AGRIMOTOR NOTES.
Page 21
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Speedier Ploughing Possibilities. A New and Novel American Tractor.
The Working Speed of the Tractor.
It has been from time to time suggested, and not infrequently, that the natural development of farming, once the tractor becomes firmly established, would be in the direction of speedier ploughing, culti
vating, etc. Personally, I am rather inclined to doubt, but, in any case, am of opinion that the difficulties of the problems which will have to be faced before such speeding up becomes possible are not yet realized by be majority of those who so glibly prophesy this change. A slight and practical increase, it is true, has already taken place, but only a slight one. Attempts to add still further to it hale not so far spelt success. It has been occasionally put forward, and on no less authority—to give one instance —than that of Mr. S. F. Edge, that this is merely a question of perfecting implements, making ploughs, harrows, binders, etc., capable of doing good work at speeds of, say, five, six, or even eight miles per hour. Quite so ; but, in my opinion, those designers who turn their energies to this problem' have found one that is worthy of, and will demand, the hest that their combined experience and intelligence can give.
Consider the plough. As it is at present made—and I have in annd those which have been particularly designed as tractor ploughs—at anything over 3 or 3i miles per hour, it breaks the turning sod up into fragments and makes furrows of a kind to provide the consistently grumbling British farmer with a subject for his favourite exercise for Weeks. " Lengthen the breast," says your wiseacre, arid forsooth, he lands you in trouble, compared with which the mere matter of slow speed of ploughing is a passing shadow. A long ' breast involves a long implement, which is difficult to manoeuvre at headlands. It is heavy, and, worst of all, greatly increases the draught of the implement, thus necessitating increased power at the tractor. Increased speed and increased draught cumulatively demand more power. This involves greater weight of tractor, and a higher cost, and we naturally come, in the same old vicious round, to a demand for more work from the tractor to balance its increased cost. The long breast, nevertheless, appears logically the outcome of the demand for speedier ploughing, so that it would appear, in the matter of this implement alone that we have a long row to hoe before we arrive at the desired type.
Now, to take another case, consider the binder. During last year's harvesting, I happened to be observing a Fordson tractor pulling a 5-foot machine at a speed of about 3 miles per hour. The tractor was running over some of the corn before the binder could cut it. This, however, was clearly a matter of incorrect hitching and does not concern cur present subjeet. The binder itself, however, was 'cutting badly, leaving a long and irregular stubble and collecting a correspondingly short straw ; furthermore, the machine was rattling and clanging in a, way which plainly indicated that it was being overdriven,'and• not likely to last for long at the pace. The sheaves were being dumped on the ground with unnecessary violence -and an examination showed that far too much of the corn was being shaken from the stalk in the process of harvesting. A suggCstion was made that the speed be moderated, and this was effected, so that the next stretch was done at the rate of 21 miles per hour. The result was much better harvesting. The corn was better cut, the stubble short and
even, and the sheaves, too, were larger. • ' In considering the modification of binder design there are points which must be borne in mind, par
ticularly in connection with the possible increase of speed of working. The_ particular incident which I have related above took place in connection with a moderately good crop. and well standing corn. In other circumstances, such as, for example, a longstalked crop lying down • badly, the possibility of speeding up would be even more remote.
Conditions in America, as is known, differ from those which have to be faced here, but, from the general point of view, it is interesting to note that the present tendency in the States is to reduce the speed of tractors to about the figure I have named, that is to say, 21 miles per hour.
A New Post-Farm Tractor.
A new tractor of novel design is the Post tractor -which is being handled in this country by the American Motor Incorporated, of New York, at Ely Place, Holborn, E.C. As will he seen from the illustrations, the tractor consists fundamentally of two main wheels, placed fore and aft, both of which drive and steer ; and two balancing wheels working on compensating springs which provide a lateral stability with provision for the tractor being used for any kind of surface, however rough. By adopting this system, the chassis of the tractor is obviously free from all flexing strains, and it is able to traverse the roughest ground in absolute safety, and by the arrangement of the steering, is very easily handled in a confined space.
The engine is a four-cylinder monohloe, placed high up centrally in the main chassis, fed by gravity from a large tank in the front and cooled by an efficient radiator and fan, set across the chaseis. The drive is taken from the engine through a clutch to a main shaft, running fore and aft along the chassis, each driving wheel being driven from a bevel gear and a vertical shaft passing through housing and suitable hearings to allow the mounting to swivel on its axis. As will be seen from the photograph on page 345, the driving wheels are extremely substantial and are provided with large teeth to grip the ground.
Steering is particularly novel. It has been found that on heavy surfaces considerable force has to be used on the steering wheel, but on the Post tractor the steering is operated by engine power. On the main driving shaft, an epicyclie gear is mounted, operated by two elutches. The action of the steering wheel brings one or other of these clutches into operation, transmitting power through an open chain to a steering shaft running parallel with the main shaft and on each end of which two worms engaging on worm wheel sectors on the top of the main driving wheels are mounted. Thus, little pressure on the steering wheel operates the steering, and as both wheels turn on their axis through quite a large sector, the tractor will turn round in less than its own length, as can be seen from one of the illustrations. It is hoped to have ademonstration model shortly in this country, and in the meantime the distributing agents will be pleased to supply any information.