LUBRICATION.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 13

LUBRICATION.

OILS FOR FARM MACHINERY.

The lubrication of farm machinery was discussed by Professor S. Steele, of Canterbury College, last night, in a lecture to farmers who are attending the short farm course at Lincoln Oollege. : ' Professor Steele explained that, with the *i'se to importance .of . tractors and cars on the farm, lubrication had becomo of paramount importance. Its primary object was to prevent, friction as far as possible. The ideal aimed at was to have a film of oil between any two bearings so that "the two metallic surfaces never really came into contact Again, the thinner the oil used, the less the friction, but there was a limit to this when it became so thin that the film broke. The result was a hot bearing or something even more serious. „ , Mineral oils were generally not nearly so greasy aa animal oils. A™ B6 animal and vegetable oils stuck better to surfaces, but they soon took up oxygen from the air and gummed. Linseed oil was a specific example. The best oils to-day were but there were places where they could not be used. But for the ordinajy car they were commonly used. In general they gave better contact. _ Referring to the lubrication of petrol engines in general, the speaker said that, in pistons, there should always be the film between the ring and the wall. For tbe application oil, splash lubrication was generally the most effective, but a lot depended on the level of the oil. Carbon deposit was generally a sign of. over-lubrica-tion but this was better than too little White smoke issuing from the exhaust usually meant an oversupply of oil.