THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



47 



00 SIZE AUSTIN TILE DITCHER 



The difficulties to combat in drainage work 

 seem small to the uninitiated, but are very real to 

 the experienced. Mother earth is peculiarly liable 

 to break a contractor who takes drainage contracts 

 who is unacquainted with the latest and most up-to- 

 date tools wherewith to tackle the job. Many for- 

 tunes have been dissipated in the bringing out and 

 exploiting of so-called tile ditchers that at first 

 blush seemed flawless, and there are a large number 

 of graveyards scattered through the country of just 

 such machines, and even in this up-to-date century 

 of ours there are few machines that can rightly 

 claim attention. It is commonly known among 

 contractors that one type of machine may be all 



President Chas. W. Fairbanks' ranch. This is 

 swamp land, and below the loam is the famous blue 

 gumbo with the consistency of chewing gum. 

 When this machine was put on the job everybody 

 expected it to be a failure. The reverse happened. 

 It made good from the start, and has been operating 

 in that vicinity for the past five years, and is still 

 working today. A machine of this size can be 

 operated at a cost of about $14.00 per day, condi- 

 tioned upon the price of fuel and labor. Usually a 

 good operator can be gotten for about $125.00 per 

 month, and with distillate selling at reasonable 

 prices, the oil bill, which includes lubrication as 

 well as fuel, together with the wages of one helper, 



00 Austin Tile Ditcher at Work 



right for dry hard ground, another for soft one 

 will work fairly satisfactory where the excavated 

 earth will scour the digging buckets, but directly 

 it comes into soft, sticky material its uselessness as 

 a machine for that type of digging becomes ap- 

 parent. 



Thus, with a machine of the type shown in the 

 picture available to all drainage contractors there 

 is going to be a big reversal of costs of digging 

 ditches that come within the range of these ma- 

 chines. 



The illustration shows a OO size Austin Tile 

 Ditcher at work in Southern Illinois on Ex-Vice- 



should not exceed $14.00 for the entire day's run. 



There are many large tile projects being de- 

 veloped in the United States, and this is the first 

 of several articles dealing with this particular sub- 

 ject. 



The illustration shows that the grade line is in 

 evidence, and a needle attached to the machine fol- 

 lows this grade line, so that the least digression is 

 easily discernible and instantly checked by the 

 operator. The caterpillars on the machine enable 

 it to travel over very soft ground, and there is ap- 

 parently no limit to the size of caterpillars where 

 the character of the work is for large areas. 



