THE INTERNAL - COMBUSTION TRACTOR 105 



especially to farm work, has been well received by many farmers 

 having a greater variety of work than those in the grain belt. 

 The tractor is equipped with a pulley for driving stationary 

 machinery, and a drawbar for pulling plows. It has also a 

 hauling body which will carry a load of three or four tons. 

 The weight of the tractor is quite evenly distributed over the 

 four wheels, hence for plowing it is more efficient when carrying 

 some load over the drivers. The tractor is spring-mounted 

 and adapted to speeds of from two to fifteen miles per hour. 

 Wooden plugs, set in round sockets on the circumference of 

 the wheels, take the place of rubber tires in adapting the tractor 

 to hard roads. An extension rim is provided with mud lugs 

 which automatically grip the soil when the wheels sink to a 

 certain depth, and by a hand lever on each driver a series of 

 sharp spikes may be thrust out beyond the periphery of the 

 wheel and locked in position. 



The field of cultivating intertilled crops, which has long been 

 regarded as the exclusive province of the farm horse, has been 

 invaded by a tractor designed essentially for cultivating. This 

 is a light outfit with large drivers carrying the weight of the 

 engine and frame, and a small steering wheel in the rear. The 

 cultivator is built in sizes for taking care of one and two rows 

 respectively, but has been sold as yet in a very limited way. 



Gas tractors have been adapted to nearly as many different 

 purposes as steam tractors. One type is built low for orchard 

 cultivation. Others may be converted into road rollers. 

 Mention has been made in a previous chapter of the long list 

 of gas-propelled farm machines, out of which may come some 

 universal type. Perhaps the latest adaptation is the use of a 

 six-cylinder tractor for pulling a combined harvester. A 

 belt extends from the flywheel of the engine to an electric 

 generator mounted on the harvester, to furnish power for driv- 

 ing the cutting, threshing, cleaning, and elevating mechan- 

 isms of which the harvester is composed. 



