Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1918-01-02
ADVICE TO FARMERS.


ADVICE TO FARMERS.
All of the Kerosene tractors now on
the market can be roughly divided into
two classes: Those whose makers have
made efforts to adopt the motors for
kerosene work and those who have
simply attached one Of the numerous
Kerosene devices. The latter class is by
far the ma ority and it is largely to
their failure as efficient kerosene
tractors that the poor opinion Of .kero-
5sene as fuel is due.
One Of the first and most important
things to consider in kerosene $ motor
design is the clearance and cooling of
the pistons Owing to the higher soper-
ating temperature in kerosene work the
expansion and heating Of the pistons is
much greater than with gasoline, so
the clearance between the cylinder
walls and pistons must be greater to
prevent seizing and scoring. Expert
ments with various types and sizes Of
pistons have shown that the body
clearance should range from one to
one and a half thousandths Of an inch
per inch Of diameter. The rest Of the
piston should be tapered towards the
head with a clearance of five
thousandths Of an inch per inch of
diameter at the extreme top. This is
considerable more than in gasoline
motors, but if clearances in kerosene
motor are not sufficient to take care of
the additional expansion the pistons
will seize and score the cylinder or at
least cause heavy preignition.
Piston ring gaps must also be slight
~ greater in kerosene motors to allow
expansion. -
Water or oil jackets must be larger
than is customary in gasoline motors
so as to afford a free and uniform cir
culation Of the cooling The compress
sion is usually somewhat lower in kerr
osene motors and the best results are
obtained by lowering the compression
as far as possible without sacrificing
power. In some it is possible to drop
the compression. 25 pounds without.
loosing in maximum power although
the fuel economy will not be SO good.
For all around work the compression
should be about Is pounds although it
can be carried more in an exceptional
~ly we'll cooled motor. The type and 10
cation Of spark plugs is a very import
ant factor in kerosene motors as the
spark plug is one Of the most common
sources Of preignition. There is sti1l
another factor to be considered in
handling kerosene tractor, the ability
and knowledge Of the men who are to
operate them in the field. It must be
admitted that the very best kerosene
tractors are not quite as easy for the
average farmer to operate as the gas
oline. tractor. So that. to insure the
success Of kerosene as a fuel we must
go beyond the mere manufacture and
the agent. Get together to instruct and
eRlighten the owners and operators in
the handling of low grade fuels
Speaking from an agents standpoint
the writer must say our first. duty is to
give the farmers the benefit of our ex-
perience in handling tractors
1t is only in this way that we can
hope to make the kerosene TRACTORS the
success it must become,
The trade papers are doing a great
work along educational lines but some
of them have fallen down III one respect
and that is on their evident failure to
investigate the reliability and truth Of
their advertising. This has resulted in
the publication of a great deal of mis-
leading information, especially con-
corning so-called kerosene burning
devices, some of which can not possibly
do what the advertisers claim for them
The worst offenders in this class are
those advertisers of kerosene attach
ments which guarantee to make a
kerosene engine out of any make or
type of gasoline engine which is
obviously misrepresentation of fact
It is the advertising and sale of such
products, which can not be successful,
that has done so much damage to the
reputation Of kerosene tractors and to
kerosene as fuel. At this time it is
patriotic duty of every advertiser and
advertising publisher to make sure that
he is not misleading the tractor buying
public and the advertisers with little
care can do much to eliminate this evil.
- When Won have an item of news.