The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-05-11
SECURE Sc III GOOD q ) R 70
Problem Of Vital importance t.
PagWer and Consumer.
ass'n'atsd That Poor Highways In
sesess osst ~ Living 10 ~ osnt.-
"a Maeedam Road Team VIII
Phi Throo Times Amount.
By w. G.. PALMERD

Oood roads mean a great deal. not
only to the local community, but also
70 the consumer Of the products that
are raised there. II the roads are
poor the cost OF marketing will necss-
saruy be Increased. 1t Is estimated
mat the poor roads In this country
increase the cost of living ten per
cent. The average cost of hauling
ono ton one mile on our common
earta-roads 10 Is cents. On European
roads 1t ls9 cents. while on the rail-
roads It 10 about thrss-fourths of a
cent. At some seasons OF the year
the roads become impossible. which
means that the products of tho farm
cannot bs marketed to the best advan-
tase. They have to be marketed
when tho roads are In condition rath-
erVthan when the price IL right. The
question then becomes how to secure
these better roads. .... 5-.. ,,.,.,.
In the drst place 1T IL important
that the road be as level % possible,
as grade Increases the draft quite
rapidly. The railroads. by taking ad-
vantage Of, this fact, gaSe enabled to
haul big loads. Their grades, ~ .
rule Do not 10 above Dor cont
Some have adopted I per cent. as
the maximum grade; 2 per cent.
means 4 rise Of two feet in hun
dred. BAD .l q .4a
A team can exert q pull on a short
distance Of one-half its weight, but
for ordinary work the load 1t can
pull should Aot BE- over one-tenth the
weight Of the team; for instance, a
team weighing 5000 pounds can exert
a pull Of 800 pounds; that is, when it
Is to continue the work for say ten
hours. While for a small stretch it
would be able to exert q pull of 1900
pounds. This, however, Is putting
forth al the energy Of which they are
capable. It has been found that the
pull required to take a ton over the
ordinary roads is 100 pounds. Sup
posing then that the load is one ton
and the wagon weighs 1900 pounds,
this would make a total of 5000
pounds, ana 1T the rate OF 100 pounds
per ton would make a total of 264
pounds, a little less than the team is
capable Of hauling, In fact it could
very nicely handle 500 pounds more,
which would bring tho pull up to 300
pounds, and making tho load $500
pounds. This, however, Is for the
level. Al . grade is approached this,
of course, will be increased. A s
per cent. grade would increase the
draft of the wagon and load Of $500
pounds by S15 pounds, bringing 1t up
to $40 pounds, which is almost twice
what the team can handle as q regu-
lar thing. II the grade Is increased at
20 per cent. or 20 feet In . hundred
feet the draft on this same load would
come to a little over 1900 pounds, or
the maximum that this team could
pull when exerting it, utmost, power.
Any grade beyond this would mean
that the load would have to be re-
duced, and in fact no team should be
required to have to pull to it, maxi
mum capacity. From this then It is
evident that increasing the grade in
creases tho draft very fast and hence
grades should be eliminated as far as
1t Is possible.
On the macadam road a team can
pull three times as much on the level
as on the good earth road, but the in
crease In draft up grade remains
the same as on the earth road, so
that a grade would be more ob1ec-
tionable on macadam road than on
a poor road. On the level a 5000
pound team could easily handle four
tons, while the maximum grade that
1t could pull up with such a load
would be ten per cent. grade, and
even that is more than should be ex-
pected from the team.
There is very marked tendency
in the west of running roads on the
section lines. This Is good where the
land ia level hut where there arc