Ford 5000

[essexpete]

I suppose it was a form of dynamometer but it [dyno] was connected to the input shaft of the second skid.

 

[timff]

Very interesting Pete. So the oil tanks were a red herring and Ford Tractors just needed a remote location!

 

[essexpete]

Well it was a Mobil set up but I guess it wasv just as important to Ford

 

[MickW]

The Ford dealer I worked for and possible many others sold Mobil oils and fuel, it might have be via an arrangement with FOMOCO. I guess that oils needed to change with different transmissions including brakes and hydraulics combined in one unit.

 

[REStracTORATION]

From the horses mouth as it were. The photo belongs to elderly friend of mine who worked as an engineer testing oils and fuels at the Essex Mobil refinery.
The 5000, a second drive train and a host of brake spares were supplied from Ford just up the road at Basildon.
This was the testing ground for oil suitable for oil immersed disc brakes. Initially oils had been used sourced from sperm whales and a ban on hunting these animals was overdue.
The problem was developing a hydrocarbon oil that would serve the different transmission and hydraulic functions and more importantly wet brakes. Apparently brake chatter or squawk was seen as a problem to the driver and particularly as the new legislation for safety cabs was in the offing.
The main tractor had the rear wheels removed and the rear set on to a sliding frame. Sprockets from a conveyor were bolted to the rear hubs. The skid only, without an engine, was bolted to a fixed frame. Identical sprockets were fitted to the skid and the chains were connected between the two machines on each side. The chains were tensioned by manually pumped hydraulic rams on each side.
The input shaft of the skid was attached to a Heenan Froude water brake (cooled by the tower in the back ground). The brake pedals of the main unit were removed and air rams fitted to the brake linkage that could be controlled by valves using variable pressures. Second gear was selected on the skid and the main tractor was clutched in with the same gear. The water brake was then set to load the system.
The main tractor was then braked with independent brakes under load to observe brake chatter with different oil and additive formulations.
I hope I have recounted that accurately. Cutting edge in 1960s Essex!

Very interesting thank you

 

[essexpete]

Very interesting thank you

My dear old friend Peter Brown will be pleased that so may of you were interested in his little piece of history. Thanks

 

[REStracTORATION]

My dear old friend Peter Brown will be pleased that so may of you were interested in his little piece of history. Thanks

When these stories are gone they are gone

It's nice to let the story live a little longer