Centenary "Royal" Opens Under Favourable Augury
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MUMBERED amongst the exhibits at this year's Royal Show, which are entirely new, is the David Brown tractor. It is equipped with a petrolparaffin engine of 34-in, bore and 4-in. stroke with wet sleeves to the cylinders, overhead valves, full-pressure lubrication, hardened crankshaft journals and replaceable-shell bearings. The transmission is by clutch to a fourspeed gearbox which is built as a unit with the differential gear. The drive from the gearbox to the differential shaft is by bevel gear and there is a further spur reduction at the ends of the differential shafts to the road wheels of the tractor.
An interesting point about the engine is that it is equipped with 3 governor which can be set to give 1.300 r.p.m. or 2,500 r.p.m. as desired. This. in combination with the four speeds of the gearbox, provides that the vehicle may travel at speeds ranging from 2.2 m.p.h. to 20 m.p.h. A patented feature about the road wheels is that what is called a common centre or hub is provided, to which can be fitted several varieties of wheel, such as disc. steel rim, wheels with pneumatic tyres and, possibly, other alternatives as experience shows to be desirable. The price of the standard model, with steel wheels and general-purpose pneumatics, is £219.
The normal equipment of this tractor is a drawbar, which is adjustable in the sense that its mechanical advantage can be modified in accordance with the implement which is being drawn. The Ferguson hydraulic equipment can be added if so desired. There is point in this, inasmuch as, with the ordinary drawbar equipped, any tractor implement can be used in conjunction with
the tractor. If the hydraulic equipment be provided, a complete new set of instruments must be purchased. B8 Another exhibit of outstanding interest is the Mectaur. This is a twowheeled tractor designed as a mechanical horse. The two-wheeled axle supports, as a chassis, a turntable on which is mounted the engine, steering gear, driver's seat and controls. Manipulation of the steering gear turns the tractor about on its two wheels, so that the equipment can truly be stated to be capable of turning in its own length.
Another new machine, coming into the same category as the Mectaur, is the Ransomes motor cultivator, It is primarily intended for market gardeners and fruit growers, and is of special value for row-crop work. It can be used for crops in rows of any width, from 12 ins, upwards, and for hoeing plants such as lettuces, aspara gus, etc., which hitherto have usually been hoed by hand.
It is equipped with a single-cylindered air-cooled engine, clutch, and a forward and reverse-speed gearbox. The drive is taken through clutches to twin rubber-jointed tracks capable of being adjusted from 2 ft. 4 ins. to 2 ft. 10 ins, between centres. The machine can be used with a variety of implements and the net cost of the tractor is £.150.
Merryweathers show a new model fire engine. It is described as the Greenwich Salamander and is similar to the well-known Greenwich machine, but is larger in capacity and has a More powerful engine. It is mounted on a Morris-Commercial 80 b.h.p. chassis, with Hatfield pump capable of delivering 500 g.p.m. The equipment includes a 45-gallon first-aid tank, with hose and reel, a Telesca ladder and full electrical installation.
A new problem in licensing is likely to arise from the introduction of the new Comfort M.M. tractor, which is designed to be capable of use as a car as well as a tractor. As the former, its equipment is luxurious and embodies components not to be found on many motorcars, as, for example, "a wireless set and a fan which ran deliver either warm or cold air into the cab according to the state of the weather. The equipment on the dash includes a cigar lighter. As a car its speed is 40 m.p.h. The engine on this model is a 45 b.h.p. petrol-paraffin unit. It has a five-speed gearbox and, as a tractor, can pull, according to soil resistance, a three or four-furrow plough.
The new Lanz model is perhaps best described as an industrial tractor. This machine, whilst it embodies the standard Lanz components, including the 45 b.h.p. engine, and six-speed gearbox, has pneumatic tyres, electrical equipment, wings, windscreen and so on, to equip it for road use.
There is a new Case tractor, known as Model D, which is similar to Model C. the latter, it should be noted, being still in production. The novel points on this tractor, which distinguish it from those previously produced, are pressure-fed lubrication to the englne, car-type six-bolt fixing for the wheels, so making them easy to remove and replace in various positions according to width of track desired, and improved accessibility of the oil filter which can now be taken out quite easily from the side of the crankcase.
A new Deere row-crop tractor shown by Jack Oliiing and Co., Ltd., has a horizontal two-cylindered engine, designed to run on petrol or paraffin. The rear wheels slide on splined shafts and the track can he varied from a minimum of 56 ins, to a maximum of 80 ins. This tractor has three forward speeds and reverse and independent brakes on each wheel so that turning is facilitated. It is equipped with sepaii',:e power take-off and pulley.
The Ford Motor Co„ Ltd., shows a much improved model of the row-crop tractor which was shown last year at the Royal." This is the model with single front wheel and adjustable track fnr the rear wheels. The principaL improvement is in connection with the steering gear which embodies couplings to the brakes on the rear wheel. Brakes and steering are thus interconnected in such a way that, as the steering wheel is manipulated, say to tin' right, the brake on the right rear s, heel, after a limited movement of the steering wheel, comes, into action, thus facilitating manceuvring.
An exhibit of interest on Vincents' stand is a two-horse trailer horsebox of neat, yet simple, design. It is
arranged so that the horses are loaded into the trailer at the rear, and there is a movable partition in the centre to .Cacililate unloading at the front off-side. The interior equipment includes a seat for the groom; externally the:-e are jacks at each end of the trailer to support it when it is detached r ean the towing vehicle.
The tll'AV Spade-Grip tractor tyre, a
Firestone exhibit, is, this year, entered for the silver medal of the Society, and• would appear to have good prospect of success. It is claimed that this tyre, which embodies substantial and deep strakes moulded into the rubber of the cover, will grip under any conditions which will afford traction with a strake wheel.
Another aid to wheel grip is the Midland retractable strake. This is
also intended to facilitate the use of pneumatic-tyred tractors. The strakes, which number 16, are mounted on a false disc which is bolted to the wheel. The strakes are made to open or close after the fashion of the iris diaphragm of a camera.
The International Harvester Co., of Great Britain, Ltd., which is the only manufacturer to exhibit a range of commercial vehicles, has a six-wheeler with dual-drive axles and a net payload capacity of 10 tons. It is shown as a tipper, with steel body of 10 cubic-yd. capacity.
In addition to this machine there are also shown a 3-tonner with two-speed rear axle, equipped as a cattle truck, a 3-ton short-wheelbase model with Woods tipping gear, a 15-cwt. van and a medium-wheelbase 4-tanner,