The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1899-03-02
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
5 GOOD ROADS NOTES. |


"nNe wide tires are gradually
growing in favor on farm wagons, still
they are not being adopted as fast as
they should be for the best interests
OF the farmer and the good OF the
roads. About this season Of the year
the road question always comes mp,
and with it should be discussed the
tire question. ALI are willing to ad-
NIT no doubt that narrow fires on our
heavy wagons are among the mos.
destructive road agents we have.
There seems to be q strong impress
sion among farmers that wide tires
increase the draft aud are harder on
teams than narrow ones. A number
Of tests recently made before the
Missouri State Roads Improvement
Association show that for many roads
the wide tires draw easier than the
narrow ones, the loads remaining the
same. The test was made in this
way:
A set OF six-inch tired wheels OF
same height as the one and three
quarter-inch tired wheels bought with
the wagon had been provided 80 that
they hauled the same wagon with the
same load over exactly similar roads,
measuring the draft by means of a
new self-recording dynamometer
which had been carefully tested for
accuracy. The road on which these
trials were made was almost level and
somewhat frmer at the surface than
corn land in the spring when dry
enough to pillow. Unfortunately q
stratum of frozen earth about four
inches from the surface prevented
narrow tires from cutting a deep rut
The layer of frozen earth also explains
the decrease in draft Of the narrow
tires when run for a number of times
in their own track.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS:
Narrow Poundsl Wide Pounds
tires. draft. tires. draft
First run 1912. s First run. 1926. 9
Third run. 231.4 Third run. 800. PIG. 4
Average. ..269.4 Average. PIG. 4
Difference in favor of broad tires,
fifty-three pounds or "a. per cent. A
good horse is estimated to exert pull
OF $50 pounds for ten hours per day,
moving at the rate of two and one
half miles per hour. This means that
there was a saving by using the broad
tires of slightly more than one-third
of horse. Or that the same team,
exerting the same pull or doing the
same work, would have drawn one
fourth larger load. In other words,
the 1850 pounds load pulled as heavy
as load Of 3037 pounds should over
the same road in the same wagon if
six-inch tires were used. It is not
maintained that this large advantage
for wide tires would be found in all
conditions of roads. The experiment
station is arranging to make a
thorough test of this matter in the
fields, meadows, muddy roads, and
gravel and macadamized roads, and
will publish the results in on illus
trated bulletin for free distribution, at,
the earliest moment 81, rne plain pt
ppst ima-rne honest people e== line,
D and freedom owl possible. The
a ~. = .portant advantage shown in
the test already made for the wide
tires was the ease with which the load
was started. It required 500 pounds
of draft to start the load with narrow
tires, and only $50 pounds with wide
tires. Here is a saving of more than
half the draft. It Is often compare.
lively easy to haul the load after it is
started, and if, by using the vide
tires, the force necessary to give mo-
ton to the wagon is reduced more
than half, it is an important NATTER
Farmers Guide.