Mc LAUGHLIN'S PATENT DRAINING MACHINE.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 49, 10 May 1884, Page 7

Mc LAUGHLIN'S PATENT DRAINING MACHINE.

/pnetorTol: an ?e^ate. *6f »^ti^/rtK"i;de sand acres of; land at'Piipalbit'oi^Jiadjsi conversation;' with-, Mr Reynold \^the iuanmgf»r of' thY estate ;;of' tub, W<iika"tf> Land Association, relative. td^hV'co'st |of draining swamp .Lit)ds'*bu' ( ,a t large" hcale." Ho at once 'colieeived*;the:idea at inventing .a^uiachine to ; red woo; the cost. Having j^eireducateir at^Kiug's College; London, : auifc-af tenvai ; dg j , served us a genl-tenian apprentice with> the eminent firm 'of railway engineers, Messrs Fair burn, of Manchester, . AllMeLauglin is really a, mechanical and civil engiueer, as well as a successful farmer and genial and hospitable^nuister of hounds, lv due course of time he made drawings of his swamp dredger, which he submitted tc^ Mr Reynolds who approved. Tne invention was then submitted to the directors, n with the result of the immediate construction ol* the maciiiue being entrusted to the wellknown firm of Price Brothers, at the Thames. . iSome days ago the machine was delivered at Woo Hands, accompanied byMr McLau-ihlin and Mr Price, sen., to start t.ie giant mechanical swamper and hand him over to his future master, after demmstr .ting in a thoroughly practical trial that ho could do all tiiat was p romped of him. After a few days occupied in preliminary arrangements, a clear start was made on Wednesday, the bOth April, Mr MeLaugiilm and Mr Reynolds being present- It is difficult without a diagram to convey an accurate description of the patent draining maelrue, but we may describe it as a mollification (very much modified) of the ordinary marine dredger. It rests (engine, boiler, and machinery) on a framework twenty feet in width, carried on four wheels three feet iv diameter, with a L:siu. kite, thus spanning a 10ft. drain with the wheels slt. f oui tiie edf^a on eac-i side. Tuese are ruu on stoul piatiKS uy way of rails, or ratlfer tramway, supported ou sleepers 4 x 12 x 3. The steam eu^uie is of sixhorse power, and the fire box is constructed to bivn any tiling from small coal to large swamp timber. We ,have said that the machiue resembles a marine dredger, but the action of the buckets or excavators (which are finished with a sharp cutting e^g^) differ from the marine machine in this respect, that taey tadiate from side to side of the drain to a widtii of ten feet. At preseat the rauiating motion is directed or guided by a man who looks as if he were steer.ng a vessel through some intricate passage, the wheel being exactly like a siiip% wheel, out this the inventor intends tc. immediately improve by the ; substitution of a mechanical radiator, self-acting, as soou as by actual working he can ascertain ttie uumber of radiations per rniuute which will be required, j The machine goes along something in | tue same manner us an ordinary traction engine, and tue speed can be regulated to suit the depth and nature of the work in hand. In the same way this power may be utilised to move the machine from one drain to another wuen the country will admit of it, but when necessary to take the machinery to pieces, tlie platform, which carries the engine boiler, etc., really forms a large sized trolly, capable of being driven through any ordinary gateway. The whole of the machinery can be taken to pieces by three men, and re-erected in three days | Tne gross weight of the drainer is seven tons, and to this weight some objection j has been unreasonably taken, but it must be remembered that the weight is distributed over a space of 25ft. by 20ft,, which will enable it to be moved over very soft ground. For months past Mr ! Reynolds has been using cranes in drainage" works, weigning 3^ tons, standing on one side of the drain only, and covering only one-sixth of the area of tne draintT. Yet these cranes have been successfully moved on the swamp. If these cranes have stood on one side of a drain, surely the swampers standing five feet beyond the edge, on each side cannot go down. These remarks are made in huswt to* some foregone conclusions come to by oii-lookers at tirst sight, who thought that the machine, was too heavy for the purpose intended. Mr McLauurhlin, as a practical engineer, tugeclieV'wit/U tlie, i\Je,sBi"s Price, Knowing that wttuout weight to a reasonable extent they could not have strength, made the machine to do tne work, intended* In this ihey have, succeeded, to the perfect satisfaction of Mr Reynol is, who, if we judge "from an inspection of the machinery erected for other purposes under his supervision, is well L qualihed to pronounce judgment on hlVir h IVir MrT^anurhlin's invention. The ikvesbary prelimU iu\\% airun<rtiiK i nJ.s having" been vntde, st»»ah) was got up on* the morningMif Wednesday,' the *Bu'tji Api;il. ; 'The' maeUiho was placed -Upon a drain alrqady cut:, 10 feet.w) le b\v\ six. -feet deep, .with instructions Jo deepen' rit 'to,' nine -feet, ' with a wiU tii of; four* i'eeV at the v ;bottorh". Wiie 1 iCwe'iay .that'tjte, fiiaclynery/WOrked' sniO()t()jyaiid' v Vyell, jt jVpnl^^what/^nia)''! JwivVbee'i\e#ppetod^)f^ ' Priee^ lino's.' hitch,:' afttl^ the I ;^^^^/uioohj^^^

Ifti^nW^^ '{■riiii'fft'cetxd'i^ deep' wifch v wwaeu "; fc^enf^KCfl^ l^'" j'aMiafcim? ' motion f ! 1 us ..beim^iif tr^lttced » ' TT 1 10 cost(>f working 1 "' fc]^<|^i|i^;S^ c , iiu'eiitor state^V ! 'cWVa<)t s ex^f|u^^i)er hour, and; 'froth obsorvatio'u f '"fc!^^>R no ru**ou to doubfc his' -'ifait^ioTft^*T(ia6" boiug the ciiso, \ve miis^ c6ii^i'AWjttte" iKe VV aik'ttbo" 'Land Assooirttit>A^t^v 'possossing a mechanical c»>)it.nvanco s ,wbicli will enable i them -to 1 drain: the? 'vßiprtble property in their, possession 'jit' a 'cost;- of two-thirds of a. penny per cubicoynnl instead of f sd, i which they have been/ paying, and even that sum is oonsidered-; by contractors a ruinously low price/ \Mi\MeLau<jiiliii's . "-S.tuMp-jnmpimj' llarrows" were also tried at Woovlhindjst^aiVl-prove*! a success. We hayo nojjyeb, seen thp speclficatioiis of Air McLr^U^iiljn's machine for sluicing swithp Brains,",' Out' we are informed that L ninn wtfch tin's jhac'hinecan do the work of ten, and that itKis portable. — Wuikato Times* • f