig. 1. The hammer is raised by means of a winch, and is dropped automatically when it reaches the cap of the derrick, as indicated in Fig. 3. The drum is then released, and the weighted double-hook nipper drops down, picking up the hammer on the next upstroke. ”

“ Steam driving. 2. Hand driving, if the piles must be driven very slowly, and there are not many to drive. 3. Never use gunpowder pile-drivers, always prefer steam, hydraulic, atmospheric, or some other motive power.
"Gunpowder is more for blowing up than anything else, in my opinion, and I know the pile shoes often shed in driving with it; that is, they loose their hold of the piles and become detached.
"A pile should penetrate regularly, and after the first few blows drive less and less, as then you have a good idea it is all right and uninjured. ”

“ In driving machine tools, the power delivered to a machine depends upon the diameters of the driving pulleys, and size and velocity of the belt. A wide belt running at a high velocity on pulleys of large and equal diameters develops the maximum power, and, as its speed and width are lessened, its pulling ability decreases correspondingly. Likewise, it transmits less power, as the pulley on the machine exceeds in diameter the pulley on the driving shaft, for, when the surface contact on the driver becomes smaller, the belt has a tendency to slip. ”

“ Socket pile driving piecework I avoid, for the joints are ticklish business; and if a pile of ordinary length will not do, I throw out a mild hint whether the better system to use would not be Indian brick or concrete wells, or to spread out the foundations so as to get a sufficiently large bearing, or have a fascine platform, and sink it till it is firm, and test its stability properly by a load.
"There is a great deal in starting the driving correctly. I always am very careful at the start, and experiment and watch how the piles drive, and vary the fall a little until the best is known. ”

“ The Amos log loader is described as an efficient loading machine in which a friction drive takes power directly from the drive shaft of the motor truck and by means of a worm gear transmits it to a long winding shaft, or small diameter drum, which extends the length of the truck bed, being mounted parallel to it just under the bed. Loading chains are attached to this drum either at the ends or middle as the driver wishes. The movement is regulated by means of a lever just over the truck step. ”

“ If a part of the key stands outside of the hub, catch it with a pair of horseshoe pinchers and pry with them against the hub, at the same time hitting the hub with a hammer so as to drive pulley on. A key can sometimes be drawn by catching the end of it with a claw hammer and driving on the hub of pulley. If pulley is against box and key cut off flush with hub, take the shaft out and use a drift from the inside, or if seat is not long enough to make this possible, drive the pulley on until the key loosens. ”

“ It is necessary, therefore, to drive the pulley from the arms, while holding it on a mandrel, but if it be driven by one arm the whole strain due to driving will fall on that one arm, and on one side of the pulley only, and this will have a tendency to cause the rim at and near its junction with that arm to spring or deflect from its natural position, and, therefore, to be not quite true; all that can be done, therefore, is to drive by two arms with a Clements driver, so as to equalize the pressure on them. ”

“ It is now universally held that the brake, both for freight and for passenger service, must be continuous; that is, it must be applied to every wheel of every car of the train from some one point, and ordinarily that point must be the engineer's cab. With the valve of an efficient continuous brake constantly under his left hand, the engine-driver can play with the heaviest and fastest train. ”

“ By means of an air-pump, attached to the boiler of the locomotive and controlled by the engine-driver, an atmospheric force is brought to bear, through tubes running under the cars, upon the break blocks, pressing them against the wheels. The hand of the engine-driver is in fact on every wheel in the train. ”

“ The slowest that the carriage can be driven is three miles an hour and the speed can be increased to fourteen or fifteen miles an hour. The power is transferred from the driving wheel of the motor, which runs horizontally with the main shaft by an endless friction belt running on a drum wheel. The belt is controlled by a lever within easy reach of the driver and is shifted along the drum wheel to increase or decrease the speed. The driving wheel is about twenty inches in diameter, having in its center a depression to which the belt is shifted to stop the carriage. ”

“ It is reported that on the same branch, an engine-driver, on reaching the station more than usually behind his time, declared that he had never known “herself”—meaning the engine—to be so sluggish before. She needed a deal of rousing before he could get any work whatever out of her, he said; and she had pulled up at the platform without a hand being put to the brake. ”

“ In the case that we have supposed, the weight merely drops upon the nail: this is actually the principle of the hammer used in pile-driving machines. A pile is a large piece of timber, pointed and shod with iron at one end: this end is driven down into the ground. Piles are required for various purposes in engineering operations. They are often intended to support the foundations of buildings; they are therefore driven until the resistance with which the ground opposes their further entrance affords a guarantee that they shall be able to bear what is required. ”

“ The type of motor carriage we have described is fitted with an engine which governs out at approximately 750 to 800 revolutions a minute. If, however, the governor is held up—and this is what the accelerator pedal accomplishes—of course the engine speed is considerably increased and the speed of the car is increased accordingly; but though the accelerator pedal is beneficial in the hands of a careful and considerate driver, it can be abused to the damage of the engine and gear in the hands of a rough or careless driver. ”

“ They often rebound, so I had a boy with a lever, the end of it being clinched to the pile. Directly the ram fell, he gave the pile from quarter to half a turn for the first 4 or 5 feet of driving, and they scarcely rebounded at all; and he earned his wages, for I considered fully one pile extra was got down out of about every ten by the turning movement. The points require to be regulated according to the ground. From 11⁄2 to twice the diameter or width for the length of the point is about right, but if it is made too sharp it may break. ”

“ When one approaches a single lighted machine he can not tell which of the two lights is out, or whether or not it is a motorcycle. Many accidents have been caused on account of this fact by not giving sufficient clearance to pass the approaching vehicle. When meeting a one lighted machine the driver should always slow down and give as much clearance as the road will allow. ”

“ Great care must be exercised when driving in the tapering key or wedge to tighten up the boxes, not to drive it in too hard. Many engineers think this is a sure remedy for “knocking” in an engine, and every time they hear a knock they drive in the crank box key. Often the knock is from some other source, such as from a loose fly wheel, or the like. Your ear is likely to deceive you; for a knock from any part of an engine is likely to sound as if it came from the crank box. If you insist on driving in the key too hard and too often, you will ruin your engine. ”

“ Now the simplest method possible would be the driving of the road wheels or wheel direct by the piston-rods of the engine, a plan only possible where a very small wheel is used, and only actually employed in the Holden bicycle as described in the chapter devoted to this type of machine. Next to this comes the use of gear wheels—'cog' wheels—as employed upon tricycles and some light forms of car where the motor is set close to the axle. In these we have one gear wheel fixed to the shaft of the motor, gearing into a similar one upon the axle. ”

“ Wherever the asphalt wasn’t spread evenly, men with rakes finished the job by hand. Then came the tandem roller to pack it down and make the surface smooth.
A Diesel engine moved the roller’s great weight quickly back and forth over the asphalt. In no time the road was as smooth as a table top. If the driver wanted{66} to, he could turn his seat sideways. Then he could easily see whether he was guiding the roller straight forward and straight back. ”

“ The hub is thus driven at a higher speed than the chain-wheel. For normal gear, the striking gear draws the internal mechanism of the hub towards a central position, compressing a spring, disengaging the sun-wheel and locking the drive-ring hub and annular wheel together. At low gear, the internal mechanism is drawn to the right-hand side, where the planet carrier engages with the end plate of the hub by means of claw-clutches. The annular wheel is still engaged with the drive-ring, and the sun-wheel is again locked to the spindle. The hub is thus driven at a lower speed. ”

“ On taking a position in the driver's seat with one foot on each side of the steering column, each foot lightly resting on the two driving pedals, it will be found that the left pedal when pressed down disconnects the engine from the driving mechanism, whilst the right one also does this, but at the same time applies a powerful brake to arrest the motion of the vehicle. ”

“ He shall report to the engine-driver any set of points not under his personal charge which he finds neglected, as also any defect which he is himself unable to repair.
26. He shall keep clear all road and field crossing grooves, and shall at once acquaint the engine-driver when repair to the surface of any road crossing is necessary.
27. At least once a week he shall walk over the whole length of the main line and sidings, observing carefully that the keys, bridge bolts, fish bolts, and sleepers are in order. ”

“ This refers, of course, to the clutch, brake, and throttle pedals. In cities, running through crowded streets, the foot throttle should be used, so as to keep both hands free; but in the open country, where change is not required so frequently, this control is usually by hand.
The Crucial Point.—The crucial point of every learner, is starting the machine. The first duty is to note that the transmission lever is at the neutral point, and that the emergency brake is set. The spark control lever is then set at the proper point, and the engine cranked, if it has no self starting mechanism. ”

“ The back and front are fixed vertically upright, the latter immediately behind the driver's seat. Inside the body on the wooden platform are mounted a lathe, drilling machine, tool-grinding machine, also fitter's bench and vices, together with the accompanying small hand tools. A petrol engine direct coupled to a dynamo drives the lathe, drilling machine, etc. Such, briefly, is the arrangement of the standard mechanical transport mobile workshops. Our Workshops Officer, however, was not satisfied and sought to improve upon it. ”