Agricultural Motor Trials at Roubaix.
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A Preliminary Canter for Next Year's Big Trials at Bourges.
By a Member of the Editorial Staff.
The trials of agricultural motors, organized by the Commission Agricole of the Automobile Club de France, and originally arranged for the 7th and 8th inst., were held at Roubaix on the 12th and 13th, the original dates having been altered owing to labour troubles in the vicinity. Even on the 12th, there was still much unrest among certain classes of the people, and the military were greatly in evidence in all
public places. The trials, therefore, were not advertised, as it was not considered advisable that a huge number of persons should be permitted to assemble in one place. One result of the lack of advertisement for the event was that, on my arrival at Roubaix, I had some difficulty in ascertaining the locality
of the field of operations. After making systematic inquiries, I learned that the trials were already in progress near the Velodrome, Roubaix. A taxicab quickly took me there, and I was then guided by the loud " coughing " of a largebore, internal-combustion engine, for which noise I assumed that the tractor was responsible. After tramping a mile or two along narrow tracks and ploughed fields, I succeeded in locating the machines, and my assumption proved to be correct.
Although the meeting had not been advertised, the officials must have felt some satisfaction at the large attendance of local farmers and priests, all of whom showed considerable interest in the proceedings. Classes of scholars from neighbouring boys' schools, under the charge of their tutors, were also among the spectators, and I think there can be no better way of educating the young mind than by affording them such an object lesson ; it should help them to ap preciate future requirements. There were many parties connected with the entrants, but I was the only direct Press representative. All the members of the Commission, with its enthusastie president, Prince Pierre d'Arenberg (the vicepresident of the Automobile Club de France), were present throughout the trials. These had been well organized, but, unfortunately, through no fault of the Commission, the original programme broke down, and a scratch event had to be substituted. Had the trials been held on the days originally chosen, all the competing machines would have started together in one large field, each having the same length of furrow, the same quality of land and gradient, and all working under exactly comparable con ditions. The owner of the farm could not wait, however, as his land had to be got ready for the next crop, and, all unconscious of the difficulty of making comparative tests on widely-separated patches of land, he set his men to work on the large field. Each motor, therefore, was obliged to work under entirely different conditions. The Landrin, for instance, was ploughing on a patch of land which had a most pronounced gradient, and it could work down hill only, returning up the field with the ploughs raised, because the draught with them in the land would have proved too much for the machine. On the other hand, the Lefebvre was working on a practically level patch about half-a-mile distant..
At the outset, my task was made a light one. I duly presented my card at the official tent of the Automobile Club de France, and was promptly received by Prince d'Arenberg, who gave me most valuable personal assistance, for which I am deeply grateful. His perfect knowledge of the English language removed what might have proved a serious obstacle in the way of my obtaining information. On account of my late arrival on the opening day, I saw but little of the trials before the signal, by the firing of a rocket, was given for the mid-day adjournment for luncheon, for which meal I returned to the hotel in an onen horse-drawn
c" b. I deeply felt the indignity of riding behind such an animal. but. as I occupied my seat in the earriage by invitation of Prince &Arenberg, I checked my inclina.'ion to jib. feeling that what was Food enough for the vice-president of the A.C. de F., should also satisfy my requirements, and, after all, there were no other available means of conveyance to the hotel. Later in the day. however, I had the satisfaction of seeine both the president and vice-president of the A.C. de F. driving in an English Daimler.
Trouble was threatened during the early stages of the trial be the appearance of the tenant of the shooting, who vowed his intention of bringing ten men with ten guns to clear the field of all intruders. The intervention of the genial Prince ended in the two contesting parties adjourning to "break a bottle," and the armed band of ten men was not introduced to the competitors or spectators.
A sum of 1,000 fr. for prizes was placed at the disposal of the judges by the Automobile Club, and further sums were subscribed by the Societe des Agriculteurs de France, and by the Syndicate des Colons Francais en Tonisie. There were to have been classes for internalcombustion engines, steam engines and electric motors. Only the first class was represented, however, and that by four machines—one each in four categories. The
competing" machines were entered by the C.I.M.A., the Gilbert, the Landrin and the Lefebvre, the first-named being of American origin (International Harvester), whilst the other three are of French construction. The C.I.M.A., Lanthin and Lefebvre all did excellent work, except for bad manoeuvring at the headlands, where the steering was most erratic, and broad strips of land were left uncut indeed, had I been the owner of the land. I would have ordered at least two of the machines off the field unless they could have produced steersmen who also knew something of nloughing.
The C.I.M.A. " blackened " the land at a much greater rate than any of the other machines, but, on account of the diverse nature of the land, and for other reasons, it would not be fair to make any direct comparison of areas ploughed or fuel used per acre, One machine consumed more than twice as much fuel per acre in one part of the field as did a competing tractor about 800 yds. distant from it. The land was dry and hard—baked by the sun, but the C.I.M.A. turned it over with perfect ease, both with a Parlin and Orrendorf plough, cutting five furrows each 5 in. deep, which it hauled on the first day, and on the second day with a four
disc plough, which got down to the yellow clay 14 in. below the surface. The machine worked with a regularity which would 'have been quite monotonous, had it not been for the occasional excitement caused by the breaking up of the ploughs or draught bars.
The Landrin machine, with its automatic, self-cleansing spuds and self-contained, four-furrow disc plough did better work than, but not quite so much as, the O.I.M.A. machine. The Landrin was operated by one man, or, rather, it would have been if everything had gone well with its anatomy, but its maker had not " tried out" all its details, and the plough-hoisting gear frequently gave trouble. As a matter of fact, the tackle is far too frail, and it had not long been working before the key on the worm wheel sheared.
Why M. Lefebvre should insist upon using a balanced plough for direct haulage, which type of plough involved the uncoupling of the motor from the plough and its subsequent re-coupling at every visit to a headland, I cannot quite conceive. On account of the great 12ngth of this outfit, very long headlands were left uncut, and not more than 60 per cent. of the running time was actually occupied by ploughing. Still, the tractor itself was not to blame, and, had it been provided with a reasonable form of gang plough, it would have put up quite a good record.
Of the fourth machine's performance, the least said the better. It was completely out-classed, and, in addition, its maker had not had time to finish it ; consequently, the chains and other parts occasionally needed refitting, and various adjustments became necessary as the trials proceeded. Its single disc plough made but little impression upon the hard land, and its runs were both short and uninteresting. By other competitors,it was dubbed "the pony " : it might more aptly have been called " the moke." M. Gilbert informed me that he built the machine in six days, and it certainly looked it. I seem to have heard of another job which occupied only six days, but that was a job when finished.
As I have already stated, as competitive trials, the fixture was an absolute failure, but, as a means of driving home a valuable lesson to farmers in the north of France, it will prove of decided value. They must realize that the day of motor culture is at hand. The districts surrounding Lille and Roubaix are peopled with mostbusinesslike individuals, and, once convinced of the practical value of motor ploughing, they will not be slow to take advantage of the new method ; in fact, it will become an economic necessity to them. Most of the land is used for beet growing, for the cultivation of which deep ploughing is essential. One local farmer stated that it would have required six of his oxen to haul a single-furrow plough through the 14-in, cut taken by each of the four discs hauled by the C.I.M.A. Our English ploughing trials are generally for one prize only, and we should never award a prize to each competitor. That is not the case in France, however, for each machine which was present at Roubaix received an award, three for undoubted merit, and the other to encourage the recipient to further efforts with a machine which can be developed into a practical agricultural implement. The decision to make these four awards was reached by the judges at a meeting held on Wednesday evening of last week at the Pavilion of Agriculture, in the Roubaix International Exhibition, and the official results were given to me by Prince d'Arenberg at 10.30 a.m. on the following morning. The awards are as follow : C.I.M.A., gold medal and 200 fr. ; Landrin and Lefebvre, each a silver-gilt medal and 200 fr. ; Gilbert, silver medal and 200 fr. Out of the French Automobile Club's prize of 1,000 fr. there was thus left a balance of 200 fr., which amount was divided amongst the four drivers.
Next year, it is intended that trials of an international character shall be held at Bourges, when it is expected that substantial prizes will be given both by the Automobile Club de France and the Minister of Agriculture. I am assured that English machines will be particularly welcomed, and, if there is any response by British makers to the invitation, it. is more than probable that their expenses will be guaranteed by the club. This year's trials at Roubaix can be regarded only as a preliminary canter before next year a big tests. As the construction of the machines which competed in the Roubaix Trials is not generally understood in this country, it may be as well if I give brief descriptions of their principal characteristics.
Of the four competing machines, the largest was the C.I. M.A., entered by La Compagnie Internationale des Machines Agricoles. Although it bears a French name, it is an American production, being one of the International Harvester Co.'s 25 h.p. models. This particular machine is practically a gas engine on wheels. It has a single cylinder 10 in. in diameter, and a piston-stroke of 15 in. ; 250 r.p.m. is its normal speed, but it can be accelerated to just over 300 r.p.m. The drive from the crankshaft is transmitted through an expanding clutch and spur gearing to an intermediate shaft., and thence by another pair of spur gears to the differential live back axle. No winding gear is provided, and there is no means of locking the differential, the makers claiming that, with a machine of this type, the occasions when such fitments are absolutely necessary are so rare that their provision is not essential ; further, their representatives assert that, as such machines are not generally driven by trained mechanics, if such fitments were provided, it is extremely doubtful whether they would ever be used. In order to insure a maximum of adhesion, however, the driving wheels, which are 72 in. in diameter by 22 in. wide, are provided with V-shaped stropes, which project beyond the rims a distance of from 1 to 2 in. The leading wheels are 14 in. in diameter, and have steel tires 9 in. wide. Of a total weight of 18,200 lb., a load of 12,400 lb. is imposed upon the back wheels. A single speed of 1.76 mile an hour is provided, but the International Harvester Co., if required, can also provide for a " fast-running " speed of just over two miles an hour.
As already stated, the engine has but a single cylinder, but its crankshaft is provided with two heavy flywheels, which insure steady running under every condition. A hitand-miss type of governor is fitted, and this may be notched up according to load requirements, the notching-up lever being the only means of control for the engine. For starting purposes, a dry battery and coil are provided, but, once the engine has started running, the necessary current is supplied by a governed constant-voltage dynamo, which is driven from the near-side flywheel by means of a small friction pulley. Half-compression gear is fitted.
The base of the engine forms the fuel tank, and this is capable of holding approximately 26 gallons. The fuel is lifted from the tank by means of a small pump that is driven from the camshaft, and is forced direct to the vaporizing chamber. This pump is so arranged that, for starting purposes, it can be operated by hand. The engine is water cooled, and the cooler takes the form of a rectangular chamber at the forward end of the tractor ; the water is circulated by rotary pump, is forced from the cylinder into distributing pipes at the top of the cooler, and thence it trickles down into a vessel at. the base by way of a number of wire-wove grids. A large body of water is carried, and, unless anything unforeseen occurs, it is never necessary to replenish the water supply during a day's run. It has been found in practice that this engine will work most satisfactorily on benzol, paraffin, or other forms of fuel, at the rate of one pint per horse-power hour. It is undoubtedly one of the best of American-made machines, but there are many points in its design which would not commend themselves to English practice. In my opinion, the method of attachment of the spokes to the rims of the driving wheels is by no means satisfactory ; the back-wheel rim consists of a plain steel band without any form of stiffening in the way of angle or T rings, and the ends of the spokes are simply bent over to form a T-shaped head, which head is then riveted to the rim. There are other points, also, in the International Harvester machine, to which English manufacturers might object, but there is no gainsaying the fact that the machine does excellent practical work.
Next to the C.I.M.A., the Landrin undoubtedly deserved second place amongst the machines competing at Roubaix; it is a practical and sturdily-built machine. In some respects, it is vastly superior to the American production, and, when its inventor has had a little more experience, I am convinced that. it will prove a most-valuable implement for agricultural purposes, Its general transmission system is modelled on motorcar practice. It has a four-cylinder 2024 h.p. Abeille engine, a plain leather-faced cone clutch, a threespeed-and-reverse gearbox, and a differential countershaft which is mounted behind the back axle ; the final drive to the back wheels is taken through roller-type side chains. Between the clutch and gearbox, there is a chain sprocket winch may be caused to transmit power through a. short chain to a worm-driven winch, by which means the plough frame may be raised clear of the ground when required, for this machine, it must be remembered, apart from its ability to be operated as a tractor, may also be equipped as a self-contained motor plough.
The most-interesting feature of the machine is the arrangement of receding paddles or spuds, which arc fitted to the back wheels. There are two sets of spokes and two hubs to each wheel, leaving a space between them which is occupied by an eccentric that is securely fixed to the back axle. The angular position of the two eccentrics may be altered through 180 degrees, so that the maximum throw may be vevtically below the axle, vertically above it., or in any intermediate position. A strap surrounds each eccentric, and hinged to the straps is a numbp,r of blades or paddles. As the wheels rotate, the blades are given radial motion within the wheels, so that their outer ends are pushed through diagonal slots in the rims. Ily reason of their connection with the eccentric straps, the paddles are subsequently with drawn, so that their outer ends are flush with the wheel rims. When the maximum throw of each eccentric is vertically above the axle, there is no projection of the paddles as they pass over the ground ; when travelling over very soft ground, the eccentrics would. be rotated so that the paddles project to their maximum extent when in contact with the ground. It will be remembered that, at this year's Royal Show at Norwich, a similar device was shown and demonstrated on the Ideal agricultural motor, the patents having been taken out for the idea some years ago by Mr. F. M. Waller, the managing director of the Ideal Agricultural Motor Co., Ltd. Great interest was shown in the La,ndrin device, both by judges and visitors at the Roubaix Trials.
The standard ploughing attachinent of the Landrin consists of a triangular-shaped channel-steel frame, which is suitably hinged at the back of the tractor frame and carries four ploughing discs ; the discs are given rotary motion from a lay shaft on the gearbox, the transmission being through a universally-jointed shaft to a finaldrive bevel gear on the plough frame. The plough frame may be elevated, so that the discs clear the ground, by means of the screwoperated winch and steel cable.
The Lefebvre machine is of the modified caterpillar type, a diagram of which was reproduced on our " Patents Completed " page last week. In this machine, a fourcylinder engine of 24-30 h.p. is employed, and the gearbox provides for four speeds forward and a reverse. 'Behind the back axle is a cross shaft, which is provided with two chain sprockets ; one of these transmits the drive forward to the live back axle, and the other, when ploughing, transmits power to a second cross shaft which carries two large chain sprockets— one on each side of the tractor. Pivoted to each end of this second cross shaft is a trussed frame, the
forward end of which may be raised or lowered by an engine-driven screw and nut. Near the forward end of each trussed frame is also a second chain wheel of equal diameter to that on the second cross shaft, and, encircling these two sprockets, is an endless heavysection roller chain to which is fixed a number of steel paddles. When the forward ends of the trussed frames are lowered, about six or seven of the paddles become embedded in the ground, and by this means sufficient adhesion to propel the machine and its ploughs over very soft ground is insured. A leather band is interposed between the paddles and the chain, so as to protect the latter from mud and stones, A single leading and steerwheel, mounted upon the same axle within a forked turntable, is fitted to this machine.
The smallest of the four competing machines is that entered by M. Gilbert. It is a small self-contained, single-disc motor plough, and is fitted with with a 12 h.p. engine which has two cylinders of 90 MITI. and 110 mm. bore and stroke respectively. A plain, leather-faced cone clutch transmits the drive to a single-speed-forwardand-reverse gearbox, to a crossshaft, and thence,by a second chain, to another cross shaft at the extreme back end of the frame. On this second shaft, there are two separate chain drives to the single driving wheel, so that, by engaging one or other of the two lastnamed chain sprockets, two speeds forward or reverse may be obtained. From the first cross shaft, power is transmitted to the single ploughing disc, which disc is carried on a small frame that may be adjusted for depth of cut required. The near side of the tractor is supported by two small-diameter, spring-mounted wheels, which may be raised or lowered through the medium of a screw and toggle lever. The machine is altogether too light and under-powered for any practical purposes.