A Saunderson Agricultural Motor at Pen.
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M. Pierre Gilbert recently made some interesting ploughing tests with
Saunderson " Lniversal ' motor at Penang, in the Malay Peninsula. The particular motor with which these tests were conducted is one of the standard, 50h.p. Saunderson tractors, the engine speed of which is from 730 to 800 revolutions per minute; the engine drives the machine through all its three road wheels. Three speeds forward or reverse, of three, 4i and seven miles an .hour respectively, are fitted, and its total weight is just under two tons. The plough used was one of Ransomer, Sims and Jefferies' three-share type. The soil on which the trials were carried out was of a sandy, friable nature, but was very heavy as the result of torrential rains. No stones were encountered, but the ground was practically filled with the roots of high weeds. The only obstacles met with during the tests were some ant-hills, one or two of which were as high as five feet and required as much as three passages of the tractor and its plough in order to reduce them. The depth of the ploughing varied between 74 and 10 inches, measuring from the heel of the ploughshare.
A succession of tests showed that it was possible to plough from 81 to 12 acres in a day of 11 hours, the area varying according to the condition of the soil. M. Gilbert continued his tests for 25 days, and during that time ploughed some 312 acres, the average speed of the tractor with its three-share plough being about three miles an hour. It was found that only the first speed could be used for ploughing, although the second speed was used for running on the road. M. Gilbert is of opinion that the third or
highest speed with which the tractor is provided is of no Me, as, even when running light, the method of spring suspension adopted is not sufficiently flexible to permit of the tractor's being driven on top gear.
This tractor was supposed to work on ordinary paraffin, but the grade obtainable in those districts was so poor that rapid fouling of the cylinders and falling off of power was experienced. Petrol, therefore, was the fuel used throughout the test, and the rate of consumption worked out at about 1.6 gallon per working hour. The cost of operating this tractor in Penang is much higher than would be the case in either England or France, chiefly on account of the fact that a rather highly-paid European driver was sent out to operate it. The cost per acre worked out at about 18s.„ but even this high rate is less than one-third of that when using ordinary horse-drawn or oxen-drawn ploughs operated by native workmen. Manual labour is very expensive in that part of the world, not because the workmen are highly paid, but because they accomplish so very little in a given time. M. Gilbert expressed great satisfaction with the general performance of the machine, and his favourable report is a further confirmation of the merits of this powerful motor. It will be remembered that amongst the many awards which have been gained by this make of agricultural motor is that of a gold medal for its performaece at the trials of agricultural implements and motors which were held last year at Pia,censa, Daly.