GREATER PRODUCTION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 June 1940, Page 7

GREATER PRODUCTION

ADVANTAGES OF FARMING ON RUBBER. Although there are 323 tractors in the Wairarapa. a great percentage are still equipped with steel wheels. Converting a steel wheel tractor on 'to pneumatics, offers many diversified benefits, such as: Faster, better work, a saving of up to 50 per cent on repairs, and, most important, a saving of up to 40 per cent on fuel. Tyres roll over the surface and do not dig in like steel, requiring power waste to pull out; thus more power is developed by the engine for useful work. Other advantages are the saving of time and labour, better traction, more comfortable, more mobile, far less dust, and the protection of crops, etc., have to be considered. There are two methods of conversion, one by fitting complete new wheels, and. secondly, by cutting down the old wheels and welding the rims on to the spokes. The Reliance Tyre and Rubber Co., of Masterton, who are at present specialising in the conversion of tractors from steel to pneumatics, recommend the cut down method. The cost is considerably less, and the possibility of delay owing to many sizes of wheels being unavailable, is avoided. *