THe JOURNAL? 



OF 



Tfie ©eparfment of Moncufiure. 



!BRARV 



NEW ':' 



R'OTv. ■ 



Vol. V. Part 1. 8th January, 1907. 



FARM ENGINES AND THEIR CARE. 



A. S. Kenyon, C.E., Engineer for Agriculture. 



Legislation lias recently been passed providing for the inspection of all 

 boilers within cities, towns, or boroughs, and within such shires or portions 

 of shires as may be ordered by the Governor in Council, and for the 

 reporting of any boiler explosion or accident in any joart of the State. The 

 necessity for such legislation has arisen through a number ofi more or less 

 serious accidents, due to negligence or ignorance. Steam engines are now 

 in common use on dairy and other farms. Through ignorance, more than, 

 as a rule, through carelessnesss, their boilers may be sources of danger to 

 those working near them ; may become worn out long before they should ; 

 and may consume much more fuel than necessary. 



The following paper, by Mr. E. R. Meekison, late Senior Inspector 

 of Mines for Victoria, will give many hints worth noting: — 



Boiler. — The most dangerous part of steam machinery is the boiler, 

 and the greatest care should be exercised in giving proper attention to it. 

 After a boiler has been in fair work for about 20 years, more or less, 

 according to the original quality of the iron or steel, and of the feed water 

 used^the plates begin to change from a fibrous to a granular or cast-iron 

 character, and when this change takes place a boiler cannot be worked 

 with safety, as it is then in a dangerous condition and liable to accident 

 at ajiy moment. In some cases, however, boilers have been worked for 

 periods of over 30 years, but in such cases there have been exceptionally 

 favorable circumstances under which they have been used. A few years 

 ago I examined a boiler over 20 years old, which had been offered for sale. 

 The plates, angle irons, and rivets were not corroded to any great extent, 

 but on trying the edge of the plates with a chisel the iron broke off short, 

 just as cast-iron would have done. There was no fibre in the plates, and 

 a cast-iron boiler would have been just as reliable as the one I refer to. 

 Every boiler should be fitted with the most approved appliances to insure 

 its safety, but the best appliances cannot be relied upon without an experi- 

 enced and careful driver being in charge. In fixing boiler mountings a 

 good plan is now in general use, and that is tO' fix them to cast-iron or steel 

 seatings riveted on the boiler. The surface of the seatings which receives 

 the mountings being flat in all cases, thev can be faced, and consequently 



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