THE MOTOR ON THE FARM.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19853, 14 February 1930, Page 31

THE MOTOR ON THE FARM.

I FAEM " DiOffilSE IN tbactobs. 1 there were 512 agriculn VtStora in * ew Zealand : 111 were 3377, an increase X go£ 6 50 per cent. M fcS* rJL' in Canterbury during , from 105 to 1378, to mor , e tr * ct ° r , s whole of the North * The annual increase since . tot constituted an eleZealand farming is \ ft, 9 * follows, tho figures being [ fjS* n.t of >■<>«'- t 380 1926 ... 2025 0 412 1927 .. 2588 If® " 439 1928 .. 2883 g " 512 3929 .. 3377 "ft" *' 1026 r jitstt for the Operator. W tangoes fi fi" re3 B , u . gges V™ ZJ* of a few observations of an fgZneter on how to care for SELtM, and how to get the most 15*7: ' jt is well-known that a H operator will destroy a good £ in "no time," whilst tho pcri «}rti the mechanical and careful €j-*ii a knowledge of his job will fLrfiable results for years. l*woDerated most economically, a jLanrt be given an opportunity fe. its optimum or rated load. iMhrr to recent tests at Montana £ywhen tractors were gi rt their rated capacity, fuel j* oar wre -were lower than when tJSLh only part of a load. Tests « aide by cultivating 10 acres of Ejwith cultivators of varying d measuring the amounts of Figged in each case. or rated at 18 horsepower on l. taster required only four gallons !f tad to cultivate 10 acres of ground La'a treat enough width of cultiz2t *U used to require the full 18 Kgeet, When fewer feet of culti57Ve» used and only 15 horseE.wfH at the drawbar, the fuel 2g|dion of this same tractor was fSSuw 10 aeres. A still smaller Sidled nearly 19 gallons of fuel rftrWme work. jfcQsr tests with various makes and grf tractors gave similar results, •Ljjg- that the tractor owner who luifltft WO machines to fit his tractor fesi wOTking at lowest costs. Pulling ■ (■»firrr"'" plough with a threetoetor not only takes more of time than is necessary; it more fuel to do the samo tractor servicing is an Improblem to every owner, lmST beeausa it makes for l° u 8 2H, of trouble-free operation with Iras life and lower costs. RSTrtttin the right way, tractor an is a simple job. Jt means follow-i-j - nrinciples and keeping l aisA tlut chief causes of tractor may be considered ,|| .rtyatfiat to needed repairs, tevkt muiegßi|,>aU|lbnte from 50 to •a ncr 3»'sFSttle to improper Beit iSfibnation regardUa tjje of en to Me in a partiniiraaM be found in warm or cold lubrication lind should gather will, in the Vm of high quality oil, not grease, b <HHWwia|oa and differential will reIns max and conserve power. Lighter Pfa AonJd be used in winter, the ttn'ss ii the crankcase. Oil purifiers ffjAwMtan are nothing more than for dost and chaff and jNiWBOi oftenand otherwise given Jttpfitai wil sroteet the quality of the a. . I ' <:■■■ f " of toll roads now existBtgiasd and Wales is 55, and sher of toll bridges is 87, act# the Minister for Transport. Government baa allotted W sasnjf £ 3,425,000 as a road fund. .{fete axe pow 4450 cars registered *JrWrttl of ao fewer than 165 Bakes.

SECONDHAND CARS. HELPING THE BUYER. It is high time that a drastic alteration be made in the method at present adopted for the determination of a car's "age." Take, for example, the case of a car purchased during December, 1929. It is almost certainly identical in every way with the car offered by the same makers in January, 1930. Yet the former vehicle is definitely branded as a 1929 model, whereas the latter is described as of 1930 vintage. So far as the intrinsic value of the two vehicles is concerned there will not be a penny to choose between them. Yet the fact that one is a 1929 car and the other a 1930 model will in quite a short time have a serious effect on the prico that can be. realised for the 1929 vehicle as a used car. .This is a ridi-

culous . state of affairs, and serves 110 good purpose. What the purchaser of a used car really wants to know is not so much the age to a month or so as the type or model of the chassis. The mileage covered before purchase is, of course, a material factor, but it is more than possible that in, say, June of any year a car purchased in the previous January may have run .6000 miles, whereas a car of the same pattern bought in November or December of the year before will have run only 3000 miles. As things are at present a machine with 6000 miles to its debit will probably fetch a considerably higher price secondhand than- wilMts- f with--but half the mileage. Before these absurdities can be eliminated it will be necessary for car manufacturers to agree upon a classification of their chassis nut. by year, but by model. That' is to say, for instance,, the '' XP33'' model will be known by that designation whether the chassis was actually out in one year or the-next. ■ "As regard* the earbuying public, the change . would be welcomed, and' but little time would .be required to educate purchasers to consider primarily: -the model, and to regard the year of production, as of- secondary importance, thoiigh due Attention would-still be paid . tft. the total mileage - covered." • This, designation by model and not by year i» a.li'eady'encouraged by at least one - very prominent British car maker, and the result is that the second-hand values of the vehicles produced,by his company; are far more/evenly "graded'' than they are in the case of cars whence the year of production is. the. predominating factor. Incidentally, the change would be definitely beneficial to the manufacturer, for it would provide an incentive to a very large number of car owners to dispose of their used cars and to purchase new ones. . At the moment there are many thousands of motorists who, having made their purchases towards the end of one year, find that they can get but very poor prices for their machines merely because delivery may have been taken between October and December instead of in the following January. That being so, they decide, the cars being satisfactory, to keep them for an indefinite period —until ''times are better" or the useful life of the chassis is at an end. Anythings which helps to make easier the disposal of used cars is to the general advantage, and grading by model rather than by year of manufacture would be a step in the right direction.

THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. 3 WHAT IT HAS ACHIEVED. "Within a single generation the internal combustion engine has become the most universally used and most serviceable substitute for animal muscles which has ever been invented. It is almost omnipresent —in machines which fly through the air, in vessels which float, in vessels which run beneath the water, in all kinds of vehicles of transportation, in the household, the shop, on the farm, and even in mines and quarries under ground—wherever one travels, he finds this invaluable servant of mankind doing work formerly done by the muscles of human beings or of dumb animals. Because of this extensive use, under all sorts of conditions, the motor engino has been very highly improved and developed. So well have the engineers and manufacturers done their work that this from of power has become, all things considered, the cheapest, most flexible, and most reliable form of power for most jobs requiring a limited amount of power. Within the memory of most people the internal combustion limine was more or less unreliable, at least in the hands of the average operator. This was only

natural—oven the inventors and man' l " facturers had much to learn about this new form of power, and to the user the machine was .strange and complicated, and something to be regarded with awe. At first the quality of materials from which to manufacture them was far below what could be desired, while ignition and carburetion systems were crude, often rather complicated, and more or less unreliable except in the hands of a real expert. All that has been changed with the years. The present internal combustion engine, whether in an aeroplane, inotoi'boat, auto, truck, tractor, or portable power plant, is a high-grade, simplified, and reliable machine which any person of ordinary intelligence can learn to operate efficiently in a very short period if he will make the effort. And because of its almost universal employment, itbehoves everyono to be familiar with the principles of operation of an' internal combustion engine /so as to be able to use this modern power to «nve time; labour, and monev'in their pleasure or business, as the case may require. In the early days of the g is engine, if an operator had trouble in getting his engine to run, or to keep it running, his friends would usually lay the blame on the engine. To-day, however, when an operator has trouble with an engine, his friends very properly blame his lack of knowledge, for it has been thoroughly demonstrated that all tho engines on the market will run satisfactorily and develop power if properly handled by the operator.

batteries. MANUFACTURERS' ADVICE. •'lt is not always realised that the first battery on a car does all the 'hack' work." says one of the series of Proverbial Talks, in which Joseph Lucas, Ltd., Birmingham, quote some home truths and also explain how their products are tested. "There is more strain on the battery during the first few thousand miles than during the whole of the remaining life of the car. The stiff new engine requires a much greater starting effort, witli consequent stress and greater drain on the battery. Naturally, a replacement battery will normally have a longer life than the first battery. Again, in the case of new motorists, a replacement battery often benefits by the greater experience of the driver, who will not repeat his first mistakes in starting and use of the charging switch, which probably resulted in under-charging or excessive over-charging of the first battery at various times. "The old proverb says, 'Never swap horses while crossing a stream.' It is equally unwise to change the make of your battery from that fitted by the car makers to give the best results with the lighting and starting system. Should a replacement battery become necessary, fit the same make that has served you through the most strenuous period of your car's life. v