The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1914-04-24
WHITE ROAD TRUCK
DEMONSTRATING
Its Power and Ability as a
Hard Roads Grader in
County.

The county commissioners are con-
sidering the purchase of White
GOOD Roads Truck, but before buying
are giving the big machine tho
rougn test. So far the test has been
most favorable.
The truck is being demonstrated
in each commissioner district in or
der to show it's ability to handle the
varying conditions of roads and ma
terial, and up to Monday night had
maze the following record of work:
Travel hauling grader and drag, 161
miles; travel rolling roads, 243 miles;
total time truck was on track, IS
hours.
Tne gentlemen who have been doing
the demonstrating told The News
that this record, compared with
grading and dragging done with
mules on former county work as fol-
lows:
"This shows more than 5 times the
capacity of team of mules, which
are required to handle these tools, as
it would have required the mules over
33 days of 10 hours each to do this
amount of work; provided they could
hold out at this strenuous work so
long. A comparison of saving to the
county is hardly less startling, the
operating expense of the truck per
q tenn ll..a tan the cost 10 tne
county of one s mule outfit The
truck would save the county over $50
per day; or over 81 800 per month
Or put otherwise, would do five times
the amount of road building per year
on mule cost basis.
"There are many obvious advan-
tages" continued the agent, (which
the truck shows over the former
methods. 1t has large, wide wheels
that roll and pack the road, improv.
ing it every time they pass over and
owing to the weight of the truck give
more compression on the road mater.
ial than 10 ton roller would. This
effect is impossible with the old meth.
DDS. Besides furnishing untirine
tractors power for hauling the grad.
ers and drag, the truck has an enor.
nous body holding 5 tons of gavel OF
shell and is capable itself of prepar
ing the road bed, and then applying
the hard surfacing material. This is
done by elevating the body with the
motor, to any desired angle and dis
tributing it by driving the truck for
ward. The speed at which the truc|
can be moved from one part of the
county to another, would enable the
commissioners to cover all the grad
ed roads in the county every two
weeks if desired, and have at leas
one-half the time for new road con
struction.
with one grader and drag a grad
ed road temporarily out of repair cal
be quickly fixed in any part of tn
county.
"Many graded roads in the count!
are covered deeply with sand all sum
mer in order to protect them in tn,
wet fall and winter weather. Witt
this truck in few days this sand cal
be thrown off the road for the summe
season, and in the fall thrown OF
again until the road can be hard sur
! faced On building of temporary set
. tlement roads in advance of perma
: nent graded roads, it is practical wit
| this truck to roll a deep track, fiji
, this with she'll or clay and roll it t.
| hard surface, making quickly goo,
) temporary road. The obvious ad
vantages of the truck for road con
) struction and maintenance, woul
make it possible to maintain tn
: graded roads of the county and har
surface them, also construct nev
! roads rapidly and cheaply."
1t is not known whether the boar
! is favorable to the purchase of on
: of these big trucks or not. But sev
8 eral of the commissioners are salts
! fed with the work so far done.