Making the Automobile Do the Chores 



How the modem farmer dispenses with numerous farm-hands 



At right : The motor 

 treadmill, which 

 consists of a wood 

 framework, two 

 driving pulleys, a 

 belt pulley and a 

 pivoted V- shaped 

 metal framework 



A NOVEL device 

 called a motor 

 treadmill has just been 

 put on the market by a New 

 England manufacturer. It makes it 

 possible for the power of any automobile to 

 be utilized for running a cordwood-saw, 

 threshing-machine, cider -press, cream - 

 separator or butter-making machine. 



The device is portable and can be carried 

 by one man. It consists of a wood frame- 

 work or base, as shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustrations, two driving-pulleys and a 

 belt-pulley carried on the same shaft, and a 

 pivoted V-shaped metal frame operated by 

 an ordinary screw-jack. The wide end of 

 the V-frame is supported on two flat arms 

 pivoted to the wood base. These arms are 

 provided with two curved lugs at their ends 

 to slip under the automobile's rear axle- 

 housing. The sharp end of the V-shaped 

 frame is slightly flattened to take the head 

 of the screw-jack, the other end of which 

 is stationary against a wood block bolted 

 to one of the members of the wood base. 



The automobile is backed up to the tread- 

 mill, so that the rear wheels are square 

 with the two driving-pulleys, the curved 

 lugs on the V-frame arms being beneath 

 the rear axle. As the jack is screwed out, 



Above: The auto- 

 mobile is backed up 

 to the treadmill and 

 the motor is started, 

 the power being 

 transmitted to 

 the driving pulleys 

 through friction 



the V-frame is moved 

 away from the car and 

 the two arms turned about 

 their pivots and raised so 

 that the rear wheels are lifted 

 clear off the ground. As the jack is 

 screwed out further, the tires are brought 

 up against the driving-pulleys, so that the 

 former are slightly depressed at the points 

 of contact on the driving-pulleys, thus 

 giving sufficient traction to prevent the 

 tires from slipping. The automobile-motor 

 is then started, the power being trans- 

 mitted to the driving-pulley shaft through 

 friction between the revolving rear wheels 

 and the pulleys. The wood saw or other 

 machine is then driven off the pulley-shaft 

 by means of a belt in the usual manner of 

 operation. 



No changes are required on the car for 

 use with the device and any make of car 

 can be employed, the differences in tire 

 diameters being taken care of by screwing 

 the jack in or out as required. 



In this way the automobile goes up still 

 another notch in importance on the farm. 

 The farmer is no longer entirely dependent 

 upon more or less unreliable "hands" and 

 the work is doubtless done better and in 

 less time than by the old method. 



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