AGRIMOTOR NOTES.
Page 23
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Subsidiary Functions of the Tractor.
T, . HE FIRST AND most important requirement a tractor must fulfil is that of ploughing. The operation of ploughing takes up the maximum amount of power, and every reliable and satisfactory tractor is Made primarily for this work. At the same tune, the importance of the subsidiary functions or minor operations must not be overlooked. Generally, a machine suitable for road haulage in addition to ploughing. is satisfactory for ,drawing ,cultivating implements as well as mowers and binders. Most tractors of reliable manufacture' will do this.
• Road Haulage.
The subject of road haulage' occupies a good deal uf attention, in which conubction One is faced with the peculiar requirements of the individual farm. With the present plough design, the hest speed for ploughing is' from two to two and a half miles per hour. At first sight, such a speed for hauling will appear ridiculous and, generally speaking, it is advisable to have at least two speeds; a higher speed for travelling with a light load or when empty, and a lower speed for ploughing, drawing 'heavy loads, and for hauling on bad reads. .
When any considerable amount of road hauling has to be done, it is well to remember that a train of two, or more wagons pulled at a slow speed is more economical and, often, quicker in the end than is the case with small loads which often necessitate several empty return jqurneys. Heavy loads a.t a slow speed can be drawn by tractor as the drawbar pull of reliable makes is very powerful. However, British farmers require a slower speed for ploughing and a higher speed for hauling. It does not frequently happen that very heavy loads and long trains need be drawn, the usual load being from 2 to 5 tons.
All tractors on the road must be provided with efficient brakes and the wagons, too, require to be well braked.Engines on the road are bound to have . _ brakes, but trailing -wagons going down bill tend to overrudthe engine unless they are well braked. The development of the rubber band fitted to the drive ivheels of traothrs should assist in increasing the capacity of the tractor for road Work.
The problemof hitching wagons to the tractor ;s an important one. Various methods have been adopted and there are many devices on the market which provide a rigid, yet adjustable and eaSily managed hitching equipment .
Threshing and Baling Hay.
Two pressing operations that can be most efficiently carried out by the tractor comprise threshing and baling hay..
Threshing has always been a matter of considerable worry and anxiety to the farmer, unless he farmed on a sufficiently large scale to be able 'toown a set of threshing tackle, including a steam engine. Ther.e. is still. the difficulty, about the thresher, Iwo t
there is this difference that, where 20 farmers would be able to own a complete set of steam tackle, 40 could own a thresher senarately to be driven by the tractor. Many a farmer having a tractor for general farm work will see in the ownership of a thresher far • greater possibilities than was the case when to own a, " box" meant having a steam engine also.
. The adjusting of the sieves is an important matter in manipulating a thresher. Some skill is required in regulating the sieves for the different kinds of grain, otherwise nnich of the grain will be blown away and lost. Beyond this, the operating of a threshing machine is quite simple.
When the tractor is a small one, it v be advisable to order only a small threaher, with orwithout some of the accessories. If the tractor is of sufficient power, all the new threshing appliances should be had with the thresher. A 16-20 h.p. tractor will drive to perfection a 4 ft. 6 in. threshing drum, complete with straw trusser and accessories. Those who have used the tractor for threshing purposes claim that this work is better done, as the speed of the tractor is more uniform than that of the steam engine. Thecost of fuel may equal or even exceed that of coal for the steam engine' but the slightly. extra cost of fuel is not the most urgent matter, as the alternative may be much more costly. One has only to think of the economy of being able to thresh at one's own convenience and without waiting for the hirer's sets, of which there are net sufficient adequately to serve the needs of farmers.
A tractor doing much belt work should be fitted with an efficient governor, to secure constant speed and steady running, and should have the belt pulley in the right place, otherwise a good deal of trouble may be met with. The mosk convenient.position for the belt pulley is on the side of the machine.. It should also be borne in mind that a motor tractor cannot be stopped and started as quickly as a steam engine, and that, for this reason, provision must be made for ouickly disconnecting the power from the object being driven. A pulley having a separate clutch will meet the requirement. The clutch placed between the engine and the pulley answers the same purpose. Some tractors have no belt pulley, while others have no governor. The trouble with those having the belt puller on the rear or front is-that it is more difficult to move backwards or forwards in securing the correct tension of the belt. Hay baling machines of the up-to-date type are practioally automatic and self-feeding and very little experience in their use is needed. A small tractor vill bale hay quite easily.. A 15-gauge 9 ft. single wire is required for bales up to 17 ins. by 22 ins., and 9 ft. 6 ins, wire for bales 24 ins.
Where the amount of belt work and hauling to be done is large, it would undoubtedly be a wise proposition to to employ a separate tractor. As time goes on, it is pretty certain that each fair-sized farm will require at least two tractors, the experience of farmers being that, if a machine is used very much for purposes other than land work, the depreciation is considerably increased; and it ecomes worn not by doing the work for which it was originally intended, but in performing quite subsidiary operations. .
Of course, it is useful enough to have a tractor that can be put to do any number of jobs. But, the farmer, having arable land to deal with, must always be certain that his tractor will be ready for any piece of work on the land at a moment's notice, and he will not be in this position if he only has one machine.
The advantages of two machines during the busy time of harvesting are obvious. When grass mowing or corn binding commences, the two machines can be set to work and the job completed in no time. If one of the machines fail the other can carry on, thus preventing the work being brought entirely to a standstill. Againt while •one tractor ean be hauling home the load during the harvest, the other can be kept on the tillages and 411 the business of the farm kept going.
It may be taken as a fair certainty that, for the light and, medium farms the 20 h.p. to 25 h_p. wheeled tractor ranging in price from £300 to 1400 will be most in demand. Farmers having this kind of soil prefer two smaller tractors for £600 to one big one at that price. On heavy land, the cheaper tractors are not suitable. It will need a fairly big tractor to be successful on heavy clay land.
Where two tractors are used, one will be employed almost exclusively for land operations and the other for general work. At any rate, this is indicated by present tendencies, and there is no special inclinatioji on the part of farrneys to have the two machines oT one type or one make. Of the machine doing land work it is demanded above all that it should be highly efficient in that capacity, while the other machine will be required to fulfil equally well a number of func tions. AGRIMOT.