Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 HOSE-CARRIAGE AND HOOK-AND-LADDER TRUCK ]
Attach one end to the flat end of the hub. The other piece should have a square hole cut in it so that it will fit over the square shoulder cut on the other end of the axle as shown at Fig. 6 A. Attach both ends to the axle with long, steel-wire nails, then from a piece of hard-wood cut a crank and handle as shown at Fig. 6 B. The crank is ten inches long and at both sides of the square hole the wood should be bound with wire to prevent its splitting. At the opposite end from the crank an iron pin half an inch in diameter is to be driven through the side and into the end of the hub through a half-inch hole bored with auger or bit and brace. This is shown in the drawing of the complete reel. Fig. 6 C.
On the end of the hub and close to the square crank-shaft the hub is turned round for a distance of two inches. This is the part that will fit in the bearing cut in the supporting frame. To hold the reel in position at the top of the truss, straps of iron, as shown at Fig. 6 D, are screwed fast over the angle when the reel is in place. With a coat or two of paint this hose-carriage will be ready for use.
To complete the outfit a hook-and-ladder truck (Fig. 7) will be necessary, on the racks of which four hooks, three ladders, six buckets, and other paraphernalia can be accommodated.
The length of the truck will depend somewhat on the strength of the wheels that can be had, also on the size of the boys in the fire company; but for serviceable use for both small and large boys a truck eight feet long will be a very good size. The frame or body is made of boards six inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and is eight feet long by thirty inches wide. The frame should be braced across the bottom, at the middle, and near both ends to prevent it from racking. Two cross-timbers for the axles are made fast under the forward and rear ends, and to the forward one the fifth-wheel bar is made fast so that the front wheels can be turned.
The ladder-rack is constructed from pieces of curtain-pole and side uprights, six inches wide at the bottom and tapered to three inches at the top. The uprights are attached to the inside of the body frame, and the bars on which the ladders rest are let into holes in these uprights and keyed as shown at Fig. 8 A. The end of the bar is cut across with a saw, and when this is passed through a hole in the upright a wedge-shaped key is driven in the cut to spread the end of the bar and expand it so that it will hold. Some glue on the wedge will cause it to stay in place after it has been driven in as far as it will go.