The Harlowton news., 1911-02-17
Traction Engine and
the Labor Problem.
BY James A. King, Manager
Hart.Parr Companies Farm,
Charles City, Ia.

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One of the problems confronting the
farmer today is that of getting his
work done with as few men as posi-
BILE. The labor problem throughout
the farming section Is something
fierce. Any old kind Of man is hard
to get at any price in many parts of
the country. A good man at rea.
sonable price is rare opportunity
and one that should be grasped at
once. But the work has to be done.
man or no man. Consequently the
question naturally presents itself,
How can get my work done at the
least expense?"
To one having farm Of half sec.
tion or more there comes good solu.
tion to this problem. That is, there
is thing that will help matters very
great deal in getting his work done,
That one thing is good traction en-.
gine. Mind you l say GOOD TRAC.
TlON ENGINE. From my experience
l think that the best traction engine
one can have is good gas or kerosene
engine. l have been using one of
these for two years. Very briefly
stated, the reasons why a good trac.
tion engine is good investment on a
farm of a half section or more are
these: One doesn't need more than
three or four horses; personally l
keep four on 760 acres. Of course,
during haying and threshing, more
horses will be needed, but in most
parts of the country these can be hired
for the short time needed cheaper
than one can feed and take the risk
on those horses during the rest of the
year.
With this engine, depending on it's
size, two men can do the work of
large number of horses and men.
Mine is twenty-five horse engine.
With 1t two men will do the work of
five or six men and twenty to twenty
five horses With this engine l plow,
disc, seed, harvest, thresh, haul heavy
loads and multitude of other things.
The fuel and lubricating oil of this
engine costs me on an average about
1925 per day. This is much cheaper
than you can feed the same number
of horses and this engine doesn't cost
me cent when it isn't working, while
your horses cost you nearly as much
when not working as when working
In rush seasons the engine can be
worked day and night, six days in the
week. 1t doesn't get soft and out of
condition during the winter months
and so is ready to do full work right
at the start of the rush of seeding
time. 1t isn't affected by hot weather
and so will do it's full work day and
night during the rush of harvest sea-
son.
Briefly stated, the reasons as l see
them, why gas or kerosene engines
are better than steam engines are
these: Two men will operate and
care for the gas engine 1t will take
three men and team of horses to
care for and operate a steamer. Gas
engines are lighter, according to their
horsepower than are steamers. Con-
sequently you can work on softer
ground with them. l have never seen
a steamer that will do as many kinds
of work on all kinds of ground as will
kerosene engine. The fuel expense
of my kerosene engine is considerably
less than that of a steamer of the
same capacity.
OF course there naturally arises the
| question of how long an engine will
last. Frankly l have only used one
| two seasons, but in each OF these two
seasons this engine has worked 200
days or more at the very heaviest,
hardest, toughest kind of work, on all
kinds of ground, soft, hard, smooth
and rough. Judging from the condi.
tion of that engine today, and from
the experience of others who have
used them longer than l, a good gas
engine with good care under normal
conditions ought to last eight to ten
years. This is as long as an average
horse is good for
By figuring in the cost of fuel and
lubricating oil, labor and board of the
men, interest and depreciation on the
investment, l find that it costs me
from 40 to so cents an acre to plow
all kinds of ground. from six to eight
inches deep. Figuring the same items
it costs me about 29 to 80 cents an
acre to harvest my grain. The cost
of other things is proportional to
these. My labor expense is as high
probably as the average Of the country
| ha tvnn 80
| engine myself so must hire an en-
| gineer. He costs me from $3.50 to
$500 day and his board. My other
men cost me $35 month and their
board. l figure the board of a man
, worth 81 a week.
| Tho f,oI t. Ia l.