16 



BULLETIN 174, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table VII. — Custom work done by tractor owners on farms in North Dakota and other 

 States west of the Mississippi River. 



[Arranged according to the opinions of owners as to the tractor's desirability as an investment.] 

 Lx the State of North Dakota. 



Result of investment as reported by owners. 



Number 

 report- 



Doing custom work, 



Number. Percent. 



Finding custom 

 work profitable. 



Number. Percent. 



Men having one season's experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



Men having two seasons' experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



Men having three seasons' experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



Men having four seasons' experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



104 

 103 



72 



149 



25 



73.1 



54.4 



81.9 

 63.8 



84.0 

 61.2 



66.7 

 78.1 



87.7 

 43.7 



87.3 

 27.8 



95.0 

 27.7 



88.9 

 39.1 



In All States West of the Mississippi River escept North Dakota. 



Men having one season's experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



Men having two seasons' experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



Men having three seasons' experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



Men having four seasons' experience: 



Profitable 



Unprofitable 



341 

 172 



237 

 120 



69.5 

 69.8 



199 

 60 



170 

 177 



130 

 115 



76.5 

 65.0 



102 

 43 



78 

 67 



59 

 46 



75.6 

 68.7 



50 

 14 



34 



43 



29 



28 



85.3 

 58.3 



22 

 13 



89.3 

 34.1 



81.5 

 50.0 



Iii Table VIII is a comparison of the annual repairs reported by 

 the two classes of owners under consideration, together with the total 

 repairs. In this connection it should be noted that a number of the 

 men who reported the total amount of repairs for their tractors did 

 not report the repairs by years. The total repairs, therefore, do not 

 agree exactly with the sum of the annual repairs. 



Considering Tables IV to VIII as a whole, it is seen that the greatest 

 differences existing between the averages for the two classes of 

 owners represented are those between the estimated life of the tractor 

 in years, the average amount of time lost per day, and the repairs. 

 These items show that decidedly better results are being obtained 

 by the men who state that the tractor is a,profitable investment, as 

 they lost considerably less time per day on account of engine trouble, 

 had much lower repair charges, and, in their opinion, they will 

 obtain approximately one more year's service from their tractors 

 than the men who believe the tractor is unprofitable. 



