450 
Trouble with Hydraulic Ram 
Can you give us some information in 
regard to the trouble with our hydraulic 
ram? This ram is supplied with a ltd- 
inch pipe, which has a shut-off, has a 
14-in- discharge pipe. Our greatest trouble 
seems to be with the air chamber becom¬ 
ing filled with too much water every few 
weeks, which has to be let out. before it 
will again work properly. When efficient¬ 
ly working it will supply 2214 gal. in one 
hour. Can you tell us what to do and 
how to do it? C. w. H. 
Newport, Yt. 
From the symptoms given by you it 
would seem the trouble you mention, the 
filling of the air bell with water, or 
“waterlogging,” as it is called, is due to 
une of two things, possibly a combination. 
Either there is a minute leak in the top 
of the bell, which permits the air to es¬ 
cape slowly, and if the top of the bell is 
provided with a screw plug as is some¬ 
times the case, this may he the source 
of trouble, or the air inlet valve or "snift- 
ing valve” as it is called, is either stopped 
or covered with water. 
In the more simple small-sized rams 
this “sniffing” valve is simply a minute 
hole about 3-32 of an inch in diameter, 
drilled as indicated in the diagram. Its 
purpose is to maintain a supply of air 
in the air bell. At each ramming or 
impulse stroke of the ram there is a 
backward surge of water up the drive 
pipe, due to the rebound of the water 
column from the cushion of compressed 
air in the bell. This is required to open 
the impetus valve and place the ram in 
readiness for the next stroke, and can be 
obtained only by keeping the air cushion 
spoken of in the bell. Air is soluble in 
water to a slight extent, and is taken up 
by it. so that if the supply of air in the 
bell is not added to from time to time 
it becomes exhausted, the ram is “water¬ 
logged” and stops. The “snifting - valve” 
tends to overcome this by permitting a 
slight amount of air to be sucked in at 
each backward surge of the water up the 
drive pipe. Examination may show this 
opening to be rusted, or the waste drain 
stopped so that it stands under water. 
If there is a top plug in the bell see 
that it is screwed tightly in with pipe 
cement or lead, and also see that the 
drive pipe is unobstructed and well cov 
ered with water at the upper end. Should 
it be exposed, permitting any quantit; 
of air to get into the drive pipe, the ram 
will stop, due to the ramming stroke being 
cushioned by the air in the pipe, rather 
than by having any water forced into 
the bell. The delivery pipe in the ram 
seems rather small ( 14 -in.) when com¬ 
pared with the drive pipe of 144 iu. 
diameter. Usually a 94-in. delivery pipe 
is used with a drive pipe of this size, and 
it is seldom advisable in farm practice 
to use less than %-\n. water-piping any¬ 
where. unless for short runs where the 
pipe can be easily got at. because of 
trouble from stoppage, resistance to water 
flow. etc. b. h. s. 
Pumping from Spring 
On this farm the spring is down about 
55 ft. below the house. I bought the 
farm a year ago. and must do something 
to improve the water supply. I thought 
of getting a hand force pump and 280 
feet of pipe, that being the distance from 
spring to house, building a concrete tank 
near the house and pumping the water 
from,the spring to the tank. Would the 
pump be too bard to work by hand on 
such a lift, about 300 gallons once a week? 
There' are other springs that the stock 
get water from, and they can go to this 
one without much trouble, as there is a 
good road down to it. I have a four 
H.P. gasoline engine, but if taken down to 
the spring to pump the water I would not 
have it at the barn to grind feed, saw 
wood and thrash the grain. The spring 
does not furnish a large enough stream 
of water to operate a hydraulic ram. 
Homer City. Pa. R. J. M. 
If a small cylinder is used, say one 214 
inches in diameter, the pump can be 
operated by hand without extreme dif¬ 
ficulty. Water weighs roughly. 62.5 
pounds per cubic foot, S 1 /^ pounds to the 
gallon, and by reason of this weight it 
exerts a pressure of nearly 14 lb. per 
square inch for every foot in depth. 434 
pounds to be exact. A cylinder 2% 
inches in diameter would have a cross- 
sectional area of nearly five square inches, 
and for each of these five square inches 
the 55-foot column of water supported 
in this case, would exert a downward 
pressure of nearly 24 pounds, making a 
total of 120 pounds of water that must 
be lifted by the pump plunger at each 
up stroke. For steady pumping a man 
should not be required to exert a force 
greatly in excess of 20 pounds at the end 
of the pump handle, and as the fulcrum 
is so placed iu the pump handle that the 
end of the handle to which the power is 
applied is usually from six to seven times 
as long as the end to which the plunger is 
attached it follows that a force applied 
at the end of the pump handle will 
lift a weight from six to seven times 
as great as itself, and the weight of 120 
pounds should be supported by a force 
of from 17 to 20 pounds applied as stated. 
The above has not taken into account 
the friction of the pump or the resistance 
Vht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
a pump at the present adapted to this 
kind of work the engine and pneumatic 
tank could be added later. It must be re¬ 
membered though, that by the addition 
of a pneumatic tank you will get the 
effect of approximately doubling the head 
to the flow of water offeret by the pipe, that you are now pumping against, you 
and this would increase somewhat the would still have the oo-foot lift to the 
effort, required to work the pump. Figiir- tank and in addition trom lo to 30 
ing on the basis of a four or five-inch pounds pressure to pump against, each 
stroke, about all that can be easily ob- pound of which would be equivalent to 
tained when working a pump by hand, a lift of 2.3 feet. As an alternative, if 
- 
March 8, 1010 
greater quantity of water than you think, 
so that by improvement and combination 
of the spring^—you mention several— 
water might be secured in a sufficient 
quantity to operate a small ram which 
could feed a small gra'vity tank iu the 
house attic, and the overflow be piped to 
a stock tank at the barn. This would 
insure cold water for drinking, and if the 
spring was properly protected at the 
source and outlet, pure water as well. 
Circular No. 66 of the University of Mon¬ 
tana at Bozeman. Montana, shows and 
explains different methods of making 
home-made installations of running water. 
A recent bulletin. Farmer’s Bulletin No. 
941, put out by the Department of Agri¬ 
culture at Washington, D. C.. covers the 
ground more fully, taking up the subject 
of pneumatic installations, etc. Each of 
these I think, would be of interest and 
value to you and they may be obtained 
by request. r. ii. s. 
Blasting Stumps 
I notice on page 170 an article on 
“Cleaning Land on Long Island.” and 
having had some experience iu blasting 
would make the following suggestions to 
L. B. I think he would find a 1%-iu. bar 
four feet long preferable to a dirt auger, 
but if he makes the auger, would use 
IMrin. instead of 1 -iucli. as the dynamite 
comes in sticks S x 144 inches. So a 
144 -iu. hole will carry the cartridge with 
fuse on side. I would suggest that he 
have a piece of %-iu. drain pipe welded 
to the auger, so with a T 011 the pipe he 
can use short pieces for handle. 
Enfield, N II. w. a. s. 
Working Plan of Hydraulic Ram 
such a pump should deliver from 3.5 to 4.3 
gallons per minute when working at the 
rate of 40 strokes per minute, and would 
require in the neighborhood of from one 
to 144 hours pumping to fill the 300- 
galloirtauk spoken of. 
You will, no doubt, eventually install 
a power system, as hand pumping _ is 
slow disagreeable work, and by selecting 
your barn is located within suction dis¬ 
tance, not to exceed 20 to 25 feet, and 
within a reasonable distance horizontally, 
it might be possible to install your pump¬ 
ing plant there and by the use of a short 
line shaft utilize the engine that you now 
have for pumping. 
Unless you have made actual measure¬ 
ment your spring may be discharging a 
In a Scottish country parish a well- 
known joker was chatting with the minis¬ 
ter, who jocularly said. “I suppose. Jamie, 
you have in your time made up nearly as 
many witticisms as I have sermons?” 
Jamie: “Week I diuna ken : but ye have 
a great advantage over me.” Minister: 
“In what way?” Jamie: “In this way. 
If I try tae palm off an aul’ joke 011 any¬ 
one the thing’s detected at once: but folk 
pay sae little heed tae sermons that when 
an aul’ aue’s preached it gangs doou jist 
as well as a brand-new discourse!”—Mel¬ 
bourne Australasian. 
How Much Does It Cost 
to Plow an Acre? 
Do you want to know how much it will cost you an acre to plow with a 
Case 10-18? 
Here are the facts. You can figure the cost exactly in your community, 
based on the current price of kerosene. 
A Case 10-18, under official tests, required 1 3-5 gallons of kerosene per 
acre, pulling two 14-inch plows 5 1-3 inches deep. The water used amounted 
to 54 gallon. The soil was hard gumbo stubble, loose on the surface. The 
average drawbar pull was 1,015 pounds. 
The plowing was done at the rate of 1 1-10 acres per hour. 
These figures are authorized and certified by the official Board of Tests 
of the National Tractor Show. It is also interesting to know that in this test 
the average drawbar horsepower required was 9.14. The Case 10-18 is capable 
of delivering as high as 14 horsepower on the drawbar, which proves that it 
has ample reserve for the most difficult jobs. In fact, we consider it the most 
practical and durable two-plow tractor built. Its belt power also exceeds its 
rating. It will deliver as high as 24 horsepower for belt work. 
Note all the superiorities of this super-tractor, shown at the right. They 
represent the latest and best, and all of them can be obtained only in this 
Case 10-18. 
Write for detailed specifications and illustrations, so that you may use this 
tractor as a guide in making comparisons. For it sets the standards. 
J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, Inc. 
(Founded 1842) 
1659 Erie Street, Racine, Wis., U..S. A. 
KEROSENE 
TRACTORS 
(8ia) 
Features of the Case 10-18 
1 Weighs only 3,400 pounds, little 
more than a team of horses. Low 
and compact with short wheelbase. 
Turns in 22 ft. circle. Stays on ail 
fours. 
2 Rated 10 horsepower on drawbar, 
but develops nearly 14 horsepower. 
Rated 18 horsepower on the belt but 
delivers about 24 horsepower. This 
insures abundant reserve power. 
3 Four-cylinder Case valve-in-head 
motor. Removable head. Motor is 
set crosswise on frame, affording use 
of all straight spur gears. This con¬ 
serves power: 
4 One-piece cast main frame, form¬ 
ing dustproof housing for rear axle, 
bull pinion shaft, transmission and the 
bearings for these parts. A'lso a- base 
for motor. This construction brings 
rigidity and prevents disalignment. 
5 Beit pulley mounted on the engine 
crank shaft. No gears used to 
drive it. Pulley is part of the tractor, 
not an extra-cost accessory. 
6 All traction gears are cut steel, en¬ 
closed and running in oil. No bevel 
gears, chain, worm or friction drive 
parts. 
7 Case Sylphon Thermostat controls 
cooling system and insures com¬ 
plete combustion of kerosene in the 
motor. Prevents raw fuel from pass¬ 
ing by pistons and diluting oil in 
crank case. 
8 Case air washer delivers clean air 
to carburetor. No grit nor dust 
gets into cylinders to minimize their 
ciHcieney and shorten their life. 
9 Ail interior motor parts lubricated 
by a combination pump and splash 
system. Speed governor, fan drive 
and magneto are dustproof and well 
oiled. 
Complete accessibility. No dis¬ 
mantling necessary. Removable 
covers permit you to get at parts 
quickly. v 
U Hyatt roller bearings in rear 
axle, bull pinion shaft and trans¬ 
mission case. Kingston ignition and 
carburetor. Five-piece radiator with 
a cast frame. Core, tin and copper 
tube, non-clogging type. 
10 
