A QUADRUPLE PURPOSE FARM TRACT - OR.
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The Kardell 4-in-1. A Machine which Combines Motor Plough, .Tractor,
3-ton Truck, and Portable Power Plant.
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WE HAVE HAD motor ploughs before, also motor tractors, portable engines and threeton lorries, but never before all four of them combined in one machine. This, however, is what the Kardell 4-in-1 provides, so that it claims really to be capable of performing truly " all the work of the farm," and, as Mr. Geo. E:'Olds, the builder of the Oldsmobile ears and one of the earliest workers in the automobile field in America, has thought it good enough to seethe the controlling interest in the company producing it, there would appear to be good reason for supposing it to be a very practical machine. It has other features also, which are unique in such constructions, in addition to the four leading ones mentioned above, as will be seen in the following description. Primarily, as with all farm tractors, its function of first4mportance is ploughing and, in this, it accomplishes its purpose in a very original manner. It does not pull its ploughs as other tractors do, but it carries them suspended from its frame. In this, it resembles that type of tractor which we know as a motor-plough, the whole equipment of tractor and ploughsforming one complete machine. Its three 14-in. ploughs are mounted in a separate frame, which is attached to the main frame of the tractor in such a way that, whilst they are readily removable, when in Lisa the tractor frame takes .much of the Side-thrust and other stresses off the plough and its connections. The latter can be made very light—hence reducing the work the engine has to do—by reason of the fact that. it is impossible for the ploughs to be damaged when working on bad ground, as the drawbar through Which the pail. on the plough is applied is springcontrolled and interconnected with the clutch in such a AVay that should the ploughshare strike a root or a rock, the spring is stretched and the 'clfitch pulled out of engagement.. With -the. engine Power thuswithdrawn, the wholeoutfit stobs and the obstruction can be 'removed, no harm haying befallen the plough from its presence. This feature is unique and a very
-valuable one. .
Then, a,g,ain, the plough is unique in that the three ploughs function as to dePth—in other words vertical moi'ement—independently, so that each plough f ciiosk The inequalities of the ground over which it is travelling and cuts a furrow of even depth regardless of the uneven nature of the ground. The depth is adjusted by a -depth wheel and the control of the ploughs is effected by a lever lying conveniently to
-030 the right hand of the driver, who by its means can lift the ploughs entirely clear of the gro-und, so that the tractor may be backed without difficulty if desired and carried ciear when turning or making the headlands.
Indeed, this self-levelling, floating plough is a great feature, as die tractor not. only carries the ploughs, 'but carries also the weight of the earth which is being turned as well as withstands the heavy land-side pressure caused by the shares operating at an angle and by the pressure of the earth against the mouldboard ; whilst the ploughs themselves are set with so much suction that there is no friction under the share except right, at the cutting edge, which-makes it very light, to handle. In its form as a motor plough the machine has three wheels, one a small trailer supporting the tail of the triangular frame, and the other two large chaindriven wheels, of very unique construction as regards tread. This is sectional, or webbed, and it is claimed that these wheels have no packing effect on the soil, but that it—the soil—is more mellow than before after they have passed over it whilstano strakes or . spuds are required, as they grin the ground directly on the webs. These wheels which, when working as a motor-plough, travel in front., are both driving and
steering wheels. They are driven by means of enclosed chains frern sprockets mounted on the -ends of a differential shaft, the differential being enclosed with the machine-cut hardened gears in an oil-tight gearbox, two speeds of 3 and 8 m.p.h. being arranged for working equally in either direction.
So much for the driving. The steering is effected by the control of the differential, throwing more of the power of the engine on to one wheel than the other, • up to the .point of throwing all the power on . one and stopping the other altogether. When this is done, the machine simply' drives around the fixed ,wheel as a centre pivot and is thus enabled to tura practically in its own 'length, not only making very narrow headlands, but, where desirable enabling it '
to cut right-angled or even acute-angled,' furrows. It . willbe seen that this facility of control and the ability to reverse with its ploughs lifted clear of the . ground, enables it to be backed right up into the corner of a small or awkward field and the plough started from there, s6 that the field can be finished 'nff with the tractor without needing the services.„ of
. • horses at. all.
If any other type of' ploughthan' that supplied with the machine and described above is required to be used, or when using harrows, cultivators and other implements, the change is effected by simply dropping the ploughs out • of the frame and reversing the inadhine, thesmallwheel then going in front becomes the steering wheel and the implements are attached to a drawbar furnished for the purpose at the engine end of the machine. In this form it becomes a tractor proper and functions just as any other tractor, pulling its load in the usual *ay, When •required for conveying loads to market and for work on hard roads, it can. be used either in this form; as .a tractor, towing a train of wagons or— which is 't6 be preferred—carries its load of 3 tons, becoming for the time being a .three-ton lorry, with an 8 m.p.h. road-speed--quite fast enough for running on steel tyres.
In order to enable it. to do this, two changes are effected. First, the wheels are .provided with 3 in. by in. continuous steel treads, which are readily attached to their faces and serve to protect both treads
and road surface, and, secondly, the sinall supporting wheel, as well as the ploughs, are removed and a channel steel truck frame, carrying a flare-board body, attached, the rear end resting on. a pair of, semi-elliptical springs supported on a regular truck front axle, with; steering arms and connections, mounted on a. pair of steel wheels. Connected Up with the steering the. niachine—Which has now been converted into a three-ton lorry, carrying its own lead—may be driven with equal facility in either direction, the steering being done by whichever pail of wheels arc in front for the time being. This seat is reversible and the steering post is :vertical.
The Kardell is amply provided in the matter of power, as its Waukesha engine is larger than usual, ' having-4i in. by 04in. cylinders; governed at 900 and delivering, as a portable power-plant,. 35 h.p. to a 20 in. 'belt pulley, whilst is h.p. is its drawbar pull. Altogether it. is a very. remarkable .machine, and we. understand that the British representati9n is'in the hands of the Power Farm Supply Co., of Coventry,