Farm Mechanics: Machinery and Its Use to Save Hand Labor on the Farm.Shearer, Herbert A.
Science
Farm Mechanics: Machinery and Its Use to Save Hand Labor on the Farm.
Shearer, Herbert A.
Agricultural machinery
Miscellaneous--running portable sawmill, stretching wire fencing, ditch
digging, manure spreading.
Generally speaking, however, the most important farm tractor work is
preparing the seed-bed thoroughly and quickly while the soil and weather
conditions are the best. And the tractor's ability to work all day and
all night at such times is one of its best qualifications.
To plow one square mile, or 640 acres, with a walking plow turning a
twelve-inch furrow, a man and team must walk 5,280 miles. The gang-plow
has always been considered a horse killer, and, when farmers discovered
that they could use oil power to save their horses, many were quick to
make the change.
It requires approximately 10 horsepower hours to turn an acre of land
with horses. At a speed of two miles, a team with one plow in ten hours
will turn two acres. To deliver the two horsepower required to do this
work, they must travel 176 feet per minute and exert a continuous pull
of 375 pounds or 187.5 pounds per horse.
One horsepower equals a pull of 33,000 pounds, moved one foot per
minute. Two-mile speed equals two times 5,280 or 10,560 feet per hour,
or 176 feet per minute. Sixty-six thousand divided by 176 equals 375
foot pounds pull per minute. One horsepower is absorbed in 88 feet of
furrow.
Horse labor costs, according to Government figures, 12-1/2 cents per
hour per horse. On this basis ten hours' work will be $1.25, which is
the average daily cost of each horse. An average Illinois diversified
farm of 160 acres would be approximately as follows: Fifty acres of
corn, 30 acres of oats and wheat, 20 acres of hay, 60 acres of rough
land, pasture, orchard, building and feed lots.
This average farm supports six work horses or mules and one colt.
According to figures taken from farm work reports submitted by many
different corn belt farmers, the amount of horse-work necessary to do
this cropping would figure out as follows:
Fifty acres of corn land for plowing, disking, harrowing, planting,
cultivating and harvesting would amount to a total of 1,450 horsepower
hours. Thirty acres of wheat would require a total of 330 horsepower
hours. Twenty acres of hay would require 110 horsepower hours. In round
figures, 1,900 horsepower hours at 12-1/2 cents would amount to $237.50.
Elaborate figures have been worked out theoretically to show that this
work can be done by an 8-16 farm tractor in 27-3/4 days at a cost for
kerosene fuel and lubricating oil of $1.89 per day. Adding interest,
repairs and depreciation, brings this figure up to about $4.00 per day,
or a total of $111.00 for the job. No account is kept of man power in
caring for either the horses or the tractor. The actual man labor on the
job, however, figures 12-1/3 days less for the tractor than for horses.
We should remember that actual farm figures are used for the cost of
horse work. Such figures are not available for tractor work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account