Popularizing the Tractor.
Page 42
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A s• the motor vehicle for transport on the 11.roads has, to a large extent, superseded other media, so must the agricultural tractor attain a greater degree of popularity in due course. Shortly after the war tractors came into prominence, but when the tendency to convert arable land to pasture became more prominent their progress was, to a considerable degree, stayed. They now appear to have assumed the rOle of supplementary means for haulage and the provision of power, horses and stationary engines, respectively, being regarded as the main sources of energy. Obviously, this state of affairs shows a great deal of room for improvement and the problem is How can it be effected?
One of the primary causes of the backwardness of the tractor movement in this country is the absence of trials of an official nature. Those which were held in past years enabled a certain amount of spade-work to be performed, but the lack of continuity has, to some extent, undone this good beginning; publicity of any kind must be persistent if it is to be effective. Future trials should be of longer duration and cover a wider range of agricultural duties in order to prove to the hesitant farmer and smallholder that modern haulage units are capable of fulfilling their demands.
Another cause of the apparent state of stagnation in sales is that, generally speaking, improved service is required. Local stocks of spare parts must be established if success is to be obtained; prolonged loss of use is, in the farmer's view, intolerable, particularly when it occurs during rush periods.
When repairs to tractors have to be effected it is essential that they be carried out by fully qualified men and that standardized charges be maintained. In the past many owners have discarded their tractors owing to extortionate bills for repair work, sometimes indifferently executed. It is of vital moment to the tractor manufacturer, as well as to the user, that prompt, efficient and reasonable repairs be a certainty; by these alone will the reputation of the make be maintained.
A certain proportion of the mechanical failures of past models, however, has been attributable to mishandling. Ignorance is generally at the root of this trouble and much might be done to counteract it by giving with each tractor sold a reasonable amount of free driving tuition and instructions in simple maintenance tasks to, say, two men per tractor. This is done in various ways by some vendors of motorcars and the popularity of the scheme is a sure testimony to its efficiency.
Attention to the fGregoing points cannot fail to revive public interest ht the agricultural tractor, whilst suitable machines may also with great advantage be developed for industrial purposes.