Little Machines are now being made for Large Jobs

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1940, Page 29 (Supplement)

Little Machines are now being made for Large Jobs

In an agricultural sense, Taranaki has only recently become machine-minded, but even to-day many farmers are un- ■ aware of the very important place held by the extensive range of equipment offered by smaller types of tractors. To satisfv Ihe requirements of all kmds oi cultivation work, these midgets are now being built down to as low as one horsepower though few have as yet made their appearance on the Taranaki Pr0~ vincial market. In England and America, however, they are steadily replacing all other types of farm motive power. The smallest types of all may be regarded chiefly as motor hoes, since they are mainly suitable for light mtercultivations and c^nnot normally be expected to undertake the heavier task ot ploughing. They are, however, extremely economical in operating cost and, being cheap to purchase, offer a piactical tool within the purchasing power of the smallholder.

A Gallon of Pctrol a Day. At the same time these machines constitute an attractive proposition for the larger farmer, who has a substantial acreage of hoeing to be done. A lad with one of these little machines, running on about a gallon of petrol per day, will get over quite as much ground as two with a horse hoe. The work can be handled with great accuracy and the variety of tools available for attachment on the machine enables a set-up to be made, suitable for most kinds of row crop. An important consideration is that one can hoe in rows of very narrow width, where lt would be impossible to operate a hoise hoe. Four Horse-power Class. Next in order come the medium-sized machines, of around 4 h.p. which are able to plough a single furrow of fullsize on medium land. These rrtachmes suit the needs of smallholders who wish to do all their work with the one machine. • , Like the majority of motor hoes, the motor plough is commonly a two-wheel-ed machine, guided by the operator walking behind. Both steel wheels and pneumatic tyred wheels are available, but so far, the steel wheel has held its own to a greater extent than in the case of the larger tractors. _ Horticultural tractors in the 4 h.p. range will normally require about 2 gailons of petrol for a full day's run in average conditions, and should turn ou not less than 1 to 1} acres of good ploughing. The acreage of cultivating oi discing accomplished is, of course, dependent on depth of working. The general adaptability of these machines is similar to that of smaller models of the same layout. It -may be that when the prospective purchaser approaches machines of this size he may give careful consideration to the claims of a four-wheeler or small crawler, with a riding position for the operator, m which case he has, again, a good choice of models.

General Purposc Machines. So far as wheeled machines are concerned, developments of recent _ years have been towards tlie production o small and very economical editions of the general-purpose or row-crop types of farm tratcor," th'e idea being to givc

the owner of small farms a tratcor that will do all their work, and the owners of large farms something that will nt in well with larger tratcors and do all the light work. In fact, these little tractors replace a two or three-horse team, and are excellent for harrowing, discing, mowing, and similar jobs. They are, of course, fully capable of doing a good job of ploughing, ancl in general will take a two-furrow plough in most land down to a depth of 8in. Special attention has been paid in the case of the most recent models to the dear view of the work which is affoided to the operator. This is effiected in one case by offsetting the driver's seat and the whole layout of the machine. Very accurate row-crop work can thus be done and there is no doubt- about this being a step in the right direction. Four Cylinder Engines. These machines are equipped for the most part with four cylinder engines, and some of them are designed to operate on vaporising oil. This is a point which has a distinct bearing upon operating costs, as compared with models running on petrol. The purchaser should, therefore, go carefully into the ques-. tion of the fuel employed when making a selection.

Apart from the small-wheeled tractors. certain small crawler type machines have been successfully developed and are becoming popular for large-scale root cultivation, as well as for ploughing and other work on the small farm. These little machines range from a single-cylinder 6 h.p. job to two and four-cylinder models with engines developing over 10 h.p. The small motor cultivator of the crawler type usually carries a rearmounted tool bar frame, which can cover quite a wide sweep. The stability afforded by this type of construction is particularly valuable in permitting of close hoeing in narrow rows, since the operator is able to steer very accurately.