158

TRACTOR MOUNTED IMPLEMENTS AND ADAPTATIONS

By

W. S . Hockey*

The modern tractor has been adapted for use as part of a mechanized farming system and many novel adaptations are now produced. These additional facilities have influenced basic tractor design and have made tractors a much more useful machine. Details of some tractor-mounted implements are given.

INTRODUCTION

grain binders are still in use in Europe of the type shown

WHEN THE AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR of the type we h o w today was introduced to farming in Great Britain roughly forty-five years ago, it was used purely as a replacement for the draught horse. Fig. 42 shows an early tractor of the type which was first produced in the United States of America during the 1914-18war. In keeping with the trend that had started a few years earlier, its powerlweight ratio was much higher than that of earlier machines. The type of construction used was different, and its price was comparatively low.

i Fig. 43. Here it will be seen that an additional operator n is still carried on the binder itself.

Fig. 43. Sunshine grain binder

Fig. 42. Fordson model N Tractor

Courtesy of Ford M o I o r Co. L l d .

For many years the implements used were, basically, implements designed for use with horses, converted for tractor use by replacing the horse shafts or pole by a suitable drawbar and hitch. Operating speeds were largely kept down to the working speed applicable to a horse, and in some cases the machine being towed required an extra operator, sitting in the place normally occupied by the sole operator when using horses. A large number of
The M S . of this paper was received at the Institution on 25th September, 1961. A report of the meeting, in London, at which this paper was presented is on p.195. Chief Field Test Engineer, Massey-Ferguson (United Kingdom) Ltd. Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

At this stage, the tractor must have been a rather doubtful proposition economically, although the provision of a pulley to enable the tractor to be used to drive stationary machinery, particularly threshers, and a power take-off at the rear to permit trailed machines to be driven by the tractors engine, effected a considerable improvement in the situation. Greater changes took place in the case of implements and machinery. Controls were modified and repositioned so that the tractor driver could carry out, single-handed, such operations as raising the implement out of work, adjusting its working position, and so on, thus enabling one man to do many operations where two had been needed hitherto. However, the tractor still largely retained the character of a mechanical horse, and, although capable of a comparatively high work output, was limited by the unwieldy nature of the tractor-implement combination, especially as
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larger machinery was produced in an endeavour to exploit the output potential of the tractor. Although the tractors which were being produced in fairly large quantities in the United States of America at this time were much smaller and of lower power than those in use prior to the 1914-18 war, endeavours to improve their tractive capabilities resulted in the general tendency for the driving wheels to become larger, and more and more weight to be built into the tractor itself. Consequently, the agricultural tractor was again becoming larger and heavier with the demand for increased power and work output. Steel wheels, accompanied by the various traction aids used, such as spade lugs, imposed severe limitations, making the tractor unsuitable for road work, and giving rise to extreme operator discomfort in hard ground conditions. In the early 1930s the application of pneumatic tyres to agricultural tractors brought considerable relief, giving a much easier ride, reducing vibration and wear on tractor parts, permitting higher road and field speeds, reducing rolling resistance and generally giving rise to an all round improvement in operating efficiency. In the late 1920s~ serious attempts were made to break away from the draught horse conception of the tractor, resulting in the introduction of a number of so-called semi-mounted implements. These implements were attached to the tractor in such a way that, although they retained their own load-carrying or depth-control wheels, some of the weight of the implement would be transferred to the rear of the tractor and thus to the driving wheels. The overall length of the tractor-implement combination was reduced, and, in some cases, the implement was only allowed to move relative to the tractor in a vertical plane, being rigidly attached in the horizontal plane, thus providing a considerable improvement in manoeuvrability and ease of operation in confined spaces. So far, the heavier implements had been equipped, in many cases, with their own means of mechanically raising the equipment out of work, while the lighter implements were still manually controlled from the tractor seat. Otherwise, considerable changes had taken place over the years and most agricultural machinery was now specially engineered for use with tractors, and no longer bore any close resemblance to the old horse-drawn equipment. During this period, an entirely new approach to the general problem of agricultural mechanization was evolving, entailing a dramatic departure from accepted practice. This approach involved the introduction of a new system of coupling, whereby the tractor and implement were no longer treated as separate entities, but as complementary units to be coupled together in such a way as to become, virtually, a self-propelled implement. Commercially, development in this field was, for mainly economic reasons, much more rapid in the United States of America than in Great Britain, and by 1930 tractors were in production there equipped with a mechanical power-lift for attaching and lifting fully mounted implements. At the same time, Harry Ferguson was developing a tractor having a three-point hydraulically operated hitch
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Fig. 44. Ferguson tractor (1933) in Northern Ireland (Fig. 4 . three-point hitch com)The prises two lower links and a single top link, forming a triangular attachment for implements by means of three pivot pins. The lower links resist rotation of the implement about the longitudinal axis, and convergence of the top and bottom links in a vertical plane, provides an instantaneous centre of rotation (virtual hitch point) as shown at F, in Fig. 48. A virtual horizontal hitch point is provided by horizontal convergence and pivoting of the lower links. After many years of experimentation, tractors incorporating the Ferguson system were produced in small quantities in England. In 1939 an agreement between Harry Ferguson and Henry Ford resulted in the mass production, in the United States of America, of tractors embodying the new system. This was a revolutionary, easy method of implement control that has greatly influenced the whole trend of tractor design ever since. The implement now became fully mounted to the tractor by means of a linkage which enabled it to be raised out of work, and controlled in work, by power supplied from the tractor. This resulted in the possibility of a high degree of weight transfer from the implement to the tractor. Although other methods have been tried, the hydraulicallyoperated three-point linkage has become the universally accepted system for integral-mounted implements. The effect of this development was the reduction in size

( I

Trailed.
Courtesy of Roudless Traction Ltd.

Fig. 45. Three-furrow plough

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the early stages of development of mounted implements, makes it a logical choice. Fig. 46 shows a typical mouldboard plough bottom or base, and R, represents the resultant of all useful soil forces acting upon the base, shown only in a vertical plane parallel to the direction of travel. Side forces will be ignored for the purpose of this analysis, and it will be appreciated that the magnitude and location of R, will vary according to the shape of the plough base and characteristics of the soil.
ON TRACTOR

b Mounted.

LINE OF PULL

Fig. 45-continued

and weight of both tractor and implement, (resulting in a tractor of considerably higher powerlweight ratio than hitherto) due, on the one hand, to the fact that the weight required for traction no longer needed to be all built into the tractor, and, on the other hand, to the elimination of load-carrying wheels and mechanical lifting gear from the implement. Fig. 45 illustrates the contrast between a trailed plough and a mounted plough. As can be seen, the reduction in ironmongery is quite considerable. This, together with the spectacular improvement in manoeuvrability and compactness of the tractors-implement combination, effected a considerable improvement in operating efficiency, as well as reducing initial and running costs.
DEVELOPMENT OF TRACTOR AND EQUIPMENT

Fig. 47. Force relations, in a vertical plane, for a trailed implement receiving no support from the tractor
Courtesy of Agricultural Engineering

The agricultural tractor is essentially a prime mover, and the only remarkable thing about it is the linkage and hydraulic system that couples it to the implement. In considering this feature in some detail, we shall approach it from two aspects; firstly, concerning the effect produced on the tractor and implement; secondly, the operation of the control system itself. It will help to appreciate the effect of mounting tillage implements on the tractor, if the forces acting on a tractor drawn plough are considered. Although this is by no means the simplest implement to choose for the purpose, the fact that it has, in some form or other, always been the basic tillage implement, and exercised the greatest influence on

I.-.

200

400
POUNDS

600

800

Fig. 46. Typical values and locations of R , from tests over a wide range of soil conditions with a 14 in. plough cutting 6 t - 7 in. deep
Courtesy of Agricultural

Engineering

Fig. 47 shows the forces acting, in a vertical plane, on a trailed 3-furrow plough, receiving no support from the tractor. In this and succeeding diagrams the following symbols have been used : R, the resultant of all useful forces acting upon the implement, in a vertical, longitudinal plane; Q, the resultant of all parasitic forces acting upon the implement, in a vertical, longitudinal plane; P, the resultant pull exerted on the implement by the tractor, in a vertical, longitudinal plane; W the weight of the implement, acting through the centre of gravity; and G the point of concurrence of Q, and the resultant of W and R,. In Fig. 47, AB is the resultant of W and R, and the location of G is established by the intersection of AB and the line of pull, which passes through the hitch point F on the tractor, and the hitch point E on the plough. QV includes the vertical support forces and longitudinal friction forces and/or rolling resistance. It will readily be seen that changes in hitch adjustment will produce a change in the location of Q, with consequent changes in the stability of the implement. Fig. 47a shows a desirable hitch setting, while Fk. 47b illustrates an example of an extremely bad hitch adjustment in which E is so high that Q, is almost under the front wheels of the plough. Owing to lack of weight on the rear of the plough in this condition, the implement will be very unstable. The most commonly used hitch for mounted implements is the three-point hitch with converging links. Two systems
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have been used however; the free-link system, and the restrained-link system. Fig. 48 shows what happens in the case of a mounted plough used with a free-link system. The converging links give rise to what has been called a virtual hitch point. This is represented by F, in the diagram and the linkage will be in equilibrium when P, passes through F,.
AVERAGE POSITION O F TWO LOWER LINE

the only significance of the virtual hitch point is that the line of pull cannot go below this point, as the hydraulic lift mechanism is normally single acting, and cannot, therefore, exert a downward force on the implement. It will now be apparent that the support forces which act upon the bases and wheels of the plough in a free-link system are acting upon the tractor in the restrained-link system.

Fig. 48. Vertical force relations for a two-axis, converginglink hitch when operated as a free-link system It will be seen that the location of F, can be changed by modifying the linkage arrangement, and a feature of the system is to be found in the fact that, when the links are raised, the resulting change in the position of the virtual hitch point promotes more rapid penetration of the plough than in the case of a trailed implement. This is, of course, advantageous in the case of the plough, but not in the case of certain other cultivation implements. Consequently, parallel-link systems are often used with cultivators where large gangs of tools have to maintain uniform working depth over a reasonable range. With the free-link system, ploughs are often equipped with gauge wheels to provide adequate control of depth of working, and the support force QV is still quite large. When the restrained-link system is employed, the implement receives all its vertical support from the tractor, as, when the plough reaches its working depth, it is supported by the tractors hydraulic system. As no support is received from the soil, the force analysis becomes simplified as shown in Fig. 49. The effect of the implement upon the tractor is not dependent on the type of hitch linkage in use, and the line of pull does not necessarily pass through F,. In this case,
DEPTH CONTROLLED THROUGH L I F T LINKS

IR,

Fip. 50. Vertical force relations for a tractor when pulling a mounted or trailed implement at uniform velocity on level ground In Fig. 50 the forces acting on a tractor pulling a trailed or mounted implement are shown. It will be seen that the effect of the implement pull is to add the vertical force P, to the rear wheels of the tractor, and also to transfer from the front wheels a weight equal toPxy/x. It is apparent that, given ploughs of similar performance, an increasing proportion of the total weight of the tractorimplement combination is transferred to the rear wheels of the tractor as we progress from a trailed plough to a mounted plough using the restrained-link system. In dealing with the control system, we shall consider only the two methods commonly labelled automatic position control and automatic draft control. With automatic position control, any given position of the control lever represents a corresponding position of the implement relative to the tractor. The principle is illustrated by the linkage outlined in Fig. 51. The solid outline shows the stabilized condition, with the control valve in neutral position. Movement of the control lever to the position shown by the dotted outline moves the control valve to a
CONTROL LEVER

Fig. 49. Vertical force relations when a mounted implement is

supported by restrained links
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Fig. 51. Automatic position control

(q .
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position which actuates the hydraulic cylinder, which, in turn, raises the implement until the valve returns to its neutral position. In most conditions, the nature of the soil varies little within a normal field, and the soil forces acting on an implement are reasonably constant. Also, implement working depth and draft vary proportionally. These facts have been made use of in automatic draft control systems as a means of regulating the actual working depth of implements. The diagram in Fig. 52 shows the principle involved, whereby variations in the pull exerted between tractor and implement deflect the spring, resulting in a correspondmg movement of the control valve. The position of the control lever determines the spring load required to return the valve to neutral, and, consequently, the corresponding draft.

F%. 52. Automatic draft control

The most commonly used system employs the top link of a three-point hitch as the draft sensing member, so that the sensing member is normally in compression. Bottoml n sensing is used in some systems, in which case the ik sensing member is normally in tension. When long, heavy implements are in use, the situation may be reversed, but the control system is designed to accommodate this. Fig. 53a represents the tractor linkage in the case illustrated by Fig. 49. HJ and KL represent the top and bottom links respectively. In a draft control system using top link sensing, the draft exerted on the implement by the tractor is regulated by the compression load in the top link. In Fig 53a, the force in the top link equals Pvn/m. If the

a Linkage in Fig. 49.

b Linkage in Fig. 48.

Fig. 53. Tractor linkage

value of P,n/m falls below the amount necessary to maintain equilibrium in the system, the control valve moves into the drop position. When this occurs, the implement loses the support of the hydraulics, and the system of operation temporarily changes to a free-link system. The force analysis, therefore, will change to something similar to that
Proc Znstn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

shown in Fig. 48. The new situation is represented by Fig. 536. Although P, will probably have increased, we will assume that it remains unaltered during the change from a restrained-link system to a free-link system. The force in the top link HJ now becomes equal to P,p/m.As soon as this force reaches the amount necessary to restore equilibrium in the system, the further lowering of the implement will be prevented by the hydraulics, thus reverting to restrained-link operation. By this means an acceptable degree of control can be exerted over the working depth of the implement. The degree of accuracy in maintaining the working depth will depend largely on the uniformity of soil conditions, and the speed of response in the hydraulic system. Whilst it would appear that a quick response is always desirable, this is not necessarily the case. A possible danger will become apparent from Fig. 53. In certain circumstances, it is evident that the change in the force in the top link, from P,nlrn to Pvplm, could be of considerable magnitude. A rapid response in the hydraulic system would result in the control valve rapidly moving to the lift position, and a return to the previous situation. This could give rise to hunting and instability of the control system. To overcome this problem a degree of control over the speed of response is provided in most systems. Referring again to Figs. 49 and 53a; if the force in the top link rises above the present value, then the reverse action takes place to that described above, and the hydraulic control valve moves to the lift position. The implement is thus raised, reducing the working depth, and the draft is correspondingly reduced. The resulting reduction in the load in the top l n allows the control valve to return to ik neutral. In some tractors both draft control and position control are provided, the operator being able to select the system appropriate to the particular operation he is engaged in, by means of alternative control levers. Flow from the pump may be controlled either on the pressure side or on the intake side of the pump. Pumps are generally either pressure-loaded gear type for use with pressure-side control, or piston type with suction-side control. The former type of pump is generally very well known but the latter is a little less usual. There is no great virtue in adopting this type of design other than it does permit satisfactory operation with suction-side control and will withstand considerable abuse, whereas the gear pump does not normally operate satisfactorily with restricted or zero intake. To give optimum linkage operating speed (in the order of 2 to 3 sec from fully lowered to fully raised position) the pump delivery is usually in the region of 3 to 4 gal/min at maximum speed, and pressures are usually 2000 to 2500 lb/in2. The pressure is normally limited by a direct-acting relief valve. With the majority of United Kingdom produced agricultural tractors this provides a lifting force, at the ends of the lower links, with a 3 in. diameter single-acting cylinder, of the order of 2500-3500 lb, the mechanical advantage improving with the height of lift.
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An extension of the use of the three-point hydraulic hitch to achieve transfer with trailed implements, has been made possible by the development of a special hitching device, which depends on the fact that control of the upward force exerted via the bottom links of the tractor hitch, can be achieved by means of the tensile load in the top link.
(WEIGHT TRANSFER HITCH

I
T R A I L E R DRAWBAR
0

:I,
1%

I,

Rf

Fig. 54. Vertical force relations for a tractor equipped with weight transfer hitch and coupled to a two-axle trailer

Fig. 54 shows the principle involved. A frame is attached to the three-point hitch in such a way as to form a bellcrank lever. From the rearward end is suspended a chain which is attached at its lower end to the drawbar of the trailed implement. An upward force in the tractor linkage will produce a tensile load in the chain, and also a tensile load in the tractor top link. As the position of the draft control lever determines the tensile load in the top link which is required to return the hydraulic control valve to neutral, this, in turn, will determine the maximum tensile load that can be applied to the chain. In the diagram, the trailed implement (in this case a four-wheeled trailer) is shown coupled to the tractor by means of a hook situated under the tractor rear-axle. As we are considering only the effect of the weight transfer hitch itself, the force relations shown apply to the static condition with no effect from drawbar pull or other similar forces. Taking moments about C1 Wt(xl-xz) - WT(a+b) - Rfxl = 0

Taking moments about C2 R,xl - W,x2 - WT(a+b+xl)

From these equations we see that the effect of the weight transfer hitch is to transfer a weight equal to WT

from the front wheels of the tractor to the rear wheels,-and to transfer a weight equal to WTfrom the frnnt wheels of the trailer to the rear wheels of the tractor.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

(3

The transfer of weight achieved by means of this kind of hitch will be additional to that caused by the drawbar pull of the trailer in the dynamic condition. For given drawbar dimensions a and b, WT varies in proportion to the load in the chain L. Therefore, by means of the draft control lever, the operator is able to adjust the degree of weight transfer to the needs of the operating conditions. It will be observed that whilst the transfer of weight from the trailer to the tractor is dependent upon the ratio a/b as well as the load in the chain L, the weight transferred from the front wheels of the tractor is only dependent upon the load in the chain. Shortly after the 193945 war, tractors and mounted implements embodying the advantages of the three-point hydraulic hitch, were in large scale production in England. The range of equipment was, at first, limited to a comparatively small number of implements such as ploughs, cultivators, harrows, mowers, and so on. Alternatively, hitching arrangements have been developed from time to time, and an interesting example is the International Harvester Co.3 Fast Hitch, which provided two-point socket attachment; rapid coupling and uncoupling of implements without interfering with the implement settings; and a form of traction control. During the past fifteen years, factors such as the reduction in the farm-horse population and the drift of labour from the land, have produced an ever-increasing need for improved utilization of the prime mover in agriculture. Consequently, the range of equipment engineered specifically for use with the tractor has steadily grown. The range of equipment that can be attached to the tractor by means of the three-point hitch is rather limited, and considerations such as visibility and ease of control, have led to the development of mid-mounted and front-mounted implements. Examples of these are shown in Figs. 55 and 56. In some instances, gangs of row-crop cultivation implements were mounted at the front, amidships, and at the rear simultaneously. Such developments gave rise to a need for greater flexibility in the application of hydraulic control, and have led to the provision of external tappings to the hydraulic system of the tractor, and the introduction of more sophisticated valve arrangements, providing single or double acting control and sequential control whereby gangs of cultivators can be controlled in sequence as desired by the operator. Further instances of the use of the tractor hydraulic system for external purposes are the powering of hydraulic motors to drive such machines as mowers and hedge-cutters, and the hydraulic reversing of reversible ploughs. In considering mounted implements, trailers form a special case, inasmuch as weight transfer from a singleaxle trailer to the rear of the tractor is achieved by placing the trailer axle to the rear of the trailers centre of gravity. This has resulted in the use of a special tractor hitch, operated by the hydraulic system, through the linkage, which is capable of lifting and holding the extremely heavy
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Fig. 57. An example of a partly successful project is shown in Figs. 58 and 59. This experimental mounted combine harvester was the result of a bold attempt to incorporate all the attractions of increased utilization of the prime mover, and the resultant saving in initial cost.

Fig. 55. Mid-mounted mower

Fig. 57. Armer mounted beet harvester

Courtesy of Farm Mechanization

Fig. 56. Tractor-mounted front end loader

drawbar load. Compared with a balanced trailer the tractive ability of such a tractor and trailer combination is greatly improved, as is stability at speed. Here the external hydraulic tapping is used for tipping the trailer. A further development was made possible by the introduction of the ground speed power take off. This has been used to drive the axle of trailed equipment, thus making use of the advantages of four-wheel drive. The advantages of fully mounting implements and machinery on the tractor have by now been pursued to the extent that attempts have been made to achieve the almost impossible, and, while many large items of equipment have been mounted and become a commercial success, others were only partly successful experimentally. The successful attempts include such large machinery as maize harvesters, cotton pickers and root harvesters
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Fig. 58. Experimental mounted combine harvester

Fig. 59. Combine harvester in Fig. -78in dismounted position

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Although ease and speed of mounting and dismounting were quite acceptable, some rather obvious drawbacks remained, such as the quite considerable changes which had to be made to the tractor at the beginning and end of the harvesting season; the inadequate visibility afforded by the position of the tractor seat and controls; and the uneven load distribution on the tractor wheels occasioned by the necessity for the main structure of the combine to be mounted alongside the tractor bonnet. The mounting of such heavy pieces of machinery as those mentioned has been greatly fachtated by the application of power steering to the tractor. Most of the equipment involved has to follow a crop row with reasonable accuracy, so ease of steering and manoeuvrability are essential. Power steering has made this possible and at the same time contributed to the reduction of operator fatigue. As distinct from the development of tractor-mounted equipment in the Agricultural field, recent years have seen the basic agricultural tractor making significant inroads into the Industrial field of light earth moving equipment. By the mounting and adaptation of shovels, dumpers, forklifts, bulldozers, graders and so on, the inherent low cost of the mass-produced agricultural tractor has mads it possible

for the small contractor, builders and local authorities, to mechanize operations which before could only he mechanized on a large scale by the use of healy and very costly machinery. In this field, the tractor adaptation problems are, of course fundamentally the same, but, due to the nature of the operations to be carried out, the problems of weight and strength are even greater than with agricultural equipment, as are the difficulties of adapting the tractor for the task (Figs. 60 and 61). The need to reverse the operators position in the fork lift adaptation is a good example of the number of changes that have to be made to controls in order to achieve a satisfactory operating position. A point of difference that comes to mind as between requirements in agricultural and industrial use, concerns the tractor engine air supply. In agricultural operations, the cleanest point for this is at the top of the radiator, but when a front shovel is fitted, for instance, this may well be the dirtiest point. The provision of adequate hydraulic power for the operation of this earthmoving equipment, has, in most cases, necessitated the installation of a separate system, the drive often being coupled at the front of the tractor engine, with its own pump, reservoir and control valves. The difficulty of adapting the agricultural tractor to industrial applications has led to its use as a prime mover in the sense that the power unit and transmission has been built into special-purpose machines, making good use of the fact that the present-day agricultural tractor is a massproduced, low-cost machine.
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

Digger in use; shovel employed as a stabilizer.

Fig. 60. Tructor-mounted shovel and digger

Fig. 6 1 . Fork lilt adaptarion of a tractor

Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Future trends in tractor design is the subject of another paper, but some of the developments that seem probable in the not-too-distant future, and their likely effect on the development of implements and attachments will be considered here. Detailed examination of the more complicated machinery which has been mounted on agricultural tractors will reveal some of the problems which have had to be overcome. In many cases, attempts to fully or partially mount equipment have been unsuccessful because the tractor layout does iiot lend itself to the particular application. Some of the developments in tractor design that can be anticipated may be expected to improve this aspect considerably: (a) Hydrokinetic transmissions. Transmissions of this kind are already being used in increasing numbers in tractors, particularly for operations such as shovelling, where rapid reversals of the tractor are needed. This is achieved smoothly by the alternate depression of two control pedals, leaving the operators hands free for steering and controlling the shovel. (b) Hydrostatic transmissions. The wheel-motor type of transmission offers great possibilities in relation to the mounting of equipment, due to the elimination of bulky transmission case and axle housings, with
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(e)

increase in space available for mid-mounted equipment, and improved visibility for row-crop operations. The variable-speed drive provided by this type of transmission would greatly improve the scope and utilization of the tractor, particularly if extended to the transmission of power to implements and attachments. (c) Four-wheel drive. The advantages of four-wheel drive in earthmoving operations are well known, inasmuch as whether the load on the shovel or blade is downward or upward, traction is not greatly affected. The value of four-wheel drive in most agricultural operations is doubtful. As has already been described, the operation of mounted implements induces the transfer of weight from the front wheels of the tractor to the driving wheels, thus aiding traction. However, fourwheel drive would present the possibility of exerting a downward pressure on the tractor linkage without losing traction, and thus eliminating some of the problems which arise when, in certain conditions, the need is to transfer weight to the implement to obtain ground penetration. (d) Automatic control. The ultimate in any operation is complete automation, and significant progress has been made in recent years toward the automation of the basic agricultural tillage operations. It is safe to say that it will not be long before it will be possible to carry out the cultivation, seeding, and routine transportation work on a farm without the assistance of a human operator. Most of the possible developments mentioned above will have some bearing on the effectiveness or completeness of automatic operation, and there would appear to be almost unlimited scope in the design and development of suitable prime mover-implement combinations.

Hydraulics. It would seem unlikely that hydraulic power will be replaced as the means of controlling tractors and implements (whether mounted or trailed), and any serious approach to the possibilities of automatic operation of tractors, leads to the proposition that an increase in the use and scope of the hydraulic system is inevitable. Possible future developments are: ( I ) Hydraulically operated multi-plate clutches for controlled slip dlfferential locks. These could be actuated from the steering wheel to avoid accidental retention in engagement. (2) Full power steering which eliminates the steering box and W a g e to the axle. Such systems are already under development and present yet another possibility of cleaning up the layout of the tractor to facilitate the mounting and operation of equipment. (3) Power adjustment of wheel track and ground clearance to suit different operations. (4) Introduction of accumulators to reduce pump horsepower requirement and provide a central hydraulic system for all operations.
APPENDIX VII
BIBLIOGRAPHY

DIEFFENBACH, M., and GRAY, B. 1960 The Yearbook E. R. of Agriculture, p. 25, The Development of the Tractor. A. W. 1954 Agric. Engng., vol. 35, No. 2, p. 79, Pitfalls in Applying the Science of Mechanics to Tractors and Implements. R., A., E. (3) BAINER, KEPNER, and BARGER, L. Principles of Farm Machinery, p. 122. E. W., A. (4) TANQUARY, and CLYDE, W. 1957 Agric. Engng., vol. 38, No. 2, p. 88, New Principle in Tractor Hitch Design.

FLYDE,

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Discussion in London
Mr C . Culpin, O.B.E., M.A. (Silsoe, Beds.), opening the discussion, said that his comments would be confined mainly to aspects of tractor production which were of concern to the user. Recent census figures indicated that in Britain near saturation point was being reached in the number of tractors in Mr Foxwells two main groups (tractors of 26 to 55 belt hp) and in view of the tendency toward increased power and the steadily decreasing number of workers, it was fairly clear that any big further expansion of the home market in those groups was unlikely. However, it should be remembered that many farms could usefully use more rhan one tractor per worker, so it would be wrong to suppose that there was a definite limit set by the number of farm workers and working farmers. Nevertheless, the bigger and better tractors became, the more expensive they were to buy; and, while modern farmers were quite prepared to have a number of older tractors as stand-by units, they could not afford to own powerful modern tractors which were grossly under-employed. The modern tractor, if effectively applied to its work, enabled the farmer to do what had to be done more quickly than hitherto; and currently the important work on many farms was being done by fewer tractors than were needed a few years earlier. When planning the range of tractors for the future, due regard should be paid to the findings reports by Mr Manby, to the effect that in practice the overall average power output tended to be about one quarter of what was being provided. It was a fact that, on average, a high power output was not often needed. Most of the work could be effectively done by a small tractor with quite simple hydraulics. At present, the need for such tractors was being met partly by the use of machines which were designed and built many years earlier. It might be that the time was ripe for mass production of a very cheap tractor with an engine of about 2c-25 bhp. Such a size might find ready markets on small farms in Europe. A major reason for the world-wide success of British tractors in recent years was that they had been cheap as well as good, and it was important that they should remain so. One of the most difficult problems to decide was where to draw the line in adding desirable features to the basic production model. Some of the features included in the advanced American design described by Mr Foxwell seemed likely to be too expensive for the average farmer.
Proc Inrtn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

On the other hand, desirable design features which need not be expensive if planned from the beginning of a new design included live hydraulics and a hydraulic pick-up hitch. Those were features which could well become standard on all but the type of cut-price small tractor previously suggested. There was no doubt that the tractor of the future must provide an ever-increasing range of hydraulic servicesnot only to operate external jack cylinders but also to power small hydraulic motors for driving machines such as hedge-cutters. Provision for such services of limited power need not add much to the cost of the tractor. Broadly speaking, Britain had arrived at the conventional wheeled tractor not by accident, but by a series of logical developments. Even a development so far-reaching as employment of hydrostatic transmission could not change the fundamental facts concerning such matters as the need for weight on the tractors drive wheels, or of a system at least as good as the best modern hydraulically controlled three-point linkage for implement operation. Though direct power transmission to implements such as rotary cultivators would certainly develop further, there was no reason to suppose that tractors, as opposed to mobile power units, would become obsolete. So while a development such as hydrostatic transmission gave the possibility of completely altering the general shape of the tractor, and new shapes would doubtless be tried, there was no great need for new shapes so far as the user was concerned. The most likely alternative shape to the conventional modern tractor was the rear-engined tool-bar-frame type; but to be successful, that must operate three-point linkage implements and trailers as well as did the conventional tractor. Modern tractors did the work that was normally required of them very effectively, and most farmers could not justify changing to hydrostatic transmission if that added greatly to the cost. Important needs of the user today included easier operation and easier maintenance. As Mr Hockey had explained, modern hydraulic implement control systems incorporated position control and draught control for equipment mounted on the three-point linkage, and remote control of hydraulic jack cylinders such as were used on tipping trailers. All of those were more or less essential to the modern medium-powered tractor, and it was very desirable that the position and direction of movement of the control levers should be standardized. At present, the
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operating instructions for some newly developed tractors were quite complex, and it was little wonder that operators made mistakes. On some recently developed tractors it was easy for an untutored operator to damage the hydraulic system by incorrect operation of the controls. He felt sure that a standard system of levers was needed, and he was glad to hear from Mr Foxwell that work had already started on that. Designers needed to pay a good deal of attention to the maintenance aspects of the N.I.A.E. Farm Trials tractor tests, referred to by Mr Manby, since all revealed some similar general characteristics. Some of the points which emerged were : (I) It was useless to advise a change of gearbox and transmission oil in the early stages of the tractors life, since even on well-run farms that would not be done by the farmer. He wondered whether Mr Strettell would remark on that. With improved oils, there seemed no reason why the farmer should be expected to change transmission oil early in the tractors life. (2) The most neglected of the regular maintenance routine jobs was changing of the air filter oil. Even good farmers usually changed the oil less often than advised, and designers should aim to make that a job which normally needed to be done much less frequently. Those tractors in the Farm Trials which went far beyond the recommended period for changing air cleaner oil seemed to have suffered little in regard to engine wear, even when the cleaner became so blocked as to reduce engine power appreciably. It seemed that a new look should be taken at the development of that component, which had stood still for at least 30 years and which, according to Mr Manby, only started to work really effectively when working at nearly full capacity. There was one small but important respect in which he considered that British tractor manufacturers had evaded their responsibilities, namely in providing a tractor cab as an optional extra. Though there were already many cabs to choose from, the fact was that cabs could be more efficient if they were designed as part of the tractor, and he could not understand why that was not done. Perhaps M r Foxwell, who admitted the necessity of protecting the driver from the weather, would give his views on that. So far as British users were concerned, both the B.S.I. tractor tests and internationally agreed tests gave more information than could be used on the power available on the test bed or test track, and too little information on how the tractor behaved on practical farm work. He did not suggest that those tests could be abandoned, since they were considered important in some countries where British tractors were sold. Nevertheless, tests of the Farm Trials type appeared to be more useful to users. The new type of test which Mr Manby had briefly mentioned might come nearer to satisfying both manufacturers and users. Lt.-Col. Philip Johnson, C.B.E., D.S.O. (Member) said that he had no contribution to make regarding the tractor
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

of the future. He believed the tractor of the present was a machine which might be seen still in large quantities and in useful service for the next 30 or 40 years. But he would emphasize that there could come about, and would come about-in fact it was already in partial use on a small scale-something whch was revolutionary in the use of the tractor. Everywhere on the land the vast majority of the tractors could be seen with mounted implements, and they were all running with their offside wheels in the furrow. It was evident that there was not only no necessity for it, but there were many advantages in taking the wheels out of the furrow. It had already been proved in operation that if the tractor was taken out of the furrow and all four wheels placed firmly on the land with a margin so that the furrow wall was not broken down, the offset draught was trying to swing the front end of the tractor round in a clockwise direction when viewed from above. That was intolerable; it must be neutralized, and experience had shown already that it could be neutralized by very inexpensive and simple methods of adjustment and a small amount of added ironmongery; there was no necessity whatsoever to modify the tractor. The top link of the threepoint linkage had to be positionally altered, but not structurally interfered with in any way. The rest of the equipment necessary to make that scheme of operation possible could all be provided for at moderate expense.

1Mr R. M.Ogorkiewicz, M.Sc. (Eng.) (Associate Member),

said that he could not help registering his disappointment at one major point in Mr Manbys paper. It was the apparent acceptance of the current type of tractor test which involved determining the maximum drawbar pull on a hard surface, such as concrete. That type of test seemed irrational as it bore no relation to the operational environment of agricultural tractors which were, after all, intended to operate, not on concrete, but in soils. He agreed with the author that it was more difficult to perform tests in soft soils than on a single hard surface, but he was convinced that the real difficulty did not lie in the variation of soil characteristics. He would suggest that the real stumbling block had been failure to devise a means of defining soils in quantitative terms, which was essential if tests were to be made on soils. However, during the past few years at least one method of quantitative description of soils had been put to use. That was the Bekker soil values system established at the Land Locomotion Laboratory of the U.S. Army Ordnance Tank-Automotive Command. The Bekker soil values system might f d short of perfection, but that was no reason for not making use of it, or of similar systems, and postponing still further a more rational approach to tractor performance. I n fact, judging by the work at the Land Locomotion Laboratory, that system provided an entirely practical basis for predicting and assessing vehicle performance in a variety of soils. It had certainly been used to evaluate the
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performance of military vehicles, and during a recent visit to the United States of America he had been very interested to note that it was also beginning to be used by American vehicle manufacturers. Adopting the same or some similar system would provide the necessary quantitative basis for analysing tractor performance in soft soils, and consequently it would open the way for a more realistic assessment of their capabilities than the highly questionable test on concrete.

In view of that, if a revised testing procedure was required, and he believed there were many who would agree that it was essential for real progress, he could not help feeling what a good thing it would be for the industry, and for Britain, if that were initiated by a British testing authority.
M J. C. Thompson (Peterborough) said that Mr Little r had referred to the problem of utilizing a standard which was based on torque measurement on concrete. He thought that brought out the importance of having standards in the industry which were realistic, and permitted production at an economic level.

Mr L. F. Little (Member) said that there was one question

he would like to ask, although the subject had been raised by a previous speaker: did Mr Manby really feel that the present standard drawbar test served any useful purpose ? It would be expected that such a test would give some useful information on the effective pull which the tractor would develop under operating conditions and enable a comparison to be made between various models. But if the tests were not carried out on the kind of surface upon which they would normally operate could they be said to fulfil that function ? The wheeled agricultural tractor was not really designed to operate on asphalt and the physical properties of the soil on which standard tests of crawler tractors were carried out were such that, if that soil were general there would be no justification for the existence of tracklaying vehicles. Would it not be more rational, instead of the treadmill test advocated, to simply couple the axle shafts direct to a dynamometer and record the results as wheel horsepower ? That would at least give an authentic figure for the overall mechanical efficiency. With the present procedure even that information was not available as it was obscured by an irrelevant tyre loss. The author had referred to the considerable amount of research being carried out on the properties of soils and their relation to velucle traction and it would seem no doubt that a better understandmg of the subject would lead to a considerable improvement in the tractive efficiency of both wheeled and tracked prime movers. It was most unlikely, however, that any such improvement would be apparent from the results of current standard tests. That, he suggested could be a serious handicap to future progress. What was really required, as the author had pointed out, was a controlled soil for test purposes. Artificial soils had been used for many years in model testing and at least one full-scale test track of high-strength artificial soil had been used successfully in Great Britain. What was needed was one having a comparatively low strength with physical properties similar to an average farm soil. Apart from the technical value of Mr Manby's paper it was important from another aspect; it showed, he would suggest, how well the industry was served by the organization of which he was a member and, he would add, not only because of the valuable information it provided, but also-and he spoke from personal experience-because of the prestige as a testing authority which it enjoyed overseas.
Proc Imtn Mech Ewrs (A.D.)

One of the problems in making diesel engines for agricultural tractors was in building into them an inherent characteristic of a torque converter. He was surprised in Mr Foxwell's excellent paper that he had dealt with the torque characteristic of the engine by saying that the torque peak should be below the normal operating speed of the engine. Whilst he agreed with that he believed a certain minimum increase in engine torque was necessary from maximum speed to maximum torque point-the speed at which maximum torque occurred. In other words, some minimum value of torque back-up was necessary in order to overcome momentary increased tractive resistance. It did appear that there was considerable diversity of opinion among manufacturers throughout the world as to the required value of torque back-up Mr Manby must have had many tractors through his hands with a considerable variation for that figure, and his opinion on the importance of that characteristic would be valuable. The need for the slope of the engine torque curve to be as steep as possible was argued, but it must be realized that the maximum torque point was the determining point for the engine output rating, and therefore the peak of the torque curve could only be obtained at the expense of the maximum power of the engine. He believed there was a compromise between power and torque back-up which was probably somewhere between 6 and 10 per cent back-up. But the views of Mr Foxwell and Mr Manby on that would be very welcome. He would like to comment on the excellent paper by Mr Bates and Mr Strettell, which dealt to some extent with the provision of vaporizing fuels for tractors. He was sorry to say that the amount of the paper which they had been able to devote to the question of diesel fuel seemed to be out of proportion. The increasing use of the diesel engine in agriculture would ultimately lead to alterations to diesel fuel specifications. It was no use saying that the diesel engineers must produce multi-fuel engines. That was unpractical, and it was uneconomic to do so. Fuel specifications must be broadened in number. He thought it could be done in such a way that the engine would benefit. The improvement might be looked for in terms of power, for an improvement in fuel might be limited by only as much as 5 per cent; it would be limited by the air utilization of the engine.
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But there were other features which might well benefit from work being done to provide refinement in fuels, such as reduction of smoke and noise, and reduced pressure rise, which could help to produce more efficiency and cheaper engines.

efficiency of the engine, a correction factor would be obtained of the type

Mr J. C. OCallaghan (Dublin), said that there were three points he should like to discuss: tractor testing; effect of altitude on performance; and the tractor-implement combination.
First, tractor testing. Independent testing of tractors and the publication of official reports seemed to be aiming at two objectives: (I) to provide information for manufacturers and assist them in their development programmes. For development, it was inevitable that tractor performance had to be measured on the basis of tests on a small number of units ;(2)to provide information for prospective purchasers of the tractor and help them to choose between different models. In that aspect of their work, it seemed to him that testing stations were handicapped in having to place so much emphasis on the results of tests on a single model. The discussions that had taken place in order to devise standard methods for testing tractors so that test results from all countries were comparable did not seem to take into account that machines which were produced in large numbers were not identical. Such machines varied from one to another owing to the interplay of random and uncontrollable factors in production. A representative picture of such a population could not be conveyed by testing a single member of it. Was not the model chosen for test at the present time biased in an upward direction ? In extending the present official test to get more practical information and especially to get an index of reliability over a long period of time, an attempt had to be made to construct the distribution of failures for a large population that could be treated statistically. Secondly, the effect of altitude on performance. Where there was a random variation between different units of the same model, which had been stated on p.130 to be of the order of 10 per c a t , an approximate correction factor for altitude might suffice. In assessing the effect of altitude, the effects of air temperature and presssure on the performance of the engine were being determined. The main effect in a diesel engine was the reduction in the mass of air available for combustion. If the maximum fuel/air ratio was used at sealevel, that ratio must be maintained as altitude increased. In effect, by setting the fuel pump to give a certain smoke density, the altitude test was maintaining a constant fuel/ air ratio from some arbitrary point onward. A change in atmospheric conditions altered not only the specific weight of the air entering the engine cylinder, but also the flow conditions in the inlet system. At a constant fuel/air ratio and neglecting changes in brake thermal
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

For the results given in Tractor Test Report No. 275 the agreement obtained between the actual results and the values calculated by a correction factor of that kind was: test belt m.e.p., lb/inz 87.8 83.9 77.7 73.0 70.0 calculated m.e.p., lb/inz 87.8 84.5 79.4 77-0 73-1 Test Report No. 215 gave a better agreement: test belt m.e.p., lb/in* 75.5 71.2 67.6 calculated m.e.p., lb/in? 75.5 70.8 68.6 If differences of the order of 5 per cent could be accepted between calculated and test values, it was possible to measure the performance of the engine at sea-level by using different fuel/air ratios up to a maximum that gave an acceptable smoke density. Performance at other conditions of temperature and pressure that gave the same fuel/air ratios could then be estimated from those experimental values. The third point was the tractor-implement combination. There were some further aspects of the tractor-implement combination which he would like to raise for discussion. The ploughs that were currently available were suitable for working at speeds of less than 3 mile/h but most tractors developed their highest drawbar horsepower at 4-6 mile/h. It seemed that a higher rate of workmg and a more suitable load for the tractor would result from a plough designed to work at higher speeds than were in use. In comparison with the implement speeds reported by Mr Culpin in his book* those given in Fig. 4 were optimistic. Twenty-one of the twenty-seven implements listed by Mr Culpin normally worked at speeds of 3 mile/h or less.

It was interesting to note that the Ford 6000 tractor had four gear ratios that allowed full engine power to be developed at ground speeds of less than 3 mile/h. One Continental tractor had five gear ratios in that range. The principal British tractors offered no more than two gear ratios in that range. A poor matching of tractor-implement speeds meant a reduced rate of working especially with power-take-off driven machines.
In the development of hydraulic pumps there was a choice between a variable-delivery pump and a relatively small constant-delivery pump used in conjunction with an accumulator to meet peak demands at lifting. An accumulator raised some problems of safety and servicing and implied that hydraulic applications would remain more or less as they were. The alternative development of using a variable-delivery pump would allow the capacity of the hydraulic system to be increased so as to transmit power continuously to some implements-mowers and hedge
*CULPIN, Farm Mechanization Management. C.
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cutters had been mentioned ;moving floor trailers, manure spreaders, density control in balers were other possibilities. I n that way the tractor could transmit power to implements in an additional form to the current mechanical one, which would allow more freedom to implement designers.

Condtions under which oil was changed were often far from ideal and, as was well known, storage conditions for oil on most farms were not always conducive to keeping that clean before it even entered the engine. Further education of the user by the oil industry still appeared to be necessary. In the circumstances, he felt that current engines behaved very well indeed.

Mr A. Towle, M.Sc. (Eng.) (Member), said that u t l a ni year earlier he had had no personal experience of tractors, but during the past twelve months, having put in about 250 hours driving two up-to-date popular types, there were one or two points which occurred to him. Firstly, ease of handling, in that, he had been agreeably surprised, steering effort and lightness of controls compared very well with a great many modern passenger cars-congratulations and full marks to the tractor industry !
On the other hand, what was the use of having a tractor to reduce the labour force on a farm if two or more people were required, as they often were, to fit many of the implements. Simplification and ease of fitting and removal of implements was, he felt, urgently needed. He would also make a plea for implement manufacturers to make sure that the equipment they supplied conformed to the data and diagrams given in the instruction book. In his own experience far too often it did not. One of the most vulnerable components of the tractorimplement combination was the hydraulic pipes-an improvement there was well overdue. Again, as a newcomer to agriculture, he had been appalled on many occasions at the apparent danger when a passenger was carried on a tractor and there were quite a number of occasions during a year when that was necessary. He wondered whether some suitable passenger seat could be incorporated as standard. There were occasions when both hands were required on the steering wheel but at the same time it was desired to change the throttle opening-with the present arrangement of controls that was impossible but more thought to the layout of the controls could well make it feasible. He would confirm the need, expressed by Mr Foxwell, for first-class service, and would add that, as with the passenger-car industry, final inspection after assembly was not always as good as it might be. It was perhaps even more important that a tractor should be turned out right in the first place, otherwise, as in several cases which had recently come to his attention, the farmer was likely to accept those faults as being associated with the model he had bought and do nothing about it until it was too late; unfortunately the lubricating oil industry was sometimes blamed for the resulting mess.

Mr A. R. Reece, M.Sc. (Associate Member), said that it was interesting to observe that in both the paper by Mr Foxwell and that by Mr Hockey there seemed to be an implicit acceptance of the idea that the current form of farm tractor was not capable of improvement. In the brief statements on future developments at the end of their papers they were exclusively concerned with progress in the internal mechanism of the tractor. Was that true? Was the farm tractor like the lorry which had not changed in form for 50 years and did not seem likely to do so, or was it rather like the aircraft which had changed from a biplane to something approaching a wingless missile in half a century ?

Mr Hockey had described very well the tremendous contribution made to the development of the tractor by Harry Ferguson. As a result of his ideas the tractor had changed from a simple towing machine, replacing the horse, to a mobile power unit forming an integral part of a large range of machines. Its function had been extended so that the tractor was required to support and control implements as well as provide their power.
The current form of tractor was extremely well integrated with a very large family of machines concerned with tillage and transport. However, there were other tasks for which the combination was not so successful. The front end loader shown in Fig. 56 was an arrangement with almost nothing to recommend it, being very poor in respect of traction, strength, manoeuvrability and controllability. Rowcrop work was another situation in which the modern tractor was not efficient, it being generally necessary to use two operators. The success of the self-propelled combine harvester represented a major criticism of the farm tractor in that a complete tractor was built into each one of those machines where it stood idle for 90 per cent of each working year. He thought that it was clear then that there was great scope for development of the agricultural tractor so that it might be successfully integrated with an even greater range of farm machinery.
. There were two essential conditions with which any new tractor form must comply. First it must retain the present two-wheeled drive asymmetrical form (with 3 of the weight on the front wheels and a 75-85 in. wheel base) because that was such an economical and efficient solution to the problem of traction in tillage and transport. Secondly it was necessary that all implement attaching and driving points must be outside the wheel base so that it was easy to take

Mr Bates and Mr Strettel had ably brought out the advantages of a common 2oW/30 oil for engine transmission and hydraulics, a further example of the modern tendency toward thinner oils made possible by the correct use of oil additives.
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Fig. 63. The Kings College, Newcastle, prototype reversible tractor loading earth and rock at Halcon Chesters archaeological site

Fig. 62. Proposed seat and steering arrangements for a reversible tractor
machinery on and off. Neither the mid-mounted mower in Fig. 55 nor the beet harvester in Fig. 57 could be said to be really acceptable to farmers because they did not fulfil that requirement. The tool-frame type of tractor had quite clearly failed and that was because it satisfied neither of those requirements. Those two conditions limited the range of possibilities for change in tractor form but they did not inhibit it altogether. For example, one feature that the tractor seemed to have inherited from the horse was a head and a tail. That was mechanically unnecessary and it would be possible to construct fully reversible tractors at very little extra cost. Such a machine would retain the present arrangement but it would be possible to exchange the seat and steering wheel without tools in a matter of minutes, as shown in Fig. 62. All the other controls could be arranged to suit either position quite easily and the machine would have a full range of speeds in both directions. It would be necessary to provide a simple hydraulic lift at the radiator end for the actuation of tools, trailer-hooks, ballast weights etc. It should be possible to make such a reversible machine at a mcderate extra cost compared with a conventional tractor, assuming that the conventional tractor had been designed from the beginning with that end in view. It would be feasible then to produce the reversible machines as a proportion of the total production without increasing significantly the cost of the normal machine. The important question was what would such a machine do better than its conventional counterpart ? It could have only advantages, it would still be able to do anything that a conventional machine could do with equal ability. In the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Durham University, they had been interested in the possibilities of that type of tractor for some years*. Cowell and Burton had made a design study of the problem of reversing the controls and had built a mock-up which showed that it was
*REBCE,A. R. Farm Mechanization, 1958, December? p.455, A Reversible Tractor-the Next Step in Tractor Design. Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

quite practicable to have such an arrangement without altering the layout of a conventional Ferguson-type tractor. A reversed tractor was then built to correspond to the reversible tractor arranged for reversed work. Carpenter and Jamieson had investigated some of the possibilities of that machine for their thesis projects. They had concentrated on the performance of the machine in loading, hauling and rowcrop work. Fig. 63 showed the machine at work loading soil and rock. Little need be said about their experiences at that job other than that it made the ordinary arrangement seem ridiculous. The reversed loader would do 15 per cent more work than the front-end loader when conditions were ideal (loading farmyard manure from a concrete yard) up to infinitely more work in really slippery conditions when the conventional machine was incapable of operating at all. It was perhaps worth noting that farmers did not load hard materials and did not usually use their loaders for digging. For those jobs the conventional macliiae would be better, but then of course the reversible tractor and loader could simply be reversed to form a normal front-end loader. The performance of the machine when hauling trailers was important because such a tractor might have to haul a muck-spreader as well as loading it, might carry a forage harvester at the large-wheel end blowing silage into a trailer towed at the radiator end or might carry a pick-up baler from which the bales were automatically loaded on to a tractor trailed from the radiator end.
As a hauling machine the performance of the reversed tractor was extremely poor. There were several reasons for that, the most obvious being that load transfer due to the trailed load or to ihe ascent of a hill acted in the wrong direction as did the load transfer due to the rolling resistance. Even when those factors were taken into account it was found that the slip of the reversed tractor was still greater than expected. It was clear that on soft ground the best performance was obtained when the driven wheels were behind the free-rolling wheels, so that the driven wheels worked in the soil which had been strengthened by the rolling of the front wheels. With the front-wheel-drive arrangement the driving wheels were working in loose soil
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giving a high rolling resistance and low traction and if the wheels were slipping then the free-rolling wheels moved through loose soil churned up by the slipping wheels and consequently also had a high rolling resistance. Although that was unfavourable to the reversed tractor it did not rule out the possibility of using it for certain hauling jobs so long as care was taken to minimize those negative effects. The attraction of the reversed tractor for rowcrop work lay in the excellent view of plants and tools that was obtained when the rowcrop cultivators were mounted out in front of the tractor. That was clearly illustrated in Fig. 64. I n common with the classic mid-mounted tool-bar that arrangement required the use of track eliminators. Fig. 65 showed a common rowcrop situation in which the tractor had moved over toward one row of tools and it had become necessary to make a swerve back to the centre of the rows. It was obvious from that illustration that while the hoe would swerve away from the plant row the track eliminators would move even nearer to the row that they were endangering and might even over-run it and cut out some of the plants. A theoretical analysis of thc motion of various forms of rowcrop tractor in relation to the plant row had been made by Reece and Jamieson*, and it had been shown that the

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Fig. 65. A common rowcrop situation in which the tyactor and toolbar have come too near to one side of the rows

Fk. 66.

The movement of hoes and track eliminators on a reversible tractor during a swerve

Fig. 64. View of crop and tools from the driver's seat of a reversed tractor
*JAMIESON,

M. and REECE,A. R. 1961 3. Agric. Engng. Res. vol. 6, No. 4, 'The Kinematics of the Rowcrop Tractor.'

amplitude of movement of the track eliminators depended primarily upon the ratio W / L and Z/ W, where W was the distance from the unsteered axle of the tractor to the controlled hoe, Z was the distance from the unsteered axle to the track eliminators and L was the wavelength of the steering motion madc by the tractor. Fig. 66 showed the theoretical path of the track eliminators on a reversed tractor in response to a sinusoidal swerve. Fig. 67 showed the amplitude of the movement of the track eliminators as the ratio Z/ W was decreased, by moving the hoes further out from the tractor, and it was perhaps rather surprising that that relationship was so far from linear. Before that analysis was made the hoe had been put on the reversed tractor a long way out, on the grounds that that must reduce the amplitude of movement of the track eliminators as a result of controlled movement of the hoe. Experience in the field however indicated that many of the movements of the tractor were not due to conscious efforts on the part of the driver but rather resulted from such
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DISCUSSION

-1

w-in.

Fig. 67. Swing-out of track eliminators for varying hoe position on a particular reversible tractor for a 3-in. swerve in 36 in. travel
factors as wheel slip, side slope, stones, irregular soil surface and varying soil strength. If the hoes were put way out in front of the tractor then they made very large movements as a result of those random movements of the tractor chassis. The theoretical analysis resulting in Fig. 67 also suggested that the outfit would be more acceptable if the hoe were brought fairly close in (to about 50 in.) and in fact that was so. It was not yet clear whether or not the reversed tractor was a good rowcrop machine. It was absolutely clear that accurate steering was impossible if there was any slip of the driving wheels. Their rowcrop work in the 1961 season had been carried out in a field with a very rough tilth and quite steep hills and with the centre of gravity of the tractor unusually high owing to the fitting of the heavy industrialtype loader. Under those conditions controllability was not too good but they hoped that the difficulties could be overcome during the next season. It seemed that the success of that idea depended upon the ability of the reversed tractor to perform well in rowcrops. Rowcrop work and loading between them constituted a sufficiently important range of tasks to justify it. Apart from those two fields there were many other jobs which could be done more effectively with that machine. An example was mowing, when it was possible to obtain the visibility of a mid-mounted mower from a machine on the three-point linkage and to tow a tender from the radiator end. Further examples were, fork-lift work utilizing the improved manoeuvrability, and many other jobs such as light bulldozing, wind-rowing, pea-harvesting and binding. A fuller account of the work so far had been published e hewhere* and investigations of the problems involved in that idea were being continued.

attempting to overcome them. He would like to consider those problems a little further. In the first instance, it was necessary to decide what was really required of the control system. In his view the essentials were accurate control of implement depth together with the maximum obtainable traction. In practice it was difficult to obtain a satisfactory depth signal which would meet those requirements. A gauge wheel mounted on the implement and running on the soil surface would give reasonably satisfactory depth control but only when carrying a considerable load. That resulted in reduced traction. Multi-wheel systems were possible which might be more lightly loaded but were too complicated to be acceptable. The restrained-link system offered the maximum available traction, so the best solution would seem to be some sort of force control in one of the links of the hitch. Since the object was to control depth, a force signal was required which would, ideally, vary linearly with depth. Studies carried out on the soil forces developed on plough bodies at varying depths showed that the component in the direction of travel of all the soil forces acting on the body bore the closest relation to depth of working, increasing as depth increased. That relation was not a linear function, but it approximated to one over the small range of depth variation required. It was that horizontal component to which he had referred when speaking of the draft force of the implement. The majority of automatic draft control systems used in current production tractors attempted to control the implement by maintaining a constant force in the upper link of the three-point hitch. A few attempted control by mainik. taining a constant force in the lower l n s Fig. 68 showed diagrammaticallya plough mounted on a three-point linkage. The forces shown were the external forces acting on the implement. The resultant due to the soil and to the weight of the implement had been resolved into two components, D acting horizontally at a vertical distance y below the cross-shaft, and a vertical force V acting at a horizontal distance x from the cross-shaft. U was the upper link force and LHrepresented the normally tensile force in the lower links. From the diagram, the upper link force U could be readily expressed in terms of the remaining forces and dimensions. V (x/h). In the steady state U = D ( y / h ) Whenever an upward correction was made by the control system or when the tractor pitched about a lateral axis, such

Mr P A. Cowell (Graduate) said that in their respective . papers both Mr Foxwell and Mr Hockey had mentioned some of the difficulties involved in obtaining satisfactory implement control. In particular Mr Hockey had pointed out some of the problems associated with automatic draft control and described some of the measures adopted in
k - x -

*CARPENTER, L., JAMIESON, M., and REECE, A. R. 1962 J. Farm Mechanization, March vol. 14,p.89, Experiments with a Reversed Tractor.
Proc Znsrn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Fig. 68. External forces acting on an implement in normal working position

r;Ln

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AGRICULTURAL TRACTORS

as occurred when crossing undulations, the implement was accelerated vertically. That might be included as a third term which was a function of the implement weight and its vertical acceleration. The general equation then became U = D (I,//,) - V -f ( I , 9) . . . . . . (1)

It was very probable that whenever the implement was accelerated vertically a considerable change took place in V in the second term. Since the third term on the right also expressed itself as a vertical force on the implement, the net vertical force could vary over a wide range. Some idea of the probable magnitude of those vertical forces in comparison with the draft force might be gained from the observation that with heavy implements such as four-furrow ploughs and reversible ploughs the first two terms in equation (I) were approximately equal in the steady state under average working conditions.
From that it could be seen that the upper link force bore a far from l.ncar relation to the draft force. That type of control could just as accurately be described as vertical force control; the term draft control was really a misnomer. Whilst it was reasonable to use the draft force as a measure of depth it was certainly unreasonable to use the ver:ical force which bore no relation to depth. He would suggest therefore that the fundamental reason for the imperfections appearing in draft-control systems was that the wrong signal was used. The ill effects of the vertical forces were reduced to some extent when the force in the lower links was controlled. When the upper and lower links were approximately horizontal (which was normally the case at working depth) the force in the lower link LH was given by an equation exactly similar to equation ( I ) except that the coefficient of D became greater, i.e., LH z= D ( I + y ] h ) - ( x / h ) - - f ( I , y ) . . . . (2) In that case the draft force represented a greater fraction of the lower-link force than it did of the upper-link force. That fact had been made use of in the recent introduction of lower-link control on American tractors in the large range, where the vertical force problem became particularly acute with large and heavy implements. P = k D when tan 0 = (ah/bx) Perhaps a better solution to the whole problem would be to eliminate entirely the effects of vertical forces from the draft measuring element. One approach could be to design a linkage in which the stress developed in one member bore a direct relation to the horizontal draft only. Fig. 69 showed a scheme in which that would probably be true over the normal range of operation. A short link A B was connected to the rear transmission housing as shown. It was restrained from rotating about A by a powerful spring. The lower links B c were connected to A B by pin joints at B. The linkage would probably be recognized as being somewhat similar to one of Harry Fergusons early designs. The upper and lower links were parallel and horizontal and the lift arms vertical. That simplified the analysis as
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Fig. 69. Linkage sensitive

to

horizontal force only

presented in Fig. 69 but a slight alteration of their angles would not invalidate the result. With such a scheme it could be shown that the moment of the force tending to rotate the arm A B against the spring was directly proportional to the horizontal draft force D , provided the angle 0 was chosen such that tan 0 -(ah)/(bx). With that arrangement the force P exerted on the spring would be directly proportional to the draft force D with the effects of the vertical forces eliminated. The values of a, b and h were exactly determined by the dimensions of the hitch; the dimension x was not so easy to ascertain but an optimum value could be chosen for a given implement to determine the best angle 0 to employ. Those remarks represented some preliminary ideas on the problem of implement control which were being investigated at Kings College, Newcastle. They felt that the problem could henceforward be profitably approached from the viewpoint of existing control theory, and that the control systems themselves should be investigated in the light of that theory. A fuller understanding of their characteristics would probably lead to considerable improvement in automatic implement control.

Mr G. T. Merryweather (Wolverhampton) said that he would like to do three things with regard to tyres and their relation to the modern tractor. Firstly, state a principle; secondly, exemplify a practice; and thirdly, ask a question.
The principle that he wanted to state was that a tyre was just a container of air. It contained a certain volume of air at a certain pressure to support a certain weight. The amount of torque able to be put through the tyre depended upon its relation to the soil and the soil characteristics. The normal relation gave a coefficient of traction of 0 . 5 , obtained by dividing the drawbar pull by the weight on the tyre. He suggested that modern tractor design was such that the coefficient of traction which was employed was, in general, above the normal 0.5. As a result, tyre life, as affected by wheel slip, was less with the modern tractor than it had been with its predecessors.
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Secondly, both coefficient of traction and rate of tyre wear were increased when the effect of the differential lock was added. That could easily result in two-thirds of the total drawbar pull being transmitted through the furrow tyre, with one-third through the land tyre. x 36 tyre which would carry 2554 lb at that was a reasonable working pressure -the two tractor tyres, without differential lock, would, with a coefficient of traction of 0.5, each transmit about 1277 lb drawbar pull at probably about 15 per cent wheel slip. With that weight on the tyre, and that output from the tractor, a reasonable tyre life would be obtained. With an
11

When using a differential lock 848 lb drawbar pull could easily be transmitted through the land tyre, and 1696 lb through the furrow tyre, giving a coefficient of traction figure of 0.66 with the furrow tyre. That figure, and even more, had been recorded in the experiments in which he had co-operated. As a result there was a rate of wheel slip which certainly showed in the wear of the tyre. He thought that the only way to accommodate it was to have a bigger tyre with a correspondingly bigger torque capacity. Eventually the stage was reached where there was a limit to what could be put through one tyre. He would like to ask Mr. Foxwell whether that point was appreciated and, if so, whether it would be accommodated.

12lb pressure-and

Discussion in Birmingham
on the paper by T. C. D. Manby

Mr F. Lee (Associate Member) opening the discussion, said that he would like to raise some questions on the points mentioned by the author, and also touch upon one or two things which he had not mentioned concerning problems he had met in tractor performance. He had paid many visits to Silsoe and was familiar with the equipment they had there. He thought it was quite a good point the author had made regarding tractor testing, which in the agricultural tractor industry had become accepted, and tractors could not be sold abroad without having that schedule and tests carried out by either Silsoe or the Americans at Nebraska. He was interested in what the author said on hydrostatic transmission, and had had the opportunity of driving the authors tractor, and several others. All of those tractors were very exciting and opened up tremendous potentials for the years to come. Whenever people gave figures about the efficiency of a hydrostatic measured drawbar pull, against the conventional gear change, from the information he had at his disposal he knew for a fact that those figures were meaningless unless they could be measured against the actual work done. The author had spoken about the work load of tractors which he had put out on test on the farm, and he thought it was right that the heaviest load and the heaviest fuel consumption occurred when the tractor was performing the heaviest jobs, such as tilling. There was still a heavy fuel consumption when it was running round the farm, but with a hydrostatic transmission that was not so. Better performance could be obtained, as against a tractor using a conventional transmission and doing a comparable job. In regard to lyres, he would like to ask if any improvements had been made in tyre development since the tests had been started at Silsoe, also whether when testing drawbar performance different makers tyres were used, and whether they had found any difference in tyres which were supposed to be specified to do the same job.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

He was interested in the high-altitude tests. He would like to know whether the author had any information on the use of superchargers. His company had done a certain amount of work on that, and it would be interesting to know if the oversea countries, such as Kenya, were tending to use superchargers as standard equipment. There had been a lot of discussion in the past on air cleaners. He believed the author was right when he stated that a man living in the back of beyond could not be expected to service his equipment properly. He felt that there was a great field for development. Some of the oil cleaners showed up very badly. He wanted to ask whether there was any possibility of magnetizing the dust as was done in household air-conditioning systems in the United States of America, and the use of some such system to extract the dust from the atmosphere. The point he wished to bring up which was not mentioned in the paper was that of tractor brakes. There was not a tractor in Great Britain that could stop when it was supposed to do. There was no mention of that in published test results. The tendency now was for tractors to become more widely used for industrial purposes. In the United States they had gone away from using the tractor for agricultural purposes only and were concentrating on industrial purposes. The clutch was another problem, and he would be glad if the author would say something about that. In reply to Mr Baggetts question, skid steering was a feasible proposition provided the tractor was sufficiently large to take it. He would not like to see that on anydung less than 100 hp. He had driven a tractor with skid steering which required quite a lot of manoeuvrability, and that tractor was the only one which stood up to that type of job. He thought that there was quite a market for tractors of that type, and also there was very little wear on tyres. NO 4 1961-62

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Mr G. T. Merryweather (Wolverhampton) said that Mr Lee had questioned what improvement had been made in tractor tyres, particularly as they were now called upon to work in both hard standing and soft surface conditions. Over the years, conventional tractor tyres had been replaced basically by wide-base manufacture. He assumed that Mr Lee, no doubt well appreciated the two principles involved; there was quite a difference between a tyre operating on a hard surface and in soil, where it was driving on a soft and yielding terrain. In the latter conditions, tyre manufacturers were governed by soil characteristics in regard to tread pattern design. The author had said that the size of tractor tyres did not appear to have increased. Tractor manufacturers still fitted basically a relatively small size tyre and were putting more power through it. Improvement would come primarily with increase of tyre size and in that regard a comprehensive range of sizes had been developed to accommodate it. Mr E. W. Baggett (Associate Member) said that M r Lee had brought up the point of brakes, and also mentioned hydrostatic transmission. With that transmission, if the pump swash plate angle was reduced or moved into reverse the vehicle was being braked. He would like to know what the author thought of skid steering with hydrostatic transmission acting as brakes.

operating characteristics which was missed entirely by the current standard of tests. The third question was on the good handling of tractors, which was becoming increasingly important, he wondered whether any standard tests could be made for that.

Mr T. D. Angier (Solihull, Birmingham) said that the author had mentioned work output in regard to agricultural tractors, and also the use of skilled labour, he wondered whether he envisaged using some form of comparator, or being in a position to test several tractors at one time. Mr J. T. M. Wright (Sutton Coldfield) said that he would like to ask the author if he had experienced the phenomena he himself had experienced on the treadmill. As the drawbar pull was increased to about 4500 lb on a Ferguson 35 the tractor appeared to settle down about one inch. He wondered if that settlement would reduce the rolling radius and thus give a false impression of slip. Mr C. A. E. Booker, M.Sc. (Associate Member) said in regard to the authors remarks on independent braking of the two wheels, and the driver, who, after using the brake constantly, went into a ditch, what about hydraulic braking ? If the driver did not forget to centralize his valve, having got dizzy going round the field he should be alright. Mr R. H. Rose (Member) asked what was the material used on the cylinder liners, piston rings and bores. He believed that hard chromium prolonged their lives considerably. Mr S. A. Beasley (Sutton Coldfield) said that in regard to tyres, he understood the author to say that there was a considerable increase of adhesion with a tyre after it had seen some use. If that was so, he would like to know if there was a known explanation. The author had said that realizable tractive effort went with diameter rather than width, and he wondered whether he meant overall diameter of the tyre, and whether an improvement could be obtained on a wheel of fixed diameter by increasing the cross-section of the tyre.

Mr L. W. Eyles (Associate Member) said that he would like to ask three questions. Why, when work had been done by Mr Dicksee on correctionfactors, it should not be brought into the standard. There seemed to be as much error in not correcting at all as in applying the British Standards correction. On the question of tyres and their use on hard surfaces, they had found in their own treadmill tests that they got steadier results by using tyres with the solid centre, and he would have thought it would have been better to use tyres such as that instead of the agricultural ones. It might be more practical to assess the performance of tractors on wheel hp; that would probably necessitate the use of further tests under soil conditions, which seemed to be a point of

Discussion in Coventry
on the paper by W. J. Foxwell

Mr A. Senkowski (Member), opening the discussion, on the paper by Mr Foxwell said that it was not very easy to give a general view of the tractor design problems and techniques in the framework of a very restricted paper. The subject lent itself very much better probably to a book of 4oc-500 pages and even then it might not be quite complete, the way in which the author had been able to compress it and present a coherent picture of the problem had to be appreciated.
Proc Instn Mech Engrr (A.D.)

He would refer to certain minor points; in some of which he was personally interested. The first one was the gearbox as shown in Fig. 5. The main shaft in that gearbox-the top shaft-was splined throughout and he would like to know if he was correct in interpreting that the three gears on the top main shaft were running directly on the splined shaft. That was not an altogether unknown technique but it needed experience and he would like to benefit from the knowledge of those present. There might be some bushes
NO 4 1961-62

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D SCUSSION f

in between but that was the point which he submitted for discussion. Secondly he would like to have the authors confirmation of the tabulation in Fig. 4-i.e., the utilization chart. Whether that chart was built up for the conditions prevailing in a particular country, or in a particular hemisphere, or whether it was just a general chart which could be taken throughout the world. That would surprise him because tractor utilization in the States and in the eastern hemisphere was certainly different. Referring to Fig. 7b, he was surprised at the closeness of the Ist, 2nd and 3rd gears; chiefly the 2nd and 3rd. And the spread between the 6th and 7th was also very small, so in an unfriendly spirit it could be argued that there were 7 useful speeds and not 10. Referring to Fig. 11, the semi-mounted plough, it was not explicitly stated whether that was top-link control or bottom-link control. He suspected it was bottom link. Probably that would be better, giving less change in the attitude of the plough. All depended naturally on the details of the linkage and the intersections of the links and so on Fig. 8 scheme d, with epicyclics in the wheels, he would not think was very much better from the viewpoint of crop clearance in wide track setting than scheme b. There would be very little, if anything, in it. He regretted that the author had not managed to include some views of his on the hydmstatic and on the hydrodynamic transmissions. Hydrostatics was a subject which was very much in the minds of engineers. Any information on that would be very much appreciated. Mr J. Evans (Romford, Essex) in reply to Mr Senkowski, said first in regard to the question on Fig. 5, the three gears did in fact run on splines though in special bushes. Induction-hardened fine-bored gears, had been in production for some time without any particular manufacturing difficulties in maintaining the dimensions and satisfactory performance demanded. On the second point on Fig. 7b, the speed ranges shown were in fact staggered in the order they were because with power shift transmissions one jumped from one gear to the next and it required an operators art. Because of that speed ranges were close together in the lower gears; higher ratios would be pre-selected. The feature was that in starting with lower speeds, if there were substantial gaps there would be jerky movements particularly in the lower ranges. A virtually 8-speed range took 10 gears for smooth changing. The semi-mounted 5-furrow ploughs shown in Fig. I I were normally used with lower link control but in Britain ploughing was done successfully with 4- and 5-furrow ploughs with top-link control, which was in fact depicted in Fig. 11. It could be done equally with the lower link control. The difference between b and d in Fig. 8 would be the difference in crop clearance because the power line on 6 would be higher than on d.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs ( A . D . )

The chart in Fig. 4 was mainly developed from United Kingdom usage but it could equally apply to other countries; except perhaps the United States of America. Mr L H. Dawtrey (Member), said that he heartily sup. ported Mr Senkowskis comments on Mr Foxwells paper. He was particularly impressed with the whole clarity of thought that seemed to run through it in describing the mechanical parts of the farm tractor. I n particular, he would refer to his description of the working of the differential. On a minor point he was pleased that he had referred to a pedal as a pedal, and not as so many did, to a foot pedal. It seemed to him that the term foot pedal meant foot-foot lever, or a foot squared lever, and he was not aware of the existance of such a contrivance. Referring to a controversial subject, i.e., to the question of engine torque back-up, it was often felt to be a requirement that as the engine slowed down from higher speed, the torque should rise, with the object of increasing the engine ability to overcome resistance that might otherwise cause the engine to stall. That might occur with a vehicle climbing a hill or a farm tractor working up a hill of varying gradient, or, by the implement meeting a stiffer soil condition. I n these days the response of the hydraulic implement control should help, but the modern governor was so prompt in its adjustment, that it seemed that the best torque curve would be a straight line of constant maximum torque, supposing that were readily available from the engine. An example of what he had in mind was given in Fig. 70. Supposing the normal working torque resistance in a particular case was represented by point X at speed N , then if the resistance suddenly increased to an amount Y , the governor gave its own prompt back-up to 2, following which the speed must fall to N , , before equilibrium was reached. However, if the engine torque curve was as shown by the dotted line, the governor alone would give immediate and sufficient back-up to y1 without loss of speed, or at the limit, to point t .

I
SPEED
N 1

.
N

BACK UP TORQUE CURVE

Fig. 70
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AGRICULTURAL TRACTORS

I79

Similarly, the torque at low speed for example s, would be maintained rather than falling away to stall, under those ideal conditions of the constant torque. It was unlikely that an engine would give constant torque but he was suggesting that when a mechanical governor of prompt response was used it was better not purposely to limit the maximum power of the engine to give a falling torque as speed rose. The other way of maintaining the torque at high speed was more horsepower for belt drive.
Mr H. Henniker-Wright said that from experience he thought that as the number of gears increased so the

necessity for high torque back-up decreased, and would decrease even further with the introduction of hydrostatic or similar transmissions. Twenty years earlier when the majority of tractors were equipped with only 3 forward gears and had a rated engine speed of 1100-1200rev/min high torque back-up was a necessity to prevent continual stall on the heavier operations. M r A. Senkowski (Coventry), said that he agreed with Mr Dawtrey in many respects and thought that there had been some unspecified thinking in connection with torque. The curve shown by Mr Dawtrey was a reasonably good curve which the protagonist of the high torque back-up might accept. If, however, the characteristic of an engine was such that torque began to drop not at, say, half of the rated maximum speed but soon after the speed had fallen off the rated point, such a characteristic was bad as it led to easy engine stall. A constant-torque engine would seem to be ideal, but he was not sure if many tractor drivers would not prefer some torque increase with dropping engine speed as that gave a very pleasant feel of lugging ability, making up for the basic inadequacy of a stepped mechanical transmission.

lower. In the United States of America, owing to the increasing number of tractors the number of hours worked per tractor was decreasing rather than increasing. On the power requirements of the transmission-an accelerated test on transmissions had been evolved whereby the condition of the transmission after 2000 hours work could be assessed in about 250 hours. It must be borne in mind that a tractor very rarely worked for long periods at maximum torque because the overall ratio was such that it was not possible for that power to be transmitted through the rear wheels except in the case of crawlers. For instance, in commercial vehicles in the United States the transmission life at full load in bottom gear should be in the region of 50 hours; equivalent to 50 000 miles road work. All gears were tested to I 25 rated torque. M r J. N McHattie (Associate Member), said that he had . not had very much to do with tractors for a few years, but at one time had been very interested in their development. He was amazed at the rapidity with which tractor design had settled down to the conventional type in the pzst 5-10 years. The oddities and monsters on the market during and after the 1939-45 war had all completely disappeared and the design had become entirely conventional. The possibilities of wheel tractors must have increased considerably. One tendency seemed to have been for the wheel tractor to increase considerably in size. Immediately after the 193945 war they had been limited at any rate by the wheel size, beyond which it was simply uneconomic to go. Differential locks seemed to have been a long time being adopted in Great Britain. He seemed to remember their being standard practice on the Continent a number of years earlier and only in the past few years had they appeared in Great Britain. He supposed that limited slip differential had no possibilities whatever because it had to function as a full differential so much; it had more gentle action than the positive lock. He noticed that the disc brakes shown in Fig. 9 were quite different from the automotive type. They looked like the self-energizing type using balls rolling up on ramps which he thought were used on American tractors for some years before the 1939-45 war. The Lambert was an early type, and was an entirely different design to the automotive type. He would be interested to hear more about that. In regard to hydrostatic transmissions, he assumed reference was to pure hydrostatics and not the shunt type which seemed to have more possibilities for automotive use. By pure hydrostatics he meant the pump coupled directly to the engine and the motors in the wheels. It was a pity that the subject could not also have covered crawler tractors which were an art in themselves. There was one aspect of operation, particularly of earthmoving crawler tractors-and it applied to wheeled tractors too-which involved going backward and forward at the same speed. He wondered why provision was not more often made for a purely forward and reverse gear to enable
NO 4 1961-62

Dr J. G. Giles (Lindley, Nuneaton), said that he had no experience of agricultural tractors, his own special interest being concerned with hydraulic transmissions and he was interested in having further details of possible applications for such transmissions, but he was most attracted by Fig. 4 to see such an interesting collection of duty cycles that were needed and that information had been collected on them. It had been stated that the transmission must be capable of working at rated load for a longer period than in cars. He would be glad if a more specific figure could be given for that period, and raised the question of the satisfactory working life for a tractor. He imagined time was measured in hours rather than miles. He would like to know what target was to be aimed at in the transmission hours worked and at what loads.
M r H Henniker-Wright, said that the aim was a life of . around 6000 h, or somewhere in the region of 8-9 years, based on belief that the average tractor worked about 800 h a year. I n some countries it was higher and in some
Proc Znstn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

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DISCUSSION

the driver to shunt backward and forward quite easily in any of the ratios. It would probably make life much easier for some people. He wondered whether the author would comment on the tendency to increase p.t.0. speeds to 1000 rev/min. He thought that was becoming standard in the United States of America.

The reason why crawler tractors dld not have a purely forward and reverse gear was that the conventional type of gearbox was used for them in agriculture, but some crawlers did have a torque converter, particularly for industrial work. When hydrostatics became commonplace there would be a forward and reverse gear automatically incorporated.

Mr J. Evans, said that he agreed with Mr McHatties comment that tractor layouts, and particularly power layouts were becoming more conventional, and believed that was because mass production, design and manufacture were proving the current types were the cheapest to produce for the power class envisaged. No doubt the John Deere tractor with a-cylinder engine and gearbox transversely positioned was quite novel and had been produced for a number of years. Nevertheless the engine was cumbersome and expensive in the relative numbers in which they were produced. New power lines now made by John Deere were produced in greater numbers than previously with conventional layouts. In regard to the introduction of differential locks, he could not agree that they had been slow in being adopted in Great Britain because the demand had not been there. Controlled braking of tractors, together with the hydraulic 3-point linkage system, which had also been introduced some years earlier, had rather stemmed off the demand but nevertheless relative advantages were apparent, being cheaply manufactured in their current forms. Availability was significant in that they were fitted to the great majority of tractors produced. The disc brakes shown in Fig. 8 were different from conventional car types. A car used the spot-disc type whereas tractors used flat circular brake discs which, as indicated, gave longer service life necessitating fewer adjustments than the spot-type disc which although being made automatically adjustable had a relatively short life. As indicated in the paper, he thought the cost of those units was slightly higher than drum brakes but the increased performance and better service life obtained, more than compensated for increased cost. Particularly in the layout of the tractor type A, adoption of that form of disc brake, enabled the differential-lock operating rod to be positioned straight through the gear itself. The slipping-type differential lock was not suitable for the tractor because of the necessity of braking one wheel for turning at the headlands. That would be a bad condition for a limited slipping differential lock. The fact that tractors had increased in size but wheels and tyres had not was of course a function of the development and utilization of the power take-off. Tractor hp sizes had increased mainly owing to the demand for increased power take-off power requirements, 1000 rev/& take-off speed was merely matter of time in Great Britain. Tractors in the United States of America had that increased p.t.0. speed, and Great Britain undoubtedly would follow. The demand was there and must be satisfied.
Proc Znstn Mech Engrs ( A . D . )

Mr V. Statham (Fletchamstead, Coventry), commenting on the differential lock, said that there had been an interesting paper written some time earlier, probably in an American Agricultural Engineering Journal, that had proved fairly conclusively that the addition of 200 lb on the furrow wheel obviated the need for a differential lock. The two differential locks illustrated in paper he believed did not conform with the Ministry of Agricultures safety requirements, where he thought it was intended that the movement of the pedal should indicate whether the differential lock was in or out. He noticed also that after suffering competition, 3-point linkage had emerged as standard equipment. He would like to ask why that was so in view of its general inability to cope with the larger implements which were currently in use. The 3-point hitch was nothing like as easy to use now as the ball hitch had been, introduced by Harry Ferguson about 30 years earlier; then, a 170 lb plough could be manhandled on to the back. It seemed peculiar that tractors had developed so much in other directions whereas that particular point had been completely neglected. Similarly he wondered why the draught control had been used with the larger implements where there was bound to be considerable lack of sensitivity. The position of the implement in the ground was due to the resultant of horizontal and vertical forces. From the point of view of increase in tractor efficiency, he was more interested in a vertical force transmitting load on to the rear wheel yet control was by horizontal force and that became relatively insensitive with longer implements. He realized that it had some control over the vertical force but he could not see any reason why a simple hydraulic system could not be evolved using both horizontal and vertical signals. Mr J. Evans, said that the American paper mentioned by Mr Statham was written some years earlier and of course American experience in ploughing was quite different from that of Great Britain or Europe. They did not have conditions where the top layer of soil or turf was sodden to the extent of the British soils. Operating conditions were much worse in Great Britain and it was quite true to say that the ballast wheel was used. Nevertheless it had not been successful except by an experienced operator. There was no doubt that the differential lock, properly used, formed an extremely valuable function in getting a tractor 1 work in adverse conditions. 0 On the point about the position of the pedal being in or out, both differential locks shown did allow the pedal to stay down while the differential lock was engaged. The
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operator did not have to keep his foot on the pedal because driving torque kept the coupling in but nevertheless owing to fluctuating load conditions the operator had to keep his foot on the pedal while the differential lock coupling was engaged. In regard to 3-point linkage being standard equipment, he thought Mr Statham referred to hitching of the heavier implements. It was a case of developing some quickhitching method, of which there were several under development, but none of which were commercially attractive in price. It was a question of developing quick hitching implements, particularly in the heavier 4 to 5 furrow range which were difficult to handle because of weight. In regard to draught control with mounted implements, with the heavier mounted implements and the bigger tractors required, the lower link draught control was the system which would probably be most successful. There was always a signal in the system which was not necessarily so in the case of the top link control system.

Mr M. J. Jones said that he would like to ask some questions which might perhaps be rather elementary. He was not in the tractor industry. Firstly, if the agricultural tractor included crawler tractors, what were the relative merits of those two typesthe wheeled vehicle and the crawler vehicle ? Secondly, why did all British tractors have two widelyspaced wheels at the front whereas American ones seemed to have only single or double wheels ? Also, why were there very few original tractor layouts. They seemed to be very conventional. Was there likely to be any change in shape or mechanical layout ? What design factors influenced the man who went in for ploughing competitions ? Stability of steering and so on. Was that problem ever considered ? Mr H. Henniker-Wright said that in regard to the crawler versus wheel-type tractor, the crawler tractor was mainly used for specific operations such as heavy-duty ploughing, earthmoving etc., and had limited scope of usage. It had slower speeds whereas the wheel tractor was jack of all trades and had a very wide range of operations. The crawler was mainly used on large farms whcre the whole farm of 500 or 1000 acres was contained within its own boundaries with no main roads to cross; the wheel tractor could be driven from one field to another and on roads. It was very difficult to attach some of the implements not only at the rear of the crawler tractor but also with the conventional wheel tractor. The point of the two wheels at the front and the single wheel used so much in the United States of America was that the tractors were used on cotton or sugar plantations or corn, where they were built around large cultivators which must have plenty of forward space for the building cultivator or planter or digger, and the tractor walked into that machine and was attached. On the point of the 4-wheel tractor problem of the front-axle beam getting in the way,
Proc Instn Mech Engrs ( A . D . )

there were 3-wheel conversions for British tractors to use in those conditions. In regard to ploughing matches, in designing a tractor no notice was ever taken of ploughing matches because the way a tractor was operated in a match was completely different from how it was operated on a farm. There was a very limited amount of land to plough in long space of time, if a farmer operated like that he would be bankrupt in 12 months. On original tractor layout, with hydrostatic transmission, although the engine was still at the front and the wheels at the rear, because of the small space required by that form of transmission there was ample room for mid-mourited tools. It was interesting to note the unorthodox tractor layouts with sides which were more or less tool frames, and did not look like a tractor, farmers had not taken up. They were not used to it, and although the price was quite attractive unorthodox tractor layouts as indicated by such machines would not have much of a future. Designers and manufacturers had not thought so when they were produced but nevertheless the fact that they were very few and far between indicated that the farmer preferred the conventional shaped tractor.

Mr A. Senkowski said on the crawler versus wheeled tractor, there had been much data published on the mechanics of their operation. First, the rolling resistance of the track tractor compared with the tyred vehicle was much higher on the same ground. Secondly, the wear of tracks was very heavy. It was alright for military services but when a farmer had to recondition it, the cost was very high, so the trend if anythmg for farming was away from the track layer toward wheeled vehicles. In the United States of America there were some 4-wheel monsters produced which were about 300 h p or even more and they were beating track layers absolutely hollow on farming jobs. There were conditions such as boggy marshy fields, in which there must be small ground pressures, then the track layer was preferable but on the average farm the track layer had not much future.

Mr Taylor said that he would like to have some comment

on the use of air-cooled engines.

Mr J. Evans said that their experience was limited but in the main the most undesirable feature of the air-cooled engine was that it was normally limited in power. It was used in the lower power range rather than in the mediumto-high power range. There were several objectionable features in actual design, for example, usually a fan had to be incorporated and the blower noise was objectionable. Generally the air-cooled engine, because of the finning round the cylinders and so forth, was more expensive to manufacture, there were problems in casting and generally they tended to be heavier than the conventional diesel or petrol engine. He did not think they would be seen in the higher horsepower engine class of tractor, but they were produced on the Coiitineiit for the smaller 20-26 hp tractors in quite large numbers.
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DISCUSSION

Discussion in Luton
on the paper by T. C. D. Manby

Mr J. H. Alden (Member), opening the discussion, said that as a truck and bus man he did not know much about tractors, but the first question he had to ask was, what is a tractor ? In the truck industry they had tractor trailers and he had had comment from certain export territories, where they had used a 5-ton truck as a tractor, and there was the borderline as whether it should be tested and approved. Where was the line where a tractor was not a tractor ? Also, as a truck man of the past, he was concerned about gross vehicle weight, and he knew that there were certain aspects of tractors, and particularly as to the weight on the rear wheels, but his companys experience in many instances on trucks was that they sold a 5-ton truck to a customer, who put 7 tons on it or more, and he would like to have the authors experience of the overload situation, and whether it was a serious factor. On the charts of fuel economy, pints per hour were quoted. He did not know what the average speed was, probably 5 mile/h, but that worked out at about 2 mile/gal. That was not too good he considered, but it might be that was the kind of fuel economy expected. He presumed when talking about fuel, the author referred to diesel fuel, but small tractors used petrol, some used vaporizing oil, but he understood that the majority used diesel engines. An important angle of testing concerned tilt angle, and he would think that was very important on tractors, which were known to tip over. He was not quite sure of the costing aspects of fuels for farm use, whether they took the normal tax rate. On the question of tyres, he would like to know whether the author had any experience with the use of radial wire tyres or belted tyres, which had certain good characteristics, some bad, but from the standpoint of ride, adhesion and load-carrying capacity they were quite good. He would also like to know why tyres were blown up with water. He presumed it was a question of the weight on the tyres. He wondered whether the author had any idea of the world-wide breakdown in terms of sales of petrol, vaporizing oil and diesel oil-there must be a very large number of small tractive petrol engines. Another thing he used to see on tractors on farms was that the air intakes were, or seemed to be, higher than they were currently, he would like to know if that was so. He would also like to know how, when taking a tractor, you selected the make or the type. Did manufacturers ask why they were not testing a certain make or type of tractor, or did they repeat tests every 12 months or so ?
Mr M. J. Knaggs (Member) said that he was interested in the two diagrams in Fig. 15, where were shown results for a gearbox with well-spaced gears and one with badly spaced
Proc Znsrn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

gears. He would like to know what the author considered to be well-spaced gears. He would also like to ask what the author considered was the average load factor for agricultural tractors, and what was the life of such a vehicle. Kerosine engines had been mentioned and he would like to know at what sort of compression ratio they worked; it used to be as low as 33 to I, but he imagined it must be very much higher now.

Mr G. S. Boucher, B.Sc. (Associate Member) said that the author seemed to be keen on the radioactive method of measuring engine wear. That was only applicable to pistonring wear as opposed to engine wear. He did not feel that there was any particular correlation between the two. Also, over various engine speed and load ranges the blowby varied enormously and therefore, the amount of radioactive particles which found its way into the lubrication was very variable, and he did not consider the method to be very reliable in relation to overall engine wear. Mr C. W. Peters (Associate Member) said that he was particularly interested in the treadmill dynamometer, and would be glad if the author would say more about it. He would like to know whether it would take full bottom gear torque, what sort of tread was on the rollers and how much use was made of that compared with other vehicle testing methods. Mr P. R. Bailey (Associate M m e )said that he would ebr like to comment on the standard testing. While it was said to be performance testing he would have thought that cooling had a very large part to play in the acceptance of the vehicle in various territories, and he wondered whether there was any standardized test which was possibly allied to the automobile term of curb idle cooling which was applied also to tractors. He gathered that the design of the general-purpose tractor had been rather at the expense of its performance as a soil cultivator, and he wondered whether any particular designs did employ multi-speed gear boxes which had several ranges more suitable for soil variation while ploughing, for example, and completely separate ratios for general trundling around on farm roads. He felt that the compromise had gone toward making a suitable power tool for general farm use at the expense of an ideal soil cultivator. He would suggest the need for steplessly variable transmissions was surely shown up in the very low speed ranges, rather than in the touring speed ranges, and therefore, a compression of a number of ratios very close together for low-speed operation plus a cruising ratio would possibly be desirable.
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Discussion in Warrington
on the paper by T C. D. Manby .

Mr F H. Tarlton, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Associate Member), . opening the discussion, said that after reading the paper by Mr Manby he had asked a farmer friend what measurei ment of tractor performances would interest h m most. He was not surprised that the reply was that the only measure of tractor performance which interested him was a demonstration on his own land of the farming operations in which he was interested. Questioned more closely he had said that suitability of the attachments counted first in his choice, year-round availability second with fuel consumption of lesser importance. On the matter of suitability he would like to ask the author what reactions he had had to the presentation of drawbar performance curves for stepped and stepless transmissions. It was often said in favour of stepless transmissions that they gave a bigger improvement in available horsepower than the curves showed, simply because with a stepped transmission the operator always used one gear lower or two gears lower than that which would give the traction or pull he needed. The author had implied that a tractor could have more pulling power than its adhesive weight alone would give it. Presumably the attached tool could increase the force on the rear wheels, for example a ploughshare would tear the ground upwards. He would like to know what was the order of increase of adhesion that could be expected from that effect. He would also be glad if the author would explain why in Fig. 15 the maximum power was lower in low gears than in high ones (25 hp in low gears, 40 hp in high gears) and what determined the shape of the inner envelope in Fig. 15. Fig. 1 differed in that it showed much the same maximum 6 power in all gears.

Mr R. H. Burns (Associate Member) said that he found it very useful to be able to visualize the size of particles using a common comparison. The author had mentioned 500 micron, i.e. half a millimeter or roughly the size of table salt. That was easy, but with particles of 12micron size he would be glad to have some indication of the type of dust, or the amount expected in standard fresh air.
Mr Cook (Member) said that he found the paper extremely interesting, particularly in view of his own interest in development work on industrial vehicles. With regard to that part of the paper dealing with particle size, he had recently read some interesting papers concerning oil filters which might be of interest to the author. Filtration of micronic particles had been receiving attention in his companys research laboratory, and he had discussed the subject with the research engineer, who had suggested that there might be an electrostatic principle
Proc Znsrn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

involved. Charged particles might tend to migrate to each other and collect (agglomerate)-if metallic, they would discharge fairly readily, if silicaceous and in a non-conducting media, discharge might not occur so readily. There might be a critical agglomeration of charge-holding particles. In regard to the authors paper he had four questions to ask : (I) The author had referred to correction figures for temperature, altitude and humidity and had stated that he did not consider those to be valid. He would be glad if the author would explain why. (2) He would like to know how much investigation the author had carried out on steering characteristics, with particular regard to steering kick and turning effort. (3) In my own experience, oil companies were very interested in pushing one oil, one grease for axle, engine, hydraulics etc. He wondered whether that aspect of tractor performance had been investigated by the author. (4) Referring to field trials as noted on p. 134, he would like to know whether the author had formulated any new ideas on control layout for pedals, knobs etc. which might deviate from conventional ideas. In reply to the authors queries regarding control layout, the control layouts and functions of the vehicle were laid out by the design team to conform to management, market research and sales specification. Hydraulic control levers were usually situated to a conventional pattern based on experience. The right side of the driver or the front of the driver was a common location. A prototype was built and tested, and a management committee, as it were, went and looked at it; from those and other tests, modifications and development work commenced. The sales staff were a real contact with the customer and usually gave a very candid opinion. They then got down to testing performance and engineering. Endurance testing was part of that and was done on a layout making the truck perform the jobs it would do in the factory or warehouse. They made frequent constant checks on that with the driver concerned as to reactions of control, performance etc. on a question-and-answer basis. His technical assistants drove the vehicle themselves as a matter of course. To sit on the vehicle for five minutes, drive it and criticize it, usually a comparative criticism, was not good, and did not allow time for unfiuniliarity to disappear. Set tasks were laid out for battery-life determination. The work cycle time was taken to determine whether the driver was slowing down. That enabled change in efficiency to be detected and also the rate at which the driver could perform a certain task. It was well known in their circles that there was 25 per cent difference in battery-life and time between an efficient and an inefficient operator. One
NO 4 1961-62

181

DISCUSSION

driver could get 10 hours from a battery, compared with 8 hours by another driver on same duty. With regard to new ideas, there was a British Standards committee investigating, amongst other things, the current problem of layouts. Customers were represented.

Mr E. Linekar asked if the author would comment on tyres. Tractors had to be used on roads, and big tyres were expensive. Therefore it was necessary to keep off the road as much as possible. He would like to know what tractor designers were doing about that.

Mr E W. M. Britain, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Member) asked, . in reference to Fig. 18, how the best governor control setting was determined with hydrostatic transmission, in view of the fact that a variety of settings could produce the same subjective result. On the subject of diesel engine wear in dusty conditions, Fig. 24, he would be glad to know whether it was right to assume that the engine was wearing out more rapidly at half speed than f d speed.

On the subject of correction factors, he was a strong supporter of Mr Dicksee in his view that there was no simple reliable correction factor but that that was very dependent upon how near the smoke limit the engine was operating in its basic full-load condition at sea level. He felt that there was much confusion in the use of correction factors, which were originally intended as a safeguard to the customer, e.g. B.S. 649 in its earliest form, and therefore always tended to over-correct. If manufacturers tested engines in conditions worse than the standard conditions and then corrected the results backwards to the B.S. 649 sea-level condition, a false result was always obtained, but that was not the way it was intended the specification correction factor should be used.

Mr T Ham (Graduate) asked what was the maximum . drawbar pull of the dynamometer and its resistance. He would also like to know whether the comments of the 3-man committee had been referred back to the manufacturers.

Communications
Mr L. A. Godsave (Sunbury-on-Thames) wrote that Mr Manby had concluded from Fig. 23 that most wear was but caused by particles in the range I O - I ~ ~ it was rather difficult to explain on theoretical grounds why that should be so. He had expressed wear in terms of specific wear which was defined in the paper as wear per gramme of dust fed during each test run. If the dust particles were assumed to be spherical and of specific gravity 3.0, for each gramme of dust the number of particles present would depend on their size in the following manner:
Mean particle diameter, micron
5 125
20

The resulting smooth curves showed no maxima and a steady increase in wear with increase in particle size which was much nearer to what would be expected. Indeed it well illustrated that the wear resulting from a particle of 50 p diameter was about 400 times that of one of 5 p diameter. An important factor therefore in assessing filter efficiency should be the particle size distribution of the dust which was passed by the filter.

No. of particles per gramme of dust

5090 x 106 326 x 106 79.6 x 106 23.6 x 106 995 x I 0 6 50gX I 0 6

30
40
50

(If the particles were not spherical but were, nevertheless of similar shape or, if the specific gravity was other than 3.0 the effect would only be to multiply each of the above numbers of particles by a constant factor which would not alter the following treatment). From the data given above and the specific wear data in Fig. 23, a graph could be drawn by plotting wear per particle against particle size (as in Fig. 71).
Proc Znstn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Fig. 71. Wear per particle against particle size

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The increase in specific wear shown in the paper as the particle size was reduced from 50p down to 1 2 . 5 ~ was therefore explained by the wear per particle decreasing over that range less rapidly than the increase in number of particles per gramme as they became smaller. The decrease in specific wear as the particle size was reduced below 1 2 . 5 was explained by the wear per particle decreasing ~ over that range more rapidly than the increase in number of particles per gramme as they became smaller. The supporting evidence of Watson, Hanly and Burchell referred to in the paper was presented in a similar manner, i.e., in terms of wear per gramme of dust and the transformation to wear per particle would result in curves similar to those given in Fig. 71.

centred around three engine types: (I) spark ignitiongasoline type; (2) spark ignition-LPG; (3) compression ignitiondistillate diesel fuel (which was similar to the gas oil available in the eastern hemisphere). The engine type selected was largely dependent upon the overall economics. The initial investment was highest for the diesel, lowest for the gasoline tractor, with the LPG conversion of the latter intermediate in cost. The LPG tractor had gained acceptance in those parts of the United States where naturally occurring LPG was in plentiful supply and offered the lowest cost fuel on an energy basis. Whichever of the three types was selected, the operator now had the benefit of a well-suited engine-fuel combination, which hardly ever could be said about the vaporizing oil tractor. As in the United Kingdom, the diesel had come into more widespread usage in agricultural tractors and was predominant in the earthmoving and constructional equipment field.

Mr C. G. Tresidder (Member) wrote that he wished to comment on some aspects of the paper by Mr Bates and Mr Strettell that Mobil Ol found of particular interest. i

Effectof tax laws

They agrced with the attitude expressed in the paper that vaporizing oil was a rather unsuitable fuel for a carburetted spark ignition engine. While many years earlier when that type of tractor was introduced it had represented a step ahead in agricultural mechanization, it had never represented a suitable mating of the engine and fuel. Over the years, that had been so obvious that it had discouraged research in the field, such efforts being devoted primarily to other fuel and engine types. So from a technical viewpoint, it was good to see that form of power plant becoming extinct. They felt that it was a reflection on the overall scheme of things when tax laws created a situation that led to the inefficient utilization of petroleum or other resources. Profiting from past experience everyone should strive to avoid similar occurrences in the future and it would seem that the engineering societies represented an appropriate forum for helping to achieve such objectives. Iniproved volatility The effect found, that a more volatile front-end produced improved performance, probably had come as no surprise to the authors. It would seem to represent but one step in the direction of what technically was a more satisfactory volatility for a carburetted engine, namely motor gasoline volatility. The authors' description of the difficulties in achieving good fuel-air mixing prompted thoughts of what in effect was a fuel of the other extreme, liquified petroleum gas (LPG), which had gained some acceptance in farm tractors in the United States of America. That fuel, of course, left little to be desired from the standpoint of achieving good mixing of the fuel and air. While heat was required to provide the latent heat of evaporation of the liquid, no heating of the fuel-air mixture was required. That achieved a high volumetric efficiency. The fuel tank and carburettion was, of course, more expensive, but once installed, was quite trouble-free. Currently in the United States, the choice of power plant for the wheeled tractor
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Cold weather flow problems They had profited from learning of the results of the cold weather experiments. From a strictly technical standpoint, the low temperature characteristics of some diesel fuels unfortunately were not completely satisfactory for some of the colder areas. As the authors had stated, the industry knew how to correct the situation from a processing standpoint, but the economics were unfavourable and not commercially feasible. Since they were concerned with a seasonal situation, in some areas they provided from the refineries a fuel having better flow properties for the colder part of the year than for the warmer periods. In other cases, during the colder portion of the year, a blend of gas oil and kerosine was made in the tank truck at the oil company's loading depot prior to delivery to the customers' storage. Since kerosine typically had a relatively low pour point, when mixed with gas oil, the blend had a pour point (and cloud point) intermediate, though not always linearly between the pour points of the two components. Some typical examples were shown in Fig. 72.
Those curves were excerpts from an extensive study which had revealed that when the pour points of the components were within 50"F,the pour points of blends followed a linear relation. However, when the pour points of components were more than 50F apart, the pour points of blends would be higher than predicted in the event a linear relation had been assumed. The shape of cloud point blending curves were (regardless of the spread between components) non-linear with the cloud points of blends being higher than would be predicted from a linear relation. They had also experimented with additives that had shown the ability to depress pour points. Some also had shown tendencies to improve filterability in bench tests even though the cloud point was unchanged but they were not convinced that such currently available materials would be effective over a broad range of fuel composition and equipment design. Nevertheless, they were of the opinion that it might be possible to find a suitable additive
NO 4 1961-62

I86
50 r
I

COMMUNICA 1 IONS
I

50

30

30

10

h.

-10

i k
f
-30

I k z
cc

a -50
3

- 70 - 90 0
VOLUME- par cant HIGH POUR COMPONENT

20

40 60 VOLUME-par cent HIGH POUR COMPONENT

80

Fig. 72.

Pour point temperature relation of fuels corrections of such deficiencies would bring about some improvement, there nevertheless would continue to be the need for improving the flow properties of the gas oil type of fuel at low temperatures. They had felt that the absence of a test procedure which reliably simulated the field conditions had handicapped progress in that area. In an effort to arrive at a better understanding of the factors influencing flow in a fuel system, they had experimented with various types of bench rig. Two such types were shown schematically in Figs. 73 and 74. They had found from laboratory work and field experience with home heating

material which would provide the customer with improved low-temperature flow properties more economically than by the processing approach. They agreed that there was room for improvement in fuel system layouts and frequently found, particularly in the household heating oil applications, that the fuel filter or screen was located in the coldest part of the system. While

I4

, ,

$4

A Five-gallon fuel tank. B Valve. C Filter. D 10-ft 4 in. copper tubing.

E F G H

Cold room. Valve. To source of 5 in. vacuum. 4-litre collector.

Fig. 73. Large-scale flow test rig

Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

Fig. 74. Flow diagram of laboratory fluidity test apparatus

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installations that the use of oversize lines and installation of the filter in a warm location indoors, would do much to eliminate difficulties. While the details were different, their work with home heating installations had led them to the same conclusions as the authors in their diesel engine work, in that more needed to be done in matching both the fuel

and the design of the installation to the climatic conditions. They agreed that progress in that field required experiments with rather complete fuel system rigs operated under controlled conditions and they would be interested in a description of the layout that the authors had found helpful in their work,

Authors R e d i e s
Mr W.J. Foxwell wrote, in reply to the discussion and communications, that Mr Culpin had referred to the new features on American tractors being too expensive for normal use. Those features had to be provided and made optional equipment, with the more conventional designs. In the United States of America the power take-off machinery was used more than it was in Great Britain, and it had to be developed in Great Britain until the price went down, when it would become a standard unit. He had touched on the subject of standardization of control, in the paper. Then there was the cab; why did not cab manufacturers make a cab standard ? That was a difficult problem to which to reply. The planning department was quick to say when anything was wanted. The problem of the cab had been talked about for years. Because of the shape of the tractor, and the fact that the seat was between the rear wheels because the machine had to be worked, there was not much room and when the cab was put on it made the situation worse. With narrow tractors, when a cab was put on it gave the sensation of being completely shut off from the rest of the world. There were plenty of cabs available, and drawings were supplied to permit fitting, but there were two factors against them; they were not popular because of the noise, and they gave a cramped feeling. Also visibility was quite a problem. In Sweden there was a safety cab; he thought that could be a good thing in Great Britain. A canvas top and Perspex sides were put on which could be left off when required. With a cab which was a fairly permanent feature, many times a man wanted to stand up, and he could not do so but that was a small point. What might happen was a hovercraft on top of the driver, and warm air being pumped round him in winter and cold air in summer ! Mr Little had talked about torque curve back-up and how important that was. The torque curve back-up was important in its right place, when using implements such as a front-end loader and scraper, a torque curve that backed up was needed. Normally, when ploughing and cultivating 100 per cent power of the engine was not fully used because the load was fluctuating, and it had been found that in most cases the tractor was loaded to between 15 and 20 per cent of the maximum power which it could
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

develop. With a good governor torque back-up was not needed. They reckoned on a torque back-up of about 7 per cent. For p.t.0. torque back-up could not be afforded because the tractor could not be allowed to run down to that speed. When multi-speed transmissions were available, torque back-up would not be so important because a quick change down would avoid that; the same with hydrostatic transmissions, which could be made load sensitive; the engine could be running at constant speed. Mr OCallaghan had mentioned tractors developing their maximum drawbar power at about 6 mile/h. Probably he was referring to the test on concrete. If a tractor were taken into the field, and where the normal tractor could develop its maximum power was found, allowing for the factors he had just mentioned, and the point was found where power could be developed as against excessive wheel slip, he thought it would be about 3+ to 4 mile/h, depending on the different weights of tractors. Something might be done perhaps to ascertain a definite figure. It would appear that the speed of about 34 to 4 mile/h should be the point where the engine would stall, or at a slower speed the wheels would slip. That was done on the average type of land with a coefficient of traction of about 0.5,coefficient of performance about 50 per cent. It seemed to work out very well for those conditions. Mr OCallaghan had also mentioned the variabledelivery pump as against the accumulator. That had to be decided as time went on. There were many points to be said for both systems. When services were needed, the accumulator could supply them, and a much smaller pump could be used. Power was saved in an accumulator. Mr Merryweather had said that with differential lock 1696 lb drawbar pull was obtained through one tyre and 848 lb through another, that gave 0.66 coefficient of traction through the furrow tyre; that had been observed and even more under that condition. A rate of wheel slip was obtained which certainly showed in the wear of the tyre, and he thought the only way to accommodate it was to have a bigger tyre with a bigger torque capacity so that the stage was reached where there was a limit imposed by what could be put through one tyre. That required some thought. In Great Britain, with the narrow tyres, I I in., too much was being put through them.
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AUTHORS REPLIES

Tractors were being loaded up and too much work was being put on the tyres. He did not know why a torque limitation was not made for the tyre. Tyres up to 12 in. could be used. There was a new one available, which was very good. Mr T C. D. Manby wrote, in reply to the discussion . and communications, that he endorsed some of the points made by Mr Culpin, in particular his reference to the need to simplify tractors and their hydraulic systems so that their correct function would be easier for operators to understand. He also agreed with him that the manufacturer could give more consideration in the future to the incorporation of weather protection as part of the initial design but felt that Mr Culpin was not being consistent when stating that the tractor shape was entirely satisfactory. Improved access, handleability, comfort and protection from weather and from being readily crushed in the event of an overturning accident were important requirements. The adaptation and development of hydrostatic wheel motor transmission systems was the most obvious way of facilitating the achievement of those aims. Mr Towle, on the other hand, considered that the modern tractors were easy to handle, but again he would point out that in addition to it being difficult to get on and off some models it was often impossible to remain in the seat when travelling in the higher gears on normal field surfaces. Like Mr Towle, he had also found that a foot control of speed was very useful on occasions but must be sited most carefully if accident risk due to inadvertent operation was to be avoided. Mr Culpin had correctly noted from the Farm Trials reports that there was a lack of attention being paid to air cleaners in Great Britain and that usually that appeared to have little effect on engine life. The reason was that in connection with agricultural tasks in Great Britain tractors were rarely operating in very dense dust conditions. Thus serious blockage of the mesh rarely occurred to any depth, neither was there a build-up of the dust in the pan to raise the oil level sufficiently to create a dangerous pull-over condition or alternatively to absorb the oil and thus prevent correct circulation and washing within the cleaner. Usually, the loss in power was caused by reduced air flow occasioned by a build-up of dust on the intake pipe or even in the precleaner. The oil-bath air-cleaner would not tolerate that lack of attention under the more continuous and higher dust density conditions found in the drier countries. To the contributors who had commented on the conditions used during the British Standard Test Procedure it was necessary to restress the importance of using a method which gave results having a high standard of comparative value throughout the world. At the same time it was not unreasonable to use conditions creating both maximum output and maximum stress. Although in normal work in many countries tractors were rarely loaded up to the limits permitted by their tyre capacity, as was done during one section of the drawbar tests, those tests did show that when such were encountered the tractor would not immediately
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

break down. Neither the manufacturer or those responsible for the tests could know how far a user or equipment designer would go in providing a heavy axle loading on hard surfaces such as tropical soils-which were not so very dissimilar from a concrete surface. Although when presenting the paper he had drawn attention mainly to the factors arising during those standard tests under idealized conditions, the details given in the full context of the paper of the test programmes under more practical conditions should dispel any impression that he overestimated the value of the standard tests. There was intense interest in developing methods of comparing performance under a range of conditions. There was, he believed as yet, insufficient experience of the Bekker soil value system to be able to begin to think of using it in any test having an official status; in any case, results arrived at on a corrected basis rarely had universal acceptance. At N.I.A.E. it was felt that a more realistic approach was to arrange tests under two or three consistent soil conditions-even if the soil was basically artificialso long as its parameters could accurately be controlled to give consistent and repeatable values for each test. Soil treadmills had been under consideration for many years, but an even more attractive solution might develop from experiments now proceeding in which a magnetic flux was passed through an iron ore powder. Thus the soil shear strength could be controlled by varying the strength of the magnetic field. Mr OCallaghan had pointed out that the use of a single sample for standard tests might give an unrepresentative picture. However, by always testing a sample chosen at or near the top limit of performance-as a result of the interplay of tolerances-then the results had excellent comparative value between various models. Comparative results had a greater importance to a user than a knowledge of absolute performance expressed in technical terms but subject to the possibility of variations up to 10 per cent. The policy had been very fully discussed when drawing up the I.S.O. proposals. That method of selection was favoured by himself and by the representatives from other manufacturing countries. However countries remote from the manufacturing source could not readily follow that practice because they could not easily take the precautions to ensure that the system was not abused. For example, great care was taken to ensure that fuel pump settings conformed to the master pump limits used in production and that all dimensions were within production tolerances. Furthermore, in their own case the random choice of a sample of six tractors of each model for the Farm Trials test (whichincluded belt or p.t.0. performance measurement) had been made after sale from among normal users and gave a reasonable indication of the variation in performance of the engines. With regard to Mr OCallaghans remarks on altitude tests it was only necessary to add that the world tractor markets were highly competitive, and estimated or calculated values for altitude performance were not usually
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commercially acceptable, without field experience to back up any estimates which had to be made. If Mr OCallaghan was thinking of performing any simulated altitude tests he would need to pay very particular attention to temperature conditions because, as mentioned in the paper, that had an unexpectedly large influence on the fuelling obtained from distributor-type pumps. Furthermore, when used with very reduced fuel settings those units often had delivery characteristics over their speed range which were very different from those at normal settings. Even when carrying out altitude tests in situ some care had to be taken with the range of temperatures used. Sometimes there was sufficient variation in ambient temperature between dry and rainy season operation to mask any difference in test results between say 3000 and 6000 ft. Mr Reece and Mr Cowell had made most valuable contributions to the subject content of the Symposium. The much greater flexibility of design which could be envisaged in connection with tractor layout by considering the use of wheel motors made the type of study carried out by Mr Reece timely and worth while. He himself was in fill agreement with Mr Cowell that systems of implement control needed to be investigated further and simplified, at least from the viewpoint of the operator. On the question of torque back-up the vital point was that when operating in a travel ratio so chosen that the job was being done at the most economic speed, then the driver needed to receive some audible indication when overload conditions were being encountered and were increasing in severity. There should be sufficient time afforded by that warning to permit adjustment to be made either to the travel speed selector or to the machine or implement ; stalling was particularly inconvenient when operating power-driven machines such as combine harvesters in which blockage then occurred. A lower value of torque back-up was acceptable in conjunction with a tractor having many gears, or a steplessly variable transmission, compared with one having only a small number of gear ratios; in the former case the choice of operating speed, to leave a safety margin, could be achieved without too marked a reduction in working rate. He believed that Mr Thompsons value of 8-10 per cent was a fair compromise, given satisfactory choice of travel ratios; most tractors having about six working gears needed to retain the existing order of values, i.e. about 12-15 per cent. The most desirable course to be followed by the designer was to increase the low-speed torque without reducing the engines designed potential at higher speed where power was needed for operating such machines as the forage harvesters. In replying to the points raised by Mr Lee, he fully agreed that tests establishing practical work rates were the best basis for comparing tractors with conventional and hydrostatic transmissions. Technical tests made only at maximum engine speed-as often used in the existing B.S. procedure-would not show tractors fitted with steplessly variable transmissions to have as favourable a performance as could be achieved by using a suitably chosen combination of engine speed and flow rate setting;
Proc Znstn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

eventually the choice would most probably be made quite automatically and the operator would have only one travelspeed control-lever. There had been some improvement in the design of tyres and in the production of different types for certain predominant conditions. A single-wheel tester was available at Silsoe for investigating the field performance of tyres; accurate performance assessment was difficult to make when fitted to a tractor because of weight transference and the influence of the front wheels. However, any technical improvement in tread design had been largely masked, so far as the normal user was concerned, because their size had remained much the same but engine power had appreciably increased. Thus tyre life had been reduced and under some working conditions was now one of the users main complaints-together with difficulties of access and of brake systems, which could be very dangerous. The provision, recently, of differential locks, thus increasing the load on one of the tyres, had also reduced tyre life under some conditions. The situation with regard to the use of superchargers at high altitudes was, he believed, one mainly of economics. For a user of one of the smaller tractors it was probably cheaper and simpler to buy the next larger model; he understood from engine manufacturing friends that it only became economic to consider pressure charging on engines over about 80/100 hp. Most agricultural tractors were smaller than that at present. There was need to bear in mind that the remarks in the paper concerning the inadvisability of using paper cleaners referred to conventional agricultural tractors, particularly those in remote areas. Life of those paper units in high dust-density conditions was of short duration thus causing the need for the user always to have spare elements readily to hand and that was not always feasible. The larger, expensive earthmoving tractor was usually supported in the field by better service supervision than many isolated agricultural tractors. Another possible exception might have to be made in the case of the small motorized cultivator which was often laid on its side or turned upside down, even, for minor repairs or adjustments to its tools. For those conditions the design of a satisfactory oil-bath cleaner was difficult-particularly at the price the engine purchaser was usually prepared to pay. Some success was being achieved in increasing the life hitherto experienced by paper cleaners on those small engines by studying the pulsation conditions under which the cleaners had to work. Even in that small-engine field he felt that efforts to produce a satisfactory oil-bath unit should be renewed. He had not seen any attempts to use on tractors electrostatically charged cleaner systems, such as were used in some buildings and industrial applications; space was usually extremely limited and hence the air speed was high for that type of approach. In replying to Mr Merryweathers comment on tyre life, it was really up to the tractor manufacturer to fit the largest size possible but, unfortunately, the tyres were usually the most expensive single item fitted to a tractor. Furthermore,
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improved performance was best achieved by increasing the overall diameter and that, unfortunately, increased the height of the centre of gravity. An interesting Russian design met those difficulties by incorporating a final reduction layout which could be rotated to give high or low clearance, together with adjustable wheel base. The primary reason why Mr Beasley should h d that an increase in diameter would generally have a greater influence than section was that the rolling resistance decreased as diameter increased. That was particularly true under wet, muddy conditions. The improvements mentioned after some wear of the tread bars had taken place were associated only with performance on hard surface. At high torque throughputs under those conditions new tread-bars deflected, and smooth running conditions were not obtained until the leading edge had been worn down. There was also a flick-back as the new bars were beginning to leave the road surface, which wore a rear section of the lug. Maximum traction occurred when the surface shape of the tread-bars had worn until they were making flat contact under high torque conditions. Mr Wright was also interested in tyre slip on hard surfaces and he would point out that the exact values were to some extent dependent on the definition of a no slip distance. Rolling radius and no slip distance were not as closely related as at first sight might be expected. That could be understood quite readily if the behaviour was envisaged of a very deflated tyre of large section. Concerning the brake requirements for tractors with hydrostatic transmissions it seemed certain that note would be taken of their special attributes in that respect when the new regulations, now in early draft form, were being formulated. There were practical objections to a pure form of skid steering for all-purpose tractors; they were unlikely to be popular when trying to leave a smooth, level seed bed in small fields. Those problems did not arise with the larger models mentioned by Mr Lee which were intended primarily for industrial use, transport and for initial cultivations. In presenting the paper he had to select material from it which he had thought would be of most interest to those present; the answers to Mr Eyles first and second questions were to be found in the complete paper. The desirability of including tests to show aspects of good handling and control was of paramount importance and was receiving attention. It was hoped to include that type of result in some N.I.A.E. reports in the future but those were unlikely to be acceptable as International or British Standard procedures for some time. The inclusion of a comparator machine could be useful in a limited test series and might be the only way of bringing out certain performance features. That approach was of limited value during a series of comparisons made under different conditions. A change in soil conditions might have influenced the performance of a standard comparator in a manner dissimilar to the effect on some of the test machines. The results of such tests could therefore
Proc Instn Mech Engrs

be taken only at face value and the correction of the results would be invalid. It was that aspect, coupled with the very wide range of conditions encountered, which made the realistic and accurate assessment of overall performance of tractors a most complex problem. Hydraulic brakes were not, at present, fitted to agricultural tractors in Great Britain and their development could probably go a long way in preventing many of the accidents which arose from the use of tractors with very imperfectly balanced brakes. The unbalance arose because of their use to assist steering; that often caused uneven wear of the near and offside units so that when the actuating linkage was coupled in a rigid manner for use on the road, only one brake was operated. Mr Rose would find that the choice of liner and piston ring materials varied in the different engine models used in agriculture. Observations under very dusty conditions were inconclusive-excellent engine life was now being achieved even under extremely severe conditions using chromiumplated liners so long as air cleaning equipment functioned with high efficiency and the dust passing to the engine was in the finest size range. However, if efficiency became lowered then chromium liner wear seemed to become comparatively more severe than that of the rings. Likewise, under those bad conditions chromium piston rings seemed to be subject to very severe wear and the accompanying plain liners suffered less. That could be explained if some silica particles were becoming temporarily and partially embedded in the softer material. In reply to Mr Aldens query as to what was a tractor and to his statement that a truck had been considered a borderline case from the point of view of being required to have it tested, they had never had to produce a test report on any truck to meet the entry regulations for an export market. A tractor today was a relatively sophisticated traction arrangement designed specially to support, as well as propel soil-engaging tools and other pieces of equipment, to provide power internally to associated equipment, all in addition to performing any duties simply as a prime mover for haulage purposes. The attaching method and the control systems for the tools was designed so that the reaction forces from those implements could be transferred to the rear wheels thereby facilitating adhesion. Additionally, the tractor must be able to provide power to the mechanism within many of the pieces of equipment attached to it. For example a modern forage harvester which was cutting, chopping and blowing the chopped grass into a trailer could easily absorb all the power from a 50-60 hp tractor but only about 3 hp was required to pull the machine on the flat and only 8 hp on slopes of I in 10. Mr Aldens experience with overloading had parallel circumstances in the agricultural field but wheel adhesion was the safety valve. The reasons for use during part of the tests of wheel ballast conditions up to the maximum tyre capacity was to ensure that satisfactory performance would be obtained, at least for reasonable periods, should those high load conditions be encountered in practice. NO 4 1961-62

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Water ballast in tyres was widely used as a cheap means of providing weight where it would do most good; there was an additional value in using 100 per cent water ballast. That could be achieved by pumping out all the air before filling with water, and providing a tyre which would not have the same deflection characteristics as one which was part or wholly containing air. A 100per cent water-filled tyre could be used in conjunction with a very heavy mounted implement and its internal pressure set so that it would have a sufficient amount of deflection to facilitate when the was in work but would not over-deflect when carrying its full weight on the headlands. Also it would have a better resistance to tyre wall wrinkling when transmitting high torque at high deflections. Tractor demand in the United Kingdom was now at least gg per cent diesel; some spark-ignition engines were still fitted for export, some were petrol engines others used very low-octane vaporizing oil. Even in North America, where the predominant requirement for general-purpose tractors was to have engines for petrol and low-pressure gas up to a decade or so earlier, there was now interest in diesel engined tractors. In Africa there had been a wide acceptance of diesel engines and, apart from fuel-pump trouble caused by water (which largely originated from bad handling locally on the farms where the fuel was often distributed in drums), those had had a remarkably good service history. In Great Britain diesel and vaporizing oil fuels for tractors were not taxed. Radial-ply tyres had been developed in some tractor sizes and an N.I.A.E. test report was available on one model. The pull developed on most soils with those was never inferior to conventional tyres and in several instances was better; up to about 10per cent more pull was developed at comparable wheel-slip values in the 20-30 per cent slip range. Mr Aldens reason for thinking that tractor intake positions were lower than he was used to seeing originally, was a result of the stylists efforts. Unfortunate consequences had resulted, particularly overseas,because dust density at intake was much worse at the lower levels. The lesson had been learnt and all export models and many home models now had intake positions on extended intake pipes often 15 or 20 in. external to the hood or at the top of the radiator cowl. Tests for official report purposes were made on each model of tractor as soon as possible after production had commenced. Mr Knaggs and Mr Bailey had asked the best choice of gear ratios. It was his opinion that because working conditions and requirements in world-wide agriculture were so wide that a minimum number of about 8 speeds were required and there was an extremely strong case for a steplessly variable transmission. The latter could be a two-range arrangement with the low range extending to about 7 mile/h if that proved to be cheaper than a singlerange arrangement. The load factor on tractors, when expressed as a mean value, was quite low. Figures were given in the paper of
Proc Znstn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

between 25 and 35 per cent-those low averages were caused by long periods on light transport work; during other periods on basic cultivations or with forage harvesters it was quite high. His estimation of life before a major overhaul would be at least 5000 hours but ultimate life as a second string machine seemed almost indefinite. The compression ratio of vaporizing oil engines was now about 5/1 (4.311 for lamp oil). Mr Boucher had, quite rightly, pointed out that there were limitations and difficulties in using the radioactive piston technique. They believed that they had largely to terms with that technique during the last four years but were still gaining experience. The limitation of assessing only piston ring wear was not serious in that connection because field exDerience had shown that when engines had failed owing to dust contamination of air for combustion, that had finally been brought about by the extent of the wear of the piston rings. During tests the rates of wear were, of course, rather high and the effect of other changes in engine conditions which were usually small were thus comparatively less important. That was not the case during many other types of test for which the technique had been used. Nevertheless, control tests frequently had to be made. Experience had shown that the technique was very valuable for that particular purpose. With regard to Mr Peterss request for more information on treadmill dynamometers, two types were in use. One treadmill consisted essentially of two rear and two front tracks each supported by many small weight-carrying rollers. Each rear tractor wheel caused a rear track to rotate, and in the case of the front tracks those were driven from the treadmill transmission so that when the pull exerted by the tractor was being measured it was subject to the normal loss caused by front-wheel rolling resistance. The rear tracks were, of course, connected via chains and a gear transmission to a load-absorbing dynamometer ; the pull exerted by the tractor was measured directly by dynamometer link interposed between the drawbar and the main treadmill frame. A specially blended non-slip grit surface was bonded to the steel tread plates by an epoxy resin adhesive. Those surfaces were capable of withstanding at least 2000 hours use at high tractive loads and one intention behind that development was that that approach would facilitate International standardization of that type of drawbar test; the tread plates could be provided to the same specification from a single source to all the stations throughout the world. The treadmill was not required to take full bottom-gear torque because, even when ballasted, the limiting factor in that gear with almost every modern tractor was wheel spin. In addition to its use for drawbar tests that treadmill had proved extremely useful for comparing the wearing properties of different tyre designs under simulated road running conditionsconditions which caused the maximum reduction in life of most tractor tyres. The second type of treadmill in use was better described as a drum mill. That was used essentially for endurance
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tests and the drums were coated with a similar non-slip surface as used on the treadmill. Load was taken to an anchor via a mounted implement and a long cable and, during the load cycle being applied, the lift mechanism, clutch and steering were all working under the control of a sequence programming device. During a complete routine test of a tractor model a minimum period of 1000 hours was spent on the treadmills. Mr Bailey was correct in believing that cooling was an important factor which had to be observed during standard tests. The stationary tests to establish maximum p.t.0. power were always made at an ambient temperature between 70 and 80F and included a run of 2 hours duration at maximum power (commencing after all temperatures were stabilized) and half an hour at maximum torque. If those results aroused any suspicion that cooling might be inadequate at ambient temperature up to 125F then special coolingperformance tests at that ambient temperature were made. Often 4- or 6-blade fans were available for oversea conditions and pressure caps were frequently fitted as standard. It had certainly not been intended to convey any impression that in developing general-purpose features, such as the provision of power drives to associated implements, that that had been at the expense of performance for soil cultivation. It was not a valid contention. Examples which would help Mr Burns to have a visual image of the size of a 12 p size were that they would be as small as the finest particles of pollen or cement; oil smoke and fume particles could be up to I p mean diameter; particles of dust causing most risk of pneumoconiosis were 0.5 to 2 p, and that a sphere of unit density of 10 p diameter would have a settling rate in still air of a little more than 0-5 ft/min. Koffman had published a very good chart showing the size ranges of various particles.* Routine reports had not to date contained results of steering torque measurements because, as Mr Cook had hinted in his question, there was much more to the assessment of steering control performance than could be conveyed by those figures alone. Of particular importance were the lock-to-lock ratios, kick-back characteristics and position and angle of wheel in relation to the seating position. A recording steering torque dynamometer had been built at N.I.A.E. and was used to obtain the relevant values exerted in the field on various soils. That enabled similar resistance values to be applied during the Iooo-hour endurance tests section of the new comprehensive scheme being made on the treadmill. Steering was being operated at about 5-minute intervals. Field recordings showed that operators always exerted the maximum force by trying to continue to turn when already against the lock-stop. The torques required for normal steering on most tractors were up to about 35 1b.ft. If a tractor was ever entered for B.S. test at the N.I.A.E. and the test drivers complained of excessive torque requirement, those comments (as did all those affecting the practical operation of a tractor) were finally and most seriously considered by a three-man committee

* KoEman, J. L., Gas and Oil Power 1953, Vol. 48 pp. 60,89,150,238
Proc Instn Mech Engrs (A.D.)

of senior staff before a comment was included in the report. The manufacturers then had an opportunity for discussion and could add a footnote to the report when agreeing to its publication. Oil companies had done a most useful job, in the agricultural field, in formulating multigrade oils-usually in the SAE 20130 category for use in engine and transmission. As a result there had been a very considerable improvement in the performance when working in cold weather with ancillary, hydraulically operated equipment such as front loaders and tipping trailers. With regard to control layouts, general recommendations had been drafted by a British Standards committee and should help to simplify driving and improve operator safety. A personal preference held by himself, which was not as yet common practice in Great Britain, related to provision of a foot as well as hand control for speed of travel of hydrostatically propelled tractors. Mr Britain was correct in his understanding of Fig. 24, the engine would be wearing out much more quickly at half speed than iull speed. The air consumption and hence the weight of dust intake would be approximately half the rate at full engine speed but the specific wear rate affecting the top piston ring was about four times greater at the lower airflow rate. However, it must be added that although that was a normal trend, not all cleaners showed the effect in so pronounced a manner. Those results emphasized the need to investigate most careiully any model a cleaner being considered for use on a new engine project. In the agricultural field they had become particularly conscious of increased wear due to dust after changing from spark ignition engines to diesel engines. The most probable causes were the latters higher air consumption, increased swirl-thus tending to centrifuge the dust into contact with cylinder walls-and the higher working pressures involved. He fully endorsed Mr Britains comments on correction factors ;concerning the control of tractors with hydrostatic transmission he envisaged that automatic coupling of engine governor and flow control was a logical development. At the present stage on most prototype models being field tested it was left to the operator to choose the most economic engine speed and then operate with the highest flow setting required to suit the job. A good operator had no difficulty in making an efficient selection but the aim of tractor control design must be toward improving the simplicity of operation and thus a single speed control, perhaps incorporating an engine idle position, would be developed. The requirement for a demonstration before purchase stipulated by Mr Tarltons farmer friend was a very sound and natural requirement. However, one demonstration would not give an overall assessment of the tractors potential compared with other tractors. Those of the younger generation of farmers who had received some technical training were conscious of the value of making an initial comparison based on drawbar horsepower in the middle range of gears. The power in the low gears was too much
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influenced by wheel slip (which depended on the ballast and soil conditions etc.) for use for ready comparison. Thus, wheel slip determined the shape of the envelope, particularly as pull values were approaching the limit created by wheel spin; at the high-speed end of the envelope the shape was influenced by the loss due to rolling resistance. That loss, usually considered as a reduction in available working, often remained reasonably constant, and under some working conditions increased as the speed was increased. Hence the power loss always increased with speed. On his question of presentation of work done with stepped and stepless transmissions Mr Tarltons statement was often valid. In the former case when shifting was done manually a lower gear than need be used was often chosen so that there was an over-provision of reserve power to meet any temporary increase in load. The comments made in reply to Mr Thompsons question in London concerning the shape of torque-speed curves were also relevant in that connection. The maximum resistance of the dynamometer car referred to by Mr Ham was about 10000 lb. If pulls in excess of that value had to be absorbed then another large tractor was attached behind the car and driven with an appropriate gear and throttle setting to exert a steady resistance; the dynamometer car was then used to trim the load to the exact value required. Mr Godsave, by analysing and pointing out in Fig 71. the relationship between wear per particle and particle shape, had made a most useful contribution. However, that method of presentation was one which, without qualification, could mislead the unwary into underestimating the need to have cleaners operating efficiently in the particle size range below 10 p. Perhaps in the future it would be possible to publish a paper dealing with those aspects in greater detail than in the present composite paper. The particle size distribution of the dust passing an oil bath cleaner could be made, without difficulty, by fitting some form of absolute cleaner between the main cleaner and the engine. Unfortunately, that altered the pulsation conditions under which the oil-bath cleaner was operating, and that would have some influence on the efficiency and size distribution. M r E. S. Bates and M r R. P Strettell, wrote, in reply . to the discussion and communications that Mr Culpin had referred to various maintenance aspects of the N.I.A.E. farm trials and in particular questioned the need for an early change of oil in the gearbox and transmission of tractors. The reason for that first change was not because the oil had lost any of its lubricating properties, but simply to get rid of the contaminants. Al engine and vehicle l manufacturers agreed that one of the most difficult problems of mass production, was the effective removal of waste materials such as casting sand and metal chips from a new piece of machinery. In a simple transmission system, any form of oil filtration was out of the question, and debris picked up and splashed
Proc Znsm Mecli ETigrs ( A . D . )

around the system could cause considerable damage by scoring bearing surfaces and promoting wear. Many tractor designs were even more critical in that respect, because the oil from the transmission was used also as a hydraulic fluid, in a system having extremely small clearance and sensitive valves. In the past it had not been possible to install effective filters even in the hydraulic system, as they formed too much of a restriction to the flow of the viscous oils then used. Modern trends toward lighter oils might help in that respect, but the first early oil change could only safely be eliminated when new castings etc., could be reliably and thoroughly cleaned. Mr Thompson had suggested that a disproportionate amount of the paper had been devoted to research into vaporizing oil quality. Viewed in the light of current consumptions of the three principal fuels, that did appear to be so. However, it was their aim to review developments over a number of years, and a glance at Fig. 31 showed the importance of vaporizing oil in the agricultural market up until about three years ago. At one time it did appear that the rapidly increasing use of diesel engines for road vehicles, railway locomotives and agricultural tractors would lead to a demand for diesel fuel which would outstrip the potential world supplies. At the same time, but for somewhat different reasons, military authorities were becoming interested in engines capable of burning a wide range of fuels, and it seemed logical to make use of those multi-fuel engines in commercial applications, thereby having the good economy of the compressionignition engine and yet utilizing fuels which were likely to be surplus to world requirements. Happily, it had been possible to so adjust the balance of refinery products, that sufficient diesel fuel had always been available. Present estimates indicated that that situation would be maintained at least over the next five years. The need to maximize gas oil production did influence its specification to a limited extent, but other factors such as fiscal policies could indirectly result in more serious restrictions on quality. As an example, the very high duty on Derv in the United Kingdom put undue emphasis on fuel economy and had resulted in a demand for a fuel with highest possible gravity. In some respects, high gravity was not desirable for diesel use; it tended to aggrevate the exhaust smoke problem, and was often coupled with poorer ignition quality and low temperature characteristics. Current qualities represented a compromise, and any substantial improvement in the properties referred to by Mr Thompson were unlikely unless a relaxation could be obtained on specific gravity. They thanked Mr Tresidder for his valuable comments with which they were in general agreement. The point was made in the paper that the type of fuel used in tractors was often more a result of fiscal policies than of technical considerations. That was equally true for L.P.G. With the growing availability of low-cost L.P.G. in certain countries there would inevitably be some increase in its use in agricultural applications. The extent of that trend, however,
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TANK STRAINER

_ .

AIR-BLEED
-

LINE

T ,

INJECTION -PUMP SPILL RETURN ASBESTOS SHIELD

FILTER

Fig. 75. Layout of cold test rig.

would depend entirely on the particular conditions existing in each country. Concerning kerosinelgas oil blends, they did not agree that when the pour points of components were within 50"F, the pour points of blends necessarily followed a linear relation. A study recently made at their Research Centre, suggested that even in that there could be significant deviations from the linear relation. In a l cases where a l deviation ocurred the cloud point of the blend was higher than would be predicted from a linear relation. The fuel system layout used at Sunbury for assessing the low-temperature filterability of fuels was shown in diagrammatic form in Fig. 75. It was based on a fuel system which was known to be critical, and an attempt had been made to simulate the rate of warm-up experienced under service conditions by incorporating a variable electric heater and fan, and by setting the output from the fuel-injection pump to correspond with consumptions measured in the field. The rig reproduced the wax blocking phenomena that occurred in the field in tractors having that type of system.

Proc Instn Mech Engrs ( A . D . )

N O 4 1961-62