, ■-•■^ .•■-■■ ■■:^,v^'-^.'wy*>^^^-!?* 



340 



THE ILLINOIS F^HiMER. 



premium be awarded to the evaporator 

 of Cook & Co. 



The undersigned regret that, before 

 they had completed their examination, 

 Gen. "Wilson was taken ill, and they 

 have not had the benefit of his know- 

 ledge, judgment and experience in mak- 

 ing up their award. 



Respectfully submitted. 



Sheridan P. Read, 



W. G. COFFLJT. 



«• 



THE STEAM PI^OW. 



To the Hon. Committee of the Illinois State 

 Agricultural Society. 



Gentlemen: — The undersigned, a com- 

 mittee" of machinists appointed to test, 

 practically, the plowing engines which 

 might compete for an award offered by 

 society, and called upon subsequently 

 to reply to certain inquiries, respectfully 

 report that there Was but one offered for 

 trial which comes within the provisions 

 of the resolution. This was invented 

 and patented by Joseph W. Fawkes of 

 Pennsylvania. 



To form a complete conception of this 

 steam plow, let the committee recall the 

 appearance of a small sized tender of a 

 locomotive engine, let about half the 

 forward portion of the sides and tank be 

 removed. We now have something 

 which resembles the body of Fawkes 

 machine. In the middle of the forward 

 portion of the platform stands the up- 

 right boiler, which is about six and one 

 half feet high and four feet in diameter. 

 The fire box dashpit being of course be- 

 low the level of the platform, and the 

 fire door opening forward. The boiler 

 contains two thousand and twenty-eight 

 inch and a half tubes, which computed 

 together with the fire box, gives three 

 hundred and seventy-five feet of fire 

 surface. Steam may be got up in fifteen 

 minutes, although twice that time is 

 usually necessary. The fuel may be 

 either bituminous coal or wood. The 

 cylinders are horizontal, nine inches in 

 diameter and fifteen inch stroke, and are 

 placed one on each side of the boiler. 

 The pistons communicate motion, not to 

 side wheels, but to a drum or roller six 

 feet in diameter and six feet long, which, 

 as the sides of the platform overhang its 

 ends, is comparatively out of sight. 

 The drum is placed about midway be- 

 tween the front and back of the 

 machine, before it depends the fire box 

 and over and behind it is the tank; so 

 that when the boiler and tank are full 

 they nearly counter-balance each other 

 on the axles of the driving drum. This 

 drum is composed of two iron heads or 

 spiders and an intermediate one to these, 

 thick narrow planks cut like staves, and 

 fitting closely, are bolted and form the 

 periphery. 



The adhesion is therefore produced by 

 a surface of wood six feet Ions, which 



never becomes polished, and the bearing 

 of which is always across the grain. 

 There is no slipping. The machine is 

 started and stopped instantly^ and ex- 

 cept when propelling itself a consider- 

 able distance on tu-rnpike or paved 

 roads, the wear and tear is slight. This 

 substitution of the driving roller for the 

 ordinary side wheels wonderfully in- 

 creases traction and prevents sloughing 

 in wet or yielding soil, while moderate 

 irregularities of surface scarcely effect 

 the onward march of the plow. An- 

 other great advantage is gained by the 

 greasing of the drum; each connecting 

 rod communicates motion to a pinion, 

 which turns easily but without shake on 

 the just mentioned. The pinion inter- 

 locko with a cog wheel, which by a 

 pinion on its axis imparts motion to the 

 cog wheel bolted to the drum. The 

 whole being so proportioned that six 

 strokes of the piston cause one revolu- 

 tion of the drum. No increase of 

 power and of control over the move- 

 ments of the machine are thus secured. 



In front of the fire box is a short 

 tapering bow of sheet iron, which serves 

 as a seat for the fireman and a recep- 

 tical for fuel. The bow is supported 

 by a body-bolt on a truck composed of 

 two iron guide wheels three and one- 

 half feet in diameter and fifteen inches 

 broad. The truck moves freely, like the 

 front wheels of a chaise, and is control- 

 ed by a steering wheel in charge of the 

 engineer, so that the whole machine is 

 turned as readily and as short as a farm 

 wagon. The engine is of thirty horse 

 power. The entire length of the 

 machine is about fifteen feet. Its 

 weight with water and fuel ten tons, and 

 cost including donkey engine and pump, 

 about four thousand dollars. By this 

 pump Avator may be drawn from a well 

 or creek, and the tank filled or water 

 forced from the tank to the boiler. 

 The tank holds twelve barrels, sufficient 

 for three hours running. The^ plows, 

 eight in number, are attached to one 

 frame which is suspended by chains 

 passing over groved pullies in two beams 

 projecting from the rear of the engine. 

 These chains communicate to a windlass 

 in charge of the fireman in front, by 

 which the gang of plows may be raised 

 or lowered at pleasure, and the frame of 

 plows is drawn by other chains which 

 are attached to the underside of the 

 frame of the engine. 



In answer to the several questions 

 proposed by your board touching the 

 capacity and practicability of the engine 

 for farm purposes, we find upon trial 

 and examination as follows: 



1. The Weight, ten tons, as reported 

 by Mr. Fawkes. 



2. The fuel consumed in one hour 

 was one hundred and seventy pounds, or 

 two bushels and ten pounds of inferior 



coal, with one eighth part of a cord of 

 wood, evaporating about one hundred 

 and fifty gallons of water, and plowing 

 one acre in twelve minutes, which in- 

 cludes turning. The wood was most of 

 linn and considerably decayed, and 

 would have been rejected upon steam- 

 boats. 



3. The amount of traction on dif- 

 ferent grades of land would be a matter 

 difficult to determine with the facilities 

 in the hands of the committee. We 

 had the engine run up the various 

 grades of the fair grounds, passing into 

 a gulley with the plows swinging in the 

 rear, which struck in one bank as the 

 main roller was raising the other, which 

 overpowed the engine, but upon detach- 

 ing the plows the machine moved out 

 without the least difficulty. Upon 

 measurement the grade was found to be 

 one foot vertical to four on the horizontal 

 line. Steam by the indicator was mark- 

 ed at only 62 ° , 100 '^ being his ordin- 

 ary pressure. 



4th. The friction produced by the 

 pressure against the shoulders of the 

 axles instead of being fair on the jour- 

 nals, (which are of less size) may pos- 

 sibly make a slight waste of power in 

 running across inclined planes. The 

 wear and tear would be the same as with 

 any other steam engine used for loco- 

 motion. The engine can safely be run 

 across an inclined plane of 30 deg. be- 

 cause of its great breadth of base — six 

 feet; the principal part of the boiler, the 

 heavy fire-box and a great portion of the 

 machinery being below the centre. 



5th. We have previously stated that 

 an acre could be plowed in two minutes, 

 but an examination of the following 

 computations will demonstrate its actual 

 performance : A strip of land 246 yards 

 long and twenty feet wide was plowed 

 in four minutes, and the headland of 

 fifty feet was crossed one in twenty-sev- 

 en seconds the other in thirty — the 

 plows being elevated and lowered to and 

 from the ground in the time. 



6th. No steam engine in existence 

 should be intrusted to inexperienced 

 persons. This one is as simple as any 

 one we have ever examined — is strong 

 and substantial. It is a locomotive 

 high-pressure engine in construction, 

 arranged for reversing at will, and was 

 repeatedly advanced and reversed a few 

 inches at a time, with perfect ease, and 

 in a few seconds. The skill requisite to 

 manage the machine should be acquired 

 in a month by any intelligent American 

 farmer, and your committee, in view of 

 the certainty of the employment of ' 

 steam for farm purposes, would strongly 

 recommend that the farmers of Illinois 

 should give especial attention, in the 

 education of their sons, to the principles 

 of mechanics and the practical manage- 

 ment of steam engines. 



