Jht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
I 109 
Farm Mechanics 
Conducted by Robert H. Smith, of the Canton Agricultural School 
Canton, New York 
Lightning Protection 
My barn is roofed with galvanized 
roofing. What would be the best protec¬ 
tion for it from lightning? I am informed 
that a proper conductor at each of the 
four corners, soldered to roofing and 
properly grounded would be sufficient 
protection. Is this the case or should 
I have points at intervals on the ridge 
and grounded? w. B. F. 
Pennsylvania. 
Undoubtedly the metal roof grounded 
as you suggest will give considerable 
protection against lightning. Still bet¬ 
ter protection would be secured however 
by the use of points along the ridge, 
spaced not more than 25 feet apart and 
so placed that all high points as venti¬ 
lators, etc., are protected. All metal 
work as horse fork track, manure car¬ 
rier track, eaves spouts and water piping 
should be grounded or connected electri¬ 
cally to the cables leading to the ground. 
Grounds are placed at diagonally op¬ 
posite corners of the barn and the care 
with which they are installed has much 
to do with the efficiency of the system. 
They should go down to permanently 
moist earth, usually 8 to 10 feet. 
Farmer’s Bulletin No. 342 carries 
much information about lightning rod in¬ 
stallation. It is obtainable from your 
Congressman upon request and should 
he of value to you. 
Auto Mechanism Questions 
Would you tell me what the bands in 
the transmission to an automobile are 
and how they start an automobile with¬ 
out jerking it? How many times do the 
wheels go round to every time the en¬ 
gine does on a Ford auto in low and 
high gear? Where can one obtain draw¬ 
ings of the transmission patented? How 
do the spider gears in the rear end allow 
one wheel to move and the other one to 
be still? What does one have to do to 
obtain a patent and about what is the 
cost? Where can a book containing all 
kinds of tractors and autos patented be 
obtained. D. v. B. 
Tioga C’o., N. Y. 
There are three bands in the transmis¬ 
sion case of the Ford car. One is used 
to give low speed forward, one to put the 
car in reverse and the other acts as a 
brake. The Ford transmission is of the 
planetary type, so called because a series 
of gear wheels revolve around a central 
gear in much the same manner that the 
planets revolve around the sun. When 
the outside of this system of gears, 
which is made smooth, is permitted to re¬ 
volve with the inner one no motion is 
imparted to the shaft but when the outer 
part of the gear system is stopped by 
contracting the transmission band around 
it by means of the foot petal, motion is 
given to the interior gears and to the 
shaft operated by them. The automobile 
is started without jerking when the bands 
are in good condition and properly lubri¬ 
cated, because they engage the surface 
about which they contract slowly, per¬ 
mitting it to slip somewhat, thus start¬ 
ing the load gradually. 
As regards gear ratios the case is just 
the reverse of the way you have stated 
it in your question; the engine revolves 
more times per minutes than the rear 
wheels do. In high gear the engine 
turns over 3.363 to one revolution of the 
rear wheels; in low gear 9.96 and in re¬ 
verse 14.54 times. 
The differential acts as an equalizer 
between the rear wheels. The rear axle 
is in two separate parts joined at the 
differential and supported and kept in 
alignment by the differential housing. On 
the end of each section there is a bevel 
gear which meshes with the small bevel 
pinions of the “spider” that you speak 
of. Power is applied to the spider carry¬ 
ing these gears and is transmitted equally 
to each side of the axle. If one rear 
wheel is held however, the other is made 
to turn twice as fast. A study of the il¬ 
lustrations in the service manual will 
help you in understanding this. 
Patents are secured at the Patent Of¬ 
fice in Washington, D. C., through ap¬ 
plication made by a reliable patent at¬ 
torney. There are two fees aggregat¬ 
ing about $40 due the office and in addi¬ 
tion the fees for the attorney and such 
drawings as have to be made. I do not 
know where a book such as you wish can 
be obtained. It would comprise a large 
volume or set of volumes. The files of 
the Patent Office are open to the public 
however and all patents granted can be 
seen there. 
Chimney Problem; 
Chemical Toilets 
We have an old house with a chimney 
ending a short way down from roof. We 
put in a pipeless furnace running a 
seven-inch pipe up to chimney. With 
hard coal it does very well, but with soft 
coal or wood smokes. I wish to build 
an outside chimney. How large a flue 
would you advise? I thought of using 
reinforced concrete tile for lining chim¬ 
ney, but do not know how heat will ef¬ 
fect them. We have to build a toilet. 
Are the large size chemical toilets used in 
schools satisfactory? We have a shed 
attached to house where one could be 
placed ; have no water in house. T. o. p., 
Yates County, N. Y. 
A flue lining of the size of your fur¬ 
nace pipe or somewhat larger should 
give you satisfactory results. For lining 
I would suggest the use of the regular 
clay flue tile although it is probable that 
the concrete lining would be satisfactory. 
To get the best results build the chimney 
thick and warm as it is the heat in the 
ascending column of air that makes it 
lighter than the outside air and causes a 
draft through the fire. Avoid as much 
horizontal pipe as possible, taking the 
smoke from the furnace to the chimney 
by the most direct route. If the furnace 
is tight enough so that the wood fire can 
be checked by shutting the drafts on the 
front of the furnace rather than by open¬ 
ing the cheek draft in the pipe at the 
rear, less smoking will result. Usually 
a good bed of ashes beneath the fire will 
help in this result also. I would suggest 
that you write your Congressman re¬ 
questing Farmer’s Bulletins Nos. 1194 
and 1230. These will be sent free of 
cost and contain considerable informa¬ 
tion relative to chimneys and home heat¬ 
ing plants. 
In regard to the toilet where running 
water is not to be had one of this kind 
is probably the next best thing. How¬ 
ever they require considerable attention, 
are rather high in price and there is a 
continual cost to keep them in operation. 
Cornell reading course bulletin, Volume 
III, No. 59 shows several different types 
of closets that might interest you. It is 
secured by writing the New York State 
College of Agriculture at Ithaca, N. Y. 
Cleaning Old Barrels 
As usual at this season, we have many 
questions from people who want to know 
how to clean up the old vinegar and cider 
'barrels so that they may be used for this 
year’s crop. As a rule, these barrels are 
musty and generally unclean, and it 
would not pay to put fresh cider directly 
into them. In some cases these barrels 
are taken to the local mill, where there 
is usually a jet of steam available, and 
the steampipe or hose is put in through 
the bunghole. A thorough steaming of 
this kind -will usually sweeten the barrel 
and make it fit. Where the head of the 
barrel can be taken out it is sometimes 
necessary to char the inside of the bar¬ 
rel thoroughly in order to get it clean. 
This can 'be done with a gasoline torch 
or charring it with Avisps of hay or straw 
set on fire and worked around inside the 
barrel. The usual plan is to dissolve 
strong lye in hot water, pour a good 
quantity of it into the barrel and thor¬ 
oughly scrub it inside, with a coarse 
brush or old broom. The hot lye handled 
in this way will usually clean the barrel 
thoroughly. Cases are even reported to 
us where old lime-sulphur barrels have 
been steamed and scoured with lye so 
that they were fit for use in storing cider. 
Personally, Ave should not care to use 
such barrels for storing food, but our 
readers tell us that they have really suc¬ 
ceeded in cleaning old barrels in this 
way. 
The Kelly 
Commercial Cord 
—an extra rugged tire that 
will stand up under the rough 
all-around service tires are 
called upon to give on the farm 
Have you found a pneumatic tire 
that gives you the kind of service 
you’d like to get on your car or farm 
truck ? 
If you haven’t, try one of the new 
Kelly Commercial Cords. 
Extra sturdy, with a massive tread and added 
strength where strength is needed to make a 
dependable, long-wearing tire, this addition to 
the famous Kelly line is the strongest, most ser¬ 
viceable pneumatic tire that Kelly—or, so far as 
we know, anyone else—has ever built 
“It is giving amazing mileage and we unquali¬ 
fiedly recommend it, particularly for use under 
conditions where ordinary tires have failed to 
stand up. 
Now made in all sizes from 30 x ZVz up to 
40 x 8. 
Get your local Kelly dealer to show you one. 
Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. 
250 West 57th St. 
New York 
