THE RURAL* NEW-YORKER 
751 
Farm Engineering 
— .. . . . . ....... - .I-,- ■ i , 
Electric Motor for Wood Sawing. 
I notice an inquiry in a recent issue of 
Tiie R. N.-Y. in regard to using an elec¬ 
tric motor for sawing wood, and as we 
are doing this, and have been for some 
time, it is possible that our experience may 
be of assistance. We formerly used a 
four horse-power gasoline engine, of one 
of the best makes, for general power pur¬ 
poses, such as pumping water, grinding 
feed, sawing wood, etc., the engine being 
set on a permanent base, and belted to 
countershaft, from which the power was 
transmitted to the various machines by 
belting. After about six or seven years’ 
use, during which time an inexperienced 
man was the cause of some damage to the 
engine, with rather expensive repairs, we 
decided to install either a new engine or 
a motor, as the old engine was in such bad 
shape that the repairs were too frequent 
and expensive to make it economical to 
continue its use. 
After carefully looking into the subject 
of electric motors, I decided to put in one, 
and we have used it for nearly two years 
with the best of satisfaction. It is a five 
horse-power motor, operating with a 220- 
volt, 60-cycle alternating current, taken 
from the power wires of an electric com¬ 
pany, and since we got it properly ad¬ 
justed as to the governor nut, etc., it has 
run with absolutely no trouble in any 
way. It is set on a permanent base, same 
as the engine, the only change necessary 
being in the size of the pulley on the 
countershaft, to accommodate the higher 
speed of the motor, as compared with the 
engine. The heaviest work it does is run¬ 
ning a 24-inch circular saw, for cutting 
firewood, and it does that nicely, while 
the engine used to slow down a good deal 
on some of the large sticks. Of course, 
the motor is rated at one horse-power 
higher than the engine was, and in addi¬ 
tion to that a motor can carry an excess 
load of 50 per cent., without injury in an 
emergency, so it is natural that it should 
carry the work of running the saw rather 
better than the engine did. 
The only trouble that we encountered 
in beginning to use the motor was in 
burning out fuses in getting the saw 
speeded up from a standstill. Of course, 
the amount of power required for this is 
a good deal more than to run it after it 
reaches its proper speed. We overcame 
this trouble by installing heavier fuses, 
taking great care to use a fuse that is 
weak enough to burn out before the mo¬ 
tor would be injured by too heavy a cur¬ 
rent. This could have been accomplished 
also by putting in a starting switch, 
which would apply the power gradually, 
or by using a friction clutch to speed the 
saw up slowly. In our case though, as 
the use of the saw is occasional, as com¬ 
pared with doing other work, we did not 
think it worth the expense of doing this, 
and we have had no trouble since using 
the heavier fuses. 
As to the expense of operation, with 
current supplied at 10 cents per kilowatt 
hour, there is no doubt that the electricity 
costs more than the gasoline for an engine 
doing the same work. Rut that is only 
one item of the expense. We must also 
figure in depreciation on the engine, re¬ 
pairs and interest on the investment. 
Depreciation amounts to about 10 per 
cent in the ease of the engine, while for 
the motor it is not over 3 per cent, to 5 
per cent, and the repairs on an engine 
will run at least three times what they 
will on the motor, as there is practically 
no wear on a motor, simply being on the 
main bearings, which in a motor of good 
design are automatically kept flooded with 
oil all the time, and if they ever do wear 
out, they are replaced at small expense. 
With our motor, as soon as the motor 
reaches its regular speed, the brushes are 
automatically thrown out of contact, and 
it runs by induction, with no wear on the 
brushes except for the few seconds in 
starting. 
As we were able to buy a five horse¬ 
power motor for less than half what an 
engine of the same grade would cost, the 
interest on the investment is very appre¬ 
ciably less than in the case of the engine, 
and in addition to all the above, you have 
the convenience of starting the motor by 
a simple movement of the switch instead 
of the bother of getting the gasoline 
pumped up and cranking the engine. And, 
as any experienced user of an engine 
knows, there are always more or less 
troubles with an engine, such as dirty 
spark-points, poor carburetion, etc., and 
in cold weather very often a long, hard 
job in getting the first explosion on ac¬ 
count of its not vaporizing properly un¬ 
less warmed artificially. 
Another feature that reduces the cost 
of running a motor is the fact that the 
more current you use, the less it costs you 
per kilowatt hour. We pay 10 cents per 
kilowatt hour up to a certain amount per 
month (this being decided by the horse¬ 
power of the motor), and as we go beyond 
that, we are allowed an increasing dis- 
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1 
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Va 
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8 » 
The Three-horse Evener. 
count from the bill, so that if we should 
use a large amount per month, the cur¬ 
rent would cost only four cents per kilo¬ 
watt hour, making the actual cost of cur¬ 
rent compare very favorably with that of 
gasoline. Each man must look this up ac¬ 
cording to his individual conditions. 
On the whole, after figuring in the sav¬ 
ing in depreciation, repairs, interest, and 
freedom from trouble, we feel that for our 
all-round work, the motor costs us no 
more than the engine used to. and when 
it comes to convenience, dependability, 
cleanliness and simplicity in the hands of 
Device for Handling Fence Wire. 
inexperienced help, there is simply no 
comparison 
CHARLES E. PRESCOTT. 
Three-horse Evener. 
Will FI. E. Cox who gave the plan for 
arrangement of lines for a three-horse 
team, give a plan for evener and whiflle- 
trees for the same purpose? c. s. 
Lake Hill, N. Y. 
l'he sketch accompanying illustrates 
the standard three-horse evener. A num¬ 
ber of different patterns and combina¬ 
tions of levers are in use, but none of 
these is more convenient or practical 
than the old standard. Dy removing one 
clevis the two horse set can be detached 
to be used on any other implement. On 
the plow this must always be used for 
the furrow and middle horse, as a 
straighter furrow can be turned by so 
hitching. II. e. cox. 
An Automobile at Work. 
A report from Maine describes a rather 
curious problem brought up in the way 
of taxation. There is a tax on automobiles 
in that State. A farmer bought a second¬ 
hand automobile for a little over .$200. 
The town assessors got on the track of 
this car, and started out to assess it for 
taxation. When they went to appraise the 
car the Board of Assessors had difficulty 
in finding it on the farm, as its parts had 
been well scattered. The car had been 
taken apart, with everything stripped 
from it but the engine, the tank, and the 
front rims. One of the front wheels had 
been geared to the wood saw, and the as¬ 
sessors, instead of finding a car as they 
expected, saw the hired man running this 
engine at the job of cutting up stove wood 
with one wheel, while the other wheel 
was giving power to a shaft which ran 
the cream separator, the churn, and a 
stalk cutter as desired. The rear wheels 
of the car had been fitted to an old road 
wagon axle, and one of the boys was 
using this to break a colt. The speedo¬ 
meter had been fitted on so that the boy 
knew just how fast the colt was going. 
The gas tank of the car had been in¬ 
stalled on a post just outside the barn, so 
that it lighted up the whole place. The 
horn from the car had been connected 
with the front gate, so that nobody could 
get in or out without tooting that horn 
and thus sounding a burglar alarm. The 
tax assessors were in a quandary how 
could they tax this man for an auto, when 
there was nothing of the sort in sight, 
while the various parts had all been put at 
useful work. There was nothing under the 
Maine law to justify them in taxing in¬ 
dustry in any such way, so they decided 
to put the matter up to a higher author¬ 
ity, and in the meantime it is quite likely 
that when the farmer gets ready to do so, 
he will put those parts together again and 
pack his family into the car and go sail¬ 
ing off to the church or the Grange in an 
untaxed automobile, and yet they say that 
potatoes will not rank as brain food. 
They eat more potatoes in Maine than in 
any other State in the Union, and where 
can you match this Yankee scheme of put¬ 
ting a pleasure car at work? 
Device for Fencing With Wire. 
Those who have used barbed wire for 
fencing must know how inconvenient it is 
to unroll the wire. Here is a simple de¬ 
vice I have used for several years and 
found very convenient: 
The side pieces, A A. are made from 
2x3s five feet long. In one end a round 
piece, R B, is placed for handle. C C is 
made of a piece of timber 1x4. and is 
placed 18 inches from the end where the 
rod, D D, is placed. The pieces, E E, 
are made of 1x2. and are used for braces. 
To use the device, place the spool of wire 
between the frame pieces, A A. and push 
the rod, D D. through the hole in the 
spool. Then holding by the round handle, 
R R, roll spool on the ground behind you, 
and the wire cannot catch or fly off or be¬ 
come kinked, as occurs when spool is car¬ 
ried on bar by two men. By this device 
one man can do the work of two. If 
ground is not too steep it can be drawn 
behind wagon or on sled. M. D. 
Ohio. 
Improving Heating Circulation. 
On page 547, inquirer of Butler, N. 
J., reports trouble with hot water radi¬ 
ator. He says the outlet is only seven 
inches above the inlet, and I suppose the 
supply and return pipes are both con¬ 
nected to the bottom of the radiator, sup¬ 
ply on one end, return on the other, with 
the result that the weight of both col¬ 
umns of water is about the same and 
there is no circulation. If he will con¬ 
nect the supply pipe to the top of radi¬ 
ator he will get better results, and if he 
connects the return so the cold water en¬ 
ters at the bottom of boiler it would be 
best. I assume that he is using not less 
than one-inch pipe and the supply pipe at 
least is insulated. w. j. m. 
Elyria, Ohio. 
Moving a Barn. 
I notice in your issue of April 3, on 
first page, that “L. S.” contemplates mov¬ 
ing a barn. I have just been through 
this experience, and would like the privil¬ 
ege of adding a suggestion or two. In 
the first place, regarding leaving the wall 
with a foot at the top to be finished after 
the building is moved upon it, will say 
that unless there is some reason which 
cannot be seen from here, it would be 
better to build the entire wall to its full 
height before moving the building. It is 
very difficult and quite expensive to fill 
up under the sills of a barn when they 
are in place. We attempted to pour thin 
concrete at the very top of the wall, but 
it did not run in to fill all the spaces, 
and we finally felt obliged to finish with 
bricks, which is also a long process. 
I ought to say also that if the barn could 
be used to any advantage where it is, 
before undertaking to move it, a careful 
estimate of -the cost of moving and the 
changes of the roof should be made, so 
that " 1 j. S.” will know exactly what it 
will cost him, and then price should be 
obtained from a reliable contractor as to 
the cost of a new barn, to see if it would 
not be more advantageous to start out 
from the beginning with just the dimen¬ 
sions and style of barn most desirable 
for his needs, and thus make an entirely 
new barn in the location desired, and 
make what use he can of the old one. 
Maine. j. henry rines. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
Rural New-Yorker and you’ll ret a quick 
reply and a “square deal.’’ See guarantee 
editorial page. :::::: 
for potatoes —4 styles to choose from to suit your 
special conditions. We guarantee them to do the 
work we claim for them. All growers know that it pavs 
to use diggers even on five acres—they save much 
valuable time and save all of the crop in good condition 
IkOHAQE DIGGERS 
, Wheels. 32 or 2S inch. Elevator, 22 or 
20 inches wide. Thorough separation 
without injury to the crop. Best two 
wheel fore truck. Right adjustment 
of plow, shifts in gear from the seat. 
Can be backed.turnsshort into next row. 
Ask your dealer about them and 
write us for descriptive booklet. 
BATEMAN 
M’F'G CO. 
Box 20 
Grenloch, N. J. 
No. 155 
For 
Heaviest 
Conditions 
mm 
PULVERIZED 
LIMESTONE 
For Agricultural Use 
— ALL SIZES STONE ■ 
Write for Circular on 
WHY IT SHOULD BE USED 
HOW IT SHOULD BE USED 
HOW MUCH TO USE 
WHERE TO GET THE BEST 
WICKWIRE LIMESTONE COMPANY 
P. O. Station “B,” Buffalo, N. Y. 
BUMPER CROPS 
will reward your use of 
Edison Pulverized Lime¬ 
stone. Write today for 
booklet No. 202, sample 
and prices. Prompt 
shipments guaranteed. 
EDISON PULVERIZED 
LIMESTONE CO. 
1133 Broadway, New York City 
AMERICAN INCOT IRON ROOF 
Rust-resisting Pure Iron-Not Steel 
Our bond protects you. Lifetime 
jservice, low cost. 
Write today for Free Roofing Catalog. 
» We nlso make Corn Crlba, Stork Tnukx, Wire 
renrea. Crib A Tank, or Fence Cntalog Free. 
The American Iron Roofing Co. 
Station 16 MIDDLETOWN, OHIO 
THE GASOLINE ENGINE ON THE 
FARM. Its operation, repair and uses. 
By Xeno W. Putnam. 
This is the kind 
of a book every 
farmer will appre¬ 
ciate and every 
farm home ought 
to hare. Includes 
selecting the most 
suitable engine for 
farm work, its 
most convenient 
and efficient In¬ 
stallation, with 
chapters on trou¬ 
bles, their reme¬ 
dies, and how to 
avoid them. The 
care and manage¬ 
ment of the farm 
tractor in plowing, 
harrowing, har¬ 
vesting and road 
grading are fully 
covered; also plain 
directions are 
given for handling the tractor on the road. 
530 pages. Nearly 180 engravings. 
This book will be sent to any address prepaid for 
TWO NEW YEARLY SUBSCRIPTIONS 
or Twenty Ten-week Trial Subscriptions 
or Four Yearly Renewal Subscriptions 
or One New Yearly Subscription and Two 
Renewal Subscriptions. 
The Rural New Yorker, 333 West 30th St., N. Y. 
TAKE DFF YDUR HAT TO THE \ 4 
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