Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-03-06
That Traction Engine Question.

mat lruCt1on Engine Question.
Mr.. Editor Although it is a well-knowr
fact that getting into newspaper contro
versy in this county is very liable to max,
one almost ineligible for promotion int,
places Of profit, especially when one ha
not asked permission of the zone highe
up" really cannot reconcile what littl'
public conscience have with being silen
and letting the letter of our honored Su
perintendent Of Roads 30 unanswered.
In the first place. the weight of traction
engines as given in his letter is too high
There are few eight-ton engines in the
county, but the average freight bill paid
the railroad for these machines is about
$4,000 pounds. Anyone who rode past
the road best known as the "Killeen Road
last summer, when the road towards Beane
was being improved, could see five or six
three or four-ton loads of stone in train
following cleated wheel engine. not once
in week but making many round trips
every day, and no one has yet seen any
signs Of such damage as is claimed is done
by the thresher engine
have been so unlucky as to be the
owner of a threshins outfit for about twelve
years and have not been so placed that
could draw any money from outside sources
while the machinery stood still and waited
for the farms to dry off after every rain so
it could be moved, but having run the en-
CINE myself good many days in that time,
| must say that any man who says that a
thresher can be moved around over the
farm lands Of this county without Tugs on
the engine either has had no experience.
is blinded by prejudice or has no faculty
of observation. l would rather attribute
the first as the reason for such stand.
The fact that county engine has been
used with smooth wheels on public roads
is Of little practical value, as 1t never had
to move except when weather conditions
were just right and it was used only on
solid roads. The smooth wheels are not
safe in travelling down such grades as we
have on many of our roads, remember
one case in point which happened close to
my home. When the road machinery was
brought to work on the Norbeck- Rockville
road the crusher bin and screens were pulled
by the roller. and the crusher by a traction
engine with cheated wheels In coming
down the hill at Muncaster mill the crusher
bins pushed the ten-ton roller down the
hill and against tree on the bank of the
creek. The engineer told me il came down
with the engine reversed and the roller
wheels running backward while the trac-
ton engine gave no trouble whatever. The
county had few new castings to buy. but
that is small matter.
AS to the first cost of the filler blocks
mentioned by the Superintendent. it may
be so that an engine can be equipped at
a cost Of only SIS" but that is only
small part of the cost. There are at least
81 blocks on each wheel. each held on by
at least one five-eighth-inch bolt and nut.
Now, If any two men can turn up 1928
bolts in less than two hours. they are
moving much faster than any have ever
seen at work on any county-road work
since we began tOimprove them. and when
a thresherman is working on farms abut-
ting on the new roads this job will have
to be done at practically every farm gate,
both going in and coming out, unless the
weather conditions are extremely favor
able. Do not depend on my say so, but
ask any farmer how many machines he
thinks could come into his place with smooth
wheels and get set for work
The cut-throat competition Of unbusi-
ness-like men has reduced the price of
threshing work below the cost of doing it
now, and most of the owners Of the thresh-
ing outfits in this county are merely work
ing for the factories, which hold MORTGAGES
on their machines. The first cost of an
outfit is now about $4,000. and it is not
usually run more than eight years. The
daily outlay during the season is about
81 in wages, oil and incidentals. Daily
depreciation $3.50. interest $3.50. repairs
So, taxes 80 cents. a total of $3.50 per
day on an average run of forty days dur
ing year. Against this stands an aver
age income of $50 per day. OF course,
there are few who do better but not
many. Now. If the extra expense of chang
ing filler blocks is saddled on the thresher-
man, he will be compelled to pass il along
to the farmer or quit. The farmer has
already been taxed twice to build the roads,
once when the WAGES paid by county au-
thorities raised the wages Of every farm
hand. every harvest hand and day hand
employed within two or three miles of the
work; when the example set by them cut
down the hours of work to such an extent
that not more than three-fourths as much
work can be gotten out of the same gang
as was formerly the custom. and again
when the assessment and tax rate were
raised and it Is coming hard on him to
add this unnecessary expense. II all the
bills heretofore introduced authorizing ad-
ditional levies become laws. the tax rate
will verge on So next year. and for one
am totally opposed to the proposed levy to
equip traction engine wheels with filters at
the peoples expense.