The Operation, Care, and Repair of Farm Machinery

Anon

Description

This book contains a comprehensive guide to the use and maintenance of traditional farm machinery. Profusely-illustrated and containing a wealth of practical information and handy tips, “The Operation, Care, And Repair of Farm Machinery” will be of considerable utility to anyone engaged in the maintenance of vintage farm machinery Not to be missed by collectors. Contents include: “Tractors”, “Plows”, “Disk Harrows”, “Harrows, Pulverizers, and Field Cultivators”, “Planting”, “Grain Drills”, “Row-Crop Planters”, “Listers”, “Potato Planters”, “Cultivating”, “Mowers”, “Hay-Handling Equipment”, “Combine Harvesters”, “Corn Pickers”, “Beer Harvesters”, “Hammer Mills”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on agricultural tools and machinery.

Sujets

• Agronomie
• Agronomy for Sustainable Development
• Agriculture
• Engineering
• Technology
• Sciences et techniques

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781473380332
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

THE OPERATION, CARE, AND REPAIR OF FARM MACHINERY
CONTENTS
PART ONE-POWER ON THE FARM
CHAPTER I- TRACTORS
General-Purpose Tractors
Standard-Type Tractors
Tractor Fundamentals
PART TWO-PREPARATION OF THE SEEDBED
CHAPTER II- PLOWS
Plow Bottoms
Tractor Plows
Disk Plows
Disk Tillers
CHAPTER III- DISK HARROWS
CHAPTER IV- HARROWS, PULVERIZERS, FIELD CULTIVATORS
PART THREE-PLANTING
CHAPTER V- GRAIN DRILLS
CHAPTER VI- ROW CROP PLANTERS
CHAPTER VII- LISTERS
CHAPTER VIII- POTATO PLANTERS
PART FOUR-CULTIVATING
CHAPTER IX- ROTARY HOES
CHAPTER X- ROW CROP CULTIVATORS
PART FIVE-HARVESTING
CHAPTER XI- MOWERS
CHAPTER XII- HAY-HANDLING EQUIPMENT
CHAPTER XIII- COMBINE HARVESTERS
CHAPTER XIV- ENSILAGE HARVESTERS
CHAPTER XV- CORN PICKERS
CHAPTER XVI- POTATO DIGGERS
CHAPTER XVII- BEET HARVESTER
CHAPTER XVIII- HAMMER MILLS
PART SIX-SOIL FERTILITY
CHAPTER XIX- MANURE SPREADERS AND LOADERS
CHAPTER XX- LIME AND FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTORS
CHAPTER XXI- SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT
APPENDIX OF USEFUL INFORMATION
PREFACE
MECHANIZATION of the farm during the last twenty years has increased by leaps and bounds. Today, for example, there are approximately 3 million more tractors on the farm than in 1930. Naturally with such growth in the number of tractors and obviously other farm implements, it is essential that today s farmer and particularly the farmer of tomorrow become thoroughly familiar with farm mechanics and improved farming methods.
Throughout the country, high schools and colleges are doing an outstanding job of teaching tomorrow s agriculture leaders. Their work is certain to improve farming methods, lower production costs, and increase farm productivity.
It is the publisher s aim, in preparing this book, to assist these instructors in farm mechanics in giving a brief but practical course in the operation, care, and repair of the more important farm implements. Any success which this edition may enjoy is due largely to high school instructors, college professors, and state agriculture supervisors who have given appreciated assistance and suggestions in the preparation of this and previous editions.
JOHN DEERE
PART ONE
POWER ON THE FARM
Mechanical power made its first appearance on the American farm late in the nineteenth century. To be sure, power in the form of steam traction engines, used primarily for operating the threshing rig, was in use; yet the first real trend to farm-owned power began about the time of the Spanish-American War. It gained great impetus from that time, principally on the larger farms where the standard-type tractor was used for field work such as plowing, disking, seeding, and harvesting.
With the advent of the general-purpose tractor, the trend was, decidedly, toward power farming. With his general-purpose tractor, the farmer had power adaptable to all his farm jobs. The constant improvement of the general-purpose tractor and its ever-broadening adaptability have made tractors of this type the most widely used power on farms today.

Figure 1-This general-purpose tractor is pulling a three-bottom plow controlled by hydraulic power through the remote cylinder.
It is due, largely, to the improvement of the general-purpose tractor that the tractor is the principal source of power on most farms throughout the Nation. It has aided materially in cutting production costs, increasing the working capacity of the farm worker, and speeding up farm operations. The remarkable increase in the number of tractors on farms in the past is an indication of what may be expected in the future as tractors and tractor-operated machines are developed to an even higher state of efficiency and practicability for farms of all sizes.
The general-purpose tractor of today, built in a wide variety of styles, sizes, and power capacities, provides the farmer with power for all farm jobs-plowing, disking, planting, cultivating, mowing, and all other major operations, including belt work.
Recent years also have brought a better and more general knowledge among farmers of the factors that govern the operation and care of internal-combustion engines. This factor, combined with the great improvement in tractor design, has resulted in more satisfactory performance of farm power units and less expense for repairs and service.

Figure 2-General-purpose tractor and high-speed corn planter planting four rows of corn.
Modern farm tractors may be divided into three general classes: the general-purpose type, the standard type, and the track type.
Chapter I.-TRACTORS
GENERAL-PURPOSE TRACTORS
The general-purpose type of tractor, as its name implies, furnishes power for practically all farm work. Not only does it perform all the drawbar, belt, and power shaft jobs but, with the wide variety of integral equipment available for it, the general-purpose tractor puts speed and economy into many jobs for which the standard- or track-type tractor cannot be adapted, such as the cultivating of row-crops.

Figure 3-Cultivating corn with an integral two-row tractor cultivator.

Figure 4-General-purpose tractor with adjustable front wheels; interchangeable with single front wheel, right.

Figure 5-General-purpose tractor with single front wheel.
Taking into account the size of farms, the nature and relative importance of the various jobs to be done, manufacturers of present-day tractors aim to meet the need of every farm both in the matter of power required and type of equipment to be used for the crops to be grown. As a result, there is today a wide range of power sizes and types of general-purpose tractors to meet practically all requirements.

Figure 6-Some general-purpose tractors have two-piece front pedestals which permit the use of any of these front wheel assemblies: (A) dual front wheels; (B) single front wheel; (C) load equalizer wheels; (D) fixed 38-inch wheels; (E) adjustable front wheels.
The conventional general-purpose tractor, Figs. 3 and 7 , has two rear-drive wheels and a front steering member such as the regular dual front wheels or dual wheels equipped with the load equalizer. (See Fig. 10 .) This basic design has many variations for specialized farm work.
For example, the tractor shown in Fig. 4 , is equipped with the adjustable front axle for straddling wide beds, plowing, or working in extremely soft ground conditions. Wheels can be set in different positions to meet varying conditions. Oftentimes this front axle can be interchanged with a single front wheel ( Fig. 5 ) which is essential for good work in narrow-spaced row crops.
Some conventional general-purpose tractors have special 2-piece front pedestals which permit interchanging the dual front wheels, used in general row-crop work, with any of the assemblies shown in Fig. 6 . These include the load equalizer wheels; single front wheel; the fixed 38-inch tread front end, designed for bedder equipment; and the adjustable front axle, mentioned previously.

Figure 7-The small tricycle-type, general-purpose tractor is ideal for cultivating.
Sizes of general-purpose tractors vary from small tricycle type or four-wheel type, as shown in Figs 7 and 8 , to big-capacity, 3-plow tractors. The small horsepower models are designed to bring all the advantages of power farming to the small-acreage farmer or to serve as auxiliary or helper power on the larger farms. A complete line of integral equipment, easily attached and detached, and controlled by the hydraulic power control system, is generally available for tractors of this type.

Figure 8-The small general-purpose tractor of the four-wheel type.
In heavier soils and on large-acreage farms where row crops are raised, the general-purpose tractor of three-plow power meets the power requirements of most farmers. It is fully adaptable to the varied farm operations including plowing, planting, cultivating, and harvesting, plus work requiring belt power.

Figure 9-Cultivating corn four rows at a time with an adjustable-tread tractor.
Weight Is Factor. A general-purpose tractor must be heavy enough to give good traction efficiency in plowing and similar heavy work, yet no heavier than needed, because a larger part of its work is on mellow soil. Weight must be properly distributed to gain efficient traction and to maintain stability. The engine must have enough power for the heavier drawbar jobs, yet be efficient at lighter loads. The clearance of all parts that pass above cultivated plants must be sufficient to allow the tractor to pass over them without harming them, yet the machine must not be top-heavy.

Figure 10-The front wheel load equalizer is shown here in X-ray view to show differential construction.
A typical general-purpose tractor, with adjustable rear-wheel tread, which can be equipped for a wide variety of uses in almost any row crop, is illustrated in Fig. 21 . Two- and four-row planters, two- and four-row cultivators for corn, cotton, and other crops, multi-row cultivators for special row crops, and two-, three-, and four-row bedders for cotton are some of the equipment that can be used with this tractor. For such jobs as plowing, the rear wheels can be set in 56-inch tread, which largely overcomes side draft. Fig. 9 shows the four-row cultivating unit attached to the adjustable tread tractor.
Some modern tractors have means for quickly changing the rear-wheel tread. The general-purpose tractor mentioned previously has wheels which are adjustable from 56 to 88 inches. (See Figs. 11 and 12 .) The wheel is jacked up three clamp screws which hold the wheel in position are loosened, two jack screws are tightened to free the wheel on the axle, and the adjusting nut is turned to move the wheel in or out. The operation is reversed to relock the wheel in any spacing setting desired.
Manufacturers of tractors and farm equipment now provide a wide variety of equipment for their tractors, making it possible to grow and ha