The Paris Agrimotor Show
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A Falling-off in the Number of Exhibitors. Heavy oil Engines in Considerable Evi d en c e . Entries Chiefly of Con tinental Origin
WHILST the tenth annual Salon de la Machine Agricole, now open in Faris, is the biggest affair of its kind yet held, the motor section appears rather smaller than usual. This is due in part to the continued falling-off in the number of American exhibits.
The motor section in the present show provides quite an interesting display however, and those concerns with the perseverance to continue exhibiting will eventually reap their reward, for the agrimotor is bound in the end to win success in a country where agriculture is of such importance.
An exhibit of special interest is the new Massey-narris tractor for field work, shown in Europe for the first time. This machine can be used on extremely uneven land. It has four-wheel drive and a swivelling rear axle, which allows it to pass over obstructions -as easily as can a flexible-track machine.
French Makes to the Fore.
This year French makers are particularly well represented. The Bauche Co. has a fine display of its small general-purpose tractors for road or field work. Weather protection is given to the drivers, and, in the ease of Bauche machines for road traction, lighting by dissolved acetylene is provided.
Gas lighting, incidentally, is still used on many French tractors in preference to electricity.
A curious but practical form of gate change is employed in connection with the Bauche three-speed-and-reverse. gearbox. This little tractor, like most of the Freneh exhibits, is turned out with a degree of finish higher than is usually found in the agricultural motor.
The Latil concern shows one of its standard large tractors equipped with pneumatics for road work and folding spuds for duty in the fields. A similar tractor is also staged, but this is fitted with winding gear for cable ploughing. This method of ploughing is favoured in some parts of France, and the latter Latil model has S.A.D.A.G. tracks composed of loosely jointed steel socks.
B48 As usual, the Austin organization has one of the most imposing stands in the show, nine of the company's excellent little machines being staged.
Renault and Co. shows a new model in the form of an oil-eugined tractor, the engine being a vertical twin-cylindered two-stroke unit with a centrifugal governor on the fuel-injection pumps. Nine tractors are staged, but, apart from the big gas-driven tractor, the remaining models show no change. In the gas-driven appliance slight modifications have been made in the gas-filtration arrangements and in the closecoupling device for ploughs and other implements which has now been adopted. One of the most practical-looking oilengined tractors in the show is the French Rip, which employs the PeugeotJunkers two-stroke unit; this embodies opposed pistons and appears to be making much progress throughout the industrial field in France... The machine incorporates a well-designed gear for• lifting the plough when turning at the end of a furrow.
Mestre and Blatg6, a well-known accessory firm, have a comprehensive range of small cultivating machines. These are inexpensive appliances adaptable to a great variety of tasks, the motive power being provided by aircooled two-stroke engines.
Small Vineyard Cultivators.
More elaborate small cultivators for vineyard work are shown by S.O.M.U.A., a concerewhich for many years has specialized in these outfits. A good feature of the S.O.M.U.A. machines is the protection of working parts In some examples the whole of the mechanism is enclosed in a steel boat-shaped body. A new model shown this year is a tiny cultivator which can also be used as a spraying machine. The pump is carried, like a sidecar, on a separate wheel, and in spite of its diminutive size is said to have an output of 20 cubic metres per hour.
The maker of Fordson tractors has, as usual, an important stand, and the model which appears to attract most interest is equipped with the British Roadless Traction outfit, consisting of rubber-jointed tracks over large wheels. Dominating the agrimoter section of the show are two gigantic harvesting and thrashing machines of American make. These, enormous appliances, whichare intended for towing behind big tractors and have separate power units for the operation of their mechanism, are a novelty to the Paris
public.
Another impressive exhibit is the largest, model of Caterpillar tractor, which is exhibited by the French agents, Messrs. Bergerat. This show model has a glass-sided engine. illuminated from within.
Newcomers to the Salon are the French David tractor, one of the smallest machines of its kind in existence, which is fitted with a Chapuis-Dornier engine, and the German Rubezahl, a businesslike tractor for use on difficult land. A feature of this machine is the independent suspension of the track carriers by means of robust transverse springs, allowing an unusual degree of relative movement between the two tracks. Sheet-steel protecting covers are fitted over the track jockeys and mechanism, both inside and outside.
The Catalex heavy-oil carburetter, "which was described in a recent issue of this journal, is exhibited for the first time at the Agrimotor Show. The maker claims that this appliance is more than a carburetter, being actually a fuel transformer. It appears to be enjoying a considerable measure of success in France, particularly on tractors and heavy-duty lorries.
Fewer German Exhibits.
This year German exhibits have fallen off in numbers, the only other German tractor shown being the Komniek. This is staged in two types, viz., 32 h.p. and 50 h.p. The tractors are of conventional design, having fourcylindered monobloc engines supplied either with or without heavy-oil vaporizers. A big oil-engined tractor is shown by S.C.B.M.I.A. This particular machine appears to have been designed quite as much for heavy-duty farm work as for employment as a stationary engine.
The show is somewhat disappointing as compared with that of last year, but this is hardly surprising under present market conditions.