FARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 21, 17 November 1948, Page 3

FARMING NOTES

Ingenious Attachment Turns Wheel Tractor Into Crawler Type

' Are you interested in an attachment which can be fitted to a wheeltype tractor to convert it into a crawler type at will, giving you the choice of either wheel or crawler tractor operation at the cost of the unit and a few hours work to fit or remove it? asked the N.Z. Dairy Exporter in a recent article, which goes on to say: “If you are, British engineering ingenuity has provided the answer, and this device is now being marketed and is in successful operation on a number of New Zealand farms. , “A surprisingly wide range of conditions of tractor operation exists oh the average New "Zealand farm. There are many cases where a farmer whose main tractor work can be handled by a wheel type machine, could also use a crawler type tractor with advantage in a wet winter, and on heavier work, were it not for the heavy capital outlay involved in the purchase and operation of tractors of each type. For jobs such as pulling a mole drain plough, heavy swamp ploughing and pulling a four or five furrow plough under heavy conditions, the crawler type tractor has obvious advantages, but it is not as economic, as fast, or as handy a proposition as the wheel type tractor for the lighter work on the farm. “The attachment which is the subject of this article, produced by D. G. Roadless Traction, a British organisation makes it possible to convert a wheel type tractor into a track type tractor and can be fitted or removed at will. One British estimate states that it takes two. men approximately four hours to cofnplete fitment, but an estimate from a New Zealand tractor operator, who has been using the attachment with • complete success for some time, lowers this estimate to two hours’ work for two men. How the Attachment is Fixed' “The attachment consists of a half-track unit, built in forms suitable for fitment to any of the betterknown makes of wheel tractors, although in New Zealand the attachment is being handled by the Ford, organisation and to date has ben used only on Fordson Major tractors. The attachment is fittedby replacing the driving wheels of the wheel type tractor with this D.G. Unit which includes two wheels fitted with sprockets on which the track runs. '“Extensive tests in Great Britain and in New Zealand have shown tractors fitted with the D.G. unit to be, in the majority of cases, the equal of the conventional crawler type and its revolutionary design is claimed to reduce running costs compared with the conventional crawler. Furthermore the cost of the attachment complete, added to the cost of a wheel type tractor, is considerably below the cost of the crawler type. So far as operating costs are concerned, fitted to a Fordson Major, petrol consumption at’a speed of two miles per hour is claimed to vary between one and a half and two and a half gallons per hour, depending upon soil conditions. “Added advantages claimed by the manufacturers are greater safety when pulling trailers on sloping hillsides and a gradual improvement in the physical condition of the soil, since adapted tractors keep clear of the furrow when ploughing. Track of Radical Design “The D.G. track is of radical design, being in effect the rigid rim of a wheel of immense diameter. The locked girder type of track gives the tractor a rigid rail to travel on, and the compression drive of the tracks means less movement of the joints than with conventional crawler type track, and consequently less wear and tear. “When first assembled, the track has a curvature equal to a wheel of approximately 15ft. in diameter, but after a few hundred hours’ work it settles down to a curve equal to a wheel of approximately 20ft. in diameter. As time goes on, continual flattening takes place, and the performance and efficiency of the machine steadily increases, due to the fact that it is in effect operating with rear wheels of larger and larger diameter.

Drawbar Pull 40-50 Per Cent Up “Under New Zealand conditions, it is claimed that the drawbar pull of a Fordson Major tractor can be increased by from 40 to 50 per cent

by the fitting of the attachment, depending upon the soil conditions. “As an indication of its performance, a farm contractor in the Manawatu put a three-inch mole drain plug to a depth of 22 inches and set the converted tractor up a fairly severe slope. While this was considered as difficult a trial as could be found for it, the converted tractor took the plough up the hill without any difficulty at all. This contractor has used his converted Ford - son for the mole drain ploughing of 900 acres in all types of country in the Manawatu, having completed 2,000 hours work with it. He is,- at the time of writing, operating the tractor on wheels, to carry out general agricultural work. “In effect, this example of British engineering ingenuity, means that a farmer can, use one tractor to carry out a range of work which previously would have necessitated maintaining two—a wheel type for the summer harvests and a track type for the heavy pulling, under boggy conditions in the autumn and winter. Furthermore, he can still exercise his preference for either rubber tyres, or spade lugs on his wheel type trdctor. The possibilities offered by the attachment must commend themselves to many farmers in this country, particularly where winter conditions are severe and yet summer work calls for the speed and economy of a wheeled tractor.”