The Bali-Bearing Creeper 



It coasts down plowed ground and crawls along 

 hillsides because of its easy-running qualities 



ANOTHER step forward has been 

 L taken in the reduction of friction 

 and therefore of loss of power, in farm 

 tractors, by means of the introduction of 

 ball-bearing creeper or track-laying units. 

 The use of ball-bearings in creeper units 

 has two great advantages. The first is 

 the saving in power effected by the reduc- 

 tion in friction, as a result of which saving, 

 more of the vehicle-power can be em- 

 ployed for doing useful work in pulling 

 plows or other equipment, instead of being 

 consumed in merely moving the tractor 

 itself. That follows from a test which 

 was made by the University of California 

 and in which a ball-bearing tractor 



actually 

 coasted down 

 plowed 

 ground with 

 a three per 

 cent grade. 



The sec- 

 ond advan- 

 tage is that 

 the tractor 

 may work on 



At right: A driving Oil 

 unit, showing the 

 ball bearings, and 

 structural features 



Drivinq-pinion 



Ploughed 

 ground is as 

 nothing to 

 this tractor 



side-hills without clogging or binding the 

 treads. This is due to the semi-spherical 

 shape of the two, joining raceways and the 

 slight circular motion which they permit. 

 In levee or side-hill vineyard work, this 

 type of tractor has given 

 very satisfactory results. 

 Some of the unusual feats it 

 can perform are shown in the 

 illustrations. 



Tread sections to 

 prevent balls from 

 coming out 



Tread 



punnp 

 Oil 



Casting telescoped here 



^ao^ 



Each of the 

 driving units 

 is controlled 

 by separate 

 clutches, so 

 that the 

 tractor can 

 be turned 

 about in its 

 own length. 



Never mind a little thing like a mud ba1±i. Walk 

 right in, turn around, and walk right out again 



We Are Making Our Own 

 Indigo Now 



INDIGO is now being made 

 from coal-tar in this country. 

 At Midland, Michigan, one 

 thousand pounds of twenty per 

 cent paste are produced daily. 

 All the tariff bills of this 

 nation, commencing with the 

 tariff of March 3, 1883, and in- 

 cluding the tariff of October 3, 

 1913, placed indigo on the free 

 list. Not until September 9, 

 1916, was a bill passed putting a 

 duty on it. It was the first 

 schedule that braved the anger 

 of the German dye makers. 



405 



