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The Baby Tractor Makes Good

30th June 1939, Page 83
30th June 1939
Page 83
Page 83, 30th June 1939 — The Baby Tractor Makes Good
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Small General purpose Machines Achieving a Notable Success Not Only with the Smallholder but Also on the Big Farm for a Variety of Useful Purposes

MANY factors have contributed to the successful procluetion of the small, general-purpose farm tractor, now commonly spoken of as the baby class, These machines correspond to the " Eights " of the car world, and their appearance is largely due to a determination on the part of American manufacturers to cater for the enormous market represented by the small farmers of the U.S.A. Recent technical developments have made such an ideal practicable, and we are now witnessing the rapid spread of such machines throughout this country.

A typical engine unit has four-cylinders with bore and stroke dimensions of 3,1 ins. and 31 ins., respectively, running at a rated speed of 1,400 r.p.m. and mounted in a tractor weighing about one ton. From such a machine some 10 to 12 drawbar h.p. can be obtained on continuous operation. This compares favourably for efficiency with many rather more powerful and much heavier machines. It

is achieved by cleverdesign, to secure weight reduction without loss of strength, and by utilizing pneumatic-tyred wheels in place of steel wheels.

Such machines are useful not merely to the smaller class of farmer, but are of equal importance for the many light jobs which have to be done on the large holding. They will handle a two-furrow plough on almost any soil in the country to a substantial depth—say 7 ins. or 8 ins.—and are, therefore, suitable for the heavy work of the small farm, as well as for the lighter jobs.

On big farms the practice is to utilize the baby tractor in conjunction with heavier tractors. To the lot of the former falls such work as harrowing, sowing manures and seed, mowing and general farm haulage—in fact, all the jobs for, which a few horses have, hitherto, been retained. In addition, these small machines are specially laid out for working in row crops, for which reason the features of high clearance, short lock, variable tread and independent brakes are of marked value. Consequently, they have still one more province of the horse which they can successfully invade.

These machines are selling like the proverbial hot cakes. They have put tractors on the map in districts where none of the bigger machines has made much progress, and in places where it was said the tractor was entirely unsuitable. In addition to farm work, such machines have a big future for such purposes as golf-course mowing and similar work on sports grounds. They are, of course, equipped with pulleys and power-take-oil shafts.

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