1921.] The *' Buckeye " Ditcher. 307 



Approximate shipping weight ... 7-i) tons. 



Width of front wheels ... ... ... 10 in. 



Width of extension tyres to front wheels 8 in. 



W^idth of caterpillar track ... ... 22 in. 



Centre of ditch to centre of spoil hank 4 ft. 3 in. 



The chief points of the machine may be briefly outlined as 

 follows: — 



A substantial main frame and platform constructed of steel 

 I-beams connected at intervals by cross beams and strongly 

 reinforced, carries at one end a 20 h. p. engine unit and trans- 

 mission system, and at the other the cutting wheel hinged to 

 the platform. The frame and superstructure are supported 

 at both ends on three-point suspension trucks which eliminate 

 severe twisting strains. The front truck carrying the engine 

 is mounted on two heavy wheels; the truck carrying the rear 

 of the fi'ame is supported by large rollers, with case-hardened 

 shells and chilled bearings, running on a jointed steel cater- 

 pillar track, the treads of which are of steel plate and hard 

 wood, driven by endless chains running over sprockets. The 

 large bearing surface afforded by these tracks minimises the 

 pressure per square foot and enables the excavator to travel 

 over soft ground. 



The digging wheel is mounted midway between the two 

 main girders and is held in a three-point suspension frame 

 hinged to the main platform. Power is transmitted to the 

 wheel by a system of chains running on sprocket wheels; and 

 by shifting a high speed chain from one set of a series of 

 graduated sprockets to another, four digging speeds ranging 

 from 2 J ft. to 9 ft. per minute can be obtained. The machine 

 is, of course, stopped to move the chain, but the ])lan is found 

 to be highly satisfactory and effective. 



A feature of the transmission system is a safety device in 

 the form of a friction cone clutch, which slips when the 

 machine strikes an obstruction beyond its capacity, thus 

 averting a breakdown. On the outside rim of the digging 

 wheel are mounted buckets of deep section which can be suit- 

 ably equipped for varying classes of work. For digging in 

 stony ground, picks are attached to the rims of the buckets, 

 and the back of each bucket is closed by a removable plate. 

 In dry sands the picks are replaced by curved cutting exten- 

 sions, and the backs are retained. In wet clays the cutting 

 extensions are employed, but the backs are removed, and 

 the buckets are cleared as they revolve by a set of iron fingers 

 held rigid on the wheel-frame, which pass through each bucket 



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