106 COMBINED PORTABLE ENGINE 



COMBINED PORTABLE ENGINE AND WINDING 



DRUM. 



Displacement System. 



For the trenching or subsoiling of small areas horse-gins- 

 are very cheap when the work can be done by the horses 

 already on the place, but when the surface or area annually 

 ploughed is over 37 acres, it is advisable to work the 

 winding drum by a steam-engine, especially if the latter is 

 already on the property. Contractors for thrashing or chaff- 

 cutting may in the same way use their engine to do trenching 

 or subsoiling by contract. The first systems originated from 

 Howard's machine, used formerly for ordinary shallow 

 ploughing ; subsequently constructors aimed at making 

 machines which could be easily displaced at each furrow. 



As a rule, the intermediate shaft of the winding drum is 

 revolved by a belt or chain connected with the pulley of the 

 engine ; a gearing system being interposed between the shaft 

 and the drum. A special device is attached for throwing in 

 or out of gear without stopping the engine. There are often 

 different arrangements of cog-wheels keyed on the inter- 

 mediate shaft of the winding drum, allowing two or three rates 

 of speed to be obtained. The length of the cable varies 

 between 274 and 328 yards. 



When the plough is to be hauled back by the engine, a 

 second winding drum is attached to the system, revolving at a 

 speed three or four times greater, the length of the hauling- 

 back cable being 547 yards. 



These different systems of winding drums are made so as to- 

 be connected to any kind of engine, which presents some 

 difficulty in the case of direct traction. We will quote some 

 examples later on. For a direct traction arrangement, the 

 portable engine must be connected to the winding drum so as 

 to form a rigid system, the whole being displaced at each 

 farrow, while, in the stationary arrangement the portable 

 engine is fixed at a certain distance from the winding drum, as 

 in the case of a chaff-cutter or thresher. The stationary steam 

 plants require fixed pulleys, as in the case of stationary gins. 



The displacement of direct traction steam combinations 

 along the headland is done by means of levers or small hauling- 



