WHAT VEHICLES SHOULD THE FARMER BUY?
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Being a Brief Outline of the _Different Types of Vehicles Which Can Profitably be Employed in Transport on the Farm.
THE British farmer is sometimes accused of being somewhat conservative in the means which he employs for the transport of his produce and for conveying the various materiaLs which are required on the farm, but, in spite of this, steam and petrol vehicles have been purchased by quite a large number of agrieulturrsts, and those who
have done so are reaping the benefit by increasing the scope of their businesses, and by bringing within their reach markets to which it would otherwise have been impossible to make deliveries of produce by road.
The farmer who employs only horsed vehicles cannot expect to obtain the same consideration from the purchaser
as the owner of a motor vehicle, who can not only take his produce to market, but can also, in many cases, give delivery' within a reasonable distance.
Those farmers who 'have not yet ventured to employ either petrol or steam machines sometimes excuse themselves for this by stating that the vehicles at present. on the market do not meet their requirements. This may have been true a few years ago, but it is certainly not the case now, and vehicles with load capacities varying from a few cwt, to 10 tons, excluding the possibility of employing trailers, can now be obtained.
For the information of those members of the agrieultaral community, who have not studied deeply the question of using mechanical road transport vehicles, we will sum up the points relating to the employment, of petrol or steam vehicles, all questions of costs having been gone into in the article on the preceding page. Where the average loads are under three tons, the petrol vehicle is pre-eminent, so that we need not compare the two types except where the work involves loads larger than this.
One of the peculiar advantages of the petrol vehicle is that it is always ready for action, and it consumes no fuel while standing idle, so that it is particularly suitable for what we might call spasmodic work. The steam vehicle, on the other hand, takes some little time to prepare for work, and, once ready, it
continues to consume fuel until its day's work is ended, so that, for the sake of economy, it should be employed for the maximum amount of time possible. It is heavier and, except in isolated cases, more difficult to manceuvre in restricted areas than the petrol vehicle, and requires a certain amount of skilled attent:on if satisfactory and economical operation is to be obtained ; but this latter point is not so important as may possibly be thought, for quite a number of farm hands—and it is often the farm hand who is trained to drive the transport vehicle—have had experience in the handling of stationary steam engines, etc.
The radius of operation of the steam wagon or tractor is, naturally, .considerably less than that of a petrol vehicle, hut for the constant carrying of heavy loads it can hardly be equalled, particularly asit is capable of towing a trailer which -carries almost, or quite, as much as the load on the vehicle itself, without increasing the running costs of the vehicle in anything like the same ratio.
When the transport vehicle has to be employed in narrow country lanes, it is advisable to utilize the smaller types of petrol vehicles carrying a maximum of, say, two tons, as with these there is less danger of the wheels breaking through, or otherwise damaging, the roadcrust, whilst they do not cause the same obstruction_ Where the machines are required to operate within the farm itself, and may possibly have to traverse rough paths and perhaps fields, the farmer has the option of two totally different types of vehicle—the very light van, such as the Ford or Chevrolet, end the fourwheel-driven machine, Of which there is only one successful model utilized in this country—the F.W.D.
The light van can go practically anywhere, and, although it cannot carry a large weight of produce, yet it is extremely handy for early market work with such loads as strawberries, eggs, poultry and dairy produce; whereas the F.W.D. can carry three or four tons, or
even more, on the vehicle, and also haul a trailer, but its somewhat reduced speed makes it more comparable with the steam wagon. All the manufacturers. of steam and petrol vehicles cater for the requirements of the farmer, and can provide bodies suitable for practically any purpose in connection with his work ; for instance, speeial bodies are made for the carrying of live stock, and one of these fitted to a B.T.-type Thornycroft chassis is shown in one of our illustrations. In these bodies a ramp, formed, by extensions which can be attached to the tailboard, is usually provided so that this can be let down to facilitate the entrance or exit of the animals.
The majority of the farmers prefer, for their ordinary work, the high slatsided or stake body, which can be used for a variety of purposes, and as the slats are in most cases removable, leaving a low-sided lorry body, a vehicle built on these lines usually meets all
ordinary requirements. This type of body is also that usually demanded by the market gardener, who, in most cases, loads his vehicle to a great height, although the actual weight carried may not be very considerable. A small motorvan should prove of inestimable value to the smallholder who cannot spend much of his time away from his holding without considerably retarding the work in connection with it, whilst in many cases he cannot afford to employ a man to undertake his market duties. By employing a light and speedy van he can take his goods to market, arrange for their disposal, and return to his work with the minimum loss of time. Almost the same remarks apply to the poultry farmer, who, naturally, wishes to be first in the field with his eggs, and may find that, by conveying them to larger towns at considerable distances away, he will obtain a more ready sale at better prices than if the eggs were sold at the local market.