Meade County news., 1916-05-25
HORSE SENSE IN TRACTOR
BUYING
Something of Interest to Every Farmer
in this Community


in this Community
That the light tractor may replace
the horse in the heavy grind Of farm
work, Just as the automobile has re-
lieved him from pounding over the
roads to town to keep the family in
groceries, is a proposition to which
most farmers In this vicinity will
agree. But when 1t comes to replac-
ing their horses with tractor, many
obstacles appear, IS was shown at .
recent tractor plowing demonstration
where all sorts of tractors were going
through their PAGES.
A salesman had shown an Inter-
ested farmer Ill the good pointD his
tractor possessed. He had ploWed for
him, shown him how easy II was to
control the tractor, and somewhat
against the farmers will, had goo hin
Into the scat and let him start II
steer Il, and step Il. He then begaA
90 tell him how Much better 10 IVES
than horses for farm work. "Thoe'O
iust It," broke In the farmer, "if 10
Was Q horse ID know what yen are
talking about, but this thing might
- wind broken and spawned in both
hind legS and l probably w0uldn't And
it Out uAtil IL was paid for and had
taken Is home and used Il 9 while.
No, I'm not In the MaYket today, I've
rot 10 look around before / buy"
In this plain statement II shown the
frame Of mind Of the majority Of pro-
epOctivO light tractor buyers. Th0y
ali knew how TO Judge horses, because
fhoy have raised them, broken them
60 work, and studied them. Buying
Q new horso 10 simply measuring him
But how II Q farmer TO know he 10
when he buys tractor with no stand
Or, putting IL ~ IL really ID, how 10 he
- knew what are standard spOciAca-
tions" when all tractor manufacturers
claim theirs - Standard How y he,
n other words, to detect spawned and
weak lunged conditions In tractoHf
From the results Of experiments
and tests upon al types Of tractors, .
general summary can be made show.
Ing the points Of merit necessary for
. good, serviceable light tractor to
have. 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 160-acre farm, according
to census reports, there are six work
horses and q colt. The tractor with
IN eight-horse drawbar pull gives .
little more power than the average
farmer has In horse-nesh and is, there
fore, practical size. A tractor for
use In all sizes of fields should be
low and short coupled. This makes
short turns possible and gives avail
able power where orchards are to
be cultivated. Select one with two
drive wheels. A single drive wheel
cuts the tractors chances at the load
in half. Would you buy an automo-
bile with a single rear wheelP Two
drive wheels with differential are
absolutely necessary to meet all trac-
tion conditions. Be sure, also, that
the wheels, both front and rear, are
high enough to give clearance In soft
or uneven ground. This height, also,
gives q better leverage on the load.
The power plant of the tractor
should be a motor Of the simpleS.
possible construction with low speed
and the fewest possible number Of
cylinders to deliver the required power.
The high-speed motor wears faster,
uses more fuel, and relies too much
upon itg speed for power. Conse-
quently q low-speed tractor reduces
possible repair costs and gives maxi
mum Of service with . minimum of
trouble.
II alight tractor is to mean economy
on the farm, 1t must use kerosene as
fuel. The increased consumption of
gasoline Is greatly raising the price,
and experts predict q shortage In the
supply for the near future. On the
other hand, kerosene is not Of 30
general use and consequently Is far
cheaper. In selecting kerosene trac-
tor great care is needed, for many Of
the recalled kerosene burning trac-
tors are not nble to live up to their
claims under actual tests. Be sure to
select q tractor that can burn kero-
sene IS evenly, smoothly, and with as
much power as gasoline. Test tho
contents Of tho fuel tanks yourself.
Finally, when you 60 to market for
. tractor, select the product of rep
ntable company who have had years
Of experience In making successful
kerosene tractors. They will not be
experimenting at your expense in time
and money, for their product will be
standard. They alone, IN the tractor
field, can realize that their best inter
osts are to serve your interests and
give you your moneys worth in trac-