UNSATISFACTORY FUEL

Waikato Times, Volume 104, Issue 17503, 10 September 1928, Page 5

UNSATISFACTORY FUEL

PETROL FOR TRACTORS. 1 USE KEROSENE. ’ An Australian expert on the care and management of tractors has recently [ completed a Lour of the main tractor ’ areas of the Dominion, and has cx- ’ pressed amazement at the number of tractor owners working kerosene tractors on petrol and distillate. On tak- . ing up the question with them as to ’ the reason, he finds that it was simply that they had never used kerosene and j that motor spirit ‘seemed to run all right.” In one instance he secured , some kerosene and put it in a tractor ! which had previously been using pet- [ rol, and demonstrated to tiie owner the . difference in the power of his motor. . The tractor owner was doing some . draining and had to drive up a sharp : hill. On petrol, the motor detonated badly for some distance and then stopped, being quite incapable of doing the job. When the kerosene was put in the tractor pulled tiie load straight up the liill without any detonating or faltering whatever, it was a typical demonstration of the value of the two fuels in a motor made to burn kerosene. This tractor expert has won-

derl'ul faith in the tractor industry an( honestly believes that the tractor ha: a great future as a farm unit, but i can never prosper whilst expensive anc wasteful methods are adopted in itf operation- Many of the farmers caller | upon, he said, remarked that they die j not use their machines much because j they were too expensive to run, bul 1 these were the motor spirit and distillate users, who were paying more money for a fuel which gave their about 00 per cent, of the value in work that could be obtained by the use of kerosene. He stresses this point very strongly, for it is a fact that the tractor on the farm can only be economical as against horses if attention is given to the reduction of its running costs. in Australia the tractor industry is an enormous one, and in the State of Victoria there are over 0000 tractors working on the farm and not 1 per cent, of them use anything but kero- ! sene, firstly because kerosene is cheaper in its initial cost, secondly it gives more satisfactory operation of the motor, and thirdly it reduces the operation costs by half. With the exception of two or three I makes of machines which are rnanu- ; lectured to run on petrol, the manufacturer of the kerosene tractor definitely intended that it should run on kerosene, lie lias built tiis engine with that aim in view and the motor does not give of its best unless kerosene is used as a fuel. Motor spirit is a much lighter fuel than kerosene, and consequently cannot give anything like the power produced by the heavier fuel. It is safe to say that a kerosene tractor using motor spirit loses easily 4 0 per cent, of its possible power output, and that means that instead of your year's supply of fuel costing you, say £3O, it costs £SO, and furthermore, you have not had the satisfactory running from the motor to which you are entitled. Ninety-nine per cent, of tractors are purchased in order that thf; power factor on the farm may be run on the most economclal basis, and in adopting expensive and wasteful methods the tractor-owner is acting in direct dctiance of the principle which prompted his purchase of the machine in the first place.