1921.] 



The " Buckeye " Ditcher. 



309 



descent of the wheel is stopped by the winding geai', 

 as previously described, for the bottom of the wheel has now 

 reached the level of the floor of the trench. The drainer now 

 proceeds along the line of the proposed drain, and the driver 

 must keep the sighting rod constantly in alignment with the 

 cross-members by raising or lowering the digging wheel in 

 accordance with any irregularities of the land. If this i» 

 done carefully, a trench with an even fall can be excavated in 

 one operation. It must be emphasised that any carelessness in 

 the matter of sighting will involve subsequent grading of parts 

 of the trench by hand: this actually occurred on several 

 occasions during the trial. 



Organisation. — Before the arrival of the machine, a scheme 

 for the drainage of the land should be decided out, preferably 

 with the assistance of a surveyor, who will mark out on the 

 ground the position of outfalls, mains and minors, take levels 

 at suitable points along the various drains, placing in the ground 

 pegs bearing the number of feet above the surface at which 

 the cross-member should be placed at each point to give the 

 correct fall in the drain. 



The staff required by the machine consists of two men — a 

 driver, who must be a skilled mechanic, and an assistant. 

 Although one man can run the machine if all goes well, the 

 other must be immediately available to attend to the sighting 

 rods and to assist in case of repairs. With this arrangement 

 the men could work in shifts if long running hours were 

 desired. 



When the drainer arrives, the surveyor should explain to the 

 driver the plan of the proposed drains; the latter can then erect 

 his standards and cross-members according to directions left 

 on the pegs, and excavations can be commenced. 



A boy should be provided to deal with the small quantity of 

 earth which drops back on to the heel of the machine and 

 thence into the bottom of the trench. He rides in the trench 

 on the extreme rear of the drainer and clears out with a shovel 

 the earth as it accumulates on the heel of the machine. The 

 quantity of earth which finds its way back into the trench 

 can be minimised by fitting to the rear of the machine a metal 

 apron, which brushes loose material from the edge of the 

 excavation. Two types of aprons were tried at Croxton, but 

 neither could keep the bottom of the trench quite clear, particu- 

 larly when the machine was working at a high speed in 

 loose soil. 



