Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1899-10-04
BEST WIDTH OF TIRE.
Result of II Series of Tests and En-
pefimentS.


Of Il long series Of acc"za,e tests and
experiments made ut the Missouri ag-
ricultural e.. u, fmcnt station. The ex-
perimCnts extended over period of
20 months. in all kinds of weather and
on all kinds of reads and farm lands.
Director II. ]. Waters. who conduct
ed the experiments. made it his pur-
pose 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 one-half
inch tires, the other with six inch tires.
Each was loaded with exactly 1000
pounds.
These wagons We're hauled over all
kinds of dirt and gravel roads, both
wet and dry, and over various kinds of
farm lands. the pull eXerted by the
horses being carefully measured by
the help of 4 tractometer. 1t was
found that the same power needed to
draw the narrow tired wagon with its
1000 pound load on gravel road
would have pulled a load of 2.4S2
pounds on the wide tired wagon. The
same power required to draw the 1000
pound load on narrow tires over dirt
and gravel roads when these were dry
and hard was found sufficient to draw
a 800 pound load on the wide tired
wagon under the same conditions, and
it was shown that when these roads
l'ere deep with mud, but partly dried
at the surface by a few hours sun, the
same power required to draw the 1000
pound load over them on the narrow
tires would pun Il load Of 9. 300 pounds
on the wide tires.
Director Waters states that the CON
ditions under which the narrow tires
offer an advantage over the wide ones
are unusual and of short Duration
and that Through a majority of DAYS
in the wear and at times when the dirt
roads are most used and when their
use is most ilnperatjye the broad tircd
wagon will pull materially lighter than
the narrow tired wagon"
He states that n large number of
tests ON meadows. pastures. stnbbIe
land. corn ground and nlowcd ground
in every eo,yIitfon from dry hard and
firm TO very wet and soft. show with
ont n SINGLE execution Il large differ
ence in draft in favor of the broad
tires This difference ranged from II
TO 100 Der cent" As n result of an
exneri9cnts# conducted lie saws. at M
nears tbot six inches is the best width
Of fire for n combination farm and
road wagon and that both ayles shOuld
be the same length. so thai tho front
and hind wheels will run in the same
track"
Othcr oyprri,ncuts have shown that
much less pow.r is redllired TO haul
IA loaded WAGON if it be provided with
wide tires. one of tleS, tests was
made blythe officers of the United
States department of agriculture Mt
the Atlanta exposition in 1888. Two
vaeons both weighing alike with their
loads, We're drawn over a 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 tractometer 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
trayersed by the narrow tired wagon
was cut and rutted to depth of sev-
eral inches, while the tires of the 9th
er wagon had rolled the road into a
smooth and hard surface
Experiments made at the agriculture |
al experiment station in Utah have |
demonstrated that IL inch tired |
wagon drew about 10 per cent heavier |
than one with three inch tires and |
weighing with it's load the same as |
the other. At the Ohio State universe |
ty it was shown that Il wagon with !
three inch tires and loaded with 4,4SO |
pounds could easily be hauled by two |
horses over an ordinary dirt road in |
good condition and with hard sur
faca vbfla with n narrow tire half aS |