Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-03-09
MANY FIRMS IN
UNITED STATES
MAKE TRACTORS
Engines Designed TO Use Case.
line or Kerosene Take the
Place Of Steam Propelled
Machines.
By A. L. DYKE,
Author of Dykes Automobile En-
ewefonedia.


" propelled by a steam engine,
which required considerable care
and was very expensive Now, the
gasoline engine, designed to use
gasoline or kerosene as a fuel, has
taken the place Of the steam-pro-
PEELED tractor. There are approx
naateiy % manufacturers OF tractors
IN the United States today.
The tractor has come to stay and
ls being appreciated more and more,
especially since the shortage of la
Dor for farm york The work a trac-
tor can do is ciassified under belt
work" and Traction work" Belt
work consists Of feed grinding, en-
silage cutting, Smelling, shredding,
threshing, pumping, drilling, etc. The
traction work consists of hauling
farm products and field work, such
as blowing, cultivating, discing, har-
rowing, etc. In other words, the
tractor is not only suitable for trac-
tor work, but when in stationary po-
sition . pulley connected with the
engine can be used for belt work
after the tractor ,propels itself to
where the work is to be done.
Similar to Auto.
The medium-sized, medium-priced !
tractor, operating under average
conditions, will plow one ace seven
inches deep on two and one-half
gallons Of gasoline and one-fifth of
Intoxicating oil. This, in brief, is the
result OF an extensive inquiry made
by the United States Department of
Agriculture, embracing data received
from 200 tractor users in the corn
belt in Illinois
The resistance that soil offers to
the passage of : plow varies from |
two to 20 pounds per square inch,
depending on the character of the
soil The farmer who plans 10 buy
a tractor should obtain q soil map
Of bis locality from his state agri-
cultural college to determine the
power required before he buys a
tractor.
The tractor engine Is similar in
many 1NaPGALS ~ kAAG @ut0A4OuAAI SA"
CINE. The same principle of ignition,
timing gears, valves, etc, are used.
Because the engine operates under
full power mustsof the time, il is
built much heavier and runs more
slowly. Therefore greater heat is
generated and more cooling surface
is necessary.
Gasoline, Then Kerosene.
The fuel Is Usually gasoline to
start on and kerosene to run on. In
other woods, the engine is started
with gasoline and is run until thor
oughly heated. The kerosene is then
turned on from a separate tank and
the gasoline Is turned off.
"A carburetor is usually provided
with the float chambers, one for gas
oline, the other for kerosene. The
Kerosene il heated that it may evap-
orize properly by conducting it 70
the carburetor through a pipe pass
ing close 10 the hot exhaust pipe.
Very few tractor engines operate
on kerosene alone with any degree
of satisfaction. Kerosene needs more
than a heated carburetor. The mix
ture itself must be heated to prevent
condensation in the intake mani
fold, One manufacturer clearly
states in his instructions: "If kero-
setie ID used ii viii be absolutely me-
cessary that oil in the crank case of
the engine be changed after every
twenty hours running" This is
made necessary bv the fact that +
the kerosene condenses if not prop
erly heated, and mixes with the lu-
bricating oil and thins it down so
that it Losses its lubricating quail
tiles.
When the engine smokes excess
sively from the exhaust and the
smoke is black the fuel is not being
properly burned, either because ii is
fed in too great quantity at the
carburetor or because it is not being
properly vaporized.
High Speed 23z Miles.
The drive system on tractors em-
bodies the same underlying prin-
ciples that are applied in the auto
mobile, but the clutch and transmits
sion are Of much heavier construc-
ton. The speed of one well-known
tractor is two and three-quarter
miles an hour on high gear, two
miles per hour on low gear, and
two and three-quarter miles per
hour on reverse gear. In another
well-known make OF light tractor,
the engine is j four-cylinder, so
bore BY SA stroke, with an engine
speed Of i,4S0 revolutions per
minute at four miles per hour on
high gear and l,272 revolutions per
minute at three and one-half miles
per hour. This particular tractor
weighs only 2,7s0 pounds.
For a tractor to travel owe all
kinds of roads it is necessary that it
lay its own track or road in many in
stances. Therefore some means of
presenting . large surface to the
ground on which the weight my be
supported, to prevent sinking into
soft soil, must be provided. For this
several methods are employed, the
most common being the efat wheel
tread, Chain tread" and the rail
road tread"
The fat wheel tread is the type
used on the Ford, and other light
tractors. On some tractor wheels the
projecting treads can be removed,
and deep or shallow treads applied,
according to the condition of the
soil.
No Arching Of Chains.
Ia the chain tread i movable chain
OF various construction Il stretched
oyer and around two wheels, which
has the effect OF presenting consider /
able fat surface to the ground be- i
tween the two points OF support. The i
tread is made to move Or crawl BY {
driving the sprocket support wheels
which have cogged teeth to engage {
coaged teeth on the inner face Of j