Wiles Senior cooker.

More pictures showing the unit farther stripped down.
I can not figure out what this long narrow draw is for that is under the oven.( first picture)
It must hold some part of the cookers complete equipment schedule....but what ?
I now have learn to access the boiler tubes for cleaning, not hard at all when you know how.( second picture)
oven and boiler is worse than I first thought.
One side plate of the boiler appears welded to the trailer chassis which seems real odd as the rest of it bolts onto the trailer.

Re your questions.

Ron, if you don't know who would?:rolleyes:

I always thought cooked food out of a Metters Type Wood Stove tasted much nicer than a gas Stove at home in Adelaide. Same thing really as the Wiles.

When I used to accompany my Uncle (a Vicar in the Anglican Church in SW Victoria ) to Parishioner's farms after Sunday Services, they always had a lovely Roast meal in the oven when we arrived there. Always a consistent & very tasty meal. Even the large hot kettle on the side plate smelt very "homely".

Hi Stealth
would you have a boiler ash pan in your junior cooker ?
I need to make one....any pictures would be good.
got the boiler off the chassis.
much corrosion on chassis found under the boiler.
Pictures tell the story
Ron

The sharp chisel & all that RED looks like you have had a massacre.[biggrin]

Is it necessary to have the boiler tested or doesn't it concern them being this size?

You will have to dress and look like a WW2 army cook. Grubby khaki singlet, greasy apron and beret, stirring a dixie of bully beef stew with a rollie in your mouth and an inch of ash ready to fall in the stew. A bad attitude was also common. This latter can be worked on if not your natural state.[bigwhistle]

I already have a WW2 Australian army cooks dress stored away some where.
I cannot cook well …….so that means I must qualify to be a army cook......just got to learn and make the meat ball patties by getting them to the correct shape by using my arm pit.
Sanded back the original army rego number, see photo.
The original paint was deep bronze green with a later coat of olive drab after that.
the boiler is dated 1958.
I am a little bit surprised its a later build as the chassis is of the short draw bar design.
Latter wiles junior I think ????????were the longer draw bar.....the juniors had a bad habit of turning turtle behind a Landrover if driven hard down a bumpy dirt road.
The boiler has to be pressure tested and ultra sonically tested every year if the cooker is going to be used.
That means dropping the inspection plates and plugs for the ultra sonic tester.
Also a good time to wash and clean the boiler in general.
The bloke who looks at the big air compressor at work will check the Wiles boiler every year at the same time.

Boilers where tested to 200psi when made and are extremely over built for a working pressure of only 100 psi

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.just got to learn and make the meat ball patties by getting them to the correct shape by using my arm pit.

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It could also make a difference Ron if you are a left or right handed cook as to the shape of the meat balls. If your armpits are identical then no probs.[biggrin]

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I am flat out thinking what else is missing.

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For a start I'd suggest a Pantry full of D^D grub.

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Originally Posted by Bigbjorn

You will have to dress and look like a WW2 army cook. Grubby khaki singlet, greasy apron and beret, stirring a dixie of bully beef stew with a rollie in your mouth and an inch of ash ready to fall in the stew. A bad attitude was also common. This latter can be worked on if not your natural state.[bigwhistle]

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As well as the OoD asking the assembled Mess "Who called the Cook a bastard?"

General mass reply was usually, "Who called the bastard a Cook?"

I know I know, its an oldie, but it always makes me laugh.

I turns out the Wiles Junior cooker has a few design problems.
the biggest one is the boiler ashpan is also the chassis of the trailer.
This means the 3mm thick chassis rots with the heat at the fire for the boiler.
It also means at lot of work to sort it all.
I had to replace at lot of rot.
The mud guards were removed and rust treated on the guards and chassis.( one guard had new sections welded in)
the wheel bearings have been removed and checked...…..I need new hub grease seals which are now a odd non available size.
The wheel bearings are 1932 to 1938 Chev on post war Wiles junior cookers.( these are a angular contact ball race)
The war time Wiles junior cookers appear to have used Australian Jeep trailer wheels , hubs and bearings and would have been a much better choice to stay with considering the Australian army used Jeep trailers into the 1970s.
I have a spare No4 jeep trailer axle hub and wheels as a back up option , it appears to be a direct swap over.
The jockey wheel and supports have been straightened and painted.
The rear most part of the cooker , the folding work table/ tail gate, has at great expense a new single piece of hard wood replaced, steel parts sand blasted and painted.
The plate steel at the rear of the chassis under where the steamer pots go has been replaced.
This cooker is only a job I am doing while the weather has been too hot or wet to work out side on other more important projects.
I am planning to stop work on this thing when the chassis is in under coat and the ash hopper has been finished, pack it up a store it for a while.
Two steam pressure gauges has been sourced, one for the junior cooker and the other for the senior cooker.