Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1899-09-01
BEST WIDTH OF TIRE.
RESULT OF a SERIES OF TESTS AND
EXPERIMENTS.
For An Purposes "A Tire Six Inches
Ia width ct Tread Gives the Most
satisfactory Results - Length OF
A.lrS should he the same.


Ia width ct Tread Gives the Most
Satisfactory Results Length Of
A.lrS should he the same.
Six inches Is the width of the tire
which will best serve the farmer for
I'll ro-nl purposes. This is the result
a. a long series If accurate tests and
experiments made nj the Missouri az
r.rul,ural experiment station. The "X-
prrlmcnts extended over a period OF
20 months. in al kinds of weather and
on all kinds Of roads and farm lands.
director II. J. Waters. who conduct
ed the experiments, made it his pur-
Dose To arrive at the exact truth OF
the matter and had two wagons spe-
cially arranged for the tests. They
were of exactly the same weight, one
being fitted with ordinary onc-half
inch tires. the other with six inch tires.
Each was loaded with exactly 1000
pounds.
These wagons were hauled over all
kinds of dirt and gravel roads, both
wet and dry, and over various kinds OF
farm lands. the pull eXcrted by the
horses being carefully measured by
the help of Il tractOmeter. 1t was
found that the same power needed 10
draw the narrow tired wagon with its
1000 pound load on a gravel road
would have pulled load of 2,+N2
pounds on the wide tired wagon. The
same power required to draw the 2Ooo
pound load on narrow tires over dirt
and gravel roads when these were dry
and hard was found sufficient To draw
"A 2.I3u pound load on the wide tired
wagon under the same conditions, ana
1t was shown that when these roads
were deep with mud but partly dried
nj the surface by a few hours sun, IN"
same power required to draw the 2DO
pound load over them on the narrow
tires would pull load Of 300 pounds
on the wide tires.
director Waters states that the con
ditonS under which the narrow tires
offer an advantage over the wide ones
are unusual and Of short duration
ana that Through majority of days
In the year and at times when the dirt
roads are most used and when their
use is most imperative the broad tired
wagon will pull materially lighter than
the narrow tired wagon"
He states that "a large number of
tests on meadows, pastures, Stuhble
land corn ground and plpWed ground
in every cogdition. from dry hard aud
firm To very wet and soft. show with
out a single exception large differ
rncc in draft in favor of the broad
tires. This difference ranged from II
to l2O per cent" As result of all
experiments conducted he says. 1T ap-
pears that six inches is the best width
Of tire for Il combination farm and
road wagon and that both aXlcS should
be the same length, SO that the front
and hind wheels will run in the same
track"
other experiments have shown that
much less power is required to haul
loaded wagon if it be provided with
wide tires. one of these tests was
made by the officers of the United
States department Of agriculture at
the Atlanta exposition in 1895, Two
wagons. both weighing alike with their
loads, We're drawn over Il wet piece OF
clay road, one wagon having TWO inch
tires. the other with four inch tires
and with the rear wheels farther apart
than the front wheels. so as not to run
in the same track. 1t was found by
the use of the traCtOmcter that twice
as much pull was required to haul the
two inch tired wagon as was required
for the other. That part of the road
travcrSed by the narrow tired wagon
was cut and rutted to Il depth of sew
cral inches, while the tires of the 9TH
cr wagon lad rolled the road into a
smooth ana hard surface.
Experiments made at the agriculture
al experiment station i'll Utah have
demonstrated that L.. inch tired
wagon drew about 10 per cent heavier
than one with three inch tires and
weighing with its load the same as
the other At the Ohio State univcrsi-
~ ii was shown that Il wagon with
three i.~A tires and loaded with ALSO
pounds could easily be hauled by two
horses over an ordinary dirt road in
good condition and with hard sur
face, while with a narrow tire half as
much was Il full load for double
team.
The general use of wide tires would
do Il great deal to maintain our roads
in good condition. Narrow tires ucceS-
sarily wear ruts and cut up the road
surface. Water and narrow tires work
together to destroy streets and roads
o. all kinds, whether macadam, dirt or
gravel.
The value of wide tires as road roll
PRS has been Strikingly illustrated in
Onondaga county, y. y. The Solvay
Process company of Gcddcs, in that
county, were accustomed to hauling
heavy loads of stone for II, miles from
the quarry. To test the wide tire theory
they built several wagons having four
inch tires on the front wheels and six
inch tires on the rear wheels and with
the rear aXlrs longer than the others.
so that the tracks of tie rear wheels
would just lap outside of those made
by the others. The result of the use
of these wagons was to produce Il
hard, smooth, compact surface, and
the road, having been filled so as to
raise the middle or Grown" it. Is thor
ouGhly drained at the surface and al
ways fit for use with the heaviest
loads. Loads Of eight tons are fire.
! qucntly hauled over them and instead
of tending to cut up the road serve to
roll it harder and harder. The super
intcndcnt reports, too, that the i'm
proved condition of the road has re-
duced the cost Of hauling the stone
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