IX 



FUELS FOR STEAM TRACTORS 



THE fuels for steam tractors which are in common 

 use include coal, straw, wood, and crude oil. An- 

 thracite coal is seldom used, the ordinary grades 

 ranging from lignite, which is a very soft, peaty 

 product, to the highest grades of bituminous steam coal. The 

 cost of coal naturally varies widely in different sections, as 

 well as the grade which is commonly used. In some sections 

 of Montana and the two Dakotas cheap coal, both lignite and 

 a better grade, are to be found underlying large areas. The 

 quality is not such as to encourage extensive shipping, conse- 

 quently local mines supply coal at from $2.00 to $3.00 per ton. 

 Coal which is shipped in from the Eastern mines costs as high 

 as $8.00 or $9.00 per ton at the railroad station, but will usually 

 produce as much power as one and one half to two tons of the 

 local product. In the Southwestern States of the Great Plains 

 area the coal is usually brought from Missouri or Oklahoma 

 fields and costs in the neighborhood of $6.00 per ton, plus the 

 cost of hauling. In Iowa and Missouri, where a fair grade of 

 bituminous coal is obtainable, the price is usually around $4.50 

 to $5.00 in carload lots. It is the custom of many steam engine 

 operators to have the coal delivered in carload lots and stored 

 in a dealer's warehouse, whence it is hauled as needed. Coal 

 may be had from $3.50 to $4.00 per ton in carload lots in 

 Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, although little steam-traction plow- 

 ing is done in this section. 



Bituminous coals, such as are ordinarily used in plowing. 



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