The Lemmon herald. (Lemmon, Perkins County, S.D.) 1912-1917, 1916-02-23
HORSE SENSE IN TRACTOR
BUYING
somstAiaa II lnseres, .e Every Farmer
II this Community


That the light trac1r may replace
the horse in the heavy grind Of farm
work, just ~ the autom ct,ile has re-
lIsved him from pounding over the
roads to tewn to keep the family in
groceries, IN . proposition 60 which
most farmers In this vicinity will
agree. But when IL comes to replac-
Ing their horooo With . tractor, nar
Obstacles appear, "a Was shown At :
recent tractor plowine denonstration
where all sorts OF tractors were goins
through their paceA.
sAlosman had shown an inter
eSted farmer All the good points his
tractor posseass6. He had plowed for
him, shown hin how easy IL was to
control the tracter, and somewhat
against the farner'swill, had got him
into the seat and let him start it
steer 1t, and stop IT, He then began
TO tell him how much better IL Was
than horses for farm work. That's
just IT," broke In the farmer, "if il
VAS horse I'd knew what you are
taking about, but this thing might
be wind broken and spawned in both
hind legs and I probably wouldn't nd
It out until 1t was paid for and had
taken 1t home and used ii . while.
No, I'm not in the market today, I've
got to look around before l buy"
In this plain statement is shown the
frame OF mind Of the majority Of pro-
kpective light tractor buyers. They
a. know how - Judge horses, because
they have raised them, broken them
to work, and studied them. Buying
new horse Is simply measuring him
Up TO standard specifications.
But how IL farmer TO know he 10
getting somewhfren near value received
when he buys . Mactsr with no stand
ard specifications on which to relys
Or, putting 1t - Il really ia, how Is he
to know what are standard speciGcA-
tons" when All tractor manufacturer
calm theirs as standards How is he,
in other words, to detect spawned and
weak lunged conditions in . trActorf
from the results Of experiments
and tests upon all types Of tractors, :
general summary can he made show
ing the points OF merit necessary for
a good, serviceable light tractor to
nave. For the average farm, the
amount Of power should range In the
neighborhood OF eight horse on the
drawbar and sixteen on the belt. On
the average 1eo-acre farm, according
to census reports, there are six work
horses and . colt. The tractor with
an eighthorse drawbAr pull gives .
little more power than the averass
farmer has in horse-fesh and is, there
fore, > practical size. A tractor for
use In all sizes Of fields should be
!ow and short coupled. This makes
short turns possible and gives avail
able power whore orchards are to
Ne cultivated. Select one with two
1rive wheels. A single drive wheel
'uts the tractors chances at the load
n half. Would you buy An Automo-
1ile with a single rear vheelS Two
1rive wheels with ditIerential are
ibsolptely necessary to meet all trac-
ION conditions. Be sure, also, that
ne wheels, both front and rear, are
Ugh enough to give clearance in soft
y uneven ground. This height, also,
ives = better leverage on the load
The power plant Of the tractor |
aould be q motor Of the simplest |
'ossible construction with low speed
md the fewest possible number OF
1linders TO deliver the required power.
he high-speed motor wears faster,
ses more fuel, and relies too much |
pom its speed for power Conse-
.uently . low-speed tractor reduces |
'ossible repair costs and gives maxi
aum OF service with = minimum OF |
rouble. .
II light tractor is to mean economy
n the farm, it must use kerosene as
lel. The increased consumption Of
asolfne Il greatly raising the price,
nd exDoxts predict . shortage In tho
npply Tor the near future. On the
cher hAnd, kerosene il not OF so
eneral uSs and consequently is far
hcaper. In selecting kerosene trac-
or great care Is needed, for many OF
he oo-cAlled kerossno-buYning trac-
o1 Are not able to live up to their
Aims under actual tssts. Be sure to
slece . tractor ~ 0n burn kere-
nns - evenly, smoothly, and with -
,uch power as gAssline. Test the
Of the fuel tanks yourself.
Finally, when you r. to market fo9
srAstsr, select the product OF . rep
table company who have had yean
experience II making successful
erosene tractors. They will mot b
xperimentine At your expense In time
nd money, for their product Will b
tandard. They alone, in the Tractor
eld, can realize that their bese inter
sh are to serve yonr interests and
i've you your moneys worth = trac-
= power.