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16 Farm Jobs (Plus) by Land-Rover
Page 69
Page 70
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By P. A. C. Brockington, A.M.I.Mech.E.
Working 365 Days of the Year, Amenable to Firm Handling and Consuming the Minimum of Fuel, a Land-Rover Performs Every Farm Job Except Ploughing and Sowing
THE good farm worker is a man who can turn his hand to anything, who enjoys the exercise of his ingenuity and who has the physical strength to make use of his aptitudes. The more closely a machine on the farm can qualify to this pattern, the greater its usefulness and, like the ideal maid-of-all-work, its response to the impossible must be neither peevish nor haughty.
Mr. A. Field-Johnson, M.B.E., M.C., Dragon Manor Farm, Templecombe, Somerset, employs a Land-Rover on his 180-acre farm in place of a third tractor because it will do any job a tractor can do except ploughing and sowing. It retains its dignity and set purpose if asked to fetch and carry and will submit to harsh experiment witlt a good grace. It works 365 days of the year, is amenable to firm handling by any considerate human, and consumes the minimum of fuel.
Some of the jobs it is given are regarded locally as pioneer efforts—and highly successful ones—and its ability to treat the occasional week-end pleasure of the head herdsman and others with a deferential sense of responsibility encourages its acceptance as one of the family.
Of the 180 acres, there are 30 acres of arable land, an equal acreage of leys, 10 acres of roots and 110 acres of pasture. The head of cattle number 110 pedigreeattested Guernseys and 120 pedigree-attested saddleback pigs are kept. There are also 500 Rhode Island Red chickens. The list of prizewinners is imposing, and in accordance with the reputation of the herd, any laxity, inefficiency or machine breakdown would be regarded
most critically. Mr. Field-Johnson claims that, after farming the land for five years, he is approaching the time when he will be able to boast the greatest productivity per acre of any land in the county. 'Such is the nature of the farm, and the Land-Rover has played no small part in the progress made.
A new job the vehicle has been recently called upon to perform is undersowing a 10-acre field of arable land on a steep slope. In second gear and the fourwheel-drive engaged, the vehicle pulls the 10-ft. roller with seed-box attachment at the optimum speed of about 21 m.p.h., and 10 acres can be sown in 21 hours. In this and many other operations, including rolling, the value of a smooth pull by four wheels results in better implement performance and less driver fatigue.
Undersowing is part of a programme in which 30 acres of old pasture are ploughed up in the year and planted with corn and roots. In the third year the land is re-seeded, the plough going round the farm in six years. Fodder beet is grown for the cows and pigs, and dredge corn and barley for home consumption. There are no cash crops.
, One of the most useful jobs which the Land-Rover does every season is silage 'blowing by means of the power take-off. A total of 300 tons is lifted into the silos in this way at the rate of 30 tons in an eight-hour day. The two tractors are employed to feed the blower, which is worked continuously. Up to 10 loads are handled in a day, and the time for blowing varies between 35-45 minutes per load. On the short hauls the loads are smaller than on the longer hauls. No trouble is experienced with engine overheating.
More Power Take-off Jobs Another use of the power take-off is to drive the sawbench for splitting planks, pointing stakes and sawing wood. The bench is moved to whatever place it is required, and is in operation within a few minutes. The mangel pulper is also driven by the vehicle.
The most distant points on Dragon Manor Farm are two miles apart, and one of the most valuable characteristics of the Land-Rover is the high speed at which it can be driven from one scene of operations to another across hilly farm land and along the roads. The men often use the vehicle for return trips in the lunch break, and this reduces wasted time by 20 minutes or more per man.
Because sacks of the material can be carried on the vehicle, it is preferred to a tractor for towing the ferti lizer. No time is lost in returning to a replenishing point, and a 10-acre field can be treated by a 12-ft. fertilizer in under two hours. A job which is always given to the Land-Rover because of the speed of working is hay sweeping with a 10-ft. implement. The tractor cuts and the Land-Rover sweeps, the advantage of the machine being its speed of return before starting a new sweep.
Drawing trailers with produce is performed by the vehicle with a facility equal to that of the tractors, given that the rear springs of the vehicle are not overloaded. For taking cattle to market or to a show, it is ideal, the extra accommodation for human passengers being an indispensable asset. In contrast to such employment is its use in winter to carry silage into the cowstalls, thus reducing handling to a minimum.
Avoiding trouble from changing weather conditions is one of the farmer's main problems, and in this connection Mr. Field-Johnson praises the ability of the Land-Rover to tow a harrow as easily as a tractor can. Discing with a tractor is followed immediately by seedharrowing with the Land-Rover, and this plan generally beats the fickleness of the weather.
Speeding Haymaking During haymaking, the vehicle can operate a swathe-turner at the same time as the tractor is taking dried hay to the Dutch barn or rick, and this is followed by side-raking in preparation for loading into the tractor-drawn trailers. When cleaning fields after harvesting, the vehicle 'tows a 12-ft. horse rake and completes 10 acres in 1/ hours.
The Land-Rover is three years old and has covered 14,000 miles. Taking into account its varied duties as a stationary power unit and the high tractive effort required when towing implements at slow speed, the running period probably corresponds to at least 45,000 normal road miles. The only overhaul has been one decarbonizing and valve-grinding job. Lubricating oil is changed once a month.
The multiple uses of the Land-Rover on Dragon Manor Farm have impressed many neighbouring farmers, but when listing the virtues of the vehicle Mr. Field-Johnson is more sentimental than boastful. Life would not be the same without it.
In a general discussion about the vehicles potentialities, Mr. Field-Johnson referred to an economy-minded friend who owned a 50-acre farm and who hired a tractor for ploughing and sowing. He performed all the other jobs with his Land-Rover.