Bourges Exhibition.
Page 27
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From Our Own Correspondent in Paris.
The International Harvester Company's machine has been on the market for seine time, but it is new to this part of Europe. By comparison, it is a cumbersome-looking tractor, mounted on tour wheels, and driven by a longstroke single-cvlinder horizontal engine of the stationary type. It is practically an adapTation of the familiar type of :11nel-item stationary engine to a tractor. :It the forward end of the carriage is tile cooling system, the hot water being carried forward by an overhead
pipe and :hen sprayed out through a series of holes over a fine wire-gauze screen into a collecting tank below.
The motive power of the Castelin French machine was a single-cylinder De Dion-Bouton engine of Ito by 131) min. here and stroke. It delivered its power to the front wheels, by means of a leather-faced clutch, a reducing gear and side chains. The winding drums, on a separate shaft further to the rear, were also operated by means of side chains from a gear-driven counter-shaft. A pulley at the extremity of the winding shaft allowed of the tractor's being used when stationary ler the driving of threshers, choppers, etc. The front wheels taking the drive, the rear wheels were naturally steerers. All four wheels being metal shod, but no wider than for an ordinary road vehicle, special wide rims with transverse ribs were carried for attachment by a series of bolls to the driving wheels when operathre. across country. 'When ploughing, the tractor is secured by the lowering of a " spade " which is ;lermally carried below the frame the full width of tire machine. A hauling point is then secured, at the opposite end of the piece of land to be worked, stakes fitted, and a chain carried from one to the other. The pulley is attached to the chain, in such a way that it can be moved along as each furrow is completed. By means of the two winding drums and the cable passing round the pulley, the plough is hauled through the griaind.
The Tests.
On the lirst day, the Tvel tractor was the only one which gave really satisfactory service. On the second day,
however, all three were running together, with considerable regularity, the British and the American machines being about equal in the time occupied to plough a given area with one or more furrows. There was a big dip in the ground, and this was given as a test of the capabilities of the machines, the English and American engines taking it in a very satisfactory manner, but the hauling apparatus of the French machine showed an inferiority for this clal..s of work. On the third day of the tests, the machines ‘-ere set to work with reapers in a field of clover. The Iyel made three rounds of the field, operating perfectly all the time, in 2 t minutes. A similar plot given to the International Harvester Company tractor was covered in 26 minutes, also without any difficulty. The Cestelin machine did net attempt this work. The tractors were also made to drive threshing machines.
Throughout the tests, the three machines were watched with the closest attention by large numbers of agriculturists, Wire knew what was needed and (lid net hesitate to nick out the weak points of mechanical traction. It could not but be noticed, however, that, as the tests continued and the spectators learned more of the working of the machines, enthusiasm increased.
The Exhibition Proper.
The feature of the show, hold in the centre of the town, wete the display of stationary gas and oil engines, and of oil engines mounted on portable frames. Numbers of excellent electric sets were shown by such firms as Panhard, Renault, Bayard-Clthnent, and others, but these did not appear to interest the agricultural element. The only steam tractor was one shown by Ruston, Proctor and Company, Limited, of Lincoln. At the time of my visit it was getting up steam, but I did not see it at work on the farm where experiments were held. Other British firms taking part in the e,hibilion were lIornsby, of Grantham, the Fairbanks Company, Harrison McGregor and Company, and Hy. Bamford and Sons. Small single-cylinder engines, of both horizontal and vertical types, constituted by far the largest. class, and were shown, in the majority of cases, directly geared up to water pumps, or driving various light machinery by belt connection. It was surprising to find that one well-known firm had sent down a two-cylinder Vtype engine, with hot-tube ignition, which was in operation by the side of a more modern type mounted on a carriage for isortable service.
An in section was, however, found in the small engine class, with powers ranging from 2 to to h,p., where the vertical engine was all supreme. There was one example of a four-cylinder monobloc engine, by Natter, an excellent piece of work following general car-engine lines, and deriving its electricity from .a high-tension magneto; but preference was undoubtedly for single-cylinder engines. In this latter class, and for the lower powers, some of the best work was by Quentin, of Levallois, Labbet Fits, of Paris, and Sauzat Freres, of Autun. Vans were few in number. Renaults had some of their two-cylinder model with light delivery bodies, and had a particularly interesting exhibit in the new two-cylinder voiturette,. which could not, however, be regarded as altogether an agricultural exhibit, De Dietrich had a number of touring cars, one light lorry, and one five-ton lorry used to carry material from the exhibition to the farm. janvier and Company, of Paris, showed a six-whet! three-cylinder Ii ye-ton truck.
During the period of the exhibition, a number of lectures were given by authorities on the application of motors to agriculture, the comparative cost of horse and mechanical haulage, etc. The lire-engine section failed to attract sufficient entries for it to he of any real value, the only machine in this class being one exhibited by a Nanny firm on a De Dietrich chassis.