XVII 

 PLOWS FOR MECHANICAL POWER 



THE ideal engine gang plow has not as yet been devel- 

 oped, but one or more of the essentials have been 

 realized in every principal type yet offered. It must 

 be compact, strong, durable, simple, easily manip- 

 ulated, cheap, light of draft, and, above all, efficient. 

 Analyzed as a plow for mechanical power, the horse plow is 

 desirable only on account of its cheapness and light draft. 



In the early stages of steam plowing, however, devices for 

 hitching horse plows to the engine necessarily received a great 

 deal of attention. Besides the cumbersome webs of chain and 

 cable which were developed, some so-called plow hitches were 

 brought out. One of these which had a considerable sale was 

 a combination of tender and plow frame. A shallow, triangular 

 water tank was hitched with the base toward the engine, and 

 the horse plows were attached to the rear or oblique side of 

 the tank. The development of plowing engines with larger 

 tank capacity and the introduction of more suitable plows 

 rendered this makeshift unnecessary. 



Practically all traction plowing is now done with specially 

 designed engine gang plows. Both disk and moldboard types 

 are made in large numbers. They present a great variation in 

 size and in the features that distinguish them from horse plows. 

 In the main they are very satisfactory, and to their develop- 

 ment, quite as much as to the improvement in tractors, may be 

 attributed the rapid advance during the decade in plowing by 

 mechanical power. 



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