New Tractor-hauled Ditcher for Agricultural Work
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A Useful Appliance that Should Do Much to Remove a Serious Handicap to increased Farming Productivity
I T is well recognized that the pro ductivity of much of our land is seriously impaired as a result of waterlogging. The fact has to be seriously considered in connection with the problem of increasing food production to meet war-time needs. In many districts the main trouble is that although there may be good drainage systems in the ground, they are unable to function properly because the watercourses, into which they should discharge, have become choked and the drain outlets in consequence are blocked. In addition, the ditches being much above their proper level are unable to carry large quantities of water.
That so many thousands of miles of agricultural ditches are in this state is due to the high cost of cleaning them out by manual labour. Now, although 'grants arc available in aid of drainage work, the shortage of labour is seriously interfering with progress in this direction. The idea of applying. mechanical power to the job is attractive, but it presents many practical difficulties which have discouraged designers who have attempted to produce machines for the job.
Demonstrations are now being given of a new outfit which is made by Bamford and Evershed, Ltd,, of Salford Priors, Evesham, and its ditching machine, knoslin as the Badger, is attracting much interest. The main units comprise a bucket-type scoop, drawn along in the bottom of the ditch, together with the means for raising and tipping it when full, and a platform for delivery of the spoil to one side. The framework on which these parts are carried is built up mainly of steel tube and mounted on skids. For road travel, pneumatic-tyred wheels are available.
The Badger calls for the Fewer of a small crawler-type tractor for haulage and operation. A special feature of the machine is the telescopic drawbar, which is adopted in order to use the travel of the tractor for both haulage and controlling the tipping movement.
The sequence of work is briefly as follows. With the scoop in the ditch, the _whole outfit moyeS forwards until the scoop is full, the drawbar at this time being in _its shortened position. Directly he has excavated a load, the driver releases the catch which has held the two parts of the drawbar together and continues to move forwards a few feet. The inner member. of the drawbar is pulled out, leaving the ditcher stationary, but actuating, through cables and pulleys, the devices for raising the scoop and tipping it.
The scoop is suspended from a boom at the rear by means of a chain, and is drawn from the front of the frame by means of a long bar. At the correct point the bar is rotated, causing the bucket to turn over and dump its load on to a tray or platform, which' has been moved into position to catch the earth.
After this process, the tractor is reversed to close up the drawbar, which automatically locks when fully telescoped. During this movement, the platform tips the spoil clear of the ditch and the scoop returns to working position. All these operations are controlled by the tractor driver.
Provision is made for accurate positioning of the ditcher, in relation to the bank of the watercourse, by means of a steerage arrangement which is controlled by a lad walking behind. One of the rear skids is furnished with a fin which penetrates The ground and a steering lever for the use of the opera
tor. This skid is capable of being swung into a lateral direction and is coupled through a track rod to a wheel on the opposite side of the machine, This wheel being furnished with a sharp edge mounted at an angle. With little effort the operator can guide the machine by means of the tiller handle.
It should he pointed out that the Badger is capable of being employed for cutting new ditches, as well as for cleaning out old ones and it can be used to a depth of 5 ft. 'The outfit will deal with hard clay as well as soft mud or loose material.
It is stated that preliminary tests indicate that the outfit will turn out as much work as 11 men working on the manual system. The bucket is of 2i cubic ft. capacity.