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PLOUGHED FOR FOUR DAYS

Two young farmers from New Zealand, Rex Dodson and Ross Orr, are shown at the controls of two English tractors when they finished a four-day 24-hours-a-day ploughing demonstration in Scotland. Instead of selecting one or two fields for the demonstration the tractor division of the Ford Motor Company, Ltd., undertook to do with two of its tractors all the spring ploughing on two neighbouring farms in Kinross, Scotland, taking in their stride whatever fields were offered.

Only one of the two tractors was new. The other had already done nearly two years’ work on one of the two farms. Sometimes in the same field, and sometimes separately, the two tractors worked continuously 24 hours a day until the whole job of about 200 acres of ploughing was done. Whenever the

two tractors were together, the new one set the pace, and the old one kept up with it. The 16 fields ploughed were of all shapes and sizes. Eight of them were under 10 acres and only two of more than 20 acres. Only two of the fields were approximately rectangular. All the others had short ends and odd corners to slow up the work. They included grassland, dunged and undunged stubbles, and redland. Some had to be ploughed 10 to Ilin deep for potatoes or roots', the rest 6in to 7in deep for barley or oats. The soils were light to medium loams. All fields were marked out in advance with headland furrows nine yards from the boundaries, and one spilt furrow to each 44yd opening. There were four regular and one relief drivers to each tractor working in pairs on eight-hour shifts. All the ploughing was done with three - furrow mounted

ploughs. Most of the work was carried out in third gear, with some periods in fourth gear on the lighter fields. The tractors stopped three times a day—at 6.30 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m.—for service checks and refuelling; and three times intermediately for refuelling only. The fields were ploughed completely with all short ends and headlands finished.

It is estimated that during the four days and nights the tractors, between them, travelled more than 850 miles; raised and lowered their ploughs about 6000 times, and turned over close on 250,000 tons of soil. Of the 204.2 acres worked. 49.1 acres were ploughed lOin to Ilin deep and 155.1 acres 6in to 7in deep. For every hour that either of the tractors worked the average acreage turned over was 1.07 and for every acre ploughed average fuel consumption was 1.10 gallons.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19610429.2.187

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 14

Word count
Tapeke kupu
428

PLOUGHED FOR FOUR DAYS Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 14

PLOUGHED FOR FOUR DAYS Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 14

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