Orange County observer., 1899-03-09
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GOOD ROADS NOTES. s


Wide and Narrow Tires.
While 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 up.
and with it should be discussed the
tire question. All are willing to ad-
mi. no doubt that narrow tires on our
heavy wagons are among the most
destructive road agents we have
There seems to be a strong impress
sion among farmers that wide tires
increase the draft and are harder on
teams than narrow ones. 4 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. Tie test was made IN this
way:
4 set OF six-inch tired wheels Of
same height as the one AMI three
ouarter-inch tired wheels bought with
the wagon had been provided so that
/ they hauled the same wagon with the
same lead over exactly similar roads.
measuring the draft by means OF
new self-recording dynamosneter
which had been carefully tested for
accuracy. The road on which these
trials were made was almost level and
somewhat tirloer at the surface than
cora land IN the spring when dry
enough to plow. Unfortunately q
| stratum Of frozen earth about four
| inches from tie 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 number Of times
IN their own track.
SUMMARY or RESULTS:
| Narrow Pounds Wide Pounds
| tires. draft. tires. draft.
! Iirst run. .......3l2,5 First run. 225. s
| Second run 2GA.o Second run. :. .209.2
| Third rum. 23l. Third run ~ 216 4
| Average. 26o.4 Average. - 2lG 4
Difference in favor Of broad tires,
ffty-three pounds or "A. 6 per cent 4
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 q saving by using the broad
tires of slightly more than one-third
Of horse. Or that the same team,
ezerting the same pull or doing the
same work, would have drawn one
fourth larger load. IN other words,
the $3.50 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. 1t 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 III the
fields, meadows, muddy roads, and
gravel aud macadamized roads, and
will publish the results in an illus
trated bulletin for free distributions at
the earliest moment possible. The
most important advantage shown IL
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 go pounds with wide
tires. Here is a saving Of more thar
half the draft It is often compare
lively easy to haul the load after it il
started, and if, by using the wide
tires, the force necessary to give mo
ton to the wagon is reduced NOR
than half, it is Oh important matter. :
} Farmers Guide.