1921.] 



The Buckeye " Ditcher. 



313 



sole which travelled in the trench, the result being that only 

 1} chains were dug by the use of 2J gallons of fuel. 

 August 21st and September 4th were Saturdays, when the 

 men ceased work at noon; very little digging was done, and 

 there is no doubt that the figures for these days should not 

 be regarded as true measures of what the drainer could perform 

 in half-a-day under commercial conditions. 



It will be observed that four days are unaccounted for in 

 the table. Three were Sundays, and September 2nd was spent 

 in a general cleaning and overhauling in preparation for the 

 demonstration. Three days were completely lost by break- 

 downs; August 28th was a Saturday, hence only three lost 

 hours are recorded; September 8th and 9th were idle on 

 account of replacing a broken pinion. On September 10th the 

 machine was put on the train for Scotland. If September 8th 

 and 9th, when the machine was idle owing to the broken 

 pinion, be excluded, it can be calculated that the average- 

 working day was 5| hours. Of this, § of an hour was lost by 

 breakdowns, If hours by adjustments, and 3 J hours were spent 

 in a-ctual digging. 



These figures are disappointing, but it should be realised that 

 conditions of management were exceptional during the trial. 

 Several troublesome stoppages should not have occurred : for 

 example, the machine was put out of action by the dog con- 

 necting the magneto shaft to the engine becoming gradually worn 

 out. By careful overhauling it should have been possible to 

 detect the fault and avert a breakdown. It might be said, 

 without labouring the point, that the conditions under which 

 the men were working were not conducive to the biggest out- 

 put. At the demonstration, when the men were doing their 

 best, the machine dug continuously for 6 hours without a 

 hitch; but admitting that special preparations had been made 

 for that day, there is no doubt that, given stricter supervision 

 or some system of payment by results, the average digging day 

 could have been increased materially. 



The consumption of fuel and lubricating oil calculated from 

 the daily figures of the whole trial worked out at an average 

 of 2J gallons of benzol and i gallons of cylinder oil per running 

 hour. 



Table III shows the performance of the machine when 

 digging at certain depths in various classes of land. Figures 

 for each tyj)e of work were taken from Table II covering as 

 long a period as possible ; for example, the four days 



