50 



BULLETIN 907, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



Table 36. — Fuel and oil requirements per day and per acre of'2-plow tractors for different 



operations. 



Operation. 



Number 



of 

 tractors. 



Requirements per 



Fuel. 



Oil. 



Requirements per 

 acre. 



Fuel. 



Oil. 



Spring plowing 



Fall plowing 



Disking 



Disking in combination 



Harrowing, etc 



Drawing hay loader. . . . 

 Drawing grain binder. . 



164 



129 

 95 



101 

 53 

 24 



101 



Gals. 

 17.97 

 18.46 

 17.98 

 17.78 

 16.23 

 11.45 

 14.50 



Gals. 

 1.10 

 1.06 

 1.03 

 1.09 

 1.01 

 .85 

 .92 



Gals. 

 2.71 

 2.86 

 .83 

 .90 

 .42 

 1.09 

 .73 



Gals. 

 0.17 

 .16 

 .05 

 .06 

 .03 

 •08 

 .05 



Table 37. — Fuel and oil requirements of 3-plow tractors for different operation^ 



Operation. 



Number 



of 

 tractors. 



Requirements per 



Fuel. 



Oil. 



Requirements per 

 acre. 



Fuel. 



Oil. 



Spring plowing 



Fall plowing 



Disking 



Disking in combination 



Harrowing, etc 



Drawing hay loader 



Drawing grain binder. . 



Gals. 

 23.12 

 23.33 

 22.02 

 22.74 

 21.60 

 15.06 

 17.31 



Gals. 

 1.29 

 1.32 

 1.34 

 1.30 

 1.51 

 1.09 

 1.16 



Gah. 



2.68 



2.71 



.71 



.95 



.42 



1.30 



.75 



Gals. 

 0.15 

 .15 

 .04 

 .05 

 .03 

 .09 

 .05 



Between 75 and 80 per cent of the tractors were operated on kero- 

 sene. Some of the tractors which were operated on gasoline only 

 were not designed for burning kerosene, and the owners of the others 

 believed that the better service given by their machines when operated 

 on gasoline was sufficient to pay for the difference in cost between 

 gasoline and kerosene. 



The average costs of fuel and oil to these farmers during the year 

 of the investigation were: Gasoline 28 cents, kerosene 19 cents, and 

 cylinder oil 72 cents. The price of fuel and oil increased considerably 

 during the year. The average price of each kind of fuel was practi- 

 cally the same for all areas. The quality and price of the lubricating 

 oil used varied considerably, depending upon the owner's idea of 

 what constituted proper lubrication, and to some extent upon the 

 make of the tractor. 



Costs per day and per acre. — The average costs per day and per 

 acre of using the 2-plow and the 3-plow tractors for different drawbar 

 operations on the home farm are shown in Table 38. The fuel con- 

 sumption per day for the lighter operations was less than for the 

 heavy work of plowing and disking, and this is partly responsible 

 for the somewhat lower cost per day of using the tractors for harrowing 

 and for drawing the hay loader and the grain binder. 



