Steamroller

A steam roller is a roller for the construction and civil engineering, which is driven by steam power by means of a steam engine. It handles the static compacting the road surface immediately after their installation by the load of the vehicle.

History

Steam rollers were developed in the early 1860s and used successfully. Select the step to industrialization and replace the previously used, usually horse-drawn rollers. The latest thing in force ( " like a steamroller " ) and the far greater weight they reached a better compaction of the subsoil. Steam rollers were not only used as a compactor, but completed many train and transport tasks on construction sites, as other motor-powered tractors were not yet available.

Your wedding had steamrollers around the turn of the century. Until the mid-20th century steam rollers were increasingly displaced by rolling with diesel motor drive, which were developed around 1910. Some steam rollers were, however, until the 1970s, still in commercial use.

Today, steam rollers are mainly visible in museums. A few Unserviceable copies are maintained by lovers of steam technology and demonstrated on the corresponding record events.

Technology

The steam rollers are self-propelled traction engine, in which the wheels are replaced by rolling in principle. Because the front, continuous roll can not be located below the smoke box, it was attached to a smoke chamber stem.

The chassis of the steamroller consisted of long- boiler, the firebox rear, as well as the smoke chamber and the front porch, which were fixed to each other. Rear the rear axle, the cab and tender were attached to the firebox. The drive is effected by means of a single or multi-cylinder drive steam engine and a trailing flywheel. In between is the linkage of the speed controller. The drive to the rear wheels by means of three translations, whose first stage has normally two courses. The steering is by means of a worm gear and a force acting on the front roller chain. Often acting on the flywheel brake pad is attached.

Manufacturer

Steam rollers were developed in England, and English manufacturers such as Aveling & Porter, John Fowler & Co., Marshall, Sons & Co. Wallis & Steevens or have long been the leader in Europe and the world.

In the United States, the Buffalo - Springfield Company was the most famous of many manufacturers. In Europe, steam rollers were produced along with the United Kingdom, especially in the Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.

Well-known German manufacturers were Ruthemeyer, Zettelmeyer, Henschel, Maffei, lance or Kälble.