Clever Conversion of a Combine Harvester
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a country ,with such a tickle climate as lours. a combine harvester—a machine which cats and threshes the coin in a continuous operation—has particular advantages, to say nothing of its labour-saving virtue.;.
A tractor is usually employed to haul the harvester, which is driven therefrom via a power take-off. At least, that is one way of doing it: but Mr. N. G. Riley, of Hoelciey Heath. nr. Birmingham, soon discovered certain disadvantages of this scheme, and so he set about fixing up an independent power unit for the harvester.
Having made this decision, he soon found difficulty in getting an engine from the maker of the machine, so he decided to make use of a unit taken from a 1928 model 12.9 h.p. Austin. After some amount of scheming, he eventually got the arrangement working satisfactorily, but the need for some form of governing device soon became apparent.
For the best results a constant speed of about 1,750 r.p.m. was desirable, and this meant fitting some form of governor to the engine. No suitable type being available, Mr. Riley made up one for himself, and some consistently good work has been since obtained from the complete outfit.
As the full power of the tractor is available for hauling purposes, there is no need to employ an outsize machine.
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As to the labour needed, in addition to the tractor driver. a youth is carried on the harvester and it is his job to tie up the necks of the sacks of corn and to dump them off, in suitable numbers, at convenient points for collection.
The machine shown in the accompanying illustration cuts a 6-ft. swath and is particularly handy in small fields. The largest machines have a 12-ft. cut. So far this season this combination has cut more than 100 acres of corn, and last season the total figure was 150 acres.
We understand from Mr. Riley that the complete outfit has proved so successful that (lie maker of the combine harvester has sent interested persons to see it, with a view to their carrying out similar conversions.