AGRIMOTOR NOTES.
Page 18
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A Motor Cultivator for Market Gardeners.
Someone recently, with insufficient knowledge, remarked that the horse would never be knocked out on the farms by the motor, for the Simple reason that there was so much work on a farm which could be done by a single horse or pony, and, that such work would never be done by a motor, because it would not he economical so to do it ; it would be almost like using a steam hammer with which to crack nuts. There is no doubt that there is a vast deal of work about a farm which a single horse can do, and on many of the quite small farms and especially on market gardens a single horse is about all the power necessary; but it does not follow that, because the farm tractor which will pull its three or four ploughs is toe big and powerful for the job, the owner of such farms is to be denied the advantage of mechanical power for doing his work.
I know 'of one little gasolene engine, giving only 1 h.p., which will work a sewing Machine or churn, FO it is only a matter ef suiting the power and the implement to the work tobe done, and this is what has been done by the designers of the Universal trr e,tor. This little machine has only a single-cylinder 4.9 h.p. engine installed, but will do as much work as a single good horse and any lesser-powered work it may be called upon to perform. It has a little belt pulley and can be belted up to any of the smaller farm machinery requiring up to 4 h.p. to drive it, and can thus be used to drive the ordinary small-sized dairy machinery, such as milking machine, cream separator or churn,, as well as small root and chaff cutter, wood saw, winnowing machine, water pump, or washing machine for the house.For use on the' land, in charge of a man, following it on foot, it will do a lot of cultivation work, from pulling a single plough in garden ground to pulling a set of cultivator harrowing or weeding tools, a small drill or seeder, and such-like work. It is extremely simple and should be exceedingly handy, and, for market garden work particularly, should prove a very useful tool, as with it the operator can work up and down his rows cultivating them as required, going up one row, turning sharp at the end on his tracks, and coming down the next, as the outfit can be turned and handled very easily. The little by 5-in, engine is mounted over a II-in. steel axle, which it drives • by means of a steel worm, working in a bronze worm wheel, having a ratio of 65 to 1, the axle being mounted on two 36-in. cast-steel wheels. with 5-in. face, furnished with looped grippers on their otherwise smooth faces and, mounted slidably on the axle,' so that they can be adjusted upon it from 26 ins. to 42 ins, tread, thus enabling the machine to operate satisfactorily between rows of varying widths--a very important
040 point, as different crops are planted at different distances apart. "The engine is cooled by a cellular radiator of extra large size, mounted in front of the axle, and radiation is assisted by a large fan working in front of the radiator and driving the air back through it. Fuel tank and ignition batteries—the Atwater'Kent ignition system is employed—are carried to the rear of the engine.
The rest of the machine consists 'of a pair of steel side bars extending rearwards and supported upon a, single central castor wheel of small size, whilst a pair of handle.grips are furnished at the extremities of the bars by. means of which the operator, who walks behind, steers the machine, by pulling the rear end round as occasion requires, -the dead weight of the rear end being supported on the castor wheel, which automatically follows whichever direction is given it by the pull over, the Control of the engine being effected by a set Of controls Mounted, on the rear end of the right side bar convenient to the hand of the
operator. The weight of the machine is a little over 611 cwt., and it is furnished complete with double depth gauge and spring-tooth diverse cultivator, other tools for attachment being extras, the price being such that, were it imported at present governmentcontrolled prices, the figure would be about £100.
Reports have it that the Ra,cla of the 'Ukraine 'have placed orders in Germany -to the extent of 750 million marks. The orders are mainly for agricultural machinery and implements.