Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-05
ARE THE BEST
Give Longer Life to a Car Than the
Solid Rubber Tires.
JUST A FEW MORE PUNCTUREs
Earning Capacity Of the Car IL la
creased and Repair Cost Les
sened by the Use Of Air
Cushions.

An innovation en- the construction OF
motor vehicles is the use Of pneumatic
tires on the trucks built by one OF the
manufacturers Though an innovation,
this has been tested long enough so that
the company is able to announce that
their use results in a lower cost of up
keep than does the use OF solid rubber tires.
To the fact that In their construction IN
necessary weight is eliminated is due the
possibility Of successful use Of pneumatic
tires on the wheels OF the trucks. A car
equipped with pneumatic tires can be
driven at a speed ranging on an average
OF fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour
upon average roads. These tires minimize
the jar, and this not only lessons the jolt.
but reduces the strain on the truck itself,
which results In a minimum expense for
the operation, up-keep and depreciation.
Consequent upon this II a maximum Of
continuous service and high earning ca
paeity.
Incidentally, in mud and deep snow
chains can be successfully used on pneu-
matio tires and will stand considerable
wear, whereas II they are used on solid
tires the rim OF the wheel will destroy the
chain when Il strikes a hard object; and
without chains a car with solid tires is
helpless in heavy mud and deep snow.
III ulhGuhbllk the TtSulLE secured and the
use OF pneumatic tires for trucks the fol-
lowing is made by w. f. Kneip, engineer
OF the commercial car department at the
Franklin tomob factory.
In the operation and manufacture Of
motor trucks the great question Is the cost
OF maintenance and up-keep. This subject
Is of greater Importance than reliability;
indeed, reliability Is actually involved I'm II.
For example IL would be possible for us to
conceive OF operating a motor truck which
was absolutely reliable. but which at The
same time cost an excessive amount to
maintain. OF course, in spite Of its relia-
bility its operation would have to be dis
continued, as it could not compete with
others which could do the work more
cheaply.
Works for Three Horses.
We will confine this discussion to trucks
OF 1900 pounds capacity and under. For
such trucks or delivery wagons to show
increased earnings over horse transporta.
tloh their speed must be much greater. In
uellVery service such a truck must dispiace
from two TO three horse-drawn wagons.
In the past designers acted upon the
assumption hat reliability was the real
key to success. with this in mihd thew
bounced on our long suffering and over
worked friend, the pneumatic tire. and
threw him out bag and baggage The idea
was that an hour lost now and then, due
TO a punoture, constituted an insurmount-
able barrier to the use OF pnuematics. So
tar' we will all admit that, other things
being equal the puncture-proof tire is the
oest TO use. But Il was soon found that
IN order to make satisfactory howin
against horses the trucks would have TO
run at an excessive high speed when
equipped with solid tires. When It was not
necessary to run these trucks at high
speed the drivers generally did so anyway.
Tho result was that the trucks began
10 come apart quite rapidly and spent con-
siderable Of their time IN the repair sboo
THIS interfered with reliability ana In aad,-
ton greatly raised the sum of the items
Of tire cost and repairs TO truck meohar-
ism This was not all, as Il was found
mat these high speeds had a tendency IN
loosen tires 80 that they would coma ore
on the road. To apply one OF these tires
generally neccssitRted the removal ~ tho
wheel and the use Of a huge, clumsy
mechanism which took a man and n belner
TO operate, Thus when a tire came off on
inc road Is was q case OF either coming
nome slowly on the rim or waiting for a
new wheel These things interfered quite
DECIDEDLY with reliability besides costing
money The position OF the operator OF a
Single truck If, q small town where there
was no tire-applying machine was MAJ.
tlcularly unenyiable.
Tire TrOubIe PerpIexinR.
ITO overcome this tires wer. sinat,.
veloped that would stay ON m, worr %,
This last kind was worse than the ,,rst
because. the operator, In order m CO..
money on tires, would let the tire uss.
down until II haa practically no cushionIns
ERECT His expense for repairs would he
two-fold. &c
In the meantime makers OF nlsasuro
cars We're studying the pneumatic tire
prooiem' IL was found that there was a
re'aton between size OF tire used, weight
carried ana speed at which It was carried
Given a certain weight and a certain sneed
Iarser tires would lower the tire cost nar
mile at the same time assuring greater
reliability from the tire point of viav, M,
eliminating the danger OF blow-outs ana
minimizing the danger Of punoture.
IN a sense the problem Is analogous IA
retail and wholesale buying. for when ttros
are bought IT is simply a case of buying
80 many miles When larger tires are
uousht larger packages Of miles are pur-
eusseu' ana the rate is cheaper. The only
hN9 arrangement rs that Il
makes the first cost look high. That 10 ono
reason why so many s~o-called cbean core
are unsatisfactory to their purchasers Nv
The use of large tires, however we have
eliminated lost tires, the wasted time in
stating new tires and most of the lost t,rs
and money spent in repairing the mechan.
ism Therefore, the reliability is actually
increased about 100 per cent. while the sum
OF Items OF tire cost per mile plus repa,rs
TO mechanism Is reduced.
Chr Mileage Doubled.
the same time by increasing the s,fo
available speed the capacity OF tbe tr,ck
per day has been increased about "a nar
cent and all this at the expense Of an GO
casional puncture, which can be easily
femedied by the cheapest sort OF helm I'm a
haIf hour at most We must not lose sight
or the fact that cutting down the cost ~
repairs on mechanism also insures a gsr
lower depreciation charge. so that. sum.
ming up the question OF the use OF pneu-
matte In place OF solids. we find thai win
them: W."
H. Tire cost per mile ls about the saue
or "a little greater.
2 Earning capacity Is Increased sbo,,
20 per cent.
% Depreciation is decreased about 90 per
cent. P'
=. Repairs TO mechanism Decreased ,hn,,