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. . LIBRARY . .

Connecticut
AgricuftupaS College.

CLASS NO G.1 i.4p..^!.a.

COST /...§^

DATE i4l?:x.J.L I9i.a..

BOOK 62 1.4.P98 c 1

PUTNAM # GASOLINE ENGINE ON FARM

3 T1S3 00D2231S fl

cn.f

THE

GASOLINE ENGINE

ON THE FARM

A Practical, Comprehensive Treatise on the

Construction, Repair, Management and Use of this

Great Farm Power as Applied to All Farm Machinery

and the Farmer s Work Indoors and Out

THIS TREATISE, BECAUSE OF THE SIMPLE, NOX-TECHNICAL EXPOSITION

OF MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES, IS ESPECIALLY VALUABLE TO THOSE

WITHOUT PREVIOUS MECHANICAL KNOWLEDGE WHO WISH TO

BECOME THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR WITH THE OPERATION

AND CARE OF GASOLINE ENGINES, TRACTORS

AND AUXILIARY DEVICES.

THIS IS A COMPLETE WORKER'S HAND BOOK ON THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION MOTOR

AND ITS MANY APPLICATIONS IN MODERN, FARM LIFE. CONSIDERS ALL THE

HOUSEHOLD, SHOP AND FIELD USES OF THIS UP-TO-DATE PRIME MOVER

AND INCLUDES CHAPTERS ON ENGINE INSTALLATION, POWER

TRANSMISSION, AND THE BEST ARRANGEMENT OF THE

POWER PLANT WITH REFERENCE TO THE WORK.

By XENO W. PUTNAM

Fnlhj lUtisirated by 179 Carefully Selected Engravings of great value to all
interested in the efficient (ind economical applictition of farm power.

NEW YORK

THE NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY

132 NASSAU STREET

19L3

r:4

I Xill

Composition, Electrotyping and Printing
By J. J. Little & Ives Co., New York.

PREFACE

It requires the theorist's careful study to develop new
inventions, even though accident may have first sug-
gested them. It remains for the practical workman to
adapt something that may have only great academic
interest in practical work and thus obtain results that
make the new discovery of world-wide value. The for-
mulae of philosophy are needed among engineers and
scientists and should not be discredited or valued too
lightly, but, at the same time, the workmen who apply
the theory to practice require only the every-day lan-
guage of the field in an exposition designed for their
instruction.

The gasoline engine was, until recently, but a theory;
it is now a completed fact and has been turned over to
the result getter. It is doing the world's work every-
where. In many industries it is taking the place of
other forms of power, but it is just entering into a mis-
sion upon the farm that has heretofore been unfilled.

With the coming of a prime mover that is really ap-
plicable to the peculiar conditions surrounding the farm-
er's work, there comes a demand for men trained for
the opportunity, capable of making the most out of that
which was yesterday a dream and is to-day an achieve-
ment. The problems of the engine and its management
will face the farmer of the future with the same impera-
tive demand for their solution that now obtains regarding
those incidental to the intelligent care and control of
his live stock and agricultural machinery. They are
facing him now and will continue to confront him until

vi Preface

he solves them and wins for human inteUigence another
triumph of magnitude.

This volume is intended for the workmen of the farm,
to assist them in meeting a new condition ; because of
this purpose all technical statements of the laws of phi-
losophy and exact science have been discarded wherever
possible for simpler language and expression intelligi-
ble to those needing the information.

The Author.

January, 1913.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Author desires to acknowledge his appreciation of the
valuable assistance received from many of the leading firms in
the field of gasoline engine manufacture and associated indus-
tries. The illustrations, for the most part, have been furnished
by progressive manufacturers whose publicity efforts and excel-
lent product have done so much to popularize the gasoline farm
engine and tractor, and many valuable suggestions regarding
treatment of the subject have been obtained from the literature
cheerfully supplied. The following list of firms contributed ma-
terially to making this work complete and of value :

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C
-- Rumely Products Co., LaPorte, Ind.

The Gas Tractor Co., Minneapolis, ]\Iinn.

The Avery Company, Peoria, Illinois.

The Hart-Parr Co., Charles City, Iowa.

Jacobson Machine Mfg. Co., Warren, Pa.

S. F. Bowser & Co!, Ft. Wayne, Ind.

Robert Instrument Co., Detroit, Mich.

Brown Clutch Company, Sandusky, Ohio.

Kinnard-Haines Co., ]\Iinneapolis, Minn.

Austin Mfg. Co., Chicago, Illinois.

Termaat & ]\Ionahan Co., Oshkosh, Wis.

C. F. Splitdorf Co., New York City.

Packard Electric Co., Warren, Ohio.

Electric Storage Battery Co., Phila.

Altorfer Bros. Co., Chicago, 111.
— -International Harvester Company, Chicago, 111.
—The "New Way" Motor Co., Lansing, Mich.

The J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis.

"Sta-Rite" Engine Co., LaCrosse, Wis.

The Bates Tractor Co., Lansing, Mich.
— New Holland Mch. Co., New_ Holland, Pa.

Detroit Lubricator Co., Detroit, Mich.

Aultman Taylor Co., Mansfield, Ohio.

Bates & Edmonds Motor Co., Lansing, Mich.

Reeves Pulley Co., Columbus, Ind.

The Heald Mch. Co., Worcester, Mass.

Bosch Magneto Co., New York City.
' Gray Motor Co., Detroit, Michigan.

Cushmann Motor Works, Lincoln, Nebr.

Automatic Cream Separator Co., Milwaukee.

The Deming Company, Salem, Ohio.

The Coldwell Lawn Mower Co., Newburgh, N. Y.
vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(The figures refer to Paragraphs)

CHAPTER I

THE CALL AND THE ANSWER

I. The Great Farm Problem — 2. The Machine Designer's
Problem— 3. The Call of the Farm— 4. Where Farm
Power Fails— 5. The Ideal Farm Power— 6. The
One Best Answer — 7. The Gasoline Engine in the Field
— 8. As General Utility Man — 9. In the Kitchen — 10.
With the Boy— II. The Hired Man Problem— 12. The
Greatest Mission of All 33

CHAPTER II

THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

13. The Principle— 14. The First Engine— 15. Other At-
tempts— 16. The First Success— 17. What Internal Com-
bustion Includes — 18. The Real Source of Power —
19. The Complete Cycle — 20. The Four-Cycle Engine —
21. The Two-Cycle Engine — 22. Where the Four-Cycle
Excels — 23. Six and Eight-Cycle Engines — 24. The Vital
Parts — 25. The Necessary Trimmings — 26. Necessary
Conveniences — 27. Types of Engines ... 42

CHAPTER III

THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER

28. Functions of the Cylinder — 29. What It Determines —
30. Best Material — 31. The Foundry Work — 32. Boring
ix

Table of Contents

the Cylinder — 33. As Combustion Chamber — 34. What
Compression Is — 35. What It AccompHshes in the En-
gine— 36. How the Charge Is Compressed — 37. Com-
pression Limits — 38. Where Higher Compression Is
Useful — 39. Compression Gains and Losses — 40. Clear-
ance— 41. Faulty Compression — 42. Testing Compression
— 43. Decreasing Clearance — 44. Increasing Power
Through Clearance — 45. Lubricating the Cylinder — 46.
Carbon and Its Effects — 47. Symptoms of Carbon — 48.
Cleaning the Cylinder — 49. Removing the Cylinder — 50.
Re-assembling — 51. Packing the Cylinder Head — 52.
Material to Employ — 53. Cleaning Without Remov-
ing 51

CHAPTER IV

THE PISTON AND ITS AUXILIARY PARTS

54. Functions of Piston — 55. Construction of Piston — 56.
Best Material — 57. Design and Workmanship — 58. The
Rings — 59. Their Construction — 60. Material for Rings —
61. Making the Ring— 62. Truing the Ring— 63. A Few
Piston and Ring Diseases and Their Remedy — 64. The
Dirt Menace — 65. Cleaning Piston and Rings — 66. Re-
moving the Rings — 67. Returning Rings— 68. The Piston
Pin — 69. The Connecting Rod — 70. Crank-shaft and
Connecting-rod Lubrication — 71. Repairs and Care —
72. Other Troubles — 73. Hints and Suggestions . 72

CHAPTER V

THE PORT AND VALVE SYSTEM

74. Subject to Rough Treatment— 75. What It Includes—
76. The Intake Port— 77. Size of Intake Port— 78. Com-
mon Troubles— 79. Faulty Valve Seating— 80. Effect of
Bad Air— 81. Leak-hunting— 82. Fuel Required in New
Engine— 83. The Exhaust Port— 84. Inspecting the
System— 85. Valve Timing— How to Determine and
Correct— 86. The Object of Valve Timing— 87. Testing

Table of Contents xi

and Setting the Intake Valve — 88. The Exhaust Valve
— 89. Some General Rules — 90. Valve-grinding — 91. The
Muffler; Its Use and Abuse — 92. A Word of Caution —
93. Valve Vagaries 85

CHAPTER VI

THE CARBURETOR

94. The Heart of the Engine— 95. Carburetors to Be Let
Alone — 96. The Real Engine Fuel — 97. Unvarying Ad-
justment Impossible — 98. Variation of Fuel and Re-
quirements— 99, How the Carburetor Vaporizes —
100. Mixing Air with Gasoline — loi. Automatic Car-
buretors—102. Effect of Impure Air— 103. Carburetor
Troubles and Their Cure — 104. Barking — 105. Misfir-
ing— 106, Backfiring — 107. Flooding — 108. Priming the
Carburetor — 109. Size of Carburetor — no. Adjusting the
Carburetor — in. Adjusting the Float Valve — 112. Mis-
cellaneous Hints 99

CHAPTER VII

THE IGNITION SYSTEM

113. Special Difficulties — 114. Effect of Failure — 115. Open
Flame Method — 116. Hot Tube Ignition — 117. Compres-
sion Firing— 118. Electrical Firing — 119. Necessary
Electrical Knowledge — 120. Four Electrical Processes —
121. Producing the Current — 122. The Dry Battery —
123. What a Cell Contains — 124. Connecting Cells —
125. Life of Dry Cells — 126. Advantages of Dry Cells —
127. Their Defects — 128. Care of Dry Cells — 129. A
Good Battery Arrangement — 130. Connecting Battery to
Engine— 131. The Spark Coil— 132. The Spark Plug—
133. How the Spark Is Formed — 134. How It Fires the
Charge — 135. The Jump Spark — 136. The Make-and-
break — 137. The Magneto — 138. How It Works —
139. Low Tension Magneto — 140. Care of Magneto —
141. Advantage of Double System — 142. The Primary

xii Table of Contexts

Circuit — 143. The Secondary Circuit — 144. Wiring Up —
145. Ignition Timing — 146. Irregular Mechanism —
147. Spark Follies 11 1

CHAPTER VIII

A CHAPTER ON ENGINE-SPEED REGULATION

148. Controlling an Engine — 149. True Mission of the Gov-
ernor— 150. Some Rules to Remember — 151. Changing
Governor Adjustment — 152. Methods of Governing —
153. Regulating Fuel — 154. Hit-or-miss System — 155, The
Throttling Governor — 156. Types of Governors —
157. The Centrifugal Governor — 158. The Pick-blade
Type — 159. Care of the Governor — 160. Controlling by
Ignition — 161. Controlling the Temperature — 162. The
Usual Methods — 163. Air-cooling — 164. The Water-
cooling System — 165. The Open-jacket Method —
166. The Circulating System — 167. A Good Circulating
Pump System — 168. Other Systems — 169. Amount of
Water to Use — 170. Care of Water System — 171. Anti-
freezing Mixtures — 172. Utilizing Waste Heat . 133

CHAPTER IX

THE CRANK SHAFT AND ITS BEARINGS

173. The Engine Frame— 174. The Crank Shaft— 175. Fly
Wheels and Their Mission— 176. Heavy Fly Wheels —
177. Main Bearings — 178. The Best Lining— 179. Why
Bearings Heat— 180. Gear Wheels — 181. Care of Minor
Parts — 182. Casual Acquaintances . . . . i49

CHAPTER X

SETTING THE ENGINE

183. Importance of Proper Setting— 184. Stationary Founda-
tions—185. The Four-fold Object of a Good Founda-

Table of Contents xiii

lion — 186. Depth and Nature of Foundations —
187. Foundation Blue Prints — 188. Tying Engine to
Foundation — 189. Material Required — 190. Preparing
Material — 191. Making the Templet — 192. Making a
Frame — 193. Filling the Pit — 194. Placing the Engine —
195. The Final Setting — 196. Locking the Bolts in Place
— 197. Lining Up — 198. Leveling the Engine — 199. Other
Foundations; Their Failings — 200. A Unique Founda-
tion— 201. Portable Foundations — 202. Mounted En-
gines— 203. Shelter — 204. Fittings of an Engine Room —
205. Storing Oil in the Engine Room — 206. The Work
Bench — 207. The Engine-room Floor — 208. Ventilation
209. The Engine-room Line Shaft — 210. The Mission
of Paint — 211. Painting the Muffler — 212. Engine-room
Abominations — 213. And a Few Cautions — 214. Eliminat-
ing the Danger Risk 161

CHAPTER XI

THE FUEL SUPPLY

215. Gasoline and Its Nature — 216. Its True Value and Dan-
ger— 217. Pure Gasoline Vapor Non-inflammable —
218. How Gasoline Is Obtained — 219. Grades — 220. Tests.
— 221. A Good Storage System — 222. A Good Tank —
223. The Foundation — 224. The Connections — 225. The
Joints — 226. Guarding the Feed-pipe — 227. Gasoline
Dangers — 228. Gasoline Not Inflammable — 229. The
Exact Danger Point in Gasoline — 230. Small Danger in
Tank From Natural Causes — 231. Rules for Safety —
232. Two Fundamental Rules — 233. Common Risks and
Errors — 234. Gasoline Fires; How to Handle Them —
235. Kerosene; Its Advantages — 236. Objections to
Kerosene — 237. Which Is Best? — 238. Changing From
Gasoline to Kerosene — 239. Distillate — 240. Alcohol —
241. Its Advantages — 242. Some Peculiarities of Alco-
hol— 243. Its Fatal Weakness — 244. The Engine-user's
Dream. — 245. Notes on Fuels 181

xiv Table of Contents

CHAPTER XII

LUBRICATION

246. Importance — 247. Purpose — 248. How Lubricants Work
— 249. What a Lubricant Is — 250. Viscosity — ^251. Fluidity
—252. The Flash Point— 253. The Cold Test— 254. Car-
bon— 255. Gum and Acids — 256. Variety in Lubricants
Needed — 257. Gasoline Engine Cylinder Oil — 258. Bear-
ings and Their Requirements — 259. The Specific Pur-
pose— 260. Animal and Vegetable Oils — 261. Mineral or
Hydrocarbon Oils — 262. Testing for Acids — 263. Test-
ing Viscosity — 264. Testing for Adulterants — 265. Test-
ing for Gum— 266. The Flash Point— 267. The Fire Test
— 268. The Cold Test— 269. Caibon — 270. Oil Waste and
Engine Waste — 271. Quantity of Oil — 272. Lubricating
Systems — 273. The Gravity System— 274. The Splash
System — 275. The Loose Ring Method — 276. The Pres-
sure System — 277. The Positive or Force Feed — 278.
Oiling Through the Carburetor — 279. Filtering —
280. Other Lubricants — 281. Graphite — 282. Grease —
283. Foolish Economy — 284. Ten Lubricating Command-
ments ..... 201

CHAPTER XIII

ELIMINATION OF ENGINE TROUBLES

285. Classified Trouble— 286. Starting Troubles— 287. Oper-
ating Troubles — 288. Transmission Troubles — 289. En-
ergy Troubles — 290. Irregular Troubles — 291. The
Source of Most Trouble — 292. The First Thing to Do—
293. When Real Trouble Comes— 294. Test v^rith a Sys-
tem— 295. A Few Questions — 296. Protecting the Hands
— 297. Testing the Electric System— 298. If the Spark Is
Good — 299. A Poor Spark — 300. Testing the Batteries —
301. The Coil — 302. A Faulty Magneto — 303. A Good
Spark— 304. Where the Shock Is Felt— 305. A Few Ig-
nition Facts — 306. A Suspected Timer— 307. Other
Troubles— 308. When the Engine Starts— 309. Lack of

Table of Contents xv

Power — 310. Overheating— 311. Cause of Overheating —
312. Causes — 313. CooHng a Hot Engine — 314. Speed
Variations — 315. Suspecting the Governor — 316. A Lazy
Engine — 317. Pre-ignition — 318. Misfiring — 319. Back-
firing— 320. Knocking — 321. Pounding — 322. Outside
Knocking — 323. Summing Up Common Troubles — 324.
Parting Advice 223

CHAPTER XIV

SELECTING AND OPERATING THE ENGINE

325. Selecting — 326. Style Needed — 327. The Best Size —
328. A Plea for the Small Engine — 329. Power Re-
quired for Various Tasks^ — 330. What Horse Power
Means — 331. Various Kinds of "Horse Power" —
332. Purchasing Horse Power — 333. The Overload as
Affecting Ratings — 334. The Question of Weight —
335. Where the Light Engine Wins — 336. Simplicity —
337. The Price — 338. Adaptability — 339. Other Consid-
erations—340. Testing the Engine— 341. Being Fair —
342. When the Agent Does Not Come — 343. Turning on
the Load— 344. The Outfit— 345. The Second-hand En-
gine— 346. After Buying — 347. Oiling the Engine —
348. The Cooling System — 349. Retarding the Spark —
350. The Carburetor— 351. The Switch— -352. Starting the
Wheel — 353. Just After Starting — 354. Getting Up
Power — 355. Going After All the Power — 356. The Gos-
pel of Attention — 357. And of Letting Alone — 358. Shut-
ting Down — 359, Things to Think About — 360. Over-
hauling the Engine — 361. The Personal Hazard . 245

CHAPTER XV

THE TRACTION ENGINE

362. Its Message to the World — 363. Its First Accomplish-
ment— 364. The Second— 365. And the Third — 366. What
the Gasoline Tractor Is Doing — 367. Special Appeals to
the Farmer— 368. The Small Farm Tractor — 369. Trailers
Not Satisfactory — 370. Cost of Tractor Farming , 277

^vi Table of Contents

CHAPTER XVI

WHAT IS BEST IN A TRACTOR

371. The Demand— 372. The Tractive Power— 373. General
Construction-374. Other Forms of Transmission—
375. Steam and Gasoline Tractor Differences— 376 The
Best Engine-377. The Clutch-378. The Best Trans-
mission—379. Differential or Compensating Gear—
380. How It Works-381. Power of the Gasoline Tractor
-382. Power Needed in Plowing-383. Home-made

Tractors

290

CHAPTER XVII

OPERATING THE TRACTOR

384. Preparing for the First Start-385. Starting-386.
Learning to Guide the Tractor-387. Mud-hole Philoso-
phy-388. Lots of Sand— 389. Bridges and Other Ob-
stacles-390. Speed Allowable-391. Hauling with the
"rrT^!:^''' ^''''- ^^—93. General Care

303

CHAPTER XVIII

POWER TRANSMISSION

394. An Important Problem_39S. Methods in Use-jofi
Shaftmg_397. Poor Shafting Unprofitable-agS Gen
eral Shaftmg Wisdom-399. Balancing Pulleys-400
Speed of Shafts-4ox. Size of PulIeysl4o.. Pulleys-!:
403. Straight and Crown Face-404. Use of Pulleys-
405. Covering Iron Pulleys_4o6. How Secured to Shaft
-407. The Deadly Set.screw-408. Other Pulley Dan
gers— 409. Tight and Loose Pulleys— ^in Th • r
for Trouble-4rr. Cone Pulleys. \Z ¥heir^ u/eiT;

Table of Contents xvii

Home-made Pulleys — 413. Bearings — 414. Roller Bear-
ings— 415. Ball Bearings — 416. What Babbitt Metal Is —
417. Preparing Boxes for Babbitting— 418. Preparing the
Babbitt — 419. Casting the Bearing — 420. Babbitting a
Split Box 313

CHAPTER XIX

BELTS AND BELTING

421. Reasons for Using Belts — 422. A Few Drawbacks — 423.
Belt Essentials — 424. Leather Belts — 425. Rubber Belt-
ing— 426. Canvas Belting — 427. Care of Belts — 428. Belt
Dressing — 429. Size Required — 430. A Convenient Rule
— 431. Length of Belts — 432. Speed of Belts — 433. Belt
Slipping — 434. Belt Hints — 435. A Useful Belt Kink —
436. Belt Lacing — 437. Lace Leathers — 438. Methods of
Lacing — 439. Wire Laces and Belt Hooks — 440. Cement-
ing Belts — 441. Splicing a Gandy or Canvas Belt — 442.
Rope Transmission 33°

CHAPTER XX

OTHER FORMS OF TRANSMISSION

443. Gear Wheels — 444. Material — 445. Finish — 446. Spur
Gearing — 447. Bevel and Miter Gears — 448. Intermittent
Gears — 449. Cams — 450. Worm Gear — 451. Other Gear
Wheels — 452. Raw Hide Gearing — 453. Care of Leather
Pinions — 454. Rules Governing Gear Repairs — 455.
Power of Gear Wheels — 456. An Ideal Gear Wheel Or-
der— 457. General Care 34^

CHAPTER XXI

THE FEED ROOM

458. When Feed Grinding Does Not Pay — 459. Convenient
Grinding — 460. Convenient Feeding — 461. Feed Always
Fresh — 462. The Balanced Ration — 463. A Good Feeding
Plan — 464. A Special Appetizer — 465. Grinding Cob

xviii Table of Contents

Meal — 466. Grinding the Family Grist — 467. Accessories
of the Feed Room — 468. Objections to Constant Water
Supply — 469. Constant Renewal Necessary — 470. The
Gasoline Engine a Necessity — 471. The Open Trough—
472. Automatic Troughs — 473. A Home-made Substitute
— 474. Advantages of Drinking System — 475. The Work
of the Engine — 476. Flushing out the Gutters — 477. Sta-
ble Arrangement Required — 478. Flushing Out, the More
Sanitary Way — 479. Final Disposal on Fields . 356

CHAPTER XXII
THE WORKSHOP

480. Its Mission — 481. As Trouble-healer — 482. A Good
Equipment — 483. The Engine in the Workshop — 484. Its
Proper Place — 485. An Ideal Shop Arrangement — 486.
The Engine's Position — 487. Connecting Engine to
Work— 488. Locating Machines — 489. Effect on Man and
Boy 367

CHAPTER XXIII

THE FARM WOOD PILE

490. Two Memories — 491. A Thankless Task— 492. What It
Really Cost— 493. To-day's Wood Pile— 494. Why Popu-
lar—495. The Circle Saw Rig— 496. Power Required—
497. The Best Rig— 498. Setting Up— 499. The Drag
Saw— 500. Construction— 501. Operating the Drag Saw
—502. A Complete Automatic Rig— 503. Wood Split-
ting • 375

CHAPTER XXIV

ORCHARD AND GARDEN

504. Slipshod Spraying Wasted Time— 505. Where the En-
gine Excels— 506. Nature's Method— 507. What Spray-
ing Is for— 508. Causes of Failure— 509. A Successful
Method— 510. A Good Pumping Outfit— 511. Good Noz-
zles— 512. The Hose— 513. Good and Cheap Outfits— 514.
Results of Spraying— 515. When Trees Are Not
Sprayed .387

Table of Contents xix

CHAPTER XXV

IRRIGATION

516. Why Needed — 517. Where — 518. When^Sig. Where
Drought Has No Terrors — 520. Certain Drawbacks — 521.
A Good Irrigation Plant — 522. Quantity of Water Re-
quired— 523. The Cost — 524. The Engine Required — 525.
The Centrifugal Pump — 526. Its Limitation — 527. Dif-
ferent Types — 528. Garden and Small Farm Irrigation —
529. Deep-well Pumping — 530. Distributing the Water —
531. Kinks and Cautions 399

CHAPTER XXVI

THE WOMAN'S STORY

532. What Machinery Has Done for Some Farm Women —
533. The Farm Power Laundry — 534. Ironing by En-
gine Power — 535. The Water Supply — 536. The Storage
System — 537. Elevated Tanks — 538. The Pressure Tank
— 539- Advantages Over the Elevated Tank — 540. Mak-
ing It Pay — 541. Dish Washing — 542. Outside the House
— 543. The Vacuum Cleaner — 544. Cleaning House — 545.
Milking Machines — 546. The Cream Separator — 547. The
Governor Pulley — 548. How It Works — 549. For Bottled
Milk — 550. Churning by Power — 551. The Ice Problem —
552. Other Household Uses— 553. A Handy Kitchen De-
vice— 554. Cleaning Various Utensils — 555. Starting and
Stopping the Engine— 556. Filling the Lamps — 557. Stor-
age Battery Capacity — 558. Lighting Up — 559. The Sys-
tem Complete — 'Seo. Door Maid and Burglar Chaser —
561. Making Electrical Conveniences Available on the
Farm — 562. The Engine That the Housewife Needs —
563. The Farm Girl and Boy— 564. The Price— 565.
What Others Pay 416

CHAPTER XXVII

HOME-MADE CONVENIENCES

566. Self-propelling Engines — 567. Light Power Tractors —
568. The Horseless Buggy — 569. Low Power Trucking —
570. What the. Old Farm Wagon Can Do — 571. A Rapid
Post Hole Digger— 572. The Home-made Well Drill—

XX Table of Contents

573. A Good Barn Hoist — 574. Grain Tender at Thresh-
ing Time — 575. A Home-made Auto — 576. Two Boys
and a Cultivator — 577. Wheelbarrow Energy — 578. A
Uniaue Fruit Harvester — 579. A Home-made Power
Saw — 580. Minor Contrivances 452

CHAPTER XXVIII

MODERN POWER APPLICATIONS

581. Helping the Binder— 582. In the Hay Field— 583. Mak-
ing the Spreader Work — 584. The Short tower Wagon —
585. At Threshing Time — 586. Harvesting the Corn Crop
—587. Hauling by Cable— 588. The Road Machine; What
Gasoline Is Doing for Our Country Highways — 589.
Fighting Weeds — 590. Ditching — 591. The Farm Roller
— 592. Shearing and Dipping — 593. In the Poultry Yard
— 594. The Road to Market — 595. Building Home Mem-
ories 470

CHAPTER XXIX

THE IDEAL FARM

596. A Look Into To-morrow — 597. Summary of the Com-
plete Farm Home, Including Household, Garden, Barns
and Fields — 598. How the Gasoline Engine Makes It
Possible— -599. When Dreams Come True . . 493

CHAPTER XXX
USEFUL RULES AND FORMULA

600. Tables, Rules, Calculations, Hints and Suggestions
Useful in the Application of the Modern Farm
Power 497

601. Mutual Relations of These Measurements . . 499

602. The Fire Hazard 500

603. Fire Fragments 502

604. Heat Values 502

605. Thermal Efficiency 503

606. Horse Power Formulae 503

607. The Brake Test 504

608. The Prony Brake Test 504

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Fig. I — Frontispiece — Gas Tractor Doing the Work of

Forty Horses and Twenty Men .... 2

CHAPTER I

Fig. 2 — The Portable Gas Engine Solves the Problem of

Practical Farm Power 35

Fig. 3 — The Call of the Field for Power Best Met by

Modern Gas Tractor 2>7

Fig. 4 — The Man with the Hoe of To-day . . .40

CHAPTER II

Fig. 5 — Showing Action of Inlet Valve on Suction

Stroke 45

Fig. 6 — Piston Nearing End of Compression Stroke.

Position Just Prior to Ignition . . . -45

Fig. 7 — Piston Descending on Power Stroke . . .46

Fig. 8 — Depicting Action of Exhaust Valve on Scaveng-
ing Stroke 46

Fig. 9 — Sectional View of Reeves Horizontal Engine,
Illustrating All Important Parts of Modern Gas
Motor 48

CHAPTER III t

Fig. 10 — Sectional View of Vertical Engine Showing Im-
portant Components 49

Fig. II — Illustrating Defects Liable in Boring Cylinder.
Compare Defective Spots Shown at a and b with

Perfect Wall at c 54

xxi

xxii List of Illustrations

PAGE

Fig. 12 — Sectional View of I.H.C. Engine Cylinder

Showing Water Jacket and Valve System . . 62

Fig. 13 — Sectional View of Air-Cooled Motor. Figures
Denote Following Parts: 12 — Crankshaft. 14 — Oil
Pipe. 19 — Petcock for Compression Release. 20 —
Valve Spring Key. 21 — Valve Washer. 22 — Inlet
Valve Spring. 23 — Inlet Valve Guide. 24 — Intake
Valve. 25 — Valve Cage. 26 — Sparkplug. 27 — Spark-
plug Porcelain. 28 — Exhaust Valve. 29 — Exhaust
Valve Seat. 30 — Exhaust Valve Guide. 31 — Ex-
haust Valve Stem. Z'^^ — Exhaust Spring. 34 — Ex-
haust Operating Rod. 35 — Cam Roller. 36 — Timer
Cover Screw. Z7 — Contact Spring. 38 — Timer Ad-
vance Lever. 41 — Timing Pinion. 42 — Cam Gear.
43 — Drain Cock. 44 — Pipe Regulating Oil Level.
45 — Gear Operating Shaft. 46 — Camshaft for Ex-
haust. 48 — Piston. 50 — Oil Groove . . .65

CHAPTER IV

Fig. 14 — Vital Parts of a Jacobson* Horizontal Gas

Engine 68

Fig. 15 — Piston of I.H.C. Engine and Rings . . - IZ

Fig. 16 — Longitudinal and Cross Section of Typical Pis-
ton 74

Fig. 17 — Concentric Ring with Diagonal Cut Joint. Fig.

18 — Eccentric Ring with Stepped or Lapped Joint . 74

Fig. 19 — Piston Pin Oil Feed . . . . . . yy

Fig. 20 — Simple Device for Removing and Replacing

Rings 79

Fig. 21 — Marine Type of Bushed Connecting Rod . 80

CHAPTER V

Fig. 22 — Cross Section of Valve Chamber . . .86
Fig. 22^ — Sectional View of Combustion Chamber, Show-
ing Arrangement of Valves in Cylinder Head . 87
Fig. 24 — Typical Mechanical Valve Gear . . .95
Fig. 25 — Sectional Views of Conventional Mufflers . 97

List of Illustrations xxiii

CHAPTER VI

PAGE

Fig. 26 — Exterior View of One Model Kingston Car-
buretor 100

Fig. 2^ — Sectional View of Kingston Carburetor . . 100

Fig. 28 — How the Carburetor Vaporizes. Sectional

View of Breeze Device Shows Important Parts . 102

Fig. 29 — Sectional View Showing Parts of Krice Car-
buretor . . 104

CHAPTER VII

Fig. 30 — Bent Hot Tube Igniter 112

Fig. 31 — Sectional Views of Standard Dry Cells. A —

European Construction. B — American Design . 115
Fig. 32 — Showing Dry Cell Battery Wired in Series . 116
Fig"- ZZ — Simple Jump Spark Wiring System . . .118
Fig. 34 — Jump Spark Vibrator Coil for One Cylinder

Ignition 119

Fig- 35 — Sectional View of Spark Plug .... 120
Fig. 36 — Bosch Magneto, Exterior View . . 122
Fig. Z7 — Longitudinal Sectional View of Bosch Magneto 123
Fig. 38 — Rear View of Bosch Magneto, Showing Con-
tact Breaker and Distributor 124

Fig. 39 — Showing Ignition Magneto in Place on Engine

Base 127

Fig. 40 — Simple High-Tension Wiring System, Using

Batteries and Magneto 128

Fig. 41 — Low-Tension or Make-and-Break Spark Wiring
System Using Magneto with Batteries as Auxiliary

Source of Current 129

Fig. 42 — High and Low-Tension Current Conductors . 130

CHAPTER VIII

Fig. 43 — Method of Speed Regulation through Valves . 136
Fig. 44 — Centrifugal Governor Attached to Carburetor . 138
Fig. 45 — Pick-blade Governor, Showing Cam Action . 139
Fig. 46 — Side View of Cam Action on Lever . . . 140

xxiv List of Illustrations

PAGE

Fig. 47 — Type of Air-Cooled Cylinder Used on "New

Way" Engines 141

Fig. 48 — Depicting Flow of Water Through Jackets of

Water-Cooled Engine 143

Fig. 49 — Sectional View of Cylinder of I.H.C. Engine,
Showing Integrally Cast Hopper Used in Open
Jacket Cooling System 144

CHAPTER IX

Fig. 50 — Main Bearings Incorrectly Placed. Strain of
Explosion Impulse Exerted Directly Against Cap
and Bolts 149

Fig. 51 — Main Bearings Placed so a Twisting Strain

Comes on Cap and Bolts Every Impulse . . 150

Fig. 52 — Main Bearings Correctly Placed — All Stress

Taken by Bed of Engine 150

Fig- 53 — Single Throw Crankshaft 151

Fig. 54 — Three Throw Crankshaft, with Counterpoise or

Balance Weights 151

Fig- 55 — Gas Engine Flywheel of Approved Design . 152

Fig. 56 — Typical Engine Bearing, Showing Oil Grooves

C and Retaining Plugs A . . . . . . 153

CHAPTER X

Fig. 57 — The New Farm Factory Made Possible by
Modern Gasoline Engine. Note Wood Saw at One
End and Watering Trough at the Other . . 160

Fig. 58 — Gasoline Engine Base Plan to Show Amount

of Space and Holes Needed for Installation . . 162
Fig. 59 — Method of Securing Heavy Engine to Concrete

Foundation 163

Fig. 60 — Template for Locating Bolt Holes . . . 165
Fig. 61 — Engine on Foundation, Bolted in Place . . 168
Fig. 62 — Method of Re-inforcing Wooden Floors . . 170
Fig. 63 — A Gasoline Engine-Driven Concrete Mixer . 171
Fig. 64 — A Gasoline Engine-Driven Stone Crusher . 172
Fig. 65 — A Wheeled Foundation Needed for Tractor

Engine I73

List of Illustrations xxv

CHAPTER XI

PAGE

Fig. 66 — A Bowser Gasoline Storage System . . . 184
Fig. 67 — Bowser Gasoline Storage Tank with Con-
venient Fittings . 185

Fig. 68 — Bowser Underground Tank with Measuring

Pump Attached 189

Fig. 69 — Simple Gasoline Tank Gauge .... 193

Fig. 70 — Typical lO-H.P. Kerosene Engine . . . 196

CHAPTER XII

Fig. 71 — Polished Steel. Rod Looks Rough if Magnified

Greatly 202

Fig. 72 — Section Through Four-Cylinder Motor, Show-
ing Lubricating System 209

Fig- 73 — Exterior and Interior Views of Sight Feed

Gravity Lubricator 214

Fig. 74 — Explaining the Splash System of Lubrication . 215
Fig- 75 — Loose Ring for Bearing Lubrication . . 216
Fig. 76 — Mechanically Operated Plunger Oil Pump In-
sures Force Feed 217

CHAPTER XIII

Fig- 77 — Pocket Size Battery Testing Gauge Indicates

Either Volts or Amperes 229

CHAPTER XIV

Fig. 78 — A Typical Horizontal Gasoline Engine . . 246
Fig. 79 — Easy Work for One and One-half Horsepower

Gray Engine 248

Fig. 80 — Corn Sheller Easily Operated by One Horse-
power 249

Fig. 81 — Simple Prony Brake Test 250

Fig. 82 — Another Type of Prony Brake .... 251

xxvi List of Illustrations

PAGE

Fig. 83 — Correct and Incorrect Method of Cranking an
Engine. Correct Method, Left Hand Used. In
Case of Pre-ignition Handle Is Jerked Away From
the Hand, Which Is Left Outside of Crank Circle.
Incorrect Method, Uses Right Hand. Back Kick
Will Either Drive Handle Against Hand or Leave
Hand in Crank Circle. Result, Broken Arm or
Wrist 274

CHAPTER XV

Fig. 84 — Assembly View of Oil Pull Gas Tractor, Show-
ing Working Parts and Their Relation to Each '
Other 276

Fig. 85 — Gas Tractor Insures 100 Per Cent. Gain in

Production Through More Thorough Tillage of Soil 284

Fig. 86 — The Hackney Small Farm Plowing Tractor

Carries the Plows as Part of the Machine . . 286

Fig. 87 — The Broad Wheels of the Gas Tractor Should
Make Cultivated Fields as Smooth as Floors and
Add Greatly to Life of Machinery .... 288

CHAPTER XVI

Fig. 88— The Power Plant Is the Heart of the Tractor.

Many Present-day Traction Engines Are of the

Four Cylinder Four Cycle Type .... 292
Fig. 89 — Bevel Reversing Gear Train .... 293
Fig. 90 — Reversing Gear of Gas Tractor . . . 294
Fig. 91 — Typical Tractor Steering Gear, Front Truck

Showing 295

Fig. 92 — Bevel Differential and Spur Driving Gears of

I.H.C. Tractor 299

CHAPTER XVII

Fig- 93 — Simple Home Made Tractor and Circular Saw

Stand 303

List of Illustrations xxvii

PAGE

Fig. 94 — A Recent Factory Output with Enclosed Power

Plant and Mechanism 304

Fig. 95 — A Gasoline Engine Operated Hay Press . 312

CHAPTER XVIII

Fig. 96 — Countershaft and Hangers Ready for Belts . 314
Fig. 97 — Construction of Split Wood Pulley . . . 31?
Fig. 98 — Method of Covering or Lagging Pulley . . 318
Fig. 99 — Countershaft Assembly with Tight, Loose and

Stepped Pulleys 321

Fig. 100 — Solid Box Bearing or Pillow Block . . 325
Fig. loi — Sells Roller Bearing Shaft Box Fits Standard

Hangers 3^5

Fig. 102 — Sectional View of New Departure Ball Bear-
ing Shaft Hanger Box 326

CHAPTER XIX

Fig. 103 — A Study in Belt Contacts. Two Equal Pulleys
a and b Have a Belt Grip of 180 Degrees. When
Two Unequal Pulleys Are Used, the Largest One,
d, Gains in Transmission Efficiency, Because Belt
Contact Is More Than Half the Circumference; the
Smaller One, c, Looses Because Belt Contact Is Less

Than 180 Degrees 334

Fig. 104 — The Crossed Belt. Each Pulley Has an Arc
of Belt Contact More Than 180 Degrees. In Gen-
eral, Loss Because of Friction in Twisted Belt
Overcomes Advantage of Greater Belt Contact.
Arrangement Shown Useful for Reverse Drive . 335
Fig. 105 — Driving with Long, Heavy Belt, Showing Sag 336
Fig. 106 — A Useful Kink. Driving Belt Loose, but Kept
in Contact with Pulleys with Lighter, Narrow Bind-
ing Belt 339

Fig. 107 — The Finished Joint, Pulley Side . . . 340
Fig. 108 — The Finished Laced Joint, Top of Belt . 340
Fig. 109 — Several Methods of Belt Lacing . . . 342
Fig. no — Some Approved Metallic Belt Hooks . . 343

xxviii List of Illustr.'

vnoNS

CHAPTER XX

Fig,
Fig
Fig
Fig
Fig
Fig
Fig
Fig,

III — Internal Spur Gear 347

112 — External Spur Gearing 347

113 — Bevel Gearing 348

114 — Intermittent Gears 348

115 — Action of Cam Outlined 349

116 — Worm Gearing Used in Tractor Steering Gears 350

117 — Spiral Gear Used for Cam Shaft Operation . 350
118 — Illustrating Terms Used in Ordering Spur

Gear Wheels 352

CHAPTER XXI

Fig. 119 — Feed Mill with Direct Shaft Drive from New

Holland Engine 356

Fig. 120 — Mill for Grinding Two Kinds of Grain . . 359
Fig. 121 — Power Driven Mill for Grinding Grain, Cob

and Husk 360

CHAPTER XXII

Fig. 122 — A Handy Shop Engine, Equipped with Coun-
tershaft and Three Different Sizes of Driving
Pulleys 369

Fig. 123 — The Most Important Farm Implement . . 370

Fig. 124 — Gray Engine Driving Bandsaw in Wood-
working shop 371

Fig. 125 — General Farm Workshop Floor Plan, Show-
ing Good Arrangement of Machines and Housing
of Engine in Separate Compartment to Reduce Fire
Risk 372

CHAPTER XXIII

Fig. 126 — Sawing Wood by Gas Power Not an Irksome

Task . . . .374

List of Illustrations xxix

PAGE

Fig 12/ — Gasoline Engine and Circular Saw Outfit in

Portable Form 378

Fig. 128 — A Drag Saw Worked by Engine Power . 381
Fig. 129 — Wood Splitter Operated by Engine Power

Works Well in Combination with Circular Saw . 386

CHAPTER XXIV

Fig. 130 — Fruit of Sprayed Trees. Sound Fruit in Pile,
Wormy Fruit in Basket. On Adjacent Tree of
Same Variety, which Was Not Sprayed, Only 42
Per Cent, of Fruit Was Sound 389

Fig. 131 — Gasoline Engine with Triplex Pump for Large
Capacity Spraying Outfits or Water Supply Pur-
poses 390

Fig. 132 — A Typical Animal Drawn Gas Engine Oper-
ated Spraying Outfit 392

Fig- 133 — Portable Spraying Outfit at Work in Orchard,
Showing Utility of Platform in Reaching Top of
Trees 393

Fig. 134 — A Few Examples of Spraying Nozzles . . 394

Fig. 135 — Power Spraying Outfit at Work . . . 395

Fig. 136 — Results of Spraying Illustrated. Nine Baskets
of Perfect Peaches, Unsound Fruit on Upturned
Basket at Left 397

CHAPTER XXV

Fig. 137 — Drought Has No Terrors where Power Driven

Pumping Outfits Are Used 400

Fig. 138 — What a Good Irrigating Plant Contains . 401

Fig. 139 — Plenty of Water Here 403

Fig. 140 — Centrifugal Pump Directly Coupled to Gaso-
line Motor ......... 405

Fig. 141 — Small Gasoline Power Plant Operating Two

Diaphragm Pumps 406

Fig. 142 — Garden Irrigation by Flowing Method . . 409
Fig. 143 — Power Pumping Outfit for Deep Well . . 410
Fig. 144 — Deming Horizontal Power Pump . . .411

XXX List of Illustrations

PAGE

Fig. 145 — Air Cooled Engine and Pump Mounted on

Common Base 412

Fig. 146 — Water Distribution by Seepage Method . 413
Fig. 147 — Water Distribution by Flooding Method . 414

CHAPTER XXVI

Fig. 148 — The Woman's Engine 417

Fig. 149 — The New Washerwoman Lightens a Former

Household Burden 418

Fig. 150 — A Complete Washing Outfit Adapted for Use

with Power 419

Fig. 151 — No Lifting Except to Fold for Wringer . 420

Fig. 152 — When Electric Power Is on Tap to Operate
Washer. A — Washer Pulley. B — Wringer Pulley.
C — Countershaft Pulley. D — Electric Motor Pulley.
E — W^asher Driving Pulley on Countershaft. F —
Hangers. I — Electric Motor. K — Snap Switch. L
— Power Release Lever 421

Fig. 153 — A Complete Pneumatic Water Supply System
Gives Important City Convenience in Country
Homes 423

Fig. 154 — A Portable Vacuum Cleaner Operated by

Cushman Farm Motor 427

Fig. 155 — Creating the Vacuum for Milking by Gasoline

Power 429

Fig. 156 — Milking Cows by Vacuum Process Cleanly,

Sanitary and Not Injurious to Animals . . . 430

Fig. 157 — The Present Day Dairy Maid Uses Gasoline
Power to Advantage. Note Engine on Base of
Cream Separator . 432

Fig. 158 — The Parker Speed Governor Pulley Secures
Steady Separator Drive from Even Intermittent Gas
Power 433

Fig. 159 — How Parker Speed Governor Pulley Is Em-
ployed 434

Fig. 160 — Churning by Power of Gray Motor . . 435

Fig. 161 — Gasoline Motor Driven Ice Cutter . . 436

Fig. 162 — A Well Kept Lawn Insured with Motor Pro-
pelled Lawn Mower 438

List of Illustrations xxxi

PAGE

Fig. 163 — A Light Horizontal Air-Cooled I.H.C. Engine

Suitable for Household Use 439

Fig. 164 — Dynamo Operated by Small Gas Engine Pro-
vides Inexhaustible Lighting Current . . . 440

Fig. 165 — Electric Farm Lighting Outfit Turns Night
into Day and Provides Another City Convenience
for the Farmer 443

Fig. 166 — Complete Residence Lighting Outfit for Coun-
try Use 444

Fig. 167 — Storage Battery Employed in Connection with

House Lighting Outfit 445

Fig. 168 — Electric Lamp Using Incandescent Filament . 446

CHAPTER XXVIT

Fig. 169 — Tractor Sawing Outfit of Leslie Reed, Cotton-
wood, Idaho, Goes to Work Under Its Own Power
and Is an Ingenious Home Made Apparatus . . 452

Fig. 170 — Double Drum Hoist for Use in Connection
with Gasoline Engine Made by Brown Clutch Com-
pany 459

Fig. 171 — Unloading Hay by Gasoline Power Utilizing

Brown Double Drum Hoist ..... 461

Fig. 172 — Engine Outfit Easily Moved by One Man Be-
cause of Wheelbarrow Truck ..... 465

Fig. 173 — Small Gray Motor Helping the Binder . . 470

CHAPTER XXVIII

Fig. 174 — The Motor Truck in the Hay Field

Fig. 175 — The Modern Connecting Link Between Farm
and Market .

Fig. 176 — The Gasoline Engine Indispensable in Thresh
ing Time

Fig. 177 — Better Roads Made Possible at Small Cost by
Gas Tractor Outfits ......

Fig. 178 — The Gas Tractor Shortens the Road to Mar-
ket

Fig. 179 — Home Memories

473

475

476

480

487
490

THE GASOLINE ENGINE ON THE
FARM

CHAPTER L
THE CALL AND THE ANSWER.

1. The Great Farm Problem. — The world is asking
for bread and the farmer must supply it. For that
purpose he cultivates his lands. The call of the
farmer is for efficient helpers. There is a scarcity of
workmen which is hampering him at every turn. It
required 50,000 acres, some one has figured, to supply
the meager necessities of a single savage, but less than
twenty-five acres are available to supply the more ex-
acting demands of each citizen to-day. Intensive cul-
ture alone can meet the demand ; more work and bet-
ter work on every available acre, and the call for extra
helpers which cannot be answered with men must be
met by machinery. The farmer of the future must be
a mechanic rather than a day laborer. He will have
time for little but the intellectual part of soil-tilling,
while the manual labor will more and more of it be
done w^th wheels and levers. Hand labor was long
ago dispensed with in the mill and factory wdierever
possible because it is more expensive than the factory
can afford. The farmer has adhered to the harder and
more costly method and has performed work manually
that some adequate farm power might have done bet-
ter and cheaper.

2. The Machine Designer's Problem. — ]\Iany de-

34 The Gasoline Engine on the Fx\rm

vices that might have reduced the labor of the farmet
have never been placed upon the market, because all
farm machinery formerly had to be restricted to the
limits of the horse in power and speed. In this re-
spect the farm implement designer has been more
seriously hampered than any other class of inventors.
Without the aid of steam and electricity our factories
would still be in their infancy. How much the world
has lost through its most important industry, agricul-
ture, because of this unfortunate limit placed upon her
field appliances can only be guessed at. Many valu-
able inventions have been abandoned because they had
to be made too light or too slow for effective work, in
order that they might be handled by the ordinary
farm team.

3. The Call of the Farm. — The call of the farm is
for power; some means by which the intelligence of a
single man can direct a force that will do as much
work as a dozen or a hundred men could do with their
unaided hands. Farming has indeed advanced from
the plane of simply making a living to that of a great
commercial project. From plowing to shelling, it
takes four and one-half hours' work to raise one
bushel of corn by hand. Machinery and power reduce
this to forty-one minutes. The same commercial argu-
ments which demand power in the factories render it
€ven more necessary upon the farm.

4. Other Forms of Power and Where They Fail. — •
Various forms of farm power have been tried and have
failed. The tread-mill was not a real power, but a
clumsy means of transmitting the limited energy of
some animal. It was unsteady, hard to operate, and
soon became a synonym for drudgery. Sweep power
is hard to move, cumbersome, and usually requires
the exposure of its operators to every storm. The

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

36 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

water wheel is of very restricted application. It may
easily fail in dry weather and, at best, cannot be
moved about. Wind mills are objectionable for the
same reason; also from the unreliable nature of their
motive force. Steam alone has been the only serious
competitor of the horse in general farm work ; still it
is not by any means the ideal farm power.

5. The Ideal Farm Power. — Much of the farmer's
work is done in short runs and at many different
places. His ideal power must be ready at a moment's
notice and must not cost anything to maintain except
wdiile in use. It must be safe, reliable, easy to operate
and portable ; not easily disturbed by weather condi-
tions ; available at any place, indoors or out. Elec-
tricit}^ might avail for all of this excepting portability,
were it more generally to be obtained upon the farm.
It usually is not, unless produced by the borrowed
energy of steam or gasoline engine at a good deal of
waste in transmission or in transforming mechanical
to electrical energy.

6. The One Best Answer. — The gasoline engine is
the only pow^er at the present time that has answ^ered
all of these various demands. It is a wonderfully
flexible power, adapting itself to all conditions. While
the teams are being fed the engine may be started
upon a day's run at the feed mill ; then the operator
is free to go back to breakfast. No fuel is being used,
as is the case with a steam boiler, while steam is
raised. The operator needs no greater mechanical
training than should be considered necessary to
properly run a binder. If power is needed in the
kitchen to operate the washing machine two men can
pick the engine up and take it there. If w^anted in
the farthest corner of the wood lot it can be set on
the farm w^agon and conveyed there without the neces-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

sity of a second or third trip for water tank and fuel;
neither is there a trail of feed-wires to erect. The
driest and calmest weather does not disturb it, nor
does it break away from its moorings in the fiercest
wand. It can be obtained in ^ horse power sizes if
required, while five thousand horse power engines
are in successful operation. It works properly in
zero weather or excessive heat and functions no mat-
ter Avhat the mercury registers. .

Fig. 3.— The Call of the Field for Power Best Met by Modern
Gas Tractor.

7. What It is Actually Doing in the Field. — The

most convincing argument in the world is achieve-
ment. Let us see what the gasoline engine has
actually done ; what it is now doing on the farm. In
parts of the West where best known, it is driving the
steam tractor from the field; is plowing, harrowing
and seeding all in one operation, by the square mile
instead of by the acre, and is doing the work better,
as well as quicker and cheaper, than horse power can
do it. It is harvesting the grain when the fields are
too soft to carry the ordinary binder and when the

38 The Gasoline Engine on the-Farm

steam tractor would be helpless ; then, after thresh-
ing, it is conveying a part to market and converting
the balance into the most available form for feeding
cattle. It is loading hay in the fields and then un-
loading it in the barns or placing it in stacks. With-
out fear of hunger or thirst, it turns away from its
source of supplies and requires no procession of fuel
and water wagons to follow upon its trail. If the
season is short or the weather threatening, it turns
the night into day with its own headlight and lives
its working life in twenty-four-hour days as cheer-
fully as in periods of eight or ten. Where necessary
it has run without stopping from ^Monday morning
until Saturday night with hardly an hour's attention
during the entire time.

8. As General Utility Man.— The gasoline engine
is irrigating fields and putting on the finishing touches
of success where drought and failure threatened. It
is annually saving to the world thousands of dollars
worth of fruit from the ravages of fungus and insect.
It is digging the farmer's post-holes ; it is cutting his
wood and hauling it to the sheds. It is taking out
of farm life much of that drudgery Avhich destroys
human life more through dreariness than through ex-
pended energy. Perhaps its greatest value is in the
every-day, humble occupations, and from these it
never shirks.

9. In the Kitchen.— Unlike the general run of
labor-saving implements] the work of the gasoline
engine is not completed in the field. It runs the
washer and wringer for the housewife with ease,
pumps the water for her, does the churning, skims the
milk, and has even been known to sweep the floor,
clean the carpet, wash the windows and the dinner
dishes. In numberless ways, after doing the heavy

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 39

field work, it has lightened the burden for some tired
or semi-invalid housewife and added that touch of
leisure or of beauty to the house or lawn so dear to
the heart of the farm girl.

10. With the Boy of the Farm. — Between the gaso-
line engine and the boy of the farm there seems to be
a special bond of sympathy that removes from the
latter those terrors of wood-pile and grindstone that
drove his older brother from the farm. It silences
the call of the city by rendering farm life the more
attractive of the two. The boy is progressive unless
his ambition is crushed out with hard work. His
school life feeds his ambition and the farm must either
keep up with his love of progress or he will grow
away from it. The engine is the boy's confidant and
friend, for it develops in him that love of machinery
upon which is based the world's achievements.

11. The Hired Man Problem. — Modern farm work
has outgrown the capacities of a single pair of hands.
The hired man is a necessity; but where the number
of places needing him is so greatly in excess of the
supply of desirable men, it is but natural that the
farm which is best equipped for the elimination of
drudgery is most attractive to the most progressive
men. The engine is making it more desirable by mak-
ing it more efficient ; by shifting the drudgery of
physical routine to the alertness of applied intelli-
gence; for drudgery always dulls the intellect and
produces the lowest form of efficiency.

12. The Greatest Mission of All. — The gasoline en-
gine has done all this ; it is doing still more. Many
of to-day's important industrial problems originate
upon the farm and depend upon its productiveness, its
extension, and its life for their solution. As the pro-
portion of workers remaining on the farm becomes

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

less, their importance to those who have left it be-
comes greater, and nothing raises the standard of civil-
ization in any community so quickly as a decrease in
the cost of power ; a conserving of human life by sur-
rounding its workers with better conditions, which
have been robbed of drudgery and no longer dwarf the
intellectual man. The highest form of conservation
applies to the world's men and women more than to
her raw material. Manual labor has become too slow

Fig. 4.— The Alan With the Hoe of To-day.

and it accomplishes too little ; it cannot keep up with
the demand. The only true economy in the use of
human energy lies in putting it to some more produc-
tive work than that a machine can do as w^ell and
twenty times as fast. The true place for the man him-
self is at the controlling lever, where more than auto-
matic machine action is needed and where human
intelligence rules supreme. This wonderfully uni-
versal and flexible power is placing the modern

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 41

farmer's work on a higher plane and is turning former
hit-or-miss methods of farming into a definite science.

In its one expression, the automobile, it has given
farm intelligence its rightful place in the social world.
It has broken down the false and undesirable social
barriers that formerly existed between town and coun-
try life and which, in a great measure, have been re-
sponsible for the unpopularity of farm life among both
city and country young people. To-day the best
schools and lecture halls are placed within reach of
the farm door and country youth, surrounded at last
by environments it craved, has made the most of
them. After the hour of intellectual enjoyment they
return to the farm still loyal to it, but with new ideals
and a broader appreciation of life.

The farm house itself, stripped of its atmosphere of
drudgery and grinding toil, becomes an actual home
where culture is no longer impossible. Out of the
added leisure springs an influence of affection and re-
spect that makes the man live a better life because of
the home life from which the boy received his training.

CHAPTER 11.

THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

13. The Principle. — An ordinary shot gun, at the
moment of discharge, dehvers a pressure of about four-
teen tons against the load before it. If we multiply
this pressure by the length of the barrel — that is, by
the distance through which the pressure is exerted —
we have the working energy that the gun can deliver
from one impulse. Three hundred such impulses a
minute would multiply the amount of working energy
or power by that amount. It is probable that the gun,
in one of its earlier types, was the first internal com-
bustion engine ever put to practical use. Such a de-
structive force could not be applied to machinery, but
it set men to thinking that the principle so powerful
in the destruction of life might be made to aid in more
peaceful occupations.

14. The First Engine. — Two hundred and fifty
years ago the Abbe d'Hautefeuille, a French chemist,
began to develop the idea and, about 1680, an engine
of this sort was actually built. It was not a success,
for it required delicate mechanism to feed solid powder
in suitable amounts and at regular intervals to the
combustion chamber, and the grease, soot and sticky
residue soon put this out of working condition.

15. Other Attempts. — Other attempts, usually with
some explosive gas that could be more readily fed
than powder, were experimented w^ith, but it was not
until i860 that a practical working engine was brought

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 43

out. This was the Lenoir engine, in which many of
the features used to-day had a rude beginning ; but the
expense of operating it was so great that its manu-
facture was soon discontinued. This, of course, was
before the day of gasoline.

16. The First Real Success. — The Otto engine,
brought out two years later by a young German, is
generally considered the beginning of the gas engine
industry, although, during the five-year interval be-
tween his first production and the engine that finally
made him famous, several other styles, of greater or
less merit, were announced. These partial successes,
although crude and somewhat unreliable, convinced
the world that there was an assured principle behind
them and that the war implements of the past were
indeed to be beaten into the plowshares of the future.

17. What Internal Combustion Includes. — All heat
engines for which the heat is developed within the
engine cylinder, instead of in a boiler or some outside
receptacle, are internal combustion engines, whether
the fuel used is gunpowder, gas, gasoline, kerosene or
alcohol. For convenience all are usually called gas en-
gines, and they differ little in construction aside from
the variations required to get the different forms of
fuel into the cylinder. Nearly all gasoline engines can
be operated on kerosene by slightly changing the in-
take system ; while the true gas engine differs hardly
at all from the others except in substituting a device
for mixing gas and air in place of the appliances re-
quired to convert the liquid fuels into vapor.

18. The Real Source of Power. — There is a com-
mon belief that the energy hurled against the piston
of a gasoline engine acts as a baseball might act when
thrown against some movable object. This is hardly
the case. The impulse against the piston is due merely

44 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

to the expansion of gases under the intense heat gene-
rated by the sudden combustion, the temperature at
that instant rising to between 2,000° and 3,000° Fahr.,
or enough to melt the iron walls if provision was not
made for quickly cooling them. Only about twenty to
twenty-five per cent, of this heat or thermal energy can
as yet be directed into useful channels, the rest being
wasted. In the use of steam, however, there is even
a greater waste, while animal muscle, though it makes
use of nearly fifty per cent, of its entire thermal energy
during its working period, represents a continuous
loss during idleness which brings the total waste up
to even higher figures.

19. The Complete Cycle Explained. — Unlike the
working energy of the horse, the gasoline engine pro-
duces its power in a series of sudden impulses and,
for each impulse, must accomplish four things : First
the combustible vapor must be drawn into the cylinder
or combustion chamber ; second, this must be com-
pressed ; third, the compressed charge must be fired ;
and, last, the burned gases must be driven from the
cylinder in preparation for the next charge of vapor.
The complete process is called the cycle. Some en-
gines accomplish this with one revolution of the crank,
others with two. As perhaps eighty per cent, of all
engines in use upon the farm are of the latter class, the
actual working operations of the two-revolution, or
four-cycle, engine will be first described.

20. The Four-Cycle Engine. — In the illustration
(Fig. 5), the piston, P, is near the closed end or head
of the cylinder, S ; the exhaust valve, B, which opens
inward, is shown as closed, and during the suction
stroke is held shut by a heavy spring. (See top of
cylinder. Fig 10.) As the piston descends it leaves a
vacuum behind it; in other words, creates a suction

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

which causes the intake valve, A, to open and admit
a charge of the fuel mixture through the intake pipe.
The second or return stroke of the piston compresses
the air and gas already admitted, closing the valve,
A, and keeping it closed against the escape of the gas
and so compressing or condensing the fuel mixture
to the small chamber between the end of the piston at
its highest point and the cylinder head. This is illus-
trated by Fig. 6.

s 6

Fig. 5. — Showing Action of Inlet Valve on Suction Stroke.

Fig. 6. — Piston Nearing End of Compression Stroke. Position

Just Prior to Ignition.

When the piston has returned to its outermost point
(or a little before, in actual practice), the highly com-
pressed fuel is fired and the intense heat is turned
loose upon the task of expanding the confined gases
and hurling them against the piston, now just entering
upon its third or real power stroke, illustrated at Fig,
7. The impetus received from this carries the engine
through the return or discharge stroke (Fig. 8), dur-
ing which the exhaust valve, 3, is opened by mechani-
cal means. These four strokes or two revolutions of
the crank shaft complete the cycle of the four-cycle
engine.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

21. Two-Cycle and Four-Cycle Engines Compared.

— In the two-cycle engine all of these operations are
accomplished with one revolution of the crank shaft
or two strokes of the piston. Theoretically it has
several important advantages over the four-cycle, and
may in time become the more popular engine of the
two. As it gets a power impulse with every revolu-
tion there is less tendency to speed variation and it
does not require such heavy balance wheels to carry

Fig. 7. — Piston Descending on Power Stroke.
Fig. 8. — Depicting Action of Exhaust Vahe on Scavenging

Stroke.

it through the intervening periods. For the same rea-
son the power is considerably increased for the weight
of the engine. The valves are in part or wdiolly dis-
pensed with and a long chapter of trouble from their
fouling or warping with the heat is avoided. The
two-cycle engine has fewer moving parts, less oppor-
tunity for wear and is easier to understand. Because
of the greater frequency of explosions it is smioother
running than a four-cycle engine having the same num-
ber of cylinders.

22. Why the Four-Cycle Engine Is Preferred. —
In practice, however, it has not been found possible

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 47

to rid the combustion chamber of burned gases in the
small part of a stroke the two-cycle engine devotes
to that work ; neither does it, in the hurried blending
of operations, take in a proper supply of fuel and,
though it takes up a charge twice as often, it does not
make as good use of it or give out proportional re-
sults. So, while the two-cycle engine gives out more
power for a given number of pounds of engine, the
four-cycle delivers greater power from a certain quan-
tity of fuel ; and fuel, of course, represents a definite,
continuous expense. The crank case, too, of the
simpler two-cycle motors has to be gas tight and con-
siderable difficulty obtains in keeping it tight after
the bearings become worn around the shaft which
extends through them. At the present stage of de-
velopment the two-cycle engine has a great number
of theoretical advantages, but the features of the four-
cycle power plant are of greater importance in prac-
tical field work.

23. Six- and Eight-cycle Engines. — Six-cycle en-
gines have been manufactured on a small scale, the
two extra strokes being devoted to the discharge of
all burnt gases and the admission of pure air. Even
an eight-cycle engine was recently announced. Their
advantages, however, are so questionable and their use
so much of an experiment that at the present time
they may be regarded as more of a curiosity than
anything of practical importance.

24. The Vital Parts. — Every gasoline engine of
whatever form, in order to convert the energy of com-
bustion into working energy, must have a receptacle
for the confinement and explosion of the gases ; a
means of introducing the fuel to its place in proper
quantities ; a system of firing the charge, and a mov-
able plunger to receive the impulse and convert it into

48 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

mechanical motion. These may be considered the
vital parts of the engine. Then there is the frame nec-
essary for its support and for keeping the other parts
together in their relative positions.

25. Other Necessary Components. — There are cer-
tain parts which do not enter directly into the opera-
tions of the cycle, that are none the less essential to
continuous operation. A crank shaft is necessary to
convert sliding into rotary motion and a belt pulley

Fig. 9. — Sectional View of Reeves Horizontal Engine, Illustrat-
ing All Important Parts of Modern Gas Motor.

or some substitute is needed to transmit it. A con-
necting rod between piston and shaft is a necessity ;
also a piston pin ; some form of governor to regulate
the speed ; valves to admit and retain the gases, and
a timing mechanism to regulate the operation of the
various parts in unison with each other.

26. Conveniences Which Are Necessities. — Some of
the conveniences, too, are so essential to the continu-
ous operation of the engine that they may almost be
considered necessary, although they take no direct

Ti-iE Gasoline Engine on the Farm 49

EXHAUST VALVE SPRING m5HfR'W

EXHAUST VALVE LEVER
VALVE ROD HEAD

16NIT0R TRIP ROLLER

IQNITOR TRIP CLAMP

Fig. 10. — Sectional View of Vertical Engine, Showing Important
Components.

part in the operations. Chief among these is a fuel
tank, without which the time of the operator would
be constantly taken up in introducing liquid to the
intake system. Cooling provisions must be made un-

50 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

less one is willing to shut down frequently or else stand
beside the engine with dipper and pail. Except for
the piston lubricator, no other oiling provisions are
necessary than occasional oil-holes over the bearings,
but the life and efficiency of both engine and operator
will be greatly extended by the use of lubricating cups.
Other attachments or trimmings, which may be luxur-
ies with some engines or in certain lines of work,
become actual necessities under other circumstances.
27. Other General Types. — Besides the vertical and
horizontal engines, there are several kinds made for
special purposes which are so constant in some char-
acteristics with all makers that they may be classed as
distinct types ; the marine engine, made without base
and designed particularly to meet the requirements of
the motor boat ; the automobile engine, also lacking
the solid base that characterizes the farm and factory
engine and introducing the opposed cylinder principle
in which two or four cylinders are arranged to counter-
act each other's vibration imder the power impulse,
and to give the crank shaft an impulse in the one
direction, while the resistance of compression is being
exercised from the opposite side. The motor-cycle
engine might also be included as an extreme type of
light and baseless engine, though the last word of all
in point of lightness is spoken by the aviator's motor,
some types of which have been created w^ith a capacity
of one horse-power per 3 pounds weight. With the
possible exception of the automobile and motor-cycle
engines, none of the above are entitled to a legitimate
place upon the farm.

CHAPTER III.

THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER.

28. Functions of the Cylinder. — The primary mis-
sion of the engine cyHnder is receptive rather than
operative. It is the gun barrel into which the fuel
is introduced and wherein the gases are expanded by
the heat of combustion until they exrert a tremendous
energy in their struggle to occupy a much larger space
than they did before the heating took place. This
energy, hurled against a movable piston at one end
and confined between rigid walls in all other direc-
tions, forces the sliding metal back with so much
energy that the crank shaft to which it is attached at
the outer end is carried past its center and far upon
the return stroke against the burned-out gases which
have as quickly lost most of their heat and power
of resistance.

A second service of the cylinder is the confinement
of the fuel gases at a point where they will be com-
pacted by the up-stroke of the piston and in that
compressed form fired by the spark.

29. The Influence of the Cylinder Upon the En-
gine.— The position of the cylinder determines
whether the engine is to be horizontal or vertical in
form and fixes in a great measure the power and spe-
cial line of work to which it will be best adapted
when finished.

In this chamber all operations which originate or
represent force are transformed into power.

52 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

30. The Best Material. — The best gray cast iron
is now favored for the cyHnder. This is an iron
which contains sufficient graphitic carbon, that is uni-
form of texture, and which is reasonably free from
phosphorus and sulphur. Patches of light and dark
grav are serious defects, as they indicate a difference
in texture wdiich may result in uneven expansion un-
der high temperatures. An engine cylinder must
stand a temperature which varies from about normal
to very little below the melting point of iron and, in
order to expand evenly, must be of absolutely the
same material in all its parts. Cheap iron may look
as well as any other, but it will contain weak places
which the extremes of heat and pressure developed in
the cylinder are sure to find.

31. The Work of the Foundry. — Engine cylinders
must be well cast. Dirt pockets or blow-holes are not
permissible. In order to insure prompt cooling the
walls have to be as thin as the stress upon them will
permit, and such thin castings have to be poured much
hotter than heavier pieces in order to prevent the
smaller stream of metal from getting too sluggish
to fill out the corners of the mould well. At this stage
of engine building the little defects must be particu-
larly guarded against, the air bubble, the bit of un-
fusible foreign matter, the sand scale, the unfilled cor-
ner. Even with the best of foundry work, a good
many cylinders that come from the mould smooth and
seemingly perfect must later be rejected because of
defects that are disclosed by the lathe. The care re-
quired at this stage, and the extra cost in production
it sometimes occasions, should not be lost sight of by
the man who wants to buy a good engine, but who is
inclined to be unduly influenced by a low price.

32. Boring the Cylinder. — Even greater care, if

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 53

anything, is needed in the boring and finishing of the
casting and a good many inferior engines originate
through a cheapening of this process, either to meet
the demand for a low-priced article or through the
practice which some amateur machinists have of buy-
ing the castings and finishing them up themselves.

The casting to be bored must have absolutely rigid
support : there must be no spring. The bore must also
be a true circle and perfectly centered so that all of
the wall surface will be of uniform thickness. The
first cut is made quite heavy; then in the best made
engine cylinders the casting is removed from the lathe
and allowed to ''rest" for from 30 to 60 days ; this to
allow all molecular strains and stresses to "season
out." Then a second cut is made, very much lighter
than the first and intended mainly to remove the drill
marks of the coarser tool. Some makers follow this
by a third cut, which is exceedingly fine. The final
cut is followed in most of the best engines with a fine
emerv wheel revolving at a very high speed and re-
moving the last one-thousandth of an inch of cut with
almost mathematical precision. This accuracy must
obtain the full length of the cylinder and the bore
must not vary in size or from its circular form. Be-
cause of the vibration set up in the grinding machine
by the high speed and the solidity with which the
work must be held against the tool so that there is
no springing away from any hard spot in the metal,
it is very necessary that the machine frame be rigid
far in excess of the requirements for such seemingly
light work.

A few manufacturers argue against the grinding
method, partly on account of its cost and the heavy
machinery required, and partly because of the possi-
bility that particles of emery and abrading powder

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

may remain in the cylinder walls to score them or the
piston when in use. ]\Iost of the best grade engine
cylinders, though, are finished in this manner. What-
ever process is used, the walls should be left entirely
free of tool or chatter marks, and with a mirror sur-
face. Fig. II illustrates a smooth, absolutely straight
wall (indicated at c), as it should be. At a and b are
shown respectively high and low spots caused by the
springing of the thin cylinder walls as the boring tool

Fig. II. — Illustrating Defects Liable In Boring Cylinder. Com-
pare Defective Spots Shown at a and b With Perfect
Wall at c.

passed over hard and soft places in the metal. Per-
fect compression can never be obtained in a cylinder
like that.

A ground cylinder, if properly finished, gives as
nearly perfect results as we can hope to attain and
at the same time the small sharp particles of the
vitrified grinding wheel do their work by means of
so many and such rapidly moving points that the
walls are left smooth as a mirror and absolutely true,
since there is practically no pressure put upon them.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farai 55

Lapping and all forms of smoothing out with powdered
glass or other abrasing material, while fairly effective
if well done, require very careful cleaning, as any of
the cutting material left in the cylinder w^ould be
likely to continue its work of scoring upon both
cylinder and piston.

33. Severe Duty as Combustion Chamber. — Of its
several functions, that of combustion chamber is more
exacting than any other to which the cylinder is sub-
ject on account of both the excessive temperature and
the pressure. While neither of these can be very
accurately determined, it is generally considered that
an initial pressure of around 350 pounds per square
inch gives the most economical results, while it is
probable that at the moment of discharge the tempera-
ture developed inside the cylinder varies between 2,000
and 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, depending a great deal
upon compression, hotness of spark, correctness of
the mixture, etc.

34. What Compression Is. — A bit of gun cotton,
fluffed into a light mass, may be ignited without danger
on the palm of the hand. The same mass, confined
in the barrel of a gun, would hurl a charge out through
the muzzle with considerable force. In the one case
the expansive gases are free to escape without hin-
drance. In the other the force is confined. The
amount of gas is the same in both cases but the ex-
pansion is more violent in its results because of the
momentary compression. Let us now ram into the
gun barrel all the gun cotton that can be crowded
into the same space under pressure ; probably several
times as much as was in the first charge. When the
gun is fired we have several times the quantity of
gas expanding suddenly in the same fixed space
and the firing charge is either hurled out w^th

56 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

tremendous energy or else the barrel itself must
burst.

35. Compression in the Gasoline Engine. — When
the piston of the gasoline engine has reached its high-
est or inner point there is a short air space between
it and the end of the cylinder, usually about one-fifth
of the entire cylinder volume. If we now opened the
inlet valve and allow^ed the fuel vapor to enter, it
w^ould fill this space until the internal pressure equaled
that of the air on the outside, or about 14.7 lbs. to the
square inch ; then no more fuel would enter. By fir-
ing this charge, that is, raising the temperature to the
combustion point, the gas would be expanded until
it occupied several times its original volume and the
pressure or forward thrust against the piston would
be, we Avill say, something like 90 lbs. per square
inch of surface. This, working against the normal at-
mospheric pressure of 14.7 lbs., would leave us 75 lbs.
of active working energy.

Before firing the charge let us now, with the intake
valve still open, advance the piston to the outer end
of its stroke and so increase to five times its first
dimensions the receptacle for fuel gas. This greater
area, like the other, fills to the point of atmospheric
pressure ; then we turn the piston back to the end of
its inner stroke.

36. How the Charge Is Compressed. — As soon as
the gas fills the cylinder and is pressed upon by the
returning piston it closes the intake valve. It cannot
escape in that way. The rings prevent its slipping
out between the cylinder walls and the piston. It is
simply forced or pressed together as the gun cotton
was pressed, until, when the piston is at the end of
its inner stroke, the gas has been compacted into
about one-fifth of its normal volume and consequently

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 57

is struggling to escape with force five times greater
than atmospheric pressure or nearly 80 pounds per
square inch. We now fire the charge and the ex-
panding gases call for nearly five times greater space
than before, bringing the theoretical w^orking pressure
hurled against each square inch of the piston head
up to over 400 pounds. Deducting the original atmos-
pheric pressure from this, we have a working energy
of about 400 pounds per square inch of piston head
surface.

37. Compression Limits. — If the working energy
of the fuel may be rendered so much more available
by a moderate compression it would seem that we
might increase our power almost indefinitely by di-
minishing the clearance volume of the cylinder, but
in practice it is found that this can be done only
within moderate limits. After a certain amount of
compression has been done the resistance of the gas
becomes so great that it uses up as much power in
compressing it as we gain by the higher compressed
charge. Of still greater importance is the fact that
the compression of gas introduces considerable heat
and the moment we carry this process beyond a cer-
tain point so much heat is generated that the fuel is
fired before the piston reaches its proper position. In
other w^ords, if we carry the compression of gasoline
much beyond 100 pounds, the charge is liable to be
fired against the ascending piston b}^ the developed
heat, thus reducing instead of increasing the work-
ing energy of the engine by hurling one impulse
against another.

38. Where Higher Compression Is Useful. — Where
alcohol is used as a fuel it is found that the compres-
sion may be run much higher without danger of pre-
ignition ; in fact, an alcohol engine to work efficiently

58 The Gasoline Engine on the Farai

requires a compression of something like 140 lbs. per
square inch.

It has been suggested, too, and has been a dream
with gasoline engine men, that some means of shift-
ing adjustment might be introduced whereby an igni-
tion temperature would just be generated at the point
where the charge ought to be fired. This would do
away with the necessity of batteries, magneto, or any
other firing device. Promising experiments have been
conducted along these lines, but as yet the promises
have only been realized in part.

39. Compression Gains and Losses. — Since inter-
nal combustion engines are heat engines, and the heat
we are obliged to dissipate in order to protect the
cylinder and its associates is wasted energy, it fol-
lows that the smaller the surface we are forced to cool
without sacrifice of temperature the more we gain in
efficiency. This is another reason why compression
adds to the efficiency of the engine, the real combus-
tion chamber being practically confined to that small
portion of the cylinder into which the fuel is com-
pressed at the moment the charge is fired.

'Tt has been shown that an ideal efficiency of 33
per cent, for 38 lbs. compression will increase to 40
per cent, for 66 lbs., and 43 per cent, for 88 lbs. com-
pression. On the other hand, greater compression
means greater explosive pressure and greater strain
on the engine structure, which wall probably retain,
in future practice, the compression between the limits
of 40 and 80 lbs.

'Tn experiments made by Dugald Clerk in England,
with a combustion chamber equal to 0.6 of the space
swept by the piston, with a compression of 38 lbs.,
the consumption of gas was 24 cubic feet per indi-
cated horse-power per hour. With 0.4 compression

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 59

space and 61 lbs. compression, the consumption of gas
was 20 cubic feet per indicated horse-power per hour ;
and with 0.34 compression space and 87 lbs. compres-
sion, the consumption of gas fell to 14.8 cubic feet
per indicated horse-power per hour — the actual effi-
ciencies being respectively 17, 21 and 25 per cent."
Gardner D. Hiscox, in "Gas, Gasoline and Oil
Engines."

40. Clearance. — Between the top of the piston at
the instant of its extreme inner stroke and the closed
end of the cylinder is a space into which the charge
is compressed. This is the "clearance" of the engine
and it usually amoimts to about twenty or .twenty-five
per cent, of the combustion chamber, the exact per-
centage of course determining the compression of the
engine, provided rings and valves are doing their
work properly.

41. Faulty Compression. — While a gasoline engine
can be operated without compression, it is always done
to the tune of extravagantly wasted fuel and without
the satisfaction of accomplishment. Such an engine
has very little power, so it is evident that any faults
of compression are eliminated only at the expense of
both the fuel tank and the belt wheel. Faulty com-
pression is generally due to a worn or badly seating
valve or piston ring, or to some leak in cylinder walls
or piston. Blow holes in the castings will cause it ;
so will rings that are rough upon the edges or either
too narrow or too wide for the grooves they occupy.
If the ring is too wide the edges bind in the groove
and keep it from opening freely against the cylinder
walls ; if too narrow, so that there is a little end play
in the groove, there is an instant of time at the dead-
center of the inner stroke when the ring pressure shifts
from one side to the other of the groove, at the in-

6o The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

stant that the piston reverses its motion. During this
period the ring touches neither side and permits a brief
but many times repeated leakage of highly compressed
gas or of the explosive force w^hich has just been de-
livered against the piston. Dirty, gummy rings cause
similar trouble. A ring must work absolutely free,
but without any reciprocating or end motion, in order
to do its work properly.

42. Testing Compression. — The compression of a
five H. P. engine should as a rule be too great to
permit of the wheel being turned. over by hand with-
out opening the relief cock in the cylinder, while even
a one and two horse engine should put vip stiff oppo-
sition. By holding the piston of the engine at the end
of the compression stroke for a few moments the
amount of compression leakage at the most critical
point may be determined but it must be remembered
that this test alone does not determine the oper-
ating compression of the engine, as many leaks
which do not appear at this point may cause trou-
ble at some other place or while the parts are in
motion.

A hissing sound is indication of a leak somewhere
and, by listening at the inner and outer end, the leak
can frequentl}^ be located at once. If it comes from
the lower or open end of the cylinder the fault is
somewhere about the piston, its rings or the castings ;
or perhaps a worn or scored cylinder wall, or one that
is not true. If the sound seems to come from the
other end of the cylinder, test the exhaust valve and
see that it seats properly; also, that the stem works
easily in the guide. Make this test while the engine
is at running heat, then try the intake valve. A little
soapy water may sometimes help in determining the
leak, the escaping gas creating bubbles. Sometimes

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 6i

a broken thread on the spark plug will cause a leak
around its base.

If the cylinder and head are cast in two
separate pieces the joint and packing between
them should be carefully examined. In a two-
cycle engine worn crank shaft bearings are as
troublesome avenues of leakage as the piston
rings in a four-cycle engine. Where the leak
is external it should not be difficult to locate, but in
case of an internal leak into an enclosed crank case, a
water jacket, a muffler or some other hidden part of
the engine, it sometimes becomes quite a puzzling
problem, but the search should be persisted in until
the trouble is found, as otherwise serious damage may
result.

Leaks in multi-cylinder engines are more difficult
to locate than in a single cylinder, the compression
strokes frequently overlapping or blending together.
This difficulty may be overcome by removing the spark
plugs of all but one cylinder ; then turn the wheel over
and note the compression in that. If satisfactory, re-
move the remaining plug and place it in one of the
other cylinders, which may then be tested, until all
are tried. The source of leak once located, the remedy
is self-evident.

43. Decreasing the Clearance. — The crank shaft
bearings always wear away most rapidly on the side
opposite the cylinder and through wear the piston
may be drawn farther out and so increase the clear-
ance or compression space and weaken the pressure.
Metal disks have sometimes been bolted to the end of
the piston in order to overcome this but the remedy is
objectionable, as are all other remedies wdiich intro-
duce bolts into the combustion chamber. Another way
is to lengthen the connecting rod, but it would seem

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

that the simplest and cheapest method would be to
restore the worn bearings to the condition thought
necessary by the designer. Changes of this sort should
be made with a good deal of caution by the amateur
engine operator, but when one is certain the compres-

EXHAUST PORT
J

Fig. 12. — Sectional View of I. H. C. Engine Cylinder, Showing
Water Jacket and Vahe System.

sion is really defective one should not hesitate to adopt
any necessary remedy.

44. Increasing Power by Decreasing Clearance. —
While less clearance means greater compression and
more power within certain limits, there will come a
time when the extra power generated will be more
than absorbed in making the extra compression, even
if the fuel used does not limit the point to which the
process may be carried. Up to this limit, however,
or to the point wdiere the increased temperature causes
pre-ignition, this resistance against the ascent of the
piston, or negative stroke, as it is termed, is not with-
out its use. Were the power stroke of the engine
allowed to exert its force entirely against the solid
mechanism, the strain and jerky effect w^ould be far
more pronounced than it is when finally caught in

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 63

part against this elastic cushion of compressed gas.

45. Lubricating the Cylinder. — The requirements
which gas engine cylinder oil must meet are so dif-
ferent from those of the steam engine cylinder that
to use the very best oil suitable for the latter might
])e worse for a gas engine than to use none at all.
In the first place, the temperature of the combustion
chamber is so great that ordinary oil is burned up at
once, before it has a chance to do its work as a
lubricant. Then the combustion leaves a residue of
carbon and dirt which in themselves do harm. Steam
engine cylinder oil must not be used in the gasoline
engine cylinder, even for a short run. To this rule
there is positively no exception; at least not for the
novice. The subject of proper and improper oil is
fully discussed in another chapter. A word here is
sufficient in explanation of how the oil should be
introduced.

All parts of the cylinder requiring oil are usually
reached through the lubricator which oils the piston
and its rings, the oil dropping or being forced through
its channel upon the piston rings which scrape and
spread it over the surrounding surface of the cylinder
against which they press. No other part of the sur-
face needs oil.

The system of oiling the cylinder through the fuel
mixture, wdiich is becoming more and more popular,
is fully described under its proper head.

46. Carbonizing, Its Cause and Effects. — The best
of oil, under the test which is placed upon it by
gasoline engine temperatures, is very quickly con-
sumed, though not, in the case of good oil, until it
has had time to accomplish its mission. The best of
oil contains some carbon, w^hich is released by the
process of combustion and spreads itself over all sur-

64 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

faces to which it has access, the piston head, the rings,
the cylinder walls and combustion chamber, the valves
and the muffler. A glance into the muffler of an en-
gine wdiich has been long in operation will show the
extent and nature of this deposit. Inside the cylinder,
however, it is subject to the alternate influence of
moisture and baking heat, and eventually a hard, slaty
shell may be formed in some parts while in others the
deposit w^ll be more of a tarry, sticky nature. In either
of these forms the free action of the valves or the
rings is likely to be interfered with. This alone occa-
sions many gas and pressure leaks.

Scaly projections of this coating are liable to be-
come in part detached and to so stand out that they
receive the entire heat impulse without being in con-
tact with any cooling influence. In this condition
they quickly become heated to a dull red and, after
the fuel charge is inhaled by the down stroke of the
piston, as compression begins and the temperature in-
creases on the upstroke, these living coals may fire
the charge against the ascending piston, not only
wasting the power impulse, but extending it directly
against the proper working of the engine. This is one
of the most common causes of pre-ignition.

This heavy scale of hard carbon, too, may interfere
seriously with the cooling of the cylinder walls and
cause heating of piston or cylinder. Carbon in the
cylinder is one of the most frequent troubles with
which the gasoline engine man has to contend.

The lubricating oil is not the only source of these
cylinder deposits. An excess of oil may cause them,
or too much gasoline. All the gasoline vapor wdiich
fails to find sufficient oxygen from the air supply to
produce carbonic acid, carbonic oxide and water will
deposit free carbon, providing the heat is great enough

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 65

Fig. 13.— Sectional View of Air Cooled Motor. Figures De-
note Following Parts : 12 — Crankshaft. 14— Oil Pipe. 19 —
Petcock for Compression Release. 20 — Valve Spring Key.
21 — Valve Washer. 22 — Inlet Valve Spring. 23 — Inlet
Valve Guide. 24— Intake Valve. 25 — Valve Cage. 26 —
Sparkplug. 27 — Sparkplug Porcelain. 28 — Exhaust Valve.
29— Exhaust Valve Seat. 30 — Exhaust Valve Guide. 31—
Exhaust Valve Stem. 2>^ — Exhaust Spring. 34 — Exhaust
Operating Rod. 35 — Cam Roller. 36 — Timer Cover Screw.
Zl — Contact Spring. 38 — Timer Advance Lever. 41 — Tim-
ing Pinion. 42 — Cam Gear. 43 — Drain Cock. 44 — Pipe
Regulating Oil Level. 45 — Gear Operating Shaft. 46--Cam-
sliaft for Exhaust. 48— Piston. 50 — Oil Groove.

66 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

to break up the gasoline formation. To this silicon
and various impurities of the air are added.

47. Symptoms of Carbon Deposit. — Pre-ignition is
one symptom of carbon. It is announced by the
knocking of the engine the same as when the spark
is advanced too much. Back-firing is frequently
caused by carbon holding the valve from closing. Mis-
firing may be occasioned by carbon short-circuiting
spark plugs or by the gap between the points being en-
tirely closed. Usually only a part of the current is
short-circuited; then the spark is weak and the igni-
tion irregular. One of the most characteristic symp-
toms of carbon deposit is the presence of plenty of
power at high speeds but little when speed is re-
duced and load thrown on. This is due to the fact
that the carbon causes pre-ignition when the speed is
slow while at high' speed an advance of the firing
instant is not great enough to catch the rapidly mov-
ing piston on the up-stroke with an}^ retarding force.

48. Cleaning the Cylinder. — At least once or twice
a year the piston should be taken from the cylinder
and all carbon deposits thoroughly removed. If the
head is removable it is a comparatively easy matter
to thoroughly clean all parts. Kerosene is one of the
best liquid cleansers. Do not use gasoline, as it de-
stroys the smooth mirror glaze with which the iron
walls have become polished and leaves the original
porous surface of new iron. Do nothing to destroy
or break up this glaze. Besides, gasoline is not as
good a solvent of carbon as kerosene, which is less
harsh in action.

When the deposits are very hard, scraping may
have to be resorted to. This should be done thor-
oughly but with care not to injure the surface of the
cylinder or to scratch the walls. Particularly should

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm ^'j

care be taken to remove all loosened scales and par-
ticles, if necessary using kerosene in a closed end
cylinder. A cylinder should seldom be opened up.
When it is done, let the cleaning be thorough. Note
specially the nature of the deposits and so form an
estimate of the brand of lubricant in use.

49. Removing the Cylinder. — So many different
patterns exist, only the most general rules can be given
for this. All pipes should first be disconnected from
the cylinder casting, water pipe, exhaust pipe, etc.,
then the bolts holding it to the crank-case may be
loosened and cylinder removed ; or, it may be neces-
sary to loosen and remove piston. In either case great
care must be taken not to injure the piston or rings.
If the head is removable place that and the nuts which
are taken off wnth it in a bath of kerosene while
scraping and cleaning the cylinder walls. Copper,
soft steel or bronze tools should be used for scrap-
ing. Never insert chisel or other tool between head
and cylinder to pry the head loose.

50. Reassembling the Engine. — In rebolting the
closed end cylinder to its base, or the removable head
to the cylinder care should always be taken to avoid
throwing excessive strain on any one bolt alone.
Tighten all up together, or nearly so, and avoid danger
of a cracked casting.

To return the piston and rings to the cylinder easily,
compress each ring tightly to its groove and fasten
it there by wrapping each with a separate coil of soft
copper wire. Insert piston head in cylinder and ad-
vance carefully. As each coil of wire is reached it is
forced ahead of the end of cylinder, toward the lower
end of piston after the ring has been entered into
place enough to be secured. Finally the wires will
all be slipped down upon the connecting rod, from

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Oh
>

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 69

which they may be readily removed. This saves much
trouble in compressing and holding in place several
unruly and delicate rings.

51. Packing the Cylinder Head. — Blown-out or
defective cylinder packing has been the cause of as
much profanity among gas engine users probably as
any one source of trouble, not even barring the igni-
tion system. The avoidance of this trouble should
begin at the factory, in the construction of the engine;
if not there, then in its selection. See that all packed
joints are held with studs and not with cap screws ;
and that the studs are ample in size. A little care-
lessness and an ordinary monkey wrench may twist
off a ^^-inch stud quite easily, although that is a size
made use of by a good many builders of small en-
gines. A ^-inch stud is quite likely to take care of
itself.

52. Material to Employ. — All rubber or other
packing injured by heat is barred from use around
the combustion end of the gasoline engine cylinder.
Ordinary asbestos mill board is as good as anything
if applied right, and is much cheaper than the wire
wove and other special brands. One sheet of i/32-in.
mill board is usually enough and if a thicker pack-
ing is needed, two sheets of this thickness are better
than one of a heavier grade. Copper-asbestos pack-
ings, in which a piece of asbestos board is sandwiched
between two layers of copper sheeting, are the best.

As soon as the head is removed from the C3dinder
the old packing should be scraped and cleaned off
thoroughly before it has time to dry. The surface
must be perfectly smooth and level if a tight joint
is expected.

Do not mark out the new packing by hammering
the sheet material lightly against the face of the cyl-

70 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

inder head. A few such treatments are almost certain
to send the head back to the lathe for refacing. By
laying the sheet upon the faced side of the head and
rubbing along all edges with the finger a sufficiently
distinct mark will be made; then lay sheet upon a
clean board and cut out with a sharp knife. Dip the
sheet in boiled linseed oil but do not allow it to soak
long or the asbestos fibres will have a tendency to
separate. If one side is coated with a good quality
of flake plumbago it will detach readily from head
when next removed and will be fit to use again. In case
a packing is specially difficult to hold, shellac is some-
times added. Allow no fragments or edges of pack-
ing to project into the combustion chamber or they
may heat and cause pre-ignition and be careful that no
ragged edges project into water ports or gas openings.

53. Cleaning Cylinder Without Removing Head. —
If not convenient to shut down for a complete clean-
ing of the cylinder a very effective temporary method
which has been known to answer for some time is
to work equal parts of alcohol and carbon disulphide
into the cylinder through the lubricator. This acts
quicker without oil but enough of the latter must be
included to keep the cylinder from cutting while the
other is being applied.

By pouring alcohol and kerosene in equal quantities
into the top of the cylinder slowly when shutting down
at night the carbon may also be loosened ; then do not
be deceived into thinking the oil bad the next day on
account of the dense smoke which rolls out of the
muffler.

Where scraping must be resorted to it may be done
through any small opening in the top of the cylinder
by use of a mirror to reflect the light, or by intro-
ducing a small incandescent bulb. The scraping can

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 71

then be done by means of soft steel wires the ends of
which have been fashioned into sharp scrapers or
hoes bent at different angles. Never use hard, brittle
material for this purpose, or any metal that might frac-
ture and leave fragments in the cylinder.

CHAPTER IV.
THE PISTON AND AUXILIARY PARTS.

54. The Piston's Several Functions. — Upon the
smooth fit of the piston and its rings depend the four
important functions of drawing in the fuel vapor, com-
pressing the charge, receiving the impulse and convert-
ting it into mechanical action, and scavenging out the
cyHnder in advance of the next cycle. More care is
required to secure a perfect fit for the piston in the
cylinder and the rings in their grooves and against
the cylinder walls than in any other part of the en-
gine, for, without the highest degree of efficiency at
this point, the full power of the most carefully con-
structed engine can never be developed. Use will fre-
quently improve a set of poorly fitting rings but will
seldom if ever make them as efficient as they would
have been if properly fitted in the first place.

55. Construction of Piston. — The piston may be
described as a short cylinder closed at one end by a
flat head, open at the other and attached to the con-
necting rod at the center by a pivot or piston-pin. Be-
tween the head and the piston-pin a number of grooves
are cut around the outside of the piston for the re-
ception of the rings. These vary in number with dif-
ferent engine builders, three or four being usually
considered enough for small and medium size engines,
with possibly one between the piston-pin and the
open end to assist in the lubrication process.

56. The Best Material. — Pistons should be made

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm /^3

from a close grained gray cast iron, of a texture sim-
ilar to that used in the cylinders in which they work;
then the expansion from heat will be more nearly alike
in each. They must contain no sand holes, blow holes
or other serious foundry imperfections, else there is
likely to develop a troublesome leak which may be
hard to locate.

^Piston ring grooves .^^up joint piston rincs

'^0000

Fig. 15. — Piston of I. H. C. Engine and Rings.

57. Design and Workmanship. — Gasoline engine
pistons must be longer than the pistons of steam en-
gines because the piston rods are not steadied by
guides but are united to the crank shaft through a
single connecting rod. This, without the greater
length, would give a tendency to tilt or rock. From
one to one-and-a-half times the diameter is the length
most favored in the United States, though in Europe
much longer pistons are used, and more rings. Flat
surface piston heads are generall}^ considered best be-
cause they cool more evenly than a curved surface.
Deflecting lips and all projections are defects, as they
are apt to over-heat, often to the point of causing pre-
ignition. Built-up pistons are usually objectionable,
as the bolt heads retain too much heat. The one-piece
piston is best.

58. Piston Rings; Their Purpose. — It would not
be possible to fit a solid block of iron so closely within
the walls of the cylinder that no gas could escape be-
tween them and at the same time keep it loose enough

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

to work easily back and forth at high speed under a
great variation of temperature. This is not attempted.
Instead, the diameter of the finished piston is made
slightly less than the bore of the cylinder and the

Fig. i6. — Longitudinal and Cross Section of Typical Piston.

escape of gases past it is prevented by introducing
expansive rings into grooves cut in the surface of the
piston. The rings should fit closely but smoothly in
their grooves and, by their tendency to expand, should

iiiiiii:r^^iii-iiiiiiipaiiiiiiiiiiii»^ ii^-iiiimi^^

17 18

Fig. 17. — Concentric Ring With Diagonal Cut Joint.

Fig. 18. — Eccentric Ring With Stepped or Lapped Joint.

press lightly against the cylinder walls at all points.
At the same time their elasticity reduces the friction
to the minimum.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 75

59. Construction of Rings. — The ideas of different
engine builders vary greatly as to the best type of
ring in width, thickness and style. Some favor the
concentric (Fig. 17) and others the eccentric type,
shown in Fig. 18. The matter of joints, too, is one
of disagreement, the diagonal and stepped joint each
having its adherents. Good rings, as well as poor ones,
are- made after all of these ideas, and it is for the
engine owner to concern himself with results only,
letting the manufacturer take care of his own means
of obtaining them.

60. The Best Material. — An engine ring has to be
sufficiently elastic to admit of spreading over the end
of the piston into the groove without breaking. This
requires a degree of toughness. Once in its place,
however, it must spring back to its original form ;
hence it must be hard enough to retain its tensile
strength. The happy medium between the two ex-
tremes is rather difficult to find, because iron varies
so much in its grading. A ring that is tough enough
to open without breaking is likely to be too soft to
return to its original shape. One having spring
enough to resume its circular form may easily break in
spreading.

61. Making the Ring. — The best rings are machine
moulded from brass or iron patterns. They are then
more uniform. These castings are tube-shape and the
rings are cut in a lathe from this, a trifle wider than
the groove they are to fill. They are then faced to
a standard width from both sides and a small piece
cut either diagonally across the metal or in the form
of a stepped joint. It is probable that there is very
little difference in the merits of the two when prop-
erly fitted. In the case of eccentric rings the cut is
made in the thin side.

'j^ The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

62. Truing the Ring. — In some cheap engines the
rings, after being cut or spHt, are merely forced to-
gether. Such a ring is not a true circle but assumes
a slightly oval shape, hardly noticeable to the eye. It
bears against the cylinder walls at two points only
and wears them oval, while the rest of the way around
there is a leak because it does not touch. The split
ring ought to be clamped together in a lathe, returned
or ground to a true circle, and then finished up be-
fore it is sprung into place upon the piston. It will
then seat itself evenly in the groove and give a uni-
form outward pressure clear around against the cyl-
inder walls. Even then, if there are hard and soft
spots in the metal, there w^ill be high and low places
in the ring, due to uneven tension, so it is specially
necessary that metal for piston rings be of uniform
texture. Some manufacturers give their rings a spe-
cially desirable surface by a light lapping with pow-
dered glass or grinding with a hard wheel. The abra-
sive must be carefully cleaned ofif after the lapping
is completed or it will adhere to the surface and tend
to cut the walls of the cylinder to some extent.

63. Piston and Ring Defects and Their Remedy. —
Two special remedies may be relied upon to prevent
nearly ever}^ defect of piston and rings ; cleanliness and
lubrication. Unlike other machine bearings, the tem-
perature is so high that ordinary lubricating oil, if
used on the piston, is carbonized before its mission
is accomplished, while every flash of the fuel in the
presence of poor oil deposits a new layer of carbon,
gum and trouble-breeding residue. The best of gaso-
line engine cylinder oil must be used at this point or
there is sure to be trouble. All modern gasoline en-
gines have some provision (see Fig. 19) for feeding the
oil in a small but continuous supply against the piston

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

and the rings and then spreading it over the cylinder
walls. Even a very brief failure of the supply, on
account of a clogged oil tube or empty cup, may set
the piston or cylinder to cutting and render reboring
necessary ; or disaster may come to the piston rings in-
stead; as the oil is very quickly burned up, leaving
the surface hot and dry after each flash. Since the
engine may continue to v^ork for some time without
complaint while it is being ruined, this point, of all
others, should be watched most closely.

Fig. 19. — Piston Pin Oil Feed.

64. The Dirt Menace. — Cleanliness depends a great
deal upon the cjuality of the lubricating oil used, but,
even with the best of oil, the rings will become so
coated in time with sticky or baked residue that they
no longer close or expand freely in the groove ; then
compression will be incomplete and much of the power
impulse will blow past the rings and piston into the
crank case.

65. Cleaning Piston and Rings. — At least twice a
year the piston and rings should be inspected and
thoroughly cleaned by scraping, after the deposit has

78 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

been softened with kerosene. Gasoline, though some-
times used, is too powerful a dissolvent, for it removes
the minute particles which have lodged in the sur-
face grain of the metal and so destroys the mirror or
glaze finish which use puts on the rings and cylinder
and which renders an absolutely new motor less sat-
isfactory at this point than one that has seen mod-
erate use. This high glaze surface, once acquired,
should neither be removed by chemicals nor severe
scraping.

66. Removing the Rings. — It is a mistake for a
novice to remove the rings from the cylinder every
time the piston is cleaned, although some engine text-
books freely advocate that. A well tempered ring is
a brittle aftair and it requires more springing of the
metal to remove one than to replace it; hence it is
very liable to break in the hands of the inexperienced.
Occasionally though it will be necessary to remove
them in order to correct a roughened edge; then each
ring should always be returned to its own groove.
The best of machine parts develop some individual
characteristic in use and it is more than likely that
each ring will fit the groove in which it has been run
better than any other.

67. Replacing the Rings. — Rings are not difficult
to replace if three or four thin, narrow metal strips are
used for slides and expanders until the ring is slipped
directly over its own groove ; then the strips may be
pulled out. Rings should be so turned that joints in
two successive rings do not come opposite each other
and, if either edge of a ring presses more firmly against
the cylinder than the other, let it be the one turned
toward the combustion end.

68. The Piston Pin. — The piston or gudgeon pin
should be made of hi^h .o^rade case hardened steel and

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

must be heavy enough to stand the jerking thrust of
the full load delivered against it at every power im-
pulse. As this sometimes reaches a maximum pres-
sure of 450 pounds per square inch of piston face it
is evident that a 4-inch cylinder, with a piston area

Fig. 20. — Simple Device for Removing and Replacing Rings.

of over 12.5 inches, might deliver sudden strains of
about three tons upon the piston-pin. With the factor
of safety figured in, the tensile strength of steel is
about 2,500 pounds per square inch of projected sur-
face, and the piston-pin of a four-inch bore engine,
with something like a two-inch bearing, should be not
far from one inch in diameter, which is about the size
used in good engine practice. Even the cheap en-
gines are usually provided with good material at this
point, as the diiTerence in cost of so small a part would
be insignificant, while the certainty of at least a hole
punched through the piston head in case of a broken

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

pin would be almost absolute. In the best engines
the pin is ground to fit the piston bosses and is some-
times forced into place under pressure.

69. The Connecting Rod. — All of the power de-
veloped by the engine is delivered through the con-
necting rod and the full strength of the engine is
consequently needed here. In the heavy, long-stroke

Fig. 21. — ^larine Type of Bushed Connecting Rod,

engines the distance between bearings is relatively
great and the rod must be heavier in proportion. On
the other hand, a short rod tends to cramp the piston
in the cylinder and increases the friction by side-
thrust. Some engine builders favor drop forged steel ;
others use malleable iron, semi-steel or bronze I-beam
type castings. There is considerable difference of
opinion, too, about the bearings, especially for the
piston-pin. Some still prefer the two-piece box, ad-
justable for wear, and secured by a bolt at each side
(see Fig. 21) ; others adjust with a wedge, held in
place by a single bolt, which also holds the box. A
few have discarded all attempts at wear adjustment
at the piston end further than to furnish a removable

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 8i

bushing which can be replaced when w^orn out ; this
to avoid the danger from accident caused by bolts
and wedges working loose. All makers provide ad-
justable bearings at the crank shaft, though not all
use the same material. Phosphor bronze has the ad-
vantage of being unwearable and the drawback of cut-
ting the shaft A'ery rapidly if lubrication is neglected.
Babbitt is too soft to be durable, but for that very
reason is less a menace to the shaft, and the material
is cheaper to replace.

70. Crank Shaft and Connecting Rod Lubrica-
tion.— The engine designer usualh^ provides for the
oiling of the piston-pin from the same cup that oils
the cylinder and piston, so the operator has little more
to do with this than to keep the lubricator filled. The
crank shaft may be oiled by means of any ordi-
nary lubricating device ; or the splash system may be
adopted where an enclosed crank case is used. Enough
oil is poured into the case to reach the revolving shaft
nicely at its lowest dip and is thrown or splashed
over the bearings. This is a very sure and efficient
system so long as the oil supply is kept at the proper
level in the case and is not permitted to go too long-
without renewing. The system requires the occasional
but not the frequent attention of the operator; in
fact, there is no system of oiling yet discovered that
will do its work unless a supply of oil is furnished by
the watchful operator. The method that has to be
attended to once or twice a day however is Jess likely
to be forgotten than one that is self regulating for
days or weeks.

Sometimes a wire ring or chain is suspended loosely
upon the shaft and, as this slowly works its way
around under the constant vibration, it carries up
with it a quantitv of oil continuallv (see Fig. 27). In

82 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

open end engines without a crank case oil cups or
some similar devices have to be used.

71. Repairs and Care. — Considering the excessive
strain placed upon its parts the piston and correlated
parts seem wonderfully free from accident or from the
necessity of repairs that an amateur can make. Occa-
sionally the bearings need adjusting; the lubricating
system always merits watchfulness ; then an occa-
sional clean-up when the carbon deposits begin to
gum the rings is about all — cleanliness, care and lubri-
cation. Occasionally a ring will break and have to
be replaced with a new one; then all of the broken
pieces must be removed, even the smallest; otherwise
they are liable to be ground into an abrading powder
and will score or cut the cylinder.

Sometimes a ring may becomie weak in its outward
pressure and cause leakage of compression and power
impulse. While this soon means a new ring, a little
longer service may sometimes be secured from the
old one, at least through the emergency of the job
in hand, by inserting a piece of clock spring or other
light steel spring in the groove under the ring or by
peening the ring. Broken connecting rods have been
welded or united by means of riveted plates ; but this
is work for the shop and not for the novice ; work, too,
that should be done with the fact in mind that a
break here may easily wreck the engine and the oper-
ator also. Piston-pins may be driven out when
broken, and new ones substituted. Leaks and blow
holes have been closed up in pistons by the autoge-
nous welding process or tapped out and closed with
plugs, although a projecting plug or bolt is always
a menace, owing to its tendency to over-heat and cause
pre-ignition.

Frequently a new engine will not run as smoothly

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 83

as one that has seen service ; have patience till the
bearing surfaces become smooth and reconciled to
each other. Do not load a new engine too heavily
while the bearings and reciprocating surfaces are still
rough, or a seized piston may be the result. An en-
gine under load has to endure a higher temperature
than when running empty and it suffers greater ex-
pansion of its exposed metal parts.

72. Other Troubles. — Smoke issuing from the open
end of the cylinder indicates a bad leak somewhere
about the piston and may mean the loss of fully 30%
of power.

Black oil running or dripping from the cylinder
should set one looking for a broken piston ring.

Poor compression or shortage of power may mean
only a stuck ring, caused by the gummy residue of
combustion in the groove; or the edge of a ring or
a groove may need a little grinding and polishing up
with rotten stone and oil. Sometimes a little friction
from rough ends at the ring joint is the cause of the
trouble. High or low spots in cylinder piston are sure
to be found by the explosive force hurled against
them. If slight and in the piston the rings may over-
come it. If in the cylinder and bad the cylinder may
have to be rebored.

Most of this work requires special tools and a ma-
chinist's training and is not repair work for the farm
shop. But for a properly designed engine, not over-
loaded and well cared for, such troubles come so sel-
dom that they are not burdensome; while to depend
upon untrained and inexperienced hands for the more
serious repairs at this point is to hazard the safety
of the entire engine.

73. Hints and Suggestions. — The piston is not
sensitive, it is brutal, and when it goes wrong some-

84 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

thing serious is pretty certain to happen." A scraping
or grating noise of dry metals rubbing together at
each stroke means that the lubrication has failed.
Don't wait to find out why; take it for granted there
is a good reason — and shut down. If it is seen that the
piston is drawing hard, better slow down as much
as possible but still keep up motion until things can
be cooled off a little or a seized piston may result. Of
course the load must all be turned off at once and lubri-
cation attempted, though the walls may be too hot
to retain it in the usual w^ay.

Sometimes a leaky piston is caused by the rings
getting turned so that the joints of all are directly in
line. Investigate and, in that case, turn them around ;
otherwise be careful not to disturb them. Xot only
will they fit best in the particular groove they have
been occupying; they may refuse to work as well
turned in any other way, and it is always best, where
possible, to favor the whims of an engine that is work-
ing all right.

Barring accident, there is little to get wrong with
the piston itself if it was made right in the first place.
Nothing about it wears ; it is protected from that by
the piston-pin, the connecting rod and the rings. All
of these may have to be replaced occasionally.

CHAPTER V.
THE PORT AND VALVE SYSTEM.

74. Subject to Rough Treatment. — While more
engine troubles probably come from the ignition sys-
tem than from all other sources combined, there is
no other part which receives as much rough physical
and chemical treatment for its regular heritage as the
exhaust port and valve system ; hence it is of special
importance for the engine operator to understand just
what the valves are for and how they ought to work ;
what troubles they are most commonly afflicted with
and how to remove them.

75. What the System Contains. — In a general way,
all engines require two openings or ports in the cyl-
inder, an intake port for the admission of the fuel
and an exhaust port for the expulsion of burned gases.
The exact method of accomplishing these two proc-
esses may differ a little in different engines, some en-
gines using two exhaust ports instead of one ; but
they all have the same results to accomplish and a
variation in design represents, not different principles,
but a difference in the ideas of individuals for getting
at the same thing most effectively.

76. The Intake Port. — Through the intake port,
which is situated in or near the closed end of the cyl-
inder, a pipe leading from the carburetor discharges
the fuel mixture into the combustion chamber, and it
is the work of the valve at this point to open freely
for the admission of this charge and then close ab-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

solutely against any back leakage under the pressure
of compression or combustion. This valve must work
easily when opening, must close promptly, and its fit
in the seat must be perfect.

77. Size of the Intake Port. — The size or capacity
of the intake svstem fixes in some measure the amount

Fig. 22. — Cross Section of Valve Chamber.

of power or speed variation obtainable from an en-
gine through varying the charge, and is of course
fixed by the designer in the shop. While some de-
parture may be allowable through a change in the
frequency of the charges, the valve area provided by
the maker of the engine is a fixed condition designed
for a certain capacity, and is usually not so well
adapted to any other.

Approximately, the size of the intake passage in
usual engine practice is about as follows :

Diameter of passage equals that of piston multi-
plied by .316;

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Area of passage equals area of piston multiplied by

.1 ; or,
Intake passage area should equal area of piston
multiplied by the speed of the piston in feet per
minute ; then divided by 6,000.
While, the question of size is one for the designer
rather than the operator, it is referred to here in order
to emphasize the importance of keeping dirt and ob-
structions out of the passage and of keeping the valves
opening to their full intended capacity.

Fig. 23. — Sectional View of Combustion Chamber, Showing Ar-
rangement of Valves In Cylinder Head.

78. Some Common Valve Troubles. — The three
most common dangers from v^hich the intake system
suffers are dirt, leaks in joints or pipe, and worn or
pitted valve faces. A very small obstruction, though
not enough to close the passage against the fuel, may
be a nucleus for the accumulation of other particles
until the supply of vapor is reduced and the charge
not sufficient ; then the engine loses most of its power

88 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

even though it may continue to run. A much smaller
particle of dirt carried along by the air current to the
valve seat may hold the valve up a trifle from the
surface against which it should rest; there is then a
serious loss during the pressure of both compression
and of combustion and a corresponding decrease of
power. A bad leak of this kind may be rather difficult
to locate, especially in a multi-cylinder engine, al-
though bad leaks are rather prone to announce them-
selves by permitting a part of the firing flash to
follow back through the valve and intake pipe to the
carburetor. The result to the engine is much the same
that it would be to a gun if the firing chamber was
left partly open and a part of the charge allowed to
escape without exerting any pressure against the mis-
sile. A single scale from a rusty pipe may in this way
so far reduce the power of the engine as to render
it incapable of accomplishing work for which under
favorable conditions it would have ample power.

79. Other Common Causes of Trouble. — Faulty
valve-seating may result from a weak compression
spring or from the stem rubbing too heavily against
one side of the guide, or by becoming warped from
over-heat. The latter condition may only appear after
the engine has become heated when running; or it may
become a •permanent defect. In the former case it
is often specially difficult to locate.

80. The Effect of Bad Air. — The danger from dust-
laden air drawn through the carburetor into the in-
take pipe and valve can hardly be overestimated.
This is specially the case where the engine is set
near an emery wheel or wood-working machinery, such
as a turning lathe, where fine, light shavings and par-
ticles of wood are almost certain to be drawn in and
deposited around the valve. Any considerable ob-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 89

struction is likely to be noticed at once but the fine
particles carried in from dust-laden air may settle and
accumulate about the valve so gradually that the fail-
ing power of the engine is not noticed until it has
become all but useless.

81. Leak-Hunting. — It is a curious fact that in a
multi-cylinder engine the guilty cylinder may work
faultlessly and cause one of its neighbors to do all the
missing. A small leak is specially hard to find in slow
speed engines. Leaks in the intake system are, how-
ever, much more serious in their effect than wdien in
the exhaust, since they not only permit the escape
of pressure but may so adulterate the charge with an
improperly proportioned mixture as to destroy in a
great measure the efficiency of the fuel that is used.
Mis-firing often results from this, followed, perhaps
by a cannonlike report which announces the accumula-
tion of two or more charges in the muffler, where it
may finally ignite all at once. More often though
the unfired charge is merely expelled through the ex-
haust and wasted.

A leak should be strongly suspected if there is a
tendency to back-fire or if the mixture is so weak that
it ignites slowly and is still afire when the valve next
opens to receive the succeeding charge. Often it can
be located by holding a bit of flaming paper near
the valve (having first removed the manifold), while
someone hand-cranks the engine. Even a slight leak
under pressure will be enough to flare the flame ; or,
if the engine is standing too near some stack or mow
to permit of this method, the smoke from a recently
extinguished stick is about ecjually sensitive to air
currents. Often the leak can be located by covering
the pipe with soapy water; then the issuing gas will
appear in the form of minute bubbles or "soap-suds."

90 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

82. Note Fuel Required in New Engine. — Every
engine purchaser should note carefully the amount of
fuel consumed by his purchase, both running empty
and under load, then make a record of the same. A
decided change from these first results should set the
operator leak-hunting and examining the valves and
seats for carbon deposits or pitted faces. A little care-
lessness at this point may increase the running ex-
pense of the engine a fourth or more besides reduc-
ing its power by an equal amount.

83. The Exhaust Port. — The exhaust port is simi-
ilar to the man behind the straw-carrier, upon whom
all the soot and residue of the entire engine pours,
so here is where leaks are most likely to occur. Here,
instead of an occasional particle of rust or dirt, the
valve is being constantly bombarded with all sorts of
deposits which, owing to bad fuel, bad lubrication,
or bad management, the engine has occasion to re-
ject. It is the mission of the exhaust valve, after the
charge is fired, to conduct all the burned gases and
heated air from the combustion chamber in almost as
brief an interval as the firing of the charge requires.
More or less of this refuse is sure to be deposited with
all that it touches and, in the presence of the extreme
heat, is liable to be burned on. The hot gases, too,
set up chemical actions which quickly pit the surface
of the valve or warp it so that it does not seat prop-
erly. No part of the entire engine is given more con-
tinual abuse than the exhaust port and valve, and, in
the presence of a mysterious compression leak, no
other part should be more quickly suspected.

Usually the diameter of the exhaust port equals that
of the piston multiplied by thirty-five hundredths, and
its area the area of the piston multiplied by .12; or,
the area of the exhaust passage should equal that of

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 91

the piston multiplied by the speed and divided by 5,100,
the average speed of the exhaust charge in feet per
minute.

84. Inspecting the System. — At least once a month,
and oftener if the engine shows signs of low compres-
sion or general lethargy, the valves should be thor-
oughly inspected, specially with reference to their free
action when opening and closing. If a valve seems
sluggish, look to the compression spring; also notice
whether the stems are wearing excessively by rubbing
against the guides. If the valves or their seats are
dirty, clean with kerosene or gasoline. If the faces
are much pitted, regrind. If one side of the face is
bright and the rest coated, see whether the heat has
not warped it out of true.

85. Valve Timing. — Occasionally the valves show
none of these defects and are still causing the trouble;
they may be working out of time. When an engine
leaves the works it is supposed to be properly set and
the timing should not be interfered with ; but after it
has been used for some months retiming may be nec-
essary ; so every operator ought to know what the
timing is for, and how it is accomplished.

86. The Object of Valve Timing. — As the piston
starts upon its suction stroke the intake valve natur-
ally opens to admit vapor into the vacuum created,
though some engines secure more positive and quicker
action by opening the valve by mechanical means ;
otherwise, during a fraction of the stroke the valve
remains closed awaiting sufficient pressure t(3' open
it. During the suction stroke the fuel enters the com-
bustion chamber through its narrow passage at
a velocity of approximately 5,000 feet per min-
ute and if the intake valve is held open a
little beyond the end of the stroke this veloc-'

92 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

ity will cause fuel to continue entering for an
instant after the compression stroke has actually com-
menced. In other words, for an instant after the space
is filled, the velocit}^ will cause the gas to "pile up"
if given a chance. It will thus be seen that mechan-
ically operated valves have a distinct advantage over
those worked by suction and compression alone, pro-
viding the cams which open and close them are set
properly.

In most small engines the intake valve is opened by
suction and closed by compression, which is hastened
by a compression spring; then, so long as the valves
work freely, the timing is automatic. The time of
opening for the intake valve is rather less important
than for the exhaust, though its closing time afifects
both power and speed.

Valve timing must not be confused with ignition
timing. The spark must work in harmony with the
opening and closing of the valves but the two timing
movements are distinctly separate and should each be
compared with the movement of the piston rather than
with each other, as both must co-operate with that.
A great deal of trouble may sometimes be avoided if
w^ell defined and permanent guide marks are placed
upon the fly wheel and valve gear when the engine
is in first-class working condition ; in fact, many en-
gines are now marked in this manner before being
sent from the factory.

87. Testing and Setting the Intake Valve. — Re-
volve -the engine fly wheel slowly by hand in the di-
rection it should run tmtil the intake valve cam barely
begins to lift; then stop engine and note position of
piston, which should have reached and passed by
about ten degrees its extreme inner, or (in the case
of vertical engines) upward, stroke. If much beyond

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 93

this position the valve is opening too late for insur-
ing a full charge of fuel and the power of the engine
is reduced. This may be due to improper setting or
to a bent rod or to wear off the cam operating valve.
To determine which, again revolve the engine, always
in the same direction, and note the position of piston
at the instant the cam roller releases the valve and
permits it to close. If this occur before the crank
has traveled 180 degrees from the point of opening the
difference is due to wear or a bent rod as a rule ; if
the opening and closing points are 180 degrees apart
the cams are all right and any error in relation to the
time of the valve closing w^ill be accompanied by a
similar error in the time of opening; that means that
the setting of the gear wheels is wrong and should
be advanced or retarded, as the opening is too early
or too late. Both the opening and the closing of the
intake valve should take place with the piston 5 to 10
degrees past the inner and outer extreme center re-
spectively, and it should remain open during a full
180 degrees of the revolution.

88. The Exhaust Valve. — Turn the engine, as be-
fore, by hand. The exhaust valve should open when
the piston has covered about four-fifths of its outward
and downward stroke and should remain open until
within three degrees of crank travel from the point
where the inlet valve begins to open, that is, barely
past the extreme center of the return stroke.

89. The General Rule. — This allows us to formu-
late the time of opening and closing the tw^o valves
somewhat as follows : the intake valve should both
open and close from five to ten degrees late, that is,
beyond the exact stroke center. The exhaust valve
should open early and close late in relation to the dead
centers, its departure from the center being greater in

94 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

relation to its opening and less with regard to its clos-
ing time. Some engine makers so time the valves that
the exhaust closes and the intake opens at exactly the
same time, while in some of the high speed racing en-
gines used in automobiles both valves are actually
open for an instant at the same time, but this, wdiile it
may add a little to the efficiency of a high speed en-
gine, is a distinct sacrifice of fuel to speed.

One other fault may affect the time when a valve
operates. Betw^een the top of the stem and the bar
wdiich depresses it there should be a slight clearance
of 1-64 to 1-32 of an inch to allow for expansion of
metal ; otherwise wdien hot the stem may be in con-
stant contact with bar and so kept from closing fully.
This space, however, may in time be increased by
wear and so compel the bar to move farther down-
ward before the valve begins to open and be unable,
in its limited movement, to open the passage wdde.
This W'Ould of course afitect the work done by the
valves and might reduce the power of the engine
either by curtailing the inflow of fuel or by prevent-
ing the burned gases from being properly discharged.
The amount of this clearance space should be noted
occasionally both when the engine is cold and when
it is at operating heat.

90. Valve Grinding; When and How. — Valves
ought to be reground at least once each season, as
the chemical action of the gases and the heat will cer-
tainly pit them more or less. Burned valves have
sometimes to be gromid much oftener, but it is well
to remember that, like saw filing, the grinding of a
valve removes a part of the metal, drops it deeper into
its seat and advances the time when a new valve wall
be necessary, so they should not be ground any oftener
than needed. The inlet valves do not as a rule need to

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

be reground as often as the exhaust valves, since they
do not pit as quickly and are not so much inclined to
warp with the heat. Valves should be examined once

Fig. 24. — Typical Alechanical Vah^e Gear.

a month for pitting and the carbon should be removed
from them with kerosene.

Fine emery dust and the finest grades of powdered
glass made into a paste with lubricating oil are gen-
erally used, though many engine men object to even
the finest emery as, once embedded in the metal, it
tends to remain and continue the erosive action in the
engine. At least, cheap emery should not be used, as
the size of the grains varies so greatly. Care must
also be taken that no emery is allowed to get into the
cylinder. Emery cuts the fastest, while powdered
glass, which looks like the finest flour, gives the most
perfect finish.

To grind, remove spring from stem and cap from
valve chamber. Apply semi-fluid paste of oil and

96 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

emery or glass on valve seat ; then revolve valve with
screw driver or by twirling stem between the hands.
Do not use much pressure, but lift valve frequently
to remove dirt balls. When it turns without much
friction examine seat frequently and discontinue when
there is a bright ring clear around, indicating that the
surface is touching evenly its entire circumference.
When finished give the final touch with tripoli and
water. This insures a smooth face which Avill wear
well. Wash in gasoline and wipe dr}' ; then carefully
remove all grit from the cage. Some valve seats are
a part of the cylinder head but the better class are in
a block, called a cage, which is removable like a spark
plug. Test these after grinding by inverting cage after
valve and spring are replaced, and filling with gaso-
line. If there is not even a sweating of gasoline be-
tween the valve and its seat when the valve is re-
volved the grinding job is perfect. Hand grinding,
though slower, is the best method, though some use
drill press or lathe. Wlien hand grinding, motion
should frequently be reversed. In drill press use slow
speed and not much pressure, to avoid heating; also,
release every few seconds. The job should not be re-
garded as complete until it will pass the above test
with gasoline or at least will show a bright ring clear
around both valve and the seat.

When valves are out notice whether the spindle has
been worn smooth by rubbing hard against the guide.
Polish the spindle w^ith emery cloth.

Where emery is used in grinding, two teaspoonfuls
of powdered emery in one pound of vaseline make a
good mixture, but be exact with the measurement and
clean 'the metal thoroughly after grinding.

91. The MufHer; Its Use and Abuse. — Few human
made machines are so perfect that they do not include

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

some necessary evil. The muffler is the gasoline en-
gine's Jonah, yet without it the entire neighborhood
would soon vote the constant fusillade of cannon-like
cracks a public nuisance.

A muffler of correct design and sufficient size to
avoid back pressure may be made only a relative evil,
although it is likely that the best of them destroy
some power. By actual experiment a 36 H. P. engine
running at 1,500 revolutions per minute, exhausting
into the open air, became a little over 33 H. P. with
exhaust pipes, and lost nearly 30 per cent, of power
Vv^ith both pipes and muffler.

Mufflers of greatest length and least diameter are
most effective silencers — and power destroyers.
They should not be too small or hampered by long
exhaust pipes with many turns. The straightest course

Fig. 25.— Sectional Views of Conventional Mufflers.

possible and with the least obstruction should be the
rule with all exhausts, whether using a muffler or an
exhaust or an exhaust pipe high in air. Some high,
narrow pipes have actually been known to shut the
engine down so that it would not run at all.

Dirty and obstructed mufflers must not be tolerated
if the greatest power is desired. When the sound is-
suing from it resembles that of a continuous stream of
compressed air the muffler is clogged with dirt or else
some of the plates have been displaced. Remove muf-

98 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

fler and note result on engine. If it runs much better,
clean and overhaul the muffler before returning.

92. A Word of Caution. — Never allow a gasoline
engine to exhaust inside a stable or any other closed
building where there is animal life. The burned out
gases are in many cases active poison and live stock
or human beings may be killed outright by the poison-
ous fumes. For this reason it is well to carry the
exhaust well up in the air, but not through small pipe
or one with many turns.

93. Valve Vagaries. — If the inlet and exhaust
valves are on opposite sides of the cylinder head the
spark plug points will remain much cleaner.

When the exhaust valves open too late the engine
lacks speed ; if they close too early it loses power,
the plugs foul, the gasoline consumption is too high,
the engine heats and does not throttle down.

Nickel steel exhaust valves resist heat much better
than those of common steel, but do not wear so well.
Latest automobile practice uses a nickel steel head
electrically welded to a carbon steel stem.

Black smoke issuing from the exhaust indicates
too much gasoline, and all the extravagance in fuel
and dirt which goes with it.

Blue smoke mxans too much oil. Though less in-
jurious, it should be corrected.

AVhite smoke also means too much oil — and laziness
in adjustment; or, it may mean water in the gasoline
— that is, steam.

CHAPTER VI.

THE CARBURETOR.

94. — The Heart of the Engine. — Some one has called
the carburetor a box full of mysteries with nothing in
it. This is hardly true, but it may well surprise any-
one who is familiar with the important function it
performs to see for the first time the interior of this
complicated looking contrivance. Instead of the hand-
ful of delicate wheels one almost looks for, the interior
is about as simple and plain as the outside. However,
more hidden mysteries and surprises await one in this
little bundle of rigid pipes and outlets than in any
other part of the engine excepting the ignition sys-
tem. Here, too, lies the most vital difference between
the gas, gasoline, and kerosene engine, where a
little change may convert the one into the other.
Here, too, without the proper special adjustment, a
change of fuel may speedily convert an engine of one
kind into none at all.

95. Carburetors to Be Let Alone. — Carburetors as
a rule are adjusted before being sent out, so there is
no excuse for meddling with them unless they meet
with an accident or there is to be some radical change
of fuel. To understand how they are constructed and
just how they work when in good working order is
essential. To know when to let them alone is at least
equally important ; often it is more so.

96. The Real Engine Fuel. — Neither a gasoline,
kerosene, nor a gas engine can be run on the fuel

100

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

alone. All require air as a part of the combustible
mixture, and it must be supplied in much the largest
quantity of the two. Air alone would be quite as

Fig. 26. — Exterior View of One Model Kingston Carburetor.

effective a fuel as gasoline alone, and gasoline cannot
be used at all until it is converted into an air-like gas.
It is the mission of the carburetor to so convert it

Fig. 27. — Sectional View of Kingston Carburetor.

and to mix it with the amount of air required for the
best combustion ; then to deliver the completed mix-
ture to the intake pipe and from thence to the com-
bustion chamber.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm lor

97. Why an Unvarying Adjustment Is Not Possible.

— Theoretically, it would seem that the exact propor-
tion of air and vapor which gives the greatest power
could be determined by experiment, and then a car-
buretor made that would deliver this proportion al-
ways and no other. Mechanical mixtures, however,
are never so constant in their proportion as are chem-
ical combinations, and all petroleum vapors are in
some measure mechanical blendings. Water vapor,
carbonic acid gas, nitrogen and other more or less
incombustible vapors are always present, but by no
means always in the same proportion. Some of the
burned gases from the previous explosion, too, re-
main in the C3dinder, and the mixture delivered to the
spark is sometimes very dififerent chemically from
that passed over by the carburetor, while the exact
conditions under which it is fired may not be the
same in any two consecutive charges.

98. How Fuel and Its Requirements Vary. — If
there was not some range in the proportion of air
and gasoline vapor that can be ignited the gasoline
engine would hardly be possible. Air mixed with 1.25
per cent, of gasoline will barely ignite at atmospheric
pressure ; then the vigor of the combustion increases
steadily until about 2.5 per cent, of gasoline is intro-
duced, when it diminishes again until at about 5.5
per cent, it again becomes non-inflammable. Greater
heat permits the use of a somewhat weaker mixture,
and it sometimes happens that the fuel which is right
for starting the engine up when cold becomes too
rich after the metal has become heated. High com-
pression also makes the use of a weaker mixture pos-
sible, so that a part of the energy lost in the extra
compression is made up in the increased economy in
amount of fuel. The mixture which is correct at nor-

102

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

mal speed is, on the other hand, too weak for low
speed.

99. How the Carburetor Vaporizes the Gasoline.

— AMien the piston starts upon its inhaling stroke it
leaves a partial vacuum behind it, and the intake valve,

Fig. 28. — How the Carburetor Vaporizes. Sectional View of
Breeze Device Shows Important Parts.

responding to the suction, admits a current from the
pipe back to the carburetor, where an opening admits
a supply of outside air. This action serves two pur-
poses. Not only does a current of air begin to rush
into the cylinder and fill the vacuum, but in passing
across the surface of a shallow pool of gasoline in the
carburetor, it turns a portion of this into vapor and
carries it along as we have seen a current of heated
air evaporate a saticer of gasoline in the sunlight

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 103

when the wind is blowing across it. It is this prop-
erty of ready evaporation that makes gasoline spe-
cially adaptable to use as an engine fuel.

100. Mixing Air and Gasoline Vapor. — Some en-
gines accomplish the mixture by the mere act of draw-
ing the air current across the surface of gasoline, while
others depend upon spraying the liquid through a fine
nozzle into the midst of the current and so present
in the form of mist a relatively large surface area of
gasoline to be acted upon. With the known area for
the admission of air the flow of gasoline may be so
regulated that the resulting mixture will approximate
that point at which the combustion possesses the most
energy. A float valve made of cork or light metal
cylinder or can, hollow and air-tight, regulates the
flow of the liquid into the float or receiving chamber
by connection with the inlet valve, which in turn cuts
off or admits more gasoline as the supply rises above
or falls belovv^ a certain level.

loi. Automatic Carburetors. — Automatic carbu-
retors are intended to partially close at low engine
speed and gradually open as the speed increases.
They are specially essential when the load thrown on
the engine is likely to vary considerably, as it does in
much farm work — such as hay pressing. Formerly
it was thought that the best carburetor was the one
which did its work with the least possible variation,
but it is known that where the load varies the supply
of fuel should fit the work it is intended to do.

102. Bad Air. — It is easy to see the importance of
keeping dirt out of the pipes and valves by keeping
the gasoline free from dirt particles. That the air
supply needs to be equally well guarded does not
appeal to some. If the engine gets its air supply from
a dusty barn or workshop and there is no trouble

104 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 105

some place along the intake pipe, we may be sure
that sooner or later the gradual accumulation will be
heard from in the valve seats. The air that an engine
breathes should be as free from dust as the gasoline
is from dirt ; and, in cold weather, there will be a
saving of energy if the air be warmed somewhat
before it reaches the cylinder. This is imperative in
the case of kerosene engines, as kerosene requires a
higher temperature for vaporizing than does gasoline,
kerosene engines, for that reason, are generally started
on gasoline until the metal has time to warm up ; or
the carburetor may be warmed by direct heat, and the
trouble of using the two fuels avoided.

103. Carburetor Troubles and How to Cure Them.
— Nearly all carburetor troubles come from one of
two avoidable faults ; incorrect mixtures, and dirt.
Temperature troubles may arise, but are so well under-
stood that there is little mystery about them. Al-
ways, when dealing with gases in pipes open to the
outside air, atmospheric pressure will keep a full
supply of something constantly coming over. If one
of the gasoline pipes happens to get half clogged with
dirt, the place of the gasoline vapor is taken by a
greater proportion of air, and the same amount of
mixture seems to be coming into the cylinder. The
fuel will be too poor or weak, though ; the explosions
will lack force, or possibly miss fire entirely until an
accumulation of the unexploded charges may lodge in
the muffler and make a startling report to the man
outside.

104. Barking. — This is called barking or after fir-
ing, and should not be confused, though it often is,
with back firing. Barking may be due to either too
rich or too weak a fuel. It always indicates mis-
firing or incomplete combustion. The remedy is ob-

io6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

vioiis ; find out what is wrong with the mixture and
correct it.

105. Misfiring. — Misfiring may be the result of any-
thing which renders ignition difficult; either too weak
or too rich a mixture often causing it. It is also
caused by various ignition vagaries. If the mixture is
too rich, more or less black smoke will be seen to roll
out of the muffler. If this is not present, gradually
increase the gasoline supply until the misfiring dis-
appears, or else the black smoke becomes visible. If
the latter occurs first the misfire is not due to carbu-
retor trouble. Sometimes a leaky intake pipe causes
misfiring by the admission of air which dilutes the
correctly proportioned mixture delivered by the car-
buretor.

106. Back-firing. — This rather startling accident is
as a rule more exciting than dangerous, and is often
caused by too weak a mixture which does not ignite
readily and burns so slowly that the cylinder holds
the fire until the valve opens to admit the next charge ;
the combustion flashes back along the incoming
charge toward the carburetor. Like all other mixture
faults, the remedy is to correct the defect.

107. Flooding. — When for any reason the float
ceases to shut off the supply of gasoline at the right
time, flooding is sure to result. The failure may be
due to the imperfect seating of the float valve, either
on account of a grain of dirt or an imperfect fit. If
the latter, a light grinding of the valve in its seat
with or even without abrasive paste will probably
overcome the difficulty. If dirt is lodged under the
float, depressing it repeatedly may wash out the ob-
struction. Occasionally the coating of a cork valve
breaks down and permits the float to become soaked
until inclined to sink too low in the liquid. In the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm joy

case of metal floats a leak may bring the same result ;
then the liquid is allowed to rise too high in the cham-
ber. All of these causes, of course, suggest their own
treatment. The presence of liquid inside a metal
float is evidence of a leak, and the leak may generally
be located by heating the float and then applying a
match to the side until the issuing jet of gas is found.

io8. Priming the Carburetor. — The occasional ne-
cessity of this arises from the fact that the supply
of gasoline has to be higher in the float chamber in
starting an engine than after it is warmed up by
running. In the top of most float chambers is a pin
by means of which the float may be depressed and an
excess of gasoline alloAved to enter. This is called
priming the engine or "tickling the carburetor," a
process generally overdone. A slight depression is
enough to start the flow, while a continuance soon
floods the chamber and renders a mixture so rich that
frequently the engine refuses to start. A steady de-
pression, too, is quite as effective as a s-eries of hard,
sudden jabs, such as many people use, and is far less
likely to do an injury.

log. Size of the Carburetor. — As a rule the en-
gine purchased for the farm is already supplied with
a carburetor ; still it is not always fitted with one ;
for a carburetor, like any other vital part, may easily
be too small ; wdiile, on the other hand, it may be too
large.

If too small, it cannot deliver in sufficient quantity
the mixture of fuel vapors which mean the power of
the engine. If too large, so that a greater quantity
is presented to the intake valve than it is capable of
admitting, the speed of, the current is so far reduced
that the process of evaporation may be seriously in-
terfered with and a poorly proportioned mixture be

io8 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the result. In another chapter is given the formula
for finding the effective valve area, and the carburetor
with an outlet diameter slighth^ larger than the valve
area will be the best size, a little excess being allowed
to overcome friction of the fuel in passing through
carburetor and pipe.

no. Adjusting the Carburetor. — With so many
dift'erent carburetors on the market it is difficult to
lay down rules for adjustment that would apply to
all, or even in all cases to any one. The air valves of
automatic types are intended to close at lowest en-
gine speed and to open by degrees until the maximum
opening is reached at the highest speed. The maxi-
mum lift, of course, depends upon the size and speed
of the engine. There is usually a stop, which is ad-
justable, to prevent fluttering and to control the maxi-
mumi opening of the valve. This should be carefully
adjusted. Usually a needle valve of some sort regu-
lates the liquid entering the spraying nozzle. This
should be adjusted until the engine runs best at its
lowest speed with throttle as nearly shut as possible.
The throttle should then be gradually opened and the
tension of auxiliary air valve increased or diminished
slowly until the best average running condition is
found; then at high speed a slight readjustment of
the needle valve may be some improvement. If maxi-
mum speed is desired, a little wider opening of both
needle valve and auxiliary air valve should be given
than for ordinary running; but this is a sacrifice to
economy of fuel and the engine will be harder to
start. The auxiliary air valve screw should be used
only to hold valve on seat with enough pressure
to keep it there under lowest throttle. The valve
movements should be controlled by size of the
spring, either through a change in the size or number

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 109

of coils, and not by tightening or loosening the screw.

111. Adjusting the Float Valve. — With the float
valve chamber filled to the point where shut off by the
float, notice whether there is a continuous dripping
from the spray nozzle and, if there is, press the valve
shut and see if the dripping continues. If it does the
valve does not shut properly ; if not, the liquid is too
high in the chamber and the float valve should be ad-
justed to shut it off sooner.

Carburetor adjustment is a delicate thing which
needs both care and some little skill. It should not
be attempted by the novice unless absolutely neces-
sary. When it must be done, attempt but one adjust-
ment at a time and, when the points are finally found
in all the adjustments where the engine runs the best,
in some way mark the places so as to save complete
re-adjustment if the carburetor should ever be dis-
arranged. A small, simple mark may be the means
of avoiding a very difficult task.

112. Miscellaneous Hints. — Most leaks in the gaso-
line system occur near the carburetor and are caused
by the continuous vibration of the engine while run-
ning. They seldom develop near the tank except in
case of a direct injury or accident.

Sometimes there is a point in the overflow pipe
lower than the tank wherein the gasoline will be
trapped. The overflow pipe should have a distinct
pitch toward the tank.

The flow of the gasoline through the pipes is so
slow that all dust has a chance to settle to the bottom
rather than be carried along. This renders straining
all the more necessary.

Occasionally set drip pan under carburetor, if for
no other purpose than to see for certain it is not
leaking.

no The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Always have a good stopcock on the line somewhere
between tank and carburetor. Do not depend upon
the carburetor to shut off the flow when the engine is
standing idle.

Gasoline which has stood long in the carburetor
while the engine is idle may become stale and life-
less; then it must be drawn off and new gasoline sub-
stituted by priming before the engine will start readily.

Back firing is sometimes caused by too close needle
valve, as well as by water or dirt in the gasoline ; in
fact, anything which so reduces the supply of gaso-
line that the fuel mixture is too poor may be the
prime cause of a back fire.

Occasionally a continuous spray is thrown from the
inlet. A larger pipe for the air inlet may remedy this ;
if not, discard for a new one.

If the correct mixture at normal speed is too rich
at low, release auxiliary valve spring a little ; if too
weak, increase tension on spring. If this makes
spring too stiff for ordinary speeds, reduce needle or
enlarge intake opening slightly.

CHAPTER VII.

THE IGNITION SYSTEM.

113. Difficulties of the Problem. — To fire a single
charge of fuel mixture is a simple matter. To intro-
duce and extinguish from one hundred to fifteen hun-
dred separate flames per minute into the same re-
ceptacle used for receiving and compressing the gas
at just the right instant to ignite the charge at the
momicnt of complete compression, without missing a
charge, is entirely beyond the working possibilities of
any igniting agent known to man but the electric
spark.

114. The Effect of Failure. — The occasional miss-
ing of a charge not only entails a waste of fuel and
power which becomes more and more serious as the
size of our engine increases ; it leaves a portion of the
missed charge to accumulate in the cylinder to pre-
ignite or to form too rich a mixture with the next
charge, or to ignite later in the muffler, creating back
pressure and making an active working force against
the power of the engine.

115. The Open Flame Method. — The problem was
first met by the use of a continuous igniting agent
which was shut away from the cylinder excepting at
certain points in the cycle of the engine. The idea
has been fairly successful, though more or less trouble
arises from the fact that no separating device has
been obtained that is absolutely instantaneous in its
action, and the operating delay increases with the

III

112

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

soot and dirt accumulation of actual use. Still it was
with the aid of this system that the first gasoline en-
gines were made to run.

This is referred to merely as a matter of history;
it is no longer of mechanical importance, as the
method has long ago been abandoned. It was found
that the exploding impulse of the engine, as well as
outside disturbing elements, was likely at any time
to extinguish the flame ; hence the system required
constant attention and was even then unreliable.

ii6. Hot Tube Ignition. — This has been fairly suc-

FiG. 30.— Bent Hot Tube Igniter.

cessful and, though nearly discarded for the electric
spark, enough hot tube engines are still in vise to

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 113

merit attention. As first produced, an iron tube was
heated by means of a Bunsen burner flame and the
heat conducted by means of the iron tube to the ignit-
ing chamber. In this way the flame itself was pro-
tected from the blast of the explosion. The intense
heat and pressure, however, caused the tubes to break
down from very brief service, and porcelain has been
substituted for iron. These do not oxidize and, though
somewhat easily broken in *the setting or through ac-
cident, when once in place, they frequently last for a
year or more at a less cost than for a single cell of
dry battery.

Nickel-alloy rods are now the favorite with hot tube
engine men, as their life is even greater than porce-
lain and they are not so apt to be broken by accident.

The hot tube system is confined almost wholly to
stationary engines in the oil fields and elsewhere,
where fuel is cheap and the speed irregularities due
to missed charges are not important.

117. Firing by Compression. — The compressing of
gas raises its temperature, and some have hoped to
use this very feature, which limits the compression
possible to give gasoline without danger of pre-igni-
tion, for the purpose of firing the charge at just the
right moment. This would do away with the entire
electrical ignition system and at the same time allow
greater compression. While experiments along this
line have been quite successful, the device as yet is
not in general use.

118. Firing by Electricity. — Nearly all gasoline en-
gines of the farm type are fired by electricity, the
only known igniting agent that is quick enough and
dependable enough to fire every charge of an engine
at high speed. Perhaps the greatest objection to it
is the special electrical knowledge which the operator

114 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

needs, and which even the trained general mechanic
may not always possess. For this very reason, more
electrical troubles arise than in all other parts of the
engine combined and they are harder to locate be-
cause the current itself is invisible.

1 19. Gasoline Engine Electrical Knowledge. —
Without attempting to go into the details of elec-
tricity, the electrical appliances in common use in
engine ignition will be named, briefly described, and
their exact uses designated, always with a view to
being practically rather than scientifically accurate in
terms.

120. The Four Electrical Processes and Their
Agents. — ist. Producing the current. Agencies, bat-
tery of cells, wet or dry (the chemical process), or
the magneto or dynamo (mechanical process).

2nd. Intensifying, either by means of the spark coil
or in the magneto itself as sometimes made.

3rd. Conveying the current. This includes wires
or cable of both high and low tension, the switch, bind-
ing posts, and terminals, and distributor.

4th. The current breakers, which change the in-
visible current into a point of intensely hot spark.

The general meaning of all of these should be fa-
miliar to all engine men.

121. Producing the Electric Current. — Two meth-
ods are in use for the production of the electric cur-
rent ; from a battery (usually composed of dry cells)
and by means of a magneto. The latter is practically
a small dynamo, which is run at high speed by being
belted or geared to the engine, either with tooth or
friction gear.

122. The Dry Battery. — A dry battery consists of
two or more dry cells (usually four to six in a gaso-
line engine), connected bv wires so that all the cells

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

115

act together as one, but with united intensity. Each
cell is capable of producing, when fresh, about i><

Ni/t-

Q)epolarizer

,T)epolarT2fir

Fig. 31. — Sectional Views of Standard Dry Cells. A — European
Construction. B — American Design.

volts of electric current through a luiion of chemical
and mechanical action.

123. What the Cell Contains. — The cell as usually
made consists of a zinc cup about six inches long and
two and a half across, open at one end. This is the
positive element of the battery, from which the nega-
tive current is obtained. An inch of pitch or some
non-electrical conductor covers the bottom ; then a
carbon rod in held upright at the center and the space
around it packed with manganese dioxide or some
other depolarizing material, then filled with sawdust
or some good absorbent over which a solution of 25
per cent, to 30 per cent, of sal-ammoniac and water
is poured to saturation. The top is sealed with pitch
and the outside usually wrapped with light straw-
board. A binding post at the edge of the cup and

ii6

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the top end of the carbon form the two poles of the
cell.

124. Connecting the Cells in a Battery. — Unscrew
the cap from binding post of a carbon rod and wrap
a short piece of insulated copper wire, with the end
scraped bare and bright, tightly around it in the di-
rection the cap turns to tighten; then return cap,
screwing it down firmly to insure good contact.
Fasten the other end of the same w^ire in this manner

SPARK COIL^

Fig. 32. — Showing Dry Cell Battery Wired in Series.

to the zinc cup of the next cell. Connect all the cells
in the same way, always joining zinc to carbon. This
is called connecting in series, and the whole number of
cells connected form the battery. It is not correct to
speak of a single element or cell as a battery. The
wire for this connection should be at least No. 14
(though No. 10 or 12 is better) and must be insulated
or the current w^ill short-circuit, just as w^ater, cir-
culating through a network of pipes, would take the
shortest course that was open to it.

125. Life of Dry Cells.: — The life of a dry cell is
uncertain with the best of care. One cell may become

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 117

exhausted in a few weeks and another of the same
make last as many months. Abuse soon exhausts
them, such as connecting them up with a spark coil
for an interesting display of electric sparks. One run-
down cell in the battery weakens the rest and should be
removed. Under fair treatment the average life of a
fresh cell is probably between three and six months,
though many fail before that time and some have
gone much longer.

126. Advantages of Dry Cells. — Their first cost is
very light, from 25 cents per cell up. They are simple
and easily connected and, if let alone, do not get out
of order easily. They may be obtained of any elec-
trical supply store and may be installed by any one.
They are ready to produce a spark with the first revo-
lution of the fly wheel ; are clean, reliable when fresh,
and not easily broken.

127. Their Defects. — They are uncertain of life and
not generally counted reliable after a month old, al-
though the writer has secured good results from cells
that had been in the engine (though not in steady use)
for over a year. Often a cell will become worthless
even with the engine standing idle. In the end they
are expensive because of the constant renewals.

128. Care of Dry Cells. — Dry cells should be kept
in a box by themselves, and other things kept out of
it. Pieces of wire or metal tools may easily form a
short circuit and run the cells down very rapidly; so
may dampness ; they must be kept dry and cool.
Where in constant use, two sets so wired that they
may be used alternately will greatly increase the life
of both. For instance, by placing two sets of six each
wired up as two separate batteries and used on alter-
nate runs, both sets will last much longer.

129. A Good Battery Arrangement. — A plan in use

ii8

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

en some of the motor boats of the United States sea
service is worth giving. A battery box of galvanized
iron is made just large enough to hold twelve cells
and hot paraffine poured into the bottom. On this the
cells are set in their paper cases, and two or three
inches of paraffine poured around them. They are
then connected, six in series, and the two batteries
used alternately an hour at a time. A lump of lime
laid in the box will absorb all moisture. Used in this
way, cells frequently stand the hardest kind of con-
tinuous ocean service for a space of six months.

130. Connecting Battery to Engine for Spark. — A
battery of six cells ought to give about nine volts of

GROUND WJRE

Fig. 33. — Simple Jump Spark Wiring System.

electric energy. Connection is made with wire from
the terminal carbon to the positive binding post of the
spark or induction coil through the primary circuit,
which carries the direct current from the batteries.
The negative post in this coil leads to the timer and
the positive pole of the battery connects with the iron

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

119

of the engine frame, which, being a conductor, forms
a part of the circuit through the timer. From the
negative pole of the secondary circuit, the high tension
wire, the current goes to the spark phig, which is
usually located in the end of the cylinder.

131. The Spark Coil. — This is really an induction
or Ruhmkorff coil placed in the path of the current
to store and intensify it. It consists of a magnetic
core containing many turns of insulated wire wound
like a spool of thread. The secondary or high tension
current is much more intense than the primary, and

Fig. 34. — Jump Spark Vibrator Coil for One Cylinder Ignition.

gives a much hotter spark. This spark coil is rather
a delicate affair, which should only be disturbed by
those who fully understand it. Though it contains
little that is likely to get out of order, a break in any
part of the insulation along its many coils of wire
would cause a short circuit and make rewinding nec-
essary. About all the care a novice is called upon to
give it is to see that water and abrading substances
are kept away from it and that the connections, spark-
ing points, etc., are kept clean and bright. The sys-
tem of connecting here given is specially intended for
the jump spark or high tension method of tiring.

120

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

132. The Spark Plug. — Reference to the illustra-
tion will show two platinum wire points at the inner
end of the spark plug which, together with the insu-
lating substance, comprise the essential parts. One
of these wires, cut off from electrical connection with
the other and with the rest of the plug by the insula-
tion, is attached by means of the binding post at the
top with the high tension cable ; the other is in direct
communication with the cylinder and engine frame.

133. How the Spark Is Formed. — So long as an
electric current can pass Avithout interruption along

ELECTRODE -.
BUSHING

8PARK POINT \

:^^^ TERMINAL NUT
^H^MICA INSULATION

jL: PLUG SHELL
~^ SPARK GAP

Fig. zS- — Sectional View of Spark Plug.

a good conducting medium like copper wire, it is silent
and invisible. It is only when w^e obstruct its passage
by throwing a non-conductor in its path that it at-
tempts to break down the opposition, just as a creek
will try to leap over the dam that stops its course. A
broken circuit with a layer of air between the ends
forms such an obstruction. If the ends are reason-
ablv near and the current is strong, it will undertake

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 121

to jump across the gap, carrying minute particles of
the metal along with it and heating these and all float-
ing particles in the air to a white heat as a proof of
the energy it has made use of in jumping the gap.
This is the spark we see.

134. How It Fires the Charge. — No amount of elec-
tricity passing along a wire of sufficient carrying ca-
pacity would cause an explosion in a keg of gun-
powder so long as it was not interrupted ; in fact, it
is not the current itself that does the igniting but the
floating, heated particles where the break is. The
only difl'erence between this and hot tube ignition is
that the tube is heated in the one case and the floating
particles in the other; but the heat from the spark is
much more intense and easier to regulate. When the
timer closes the circuit and allows the current to pass
through the wire it is suddenly interrupted by this air
gap between the platinum points and, if the current
is strong enough and there is a space of only about
1-32 to 1-16 of an inch between the points, it leaps
across, heating the particles in the air to a white heat.
This heat is sufficient to ignite the fuel vapor.

135. The Jump Spark. — This is the so-called jump
spark or high tension system, and on account of its
simplicity and ease of operation, it has rather the
lead among enginemen, especially for farm work.
There is little about it to get out of order and, when
the points become worn, as they finally will, under
the repeated heating, the spark plug may be renewed
for something like a dollar.

136. The Make and Break. — Some engines use the
make and break or low tension system. This consists
of two metal points inside the engine cylinder, one of
which is movable and is operated by mechanical means.
These points are usually in contact, and a current of

122 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

electricity passing through them is not interrupted as
by the air gap in the spark plug ; then, at the moment
when the charge is to be fired, the contact points are
pulled apart and when the contact is broken a spark
leaps between the two points. The make and break
system furnishes rather the hottest spark, and the ef-
ficiency of an engine has frequently been increased by
substituting it for the jump spark system. The points
and sliding mechanism are more liable to get out of
order than stationary points, in the presence of carbon
accumulation and intense heat, and are less accessible
for cleaning or repairing than the plug, which screws
into the cylinder at the top. For these reasons prin-
cipally, the jump spark method seems to have the call
among the non-professional engine owners, while very
many of the experts favor the make and break system
because of the more dependable service obtained from

Fig. 36. — Bosch Magneto, Exterior View.

the hotter spark in the presence of variable or faulty
mixtures, and the increased power given the engine
by firing the charge more promptly at the most ef-
ficient moment and condensing the time of impulse.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

123

137. The Magneto. — Although the first cost of the
magneto is several times that of a battery of dry cells,
it is cheapest in the end for a good engine, as, once
installed, it requires practically no attention or re-
newal expenses for years. It also gives a hotter spark
and greater engine efficiency, especially under adverse
conditions of fuel or temperature where firing is dif-
ficult. For an old or cheap or worn-out engine the
expense would hardly be justified; nor possibly for
one which stands idle a great part of the time. Aside
from the greater efficiency of the hotter spark, the
question is one between first cost and maintenance
cost, of which the first has to be met but once and the
latter is continuously to be reckoned with.

138. How It Works. — It differs from a dynamo in

Fig. 2>7- — Longitudinal Sectional View of Bosch Magneto.

principle mainly in that the armature revolves be-
tween permanent field magnets of steel instead of
electro-magnets consisting of a soft iron or steel core

124

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

wound with wire. Because of this difference, the
magneto may be run at any desired speed or the speed
may be varied, while that of a dynamo must be con-
stant.

A handful of wire nails, each brought in contact
with a common horseshoe magnet, becomes a separate
magnet which may be used to pick up small metallic

Rear

view

Fig. 38.— Rear

View of Bosch Magneto,
Breaker and Distributor.

Showing Contact

objects. If a wire be wound loosely around the mag-
net without touching it, each coil of the wire may be
said to have become a separate magnet and the total
strength of all these separate magnets will make up
the strength of the so-called magnetic field. If a soft
iron were substituted for the magnet and a current of
electricity passed through, the magnetic action of the
surrounding coil would be much more intense, but
would only remain while the current was passing,
while the magnetism set up by the steel, though less

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 125

intense, remains in all parts of the coil on which it has
exerted its influence. This second magnetic or electric
action set up in the coil is called an induced current
because, instead of being created by direct contact
with some source of electrical or magnetic fluid, it has
been influenced or induced into existence.

By increasing the number of turns of wire in the
coil and revolving it rapidly between magnetic or
electrical fields, this induced current may be greatly
strengthened until what began as a feeble magnetic
impulse in the magnet finally becomes an electric cur-
rent of considerable intensity. The armature on which
this coil is carried is wound in two parts, the first
consisting of a few turns of coarse wire, and the second
of many turns of fine wire, all of which has to be in-
sulated with some nonconductor of electricity its en-
tire length. The electrical influence or current set up
in this coarse or primary winding, as it is called, is
frequently interrupted by a mechanically operated
circuit-breaker, so that the current is allowed to flow
only by short jerks. These interruptions to the -pri-
mary current set up an induced current in the
secondary or large coil of fine wire which, intensified
as it is by the hundreds of turns of wire, becomes so
intense that, when it presently passes over the high
tension cable to the spark plug and there finds a
break between the firing points, it promptly leaps the
gap, forming an intensely hot spark.

As this spark is only produced by the breaking of
the primary circuit it is necessary for the magneto to
be set in definite relation to the crank shaft of the en-
gine, so that the break will occur at the instant the
engine piston is at the right point for the firing of the
charge. This calls for positive drive, and belt or fric-
tion drive, possible with dynamo, cannot be used in

126 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

connection with high tension magneto. Just why this
secondary current is induced when the primary current
is interrupted would require pages of explanation.
Electricity, however, is a lazy fellow so long as things
run smoothly. It is when he is interfered with that he
puts forth his energies and does work or exerts useful
energy. The above description is of an alternating
current, high tension magneto, suitable for the jump
spark system of firing with spark plug. They^ are
driven by suitable worm, spur or bevel gears from the
crank shaft of the engine and, once installed, need no
attention for years beyond an occasional oiling of the
bearings. Some of them, like the one described, have
a revolving armature. In others the armature is sta-
tionary, while the magnets revolve.

139. Low Tension Magnetos. — The low^ tension
magneto is for the make and break system of igni-
tion, in which the current does not have to be intense
enough to jump a gap, but simply follows out the
moving point for an instant as the contact is broken,
forming a short electric arc. It is also used for the
high tension or jump spark system in which is in-
stalled a separate intensifier or spark coil. It works
like the high tension magneto excepting that there is
no secondary winding, while the one coil of wire con-
sists of moderate-sized wire.

140. Care of Magneto. — In general terms the less
attention the magneto gets from the amateur the bet-
ter, for onl}^ an electrical expert understands how to
reassemble them. x\ll the parts which ordinarily need
readjustment are easily accessible; the rest should all
be let alone. A little oil should be used on the parts
where it was intended, but oil dropped carelessly on
the coil softens the insulation and may easily ruin
the winding. A\^ater may cause short circuits also.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

127

While most magnetos are regarded as water-proof, the
term is only relative and intended for emergency
safety only, not for weeks or months of exposure to
the weather. Rust also attacks the connections. If
properly cared for the winding of a magneto ought to
be good for three to five years and the magnetic field

Fig. 39. — Showing Ignition Magneto In Place on Engine Base.

should last from eight to fifteen. Even then it can
be renewed for a dollar or less. If the spark becomes
uniformly Aveak the magnets may need remagnetiz-
ing or a winding may be broken down at some point.
This is not a repair job for the amateivr, but before
sending the magneto back to the works for repairs be
certain that is where the trouble is located. ]\Ianu-

128

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

facturers say that at least fifty per cent, of the mag-
netos and coils sent back to the shop for rewinding are
all right and that the trouble is in some other part of
the engine.

141. Where the Double System Is Best. — Not all
magnetos produce a spark with the first revolu-
tion of the fly-wheel ; some are even reluctant about
sparking at all under the low speed available while

CPCyNO TO CTiClNZ FRAME

Fig. 40. — Simple High Tension Wiring System, Using Batteries
and Magneto.

the engine is turned by hand. In other words,
the spark is not produced until the engine starts and
so runs the magneto, while the engine will not start
without the spark. Some operators use a double igni-
tion system. A battery of dry cells is installed to
start the engine ; then it is switched of¥ and the mag-
neto used the balance of the time. This makes a very
satisfactory combination, though with some of the
better grade magnetos now on the market the spark

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

129

is produced so promptly that the auxiliary battery is
not needed.

142. What the Primary Circuit Includes. — The
jump spark or high tension system has both a primary
and a secondary circuit; the make and break usually
but one. The primary circuit includes the battery,
the primary or inner wire coil of the induction coil,
the contact breaker or buzzer and the commutator or
timer. Its object is to magnetize the core of the spark
coil and, after the current has been set up, to operate
the contact breaker or vibrator and set up a secondary
induced current by the interruption of the primary
circuit.

143. The Secondary Circuit. — This includes the fine
or secondary coil of the induction coil, and the spark

Fig. 41. — Low Tension or Make and Break Spark Wiring System,
Using Magneto With Batteries as Auxiliary Source of Current.

plug, and high tension cable. Its mission is to in-
tensify the primary current by induction, and to con-
vey it to the engine cylinder, where the spark gap that
fires the charge is located.

130 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

144. The Wiring System. — The wiring system
should be short as possible and of heavily insulated
wire or cable. The best high tension cable used in
connecting the spark plug with the coil is much larger
than the lower-powered conductor and consists of a
number of tinned copper wires, often as many as
twenty, twisted together and covered by successive

Fig. 42. — High and Low Tension Current Conductors.

layers of insulating tape. The low tension wire con-
nects the carbon terminal of the battery with the posi-
tive pole on the coil. It usually consists of several
fine copper wires, around which several layers of in-
sulation are wound. A second wire of the same ma-
terial runs from the negative pole of the battery to a
ground connection — usually the frame of the engine.
From the negative pole of the coil a third wire con-
nects with the timer.

It is important to see that all of these wires are
thoroughly connected with clean contacts, and the
nuts on the binding posts screwed down tightly, and
that the connections are free from rust. A good var-
nish for the terminals may be made of sealing wax
dissolved in gasoline, with enough linseed oil to pre-
vent its being brittle. Short circuiting is sometimes
caused in damp or foggy weather by a drop of water
getting in below the fly nut holding the high tension

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 131

cable, and across the porcelain of the plug and hence
to frame.

145. Ignition Timing. — Ignition timing is a me-
chanical rather than an electrical process, and the fir-
ing time must work in harmony with the intake valve,
though, like that, it should be regulated by comparison
with the position of the piston.

The earlier the spark, so long as pounding does not
result, the greater the power of the engine; and the
later the spark, the weaker the impulse.

Theoretically, the charge should be fired with the
piston exactly at the end of the compression stroke,
but it takes an instant of time to fire the whole charge;
and unless the spark occurs a little in advance part of
the stroke is lost before the expansion of the gases
catch up with the piston.

As a rule, when running at 250 R. P. M., the spark
should come at about % or even % compression
stroke. Some fuels fire more promptly though
than others, and the amount of compression also
in some measure affects the amount of advance
which can be allowed. When there is an excess of
air in the mixture the power of the engine is increased
by advancing the spark, but if gasoline is in excess it
is likely to be diminished. Gasoline of high quality
burns more promptly than the heavier oils, and the
timing should be later. For 65 or 68 degrees Baume
distillate 25 or 30 degrees crankshaft travel below the
inward center is not far wrong; but the spark should
be adjusted on the fuel used and then the point marked
on the fly-wheel. In a two-cylinder four-cycle engine,
having located the point for one cylinder, the other
mark should be diametrically opposite, while in a four-
cycle four-cylinder engine the points would be 90°
apart, and the timer driven at one-half engine speed.

132 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

146. Irregular Mechanism.— In the make and
break system the igniter has a perceptible lag be-
tween trip of the sparker and the formation of the
spark, and the faster the engine runs the greater num-
ber of degrees this lag covers, measured by crank
revolution. If all the cylinders were alike this lag
Avould be the same for all, and, once adjusted to one,
the others would fall into step. If one of them has a
weaker or a stififer spring the lag may vary in length,
and a weaker explosion in one cylinder result.

147. Spark Follies.— To change the governor springs
without changing the spark to meet the new condi-
tion is wasteful foolishness. If the engine is to be
run faster the spark should be advanced.

To start the engine without retarding the spark is
still worse. Set for normal conditions, it is far too
much advanced for the slow speed of hand cranking,
and a pound or back kick is almost a certainty. Aside
from great danger of a broken arm, this impulse
against the ascending piston is a strain upon bearings,
piston, and all of its connections.

Do not run any length of time on retarded spark.
Advance it gradually until the full power of the
engine is developed, but not enough to pound.

A good place to learn useful lessons on spark tim-
ing is behind the exhaust, studying the character of
the escaping gases.

CHAPTER VIII.
A CHAPTER ON ENGINE REGULATION.

148. Controlling an Engine. — The two distinct
phases of engine regulation that require separate treat-
ment as such are speed and temperature control. Of
these two the former will be first considered.

149. The True Mission of the Speed Controller. —
A good many engine operators have gone trouble-
hunting around the governor when there was nothing
in the world the matter except a mistaken idea of its
mission. When an engine operates for any length of
time at greater than its normal speed without being
automatically checked there is something wrong with
the governor. When it drops below normal the gov-
ernor fails to act because there is nothing for it to
do. The fault is in the load, the fuel, or the engine.
The governor is intended only to control speed when
it attempts to rise above the normal. With the speed,
when on account of overload or poor fuel it drops be-
low normal, it has nothing whatever to do, although
many people seem to think the governor should
keep the speed up to the standard as well as down
to it.

Governors are not speed creators. Their sole mis-
sion is preventing the speed from rising above a cer-
tain standard and, when we change their adjustment,
we merely change the standard at which they operate,
and not their mission. This idea should be firmly
fixed in the mind, as a wrong conception of it has

133

134 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

been the cause of endless confusion with many engine
operators.

150. A Few Rules to Remember. — When the en-
gine at normal speed is under full load the governor
is unnecessary, and is not in action.

If the load is increased a few pounds the speed may
fall a trifle below the normal ; still the governor will
be unnecessary and inactive.

If the load is decreased a little so that the speed of
the engine is inclined to rise above normal, the gov-
ernor, if in working order, promptly checks the ten-
dency and brings it back to normal ; then it ceases
to act, and is no longer necessary until the speed at-
tempts to rise again.

In only one of the three conditions cited, the last,
is the governor at fault if it remains inactive. In the
first there is no fault ; in the second, the trouble is
with the fuel, or the load is too heavy for the engine,
or some part of the latter is out of adjustment. In
the last, unless the speed is quickly brought back to
normal, the fault is certainly with the governor. It
must be remembered, however, that regulating a rise
of speed such as may follow the sudden throwing off
of a full load requires a moment or two for the gov-
ernor to adjust itself to its work and regain control.

151. What Changing Governor Adjustment Does.
— We may set the governor so as to allow the engine
to run below its normal speed; then it will keep it
continually below and hold it steady at that speed
under variable loads, but the engine will not develop
full power.

We may set it for a higher than normal speed in
order to increase the power; then the governor will
not respond ; it has no speed of its own to contribute.
If there is no load the engine itself may have suf-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 135

ficient power, when unchecked, to run up to the higher
speed the same as a runaway horse or a runaway
steam engine might climb up above the normal. This
would be due to the released powers of the uncon-
trolled engine and not to any contribution from the
governor. It is the natural inclination of any engine
when running light to exhaust its surplus energy in
extreme speed. It will do this always unless re-
strained by a governor or a load that just consumes
its entire capacity. Either one is sufhcient to control
it and one is just as good as the other, while one is
quite as helpless as the other to add to the speed from
any energy of its own.

152. Methods of Governing. — The speed of an over-
industrious engine may be moderated in either of
three ways: by retarding the spark, by limiting the
supply of fuel, and by changing its quality. To ac-
complish one or more of these we use one of three
methods, which we designate as Ignition Control, the
Hit-and-Miss system, and the Throttling method. As
considerable has already been said with regard to the
first in Chapter VII, we will now concern ourselves
with the other two methods.

153. Regulating the Fuel. — The fuel supply is reg-
ulated through the valves. Sometimes the exhaust
valve is kept from opening; then the burned gases re-
main in possession and new^ fuel cannot enter, so the
engine misses fire and loses power impulses until the
speed returns to normal and the governor ceases to
interfere. Sometimes it is the intake valve that is
regulated, either by reducing the volume of vapor ad-
mitted and so reducing both the compression and ex-
plosion pressure, or by cutting ofif the gasoline only,
and so, without reducing compression, introducing a
fuel that will not explode at all ; or, if it does, with

136

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

greatly diminished energy. In many smaller engines
the fuel supply is cut out entirely and the engine's
speed responses to this method are quite prompt but
rather wasteful.

Fig. 43.— Method of Speed Regulation Through Valves.

154. The Hit-or-Miss System. — There are a great
variety of mechanical devices for making these changes
in the fuel, most of which may best be studied direct
from the engine. None of them involve any mysteri-
ous or new principles. In general, a push rod presses
against the valve stem at properly timed intervals and
opens it. When the speed increases the engine gov-
ernor operates some chain of mechanical contrivances

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 137

to deflect this push rod from its usual course, so that
it does not touch the stem ; then the valve remains
closed. In a four-cycle engine there is no chance for
the governor to change the valve operation oftener
than once in two revolutions, so it may require some
little interval of time before the speed of an engine,
suddenly released of its full load, would be reduced
much, and this system, while very economical and re-
liable, is not suitable for engines intended for driving
cream separators, electric generators or any such ma-
chinery requiring the maximum of steadiness.

155. The Throttling Governor. — Like the hit-or-miss
type, the throttling system of government is almost
as varied as the different makes of engines. They vary
the size of the charge instead of cutting it out entirely,
and are considered the best for close regulation.

156. Types of Governors. — Either of these forms of
speed control may be secured by one of several types
of controllers, the most common of which are the
centrifugal, the pick blade and inertia governors. Each
has its limitations.

157. The Centrifugal Governor. — The centrifugal
governors all depend upon the principle that a weight
revolving rapidly around a center tends to swing out
from the center. Two arms, each fitted with a weight
at the outer end, are hinged at opposite sides of a
shaft to a sleeve which is free to slide upon the shaft.
To regulate the results of this tendency to swing out
a spring is attached to each weight, tending to hold it
toward the center. The mechanism controlling the
feed of the engine gets its initial movement from the
swinging outward of these weights beyond a certain
point. The springs try to restrain the weights within
that point, but when the latter are whirled by the speed
of the engine up to a certain velocity their tendency

138

The Gasoline Exgine on the Farm

to swing away from the center overcomes the power
of the spring and the restraining mechanism ; then as
the speed decreases the centrifugal pull is reduced so
that the springs again overcome it. This type of gov-
ernor may take the form of two fly-balls, familiar to
all as a part of the steam engine ; or they may consist
of weights in any form and may be attached to the
cam shaft, the crank shaft, the fly-wheel or any other
rapidly revolving part of the engine. Xearly all farm

Fig. 44. — Centrifugal Governor Attached to Carburetor.

engines are fitted w^ith some form of governor of this
type.

158. The Pick-Blade Type. — A swinging or pen-
dulum device, which receives its motion from some
moving part of the engine, is attached to a push rod
or "pick-blade" which at ordinary speed swings into a
notch in a rod or lever operating the valve. AVhen the
speed of the engine increases beyond a certain point
this blade swings outward too quickly and misses the
valve lever; hence the valve remains closed. The
operating speed of this type of governor may be

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

139

changed by regulating the swing of the pendulum by
means of a thumb nut.

159. Care of the Governor. — The care of the
governor consists mainly in keeping its bearings clean

Fig. 45. — Pick-blade Governor, Showing Cam Action,
and supplied with an ample amount of good lubricant
without excess. To overcome the tendency of dirt to
settle into the oil and gum so that it will not work
freely, clean occasionally with kerosene ; then apply
fresh oil. Changing the governor should be avoided
unless for some well defined object. Usually it is set
to keep the engine at that speed at which it wall do
the best all around service, and every change brings

140 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

one a little nearer to the time when governor, valve
area, and the spark timing will be out of harmonious
adjustment.

Fig, 46. — Side View of Cam Action on Lever.

160. Governing by Ignition. — Spark control can
only be applied within very restricted limits, as all of
its possibilities lie between the point where a reverse
impulse is fired against the piston and that w^here the
spark is so late that the full volume of the pressure
never reaches the piston at all. These limits may be
approximated at about 30° of the outward stroke
before dead center and perhaps one-fourth as much
after. To retard the spark, too, is very wasteful, and
it is customary, when this method is used, to unite it
with some form of throttling also. In fact, the same
results may be obtained with throttling alone and,
aside from such special reasons for retarding, as when
hand-cranking and starting the engine, it seems
preferable to depend upon governing the speed with-
out interfering with the spark.

161. Controlling the Temperature. — Although the
internal combustion engine is essentiall}^ a heat en-
gine and the conservation of all heat produced would
seem to be a matter of fuel economy, there are reasons
why it is necessary to introduce a cooling system and
destroy a part of our high temperature after we have

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 141

obtained it. First of these reasons is the danger of
pre-ignition. If the combustion chamber was allowed
to remain at the high temperature it attained at the
moment of ignition all subsequent charges of fuel
would be fired the instant they entered the chamber,
before the latter could be filled or the charge com-
pressed. Such extreme temperatures, too, would soon
heat the metal too hot to operate and put the piston
out of business. For the protection of the lubricants
used in the cylinder it is also necessary that the tem-
perature be controlled.

162. The Usual Systems. — Practically all farm en-

FiG. 47.— Type of Air Cooled Cylinder Used On "New Way"

Engines.

gines are cooled by one of two methods : air and water.
Oil cooled engines have been built, and some of them

142 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

have done good work, but they are not in common use
under such conditions as the average farm would have
to meet.

163. The Air Cooled Engine. — For small size en-
gines air cooling is a favorite method, especially where
the engine is not usually run under full load for more
than a few hours at a time. Air cooled engines are
light and easily moved, a quality that is quite im-
portant in the farm motor, especially the small engine,
wdiich is used to do the chores and hand work about
the barn and house. They are also simpler, have
fewer parts and for these reasons are less costly. In
cold weather they have a decided advantage ; a bit of
forgetfulness does not mean a burst water jacket. The
extra parts, too, of the water cooled engine all have to
be cared for, cleaned occasionally, kept supplied with
water, and in correct operation.

164. The Water-Cooling System. — For long jobs
though, or where the engine has to work under a full
load, the water cooled system is the best, especially
for heavy engines. Water temperatures are far more
stable than air and the danger of overheating and
warping some part of the engine, that always con-
fronts with the air cooled system more or less, is en-
tirely absent when water cooling is adopted. Water
cooling also has the advantage of keeping a more con-
stant temperature, after it is once regulated. An ef-
ficient cooling system, too, will decrease radiation
losses and increase working energy, while poor cool-
ing decreases power. The variation from this source
alone may be from 15 to 35 per cent, of the heat
generated.

165. The Open Jacket Method. — Usually the water
jacket is a part of the engine casting, the cylinder walls
being cast double and the space between filled in with

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 143

water. The water, as it heats, boils and evaporates;
then of course it has to be renewed. This method has
the advantage of using a small amount of water,

Fig. 48. — Depicting Flow of Water Through Jackets of Water
Cooled Engine.

which can be easily replaced; so there is no objection
to opening the drain pipe at night and allowing the
jacket to empty in freezing weather.

166. The Circulating System. — Frequently a tank of
greater height than its diameter is located beside the
engine, from the bottom of which connection is made
with the bottom of the water jacket. A similar con-
nection is made between a point near the top of the
jacket and the tank. Once filled, the circulation of
the water is automatic, the heated water rising in the
jacket and flowing from the upper outlet over to the

144

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

tank while the cooler water of the tank is replacing it
through the lower connection in the bottom of the
jacket. Sometimes a pump is connected with this

TAPPET
ARM
INLET
VALVE

SPRING

INLET VAL
CHECK

GASOLINE
FEED CUR

Fig. 49. — Sectional View of Cylinder of I. H. C. Engine, Showing
Integrally Cast Hopper Used in Open Jacket Cooling System.

system and the water forced through by positive
action of the engine.

167. A Good Circulating Pump System. — One plan
now in quite general use in the cooling of small size
engines allows the water to fall at the top of an in-
verted cone and so spread out to the air in a relatively
large thin surface as it descends by its own weight.
This makes quite an efficient cooler in which com-
paratively little water is required. With this system,
a pump is needed to elevate the water.

168. Other Systems. — While there are a great va-
riety of water-cooling designs upon the market, prac-
tically all of them depend upon the action of gravity,
of an engine pump, of difference in temperature, or
the diversion of some running stream. Of all these

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 145

systems the last is the most costly because the more
wasteful of heat units. Gravity feed is all right if
nothing goes wrong with it, but there is constant
danger of some obstruction, the resistance of which
it will not have force enough to overcome ; so, though
it is the more complicated and costly in the beginning,
some form of forced circulation is the best.

169. Amount of Water to Use. — The least quan-
tity of water that will keep the temperature of the
engine down so that the water itself remains only a
little below the boiling point is the best quantity to
use and, having once determined what this is, the
only deviation from it should be such as the differ-
ence of conditions might require. An engine work-
ing steadily at full load will have a greater tendency
to heat than one only partially loaded or that has fre-
quent intervals of rest. As a rule the most efficient
results will be obtained with the cooling water some-
where between 190° and 200°, or just a little below the
boiling point.

170. Care of Water System. — In cold weather the
full advantage of an air cooled engine is realized if
one ever forgets and allows the water to freeze up.
Modern engines are now very generally constructed
with a system of cooling which is claimed to be ex-
empt from frost dangers, and to a limited extent this
is true. Wherever water is used, however, in cold
weather it is a part of the care of an engine to see
that the pipes and water connections are in some way
secured from danger.

Where the circulating system is used see that the
water really circulates, and clean out the sediment
occasionally. If the scale is hard use one pint muriatic
acid to from four to ten times its volume of water, ac-
cording to condition of the scale. Be sure and add the

146 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

acid to the water, not the water to the acid. Let this
mixture remain from 12 to 48 hours, and then flush
thoroughly.

171. Anti-freezing Mixtures. — These are nearly al-
ways injurious to the metal and should not be vised
except where absolutely necessary, as chemical action
of some sort is almost certain to result. Practically
all of them depend upon some form of oil, alcohol or
salt.

Where the circulating system is not in contact with
zinc, aluminum or galvanized iron, 3^ to 4 lbs. cal-
cium chloride to each gallon of water is cheap and
effective, but with zinc it starts a destructive action
similar to electric battery. The salt sediment is also
inclined to settle and make trouble.

Thirty per cent, of glycerine in water will not
freeze before 15° above zero is reached, and 55% will
stand a temperature of 10° below. This, however, is
expensive and contains acid.

One-third alcohol and % water will stand 15° below
zero and is not harmful, but the alcohol will gradually
evaporate out.

A mixture of 15 parts alcohol, 15 of glycerine and
70 of water will not freeze above 10° and also raises
the boiling point to a higher point. Glycerine is in-
jurious to rubber tubing, though, and any alcohol
solution loses its original proportions gradually when
exposed to the open air. Where a temperature as low
as 15° must be met, as much as 25% alcohol must be
used in mixture to render them effective. If below
zero, not less than 30% should be used. AYood alcohol
has no sediment and does not corrode machinery.
Twenty per cent, of wood alcohol and 80% water
is suitable for ordinary weather.

When the temperature falls to 40° draw the water

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 147

from the jacket, cylinders, pipes and pump. It takes
a surprisingly small amount of cold sometimes to burst
a pipe or a brass connection. If the tank is in some
danger and the refilling of it too much of a task, dis-
connect the outlet pipe and stop with a cork plug that
will blow out under pressure before the tank itself
would burst. A few rods let down in the water, but
with ends sticking out above the surface, will help a
little, the freezing water not infrequently shoving the
surface ice upward at the weakened point around the
rod, and thereby gaining considerable extra space be-
low to accommodate the expansion.

172. Utilizing Waste Heat. — Under average condi-
tions something more than 300 heat units or over
233,400 foot-pounds energy is lost through the dis-
carded heat passed through the exhaust valve for each
pound of fuel gas consumed, a loss which somewhat
exceeds 7 horse-power per pound of fuel. Various de-
vices have been tried for making use of this wasted
energy and some of them have been fairly successful
while others have occasioned so much interference
with the discharge of the burned gases from the en-
gine that the back pressure and disturbed combustion
resulted in a greater additional loss than the gain
amounted to. Aside from its use for heating purposes,
either to assist the carburetor in cold weather or for
other uses, there is probably little chance of turning
this lost heat into profitable channels.

A number of successful experiments have been tried
out in heating small rooms or even small buildings
with this otherwise wasted heat and several special
heating devices have been put upon the market. A
home made heater of fair efficiency can be made by
connecting an ordinary pipe expander by means of a
collar coupling with the exhaust of the engine and

148 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

extending it by means of a larger pipe up through a
tank of water. The larger this pipe the greater will
be the heating surface and the less interference there
will be with the exhaust blast from the engine. A
twenty gallon tank of water can be brought to the boil-
ing point in from 30 to 60 minutes, and by providing
for its circulation or by passing a series of air pipes
through across the tank and with open ends both the
hot water and hot air can be utilized in heating. Care
must be taken that there is no leak in the pipe which
will allow^ water to run down into the exhaust and
so back to the engine cylinder.

CHAPTER IX.

THE CRANK SHAFT AND ITS BEARINGS.

173. The Engine Frame. — It seems so utterly im-
possible to construct an engine of any sort without
a frame that we are apt to consider its presence forced
upon us without any definite use. It has, none the

Fig. 50. — Main Bearings Incorrectly Placed. Strain of Explosion
Impulse Exerted Directly Against Cap and Bolts.

less, a number of important uses. First, it supports
the engine and provides a means of anchoring it se-
curely to any independent foundation we wish to erect.
It also holds the various parts of the engine rigid and
in correct relation with each other; keeps the crank
shaft in line with the piston stroke and its connec-
tions, and gives to all a stability that could never be
attained unless these various parts were securely tied

149

I50

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

together by all being fastened rigidly to this common
base.

Gasoline engine frames should be specially strong.

Fig. 51. — Main Bearings Placed so a Twisting Strain Comes On
Cap and Bolts Every Impulse.

not only to resist the series of blows or shocks which
come to them with each power impulse, but, in the
case of large engines, to absorb in their body in some

Fig. 52. — Main Bearings Correctly Placed — All Stress Taken by
Bed of Engine.

measure the vibration which would otherwise seri-
ously afifect the more delicate parts. In the case of
horizontal engines the bed design should be such that

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

151

the force of the impulse impinges against a portion
of the frame provided to receive it rather than against
the bolted union between the cap and bed of the main
bearings. (See Figs. 50 to 52.) The base plate of a
horizontal engine should always be so set that the
cylinder is inclined slightly toward the crank shaft
in order to drain the lubricating oil away from rather
than toward the inner part of the combustion chamber.
174. The Crank Shaft. — The crank shaft has not
inappropriately been called the backbone of the en-

FiG. 53. — Single Throw Crankshaft.

gine. It must receive the full powder of the engine,
must deliver it to the driven machinery, and must be
strong enough to give and to receive the impulse under
a twisting strain instead of a straight pull. It should

Fig. 54. — Three Throw Crankshaft, With Counterpoise or Bal-
ance Weights.

be made of the best mild steel and the crank should
be cut out of a mass of metal rather than forged on.
The crank-pin should be designed to stand a strain
of 400 pounds per square inch of piston area, and the

152 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

diameter of the shaft in the main bearings should be
about 1.25 times the diameter of the crank-pin. The
length of the main bearings should be from 1.75 to 2
times the diameter of the shaft, and the length of the
projection depends upon whether the belt wheel is
bolted to the fly wheel or keyed to the shaft. If the
latter, which is preferable, the shaft should be only
long enough to engage the full hub of the pulley ; then
there will be no temptation to the operator to set the
wheel out from the gearing and so increase the twist-
ing stress on the shaft.

In order to make the shaft run more smoothly
weights are fastened to the crank, to compensate for
its weight beyond the center of shaft revolution.

Fig, 55. — Gas Engine Flywheel of Approved Design.

175. Fly Wheels and Their Mission. — It is the

mission of the fly wheel to correct any unevenness of
speed arising from the intermittent poAvers of the gaso-
line engine or from varying crank positions by stor-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

153

ing up excessive bursts of energy and then giving it
out again when the speed tends to fall below normal.
In one sense they act as a governor, but they do more
in that they also store energy.

176. Heavy Fly Wheels Needed. — The heavier the
rim of the fly wheel, the greater is its capacity for
equalizing the variable speeds. The energy given by
a gasoline engine fluctuates rapidly from its full max-
imum power to the point where, during the compres-
sion stroke, enero^v is being consumed instead of given

Fig. 56. — Typical Engine Bearing, Showing Oil Grooves C and
Retaining Plugs A.

out. It is necessary that the fly wheel rim be heavy
enough to absorb all excess energy given out at the
instant of the power impulse and then without any
sudden change of velocity, give enough of it back to
carry the engine over the compression stroke. Centrif-
ugal energy, however, inclines the swiftly moving rim
to leave its curved path around a center and take up
a straight one tangent to it; and this tendency is
stronger in a heavy wheel than in a lighter one re-
volving at equal speed. For this reason the point is

154 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

soon reached when it is not safe to further increase
the weight of the wheel unless we reduce its veloc-
ity, so, in order to provide power necessary to carry
the engine past its compression stroke, we divide the
weight and the strain between tw^o wheels and place
one at each end of the shaft, where there will be the
least unbalancing and twisting of the shaft. That is
why so many modern gasoline engines have two fly
wheels. There are, however, several distinct ad-
vantages in a single wheel of greater weight, of which
these are perhaps the most important :

A single wheel leaves one side of the engine more
accessible.

Any variation in the inertia between the two wheels
sets up a serious twisting strain upon the shaft.

With the one wheel a third bearing has to be pro-
vided and the single wheel is supported on each side.
This is usually provided though only with large, ex-
pensive engines, and of the small power engines of
moderate or low price nearly all have the two wheel
system.

At about 250 revolutions per minute engines of or-
dinary farm size require fly wheel weight of about 100
pounds per horse-power of engine, the weight being
divided between the two wheels. Hit-and-miss gov-
erned engines require somewhat heavier fly wheels
than throttled, while an engine used upon a variable
load can use to advantage greater weight than one
inclined of itself to run with a steadier motion. Four-
cycle engines require heavier fly wheels than two-
cycle, because the power impulse only comes at every
second revolution.

Fly wheels are made with both straight and curved
spokes. When the latter, they should invariably be
put on the shaft so they will revolve with the advance

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 155

part of the spoke next the rim. A safe rim speed for
cast iron wheels of approved pattern is put at about
5,000 feet per minute. The hub should be 2^/2 to 3
times the diameter of the shaft.

It is highly important that the fly wheel be prop-
erly centered and balanced on its shaft. A small
amount of wabbling increases immensely the strain
upon the rim and may be the means of wrecking the
wheel. See to it occasionally that the key has not
become loosened enough to allow of any independent
motion or that the bearings have not been worn until
the shaft is out of true.

Never remove a fly wheel from the shaft if possible
to avoid it. As it comes from the factory, a fly wheel
seldom works loose, but, once removed, it is some-
times almost impossible to secure it safely again. A
loose fly wheel is a very serious matter as it will
almost invariably, on a high speed engine, break the
crank shaft or else wreck the engine, while it is one
of the most difficult troubles of all to locate on. ac-
count of its habit of imitating to perfection the knock
which is associated with other causes. Often it mim-
ics pre-ignition admirably ; while other familiar
sounds, such as produced by loose bearings, are
produced. Occasionally the w^heel has to be removed
in repairing or replacing a broken part, as a crank
shaft, but, fortunately, the occasion is of rare
occurrence.

177. The Main Bearings. — The smooth operation
of the crank shaft depends in a great measure upon
the bearings, their construction, condition and care.
Bearings should be long and heavy enough to insure
complete support under the heaviest load without
strain. Their alignment must be perfect. They
should neither be too loose nor too tight and should

156 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

be an accurate circle. The lining, too, should be of
suitable material, and this includes the lubrication, as
well as the permanent lining.

178. The Best Lining. — There is a good deal of
difference of opinion as to what material should be
used for babbitting the boxes. The softer alloys, as
true babbitt metal, have the advantage of being first
to suffer in case of lubrication failure. The babbitt
is simply melted out instead of a crank shaft being
ruined. They have the fault of not only being too
soft to wear well ; under heavy loads they tend to
break down and spread, though under moderate loads
their very pliancy sometimes keeps them best fitted
close to a shaft that may have been wearing out of
form.

Phosphor bronze, on the other hand, will stand up
under almost any load and seems almost unwearable ;
but should lubrication be forgotten it begins to cut
the shaft at once and may quite ruin it before the
failure has been noticed. Some of the hard alloys
are liable to crack and if their surface is not perfect
the high and low spots wear unevenly and establish
a decided tendency to cut.

Linings made of alloys often develop a tendency to
separate into the original metals, either on account
of careless mixing, too much heat, or too rapid cool-
ing. Sometimes there is a tendency to crystallize into
coarse grains which are brittle and worthless for
bearings.

Lead is perhaps the best wear-resisting metal
known, but it is too soft to stand the pressure. IMixed
with antimony, the resulting alloy stands up better
under pressure, loses some of its wear-resisting qual-
ities, but, on the whole, is quite satisfactory under
certain conditions. An alloy made up of but two sub-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farai 157

stances, however, lacks in pliability; hence, three or
more are generally preferred.

In lining the boxes for heavy usage one important
difference should always be remembered between the
so-called white alloys and the bronzes, which contain
copper. If a bronze is used there is a tendency on the
part of the copper to cling to the revolving shaft and
roughen it. This of course increases friction. The
white alloys begin to melt instead, and the softened
metal acts as a lubricant, reducing the friction and
protecting the shaft, though at the expense of the
lining.

179. Why Bearings Heat. — Heating may be caused
by insufficient or poor lubricants, or by being too
tight or too loose, or by the shaft or bearing being
out of true. There cannot be a fit unless the journals
are true cylinders, and there is a tendency with gaso-
line engines to flatten at the points of highest
pressure.

In the latter case the bearings must be trued up by
grinding; the shaft by grinding or filing; and this is
not a job for the careless or the amateur. It needs
the machinist's accuracy. As a rule the novice had
better let all interference with the shape of the bear-
ings strictly alone and should content himself with
doing what can be done by means of oil. The treat-
ment of hot boxes, also babbitting, will be treated
fully in another chapter.

180. Gear Wheels. — On almost all makes of gaso-
line engines will be noticed various small gear wheels,
cams, push levers and connecting rods. Most of these
belong to the valve, ignition, and governing systems,
and are set to mesh accurately with regard to each
other and the main shaft. To change the set of any
of them is to court trouble unless the exact purpose

158 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

of the wheel is fully understood and the change is
made to correct a previous fault. If for any reason
one has occasion to remove any of these wheels from
the shaft he should under no circumstances fail to first
mark the tooth of a wdieel and the depression into
which it meshes with its mate. Most engines are so
marked when they come from the factory ; but some
are not, and no one can afford to take any chances
without positively knowing that the marks are already
there.

To attempt describing all of these trimmings in
detail would be to make it necessary to describe
about every make of engine on the market. By
keeping in mind the general principles already
given, a little study of the engine itself will soon
disclose the purpose of each and how it is
attained.

181. Care of These Minor Parts. — They are under
no strain but that of the usual friction. All the at-
tention they require as a rule is enough oil to keep
them always easy to operate, and free from gum and
dirt. For the slides an occasional dressing of graphite
is of benefit. Occasionally a w^ashing off with kero-
sene or turpentine will relieve of gum, and a dressing
of graphite now and then for the gear wheel teeth
renders them smoother and causes them to mesh with
less friction.

182. Casual Acquaintances. — Almost every engine
outfit, after it has been in use for a few years, has
fittings of its own which represent the needs, wisdom
or whim of the owmer. Self-starters are becoming
more and more common and, while they are not very
much needed for engines less than 4 or 5 H. P., and
are by no means a necessity, even for a considerably
heavier rating, they are, of course, always a conve-

Tpie Gasoline Engine on the Farm 159

nience, providing they are not too complicated and
costly.

Gasoline pumps are taking the place of gravity feed
with stationary and even portable engines. The gaso-
line is pumped up from a tank in the base of the en-
gine or from a stationary tank below in such quan-
tity that there is a constant excess delivered to the
carburetor; then a return pipe is provided for taking
the overflow back to the tank. This insures that the
level in the carburetor remains always constant and
there is no possibility of engine variations due to fluc-
tuating supply of fuel.

A\nien purchasing or considering any uncommon at-
tachment one should first consider well what it is
for; whether it was created just to sell or if it really
fills a place that needs to be filled. If the latter, it is
wise to next consider whether the work it will do is
of enough importance to warrant the extra expense,
the extra care and attention and, most important of
all, whether it is something that may interfere with the
working of the engine, either by obstructing the air
intake or the exhaust or any other part of the system
that the manufacturers installed, and that, left alone,
is doing satisfactory service.

i6o The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

CHAPTER X.

SETTING THE ENGINE.

183. Proper Setting Important. — Gasoline engines
are practically automatic when properly installed.
Under less favorable conditions they are only par-
tially so ; hence, it is important to give them the best
surroundings possible.

184. Stationary Foundations. — Stationary founda-
tions are the most constant in their requirements.
They also afiford the best chance for meeting the re-
quirements, and include so many of the ideal condi-
tions which all foundations should aim to include, that
they should have our closest study.

185. The Four-fold Object of a Good Founda-
tion.— The several purposes of the foundation are to
support the weight of the engine, to maintain it at
a fixed position in relation to its work, to protect it
from outside vibration, as of other moving machinery,
and to absorb a certain amount of the vibration of the
engine. A stiff, solid clay bed probably serves this
four-fold purpose better than any other common sub-
stance, as it is firm enough to do the work and at
the same time contains enough elasticity to retard
the dreaded crystallization which always sets up more
or less in metals whenever an irresistible force is made
to batter persistently against a rigid object.

186. Depth and Nature of Foundation. — Surface
clay, however, is subject to its own disturbances, so
the foundation should be carried well below the surface

161

1 62

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

by a wall of stone or brick or concrete, the depth
depending a great deal upon the size of the engine
and the nature of the ground. Ordinarily a depth of
three feet will be ample for engines of six H. P. or
less ; 4 feet for up to twelve H. P. and five feet for as
heavy an engine as twenty-five horse-power, or as
large a stationary engine as a farm ever needs.

Id'-

-/6-

-/6'

=iJ

-/(T-

t±i

C|/l

-=M

3f"-

^S4"-

-56"

f—V-^t^

-fO'-

Fig. 58. — Gasoline Engine Base Plan to Show Amount of Space
and Holes Needed for Installation.

187. The Foundation Blue Print. — Every station-
ary engine sale should include a foundation blue print
prepared at the factory. The lines of this are nearly
always measured off from two base lines, one of which
follows the center of the crank shaft and the other
represents the center lines of the crank shaft and
cylinder. In a horizontal engine these lines are at
right angles to each other and parallel to the plane
of the foundation.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

163

164 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

188. Tying Engine to Foundation. — The operative
strength of the best foundation is only as great in
relation to the engine as that of the ties which bind
them together. But it is occasionally necessary to
loosen an engine from its foundation, and the fasten-
ings must be such as may be released with the least
amount of labor, while at the same time making it
possible to secure the engine as firmly as possible
whenever that is desired. This double consideration
is usually attained by means of long bolts set in the
concrete and extending through the engine bed and
almost through the entire concrete foundation, of
which they are virtually a part.

189. Material Needed for Foundation. — In addi-
tion to the sand, gravel and cement needed for filling
the foundation pit, the work requires as many long
bolt rods as there are bolt holes in the bed of the
engine, two heavy cast washers for each bolt, with
nuts ; a length of gas pipe for each bolt, and a quan-
tity of inch boards for the templet.

190. Preparing Material. — Let us suppose we are
to put in a three-foot foundation for a small engine.
Each bolt should be just long enough to reach through
the engine bed, two cast washers of suitable size, and
two nuts (if the bolt is merely a rod threaded at each
end and without head, three nuts will be required),
besides all but a few inches of the concrete founda-
tion. As it is hard to get such long bolts, a good
way is to obtain an iron rod of proper size to fit the
bolt holes, have it cut into lengths by a blacksmith,
one end threaded for nut and two or three inches of
the other end turned sharply at right angles for a
head.

For each bolt provide a gas pipe covering, the in-
side diameter of which is at least one-half inch larger

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

i6s

than the bolt. These pipes should reach from the
head of the bolt (or the washer at the head, if one
is used), to the surface of the concrete only.

igi. Making the Templet. — The foundation tem-
plet is usually made of one-inch boards, and in the
form of a rectangular parallelogram, about four inches
wider and longer than the size of the engine bed. This
represents the surface of the completed foundation and
provides for a two-inch projection all around beyond
the iron frame. Lay off on this the line AB (see Fig.

^;^^1^^:^.^>>C^^f^*

111
1 1. 1

1: i

1
>-

i ^ ::i

Fig. 6o. — Templet for Locating Bolt Holes.

58), along the center, corresponding with the center
of the engine cylinder as on the blue print. Measure
off on this line from each end the distance between
bolt hole and end in blue print, then add the two-inch
allowance for projection. That is, if the bolt holes
are four inches from the end in the blue print lay
them off six inches from the end of the templet, meas-
uring along the line AB ; and at these points on that
line draw lines at right angles to the AB or base line.
Locate bolt holes on these lines and bore holes in
templet a trifle larger than the bolts. Slip washer
down to head of bolt, then put on length of pipe, in-
sert threaded end through templet from under side,

i66 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

put on upper washer and nut and draw templet tight
between nut and shoulder made by pipe.

192. Making a Frame. — The frame of small engines
is usually thick enough to raise the fly wheel clear of
the floor, but it is best to build the concrete founda-
tion a few inches above the surface and, in order to
have this form square, a frame is necessary. Some
2 by 4-inch stuff is about right, the two side pieces
being somewhat longer than the foundation for con-
venience in lifting. The top of this frame will be on
an exact level with the top of the foundation and upon
it we will lay the templet, the bolts extending down-
ward into the pit below. The frame must then be
shifted until square with the lines on the templet,
the latter, of course, being placed to exactly conform
Vv^ith the position to be occupied by the engine.

193. Filling the Pit. — Having fastened the frame
in place by means of stakes, remove the templet and
fill the pit up about a foot with concrete made from
about seven parts of clean sharp gravel (crushed stone
is better) to one of good cement. Tamp this firmly
and then replace templet, squaring the lines carefully
again with shafting, sides of building or any other
lines in relation to which the engine should be square ;
also see that the frame has not been moved. Fasten
templet on frame and continue filling, tamping down
as needed. When near the top change proportion of
concrete to about five to one. Continue this until
within three or four inches from top of frame ; then
remove nuts and washers and lift off templet, being
careful not to disturb the pipes encasing the bolts.
Fill to the top of frame with clean sand and cement
in about the proportion of two to one. The founda-
tion should now be left to harden thoroughly.

194. Placing the Engine. — To set a heavy engine

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 167

upon a fresh cement foundation, without doing mis-
chief, requires care. Raise engine upon blocks at one
end of foundation and about six inches above it, the
block being topped by two planks long enough to in-
clude both the engine and the foundation. Holes or
notches may have to be made in these planks to avoid
the bolt ends. Slip small rollers under engine, across
the plank, and work the engine slowly over its place
on the foundation. Keep blocking in front of the rol-
lers constantly to prevent any possibility of the en-
gine getting away. As one roller comes to a bolt end,
slip another in ahead of the bolt and remove the first.

195. The Final Setting. — When the engine is ap-
proximately in position, lower gradually until the bolts
are all engaged in their respective holes in the engine
frame, then the engine should be carefully lined up
with any shafting which it is expected to work to
when set. The use of the pipes around bolts will now
be appreciated, as they give far greater latitude in
this shifting or in correcting slight errors than could
possibly be had with bolts set rigidly in concrete.

196. Locking the Bolts in Place. — When the en-
gine is finally placed, flow a mixture of water and pure
cement into each pipe until it is full, then, without
shifting it, lower engine upon the concrete, give the
lines a final test and leave the engine undisturbed for
a couple of days until the cement hardens in the pipes
around the bolts. The result will be a job that is
permanent, and as perfect, mechanically, as the skill
and care of the workman have seen fit to produce.

197. Lining Up. — Mention has been made of lining
up with a line shaft. Where the engine is installed in
some building in which machinery has been previously
run this may be necessary, though it is usually best
to set the engine first and then line the shafting to

1 68

The Gasoline Engine on the Far

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 169

it. To the amateur lining to a shaft may prove a little
difficult. Two methods are in common use, the over-
head and the floor method. In the former, a straight-
edge is tacked lightly over the shaft and from one
edge, at a distance of six or eight feet from each other,
two plumb bobs are suspended. The straightedge is
then shifted until each of these lines clears the side of
the shaft in passing it by exactly the same distance,
say one inch. Never undertake to drop the lines so
they will be in contact with the shaft, as one or the
other is almost certain to be slightly deflected by the
contact to some extent — just how much is all guess-
work.

Slide the engine into approximately its correct posi-
tion ; remove plumb bobs from first straightedge and
fasten them to a second located above the crank shaft
of the engine. Measure off on the ceiling equal dis-
tances between the ends of these two straightedges ;
then shift engine until the two plumb bobs clear crank
shaft b}'^ the same amount. If the work has been
accurately done the crank shaft will be exactly paral-
lel with the line shaft. If the plumb lines trouble
by swaying in the wind, let the bobs swing into pails
of water. This steadies them and at the same time
does not interfere with their taking their proper
positions.

198. Leveling the Engine. — This would not be dif-
ficult if the top of the foundation was made perfectly
level and no variation in the engine frame, but neither
of these conditions may be absolutely true.

It is the crank shaft always that must be level ; the
rest of the engine has been built to that. In the en-
gine's longitudinal direction, the setting is of less im-
portance, the preference being that the combustion end
of the cylinder in a horizontal engine be a trifle the

170

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

highest in order to incline the lubricating oils toward
the other end. If there is room to use a level on the
crank shaft the work is simple, but there is not always
room. In such cases it is sometimes necessary to take
readings from the level applied to the rim of the fly
wheel turned in different positions. If all correspond,
the face of the wheel is true, and, by bringing it to a
correct vertical line, the shaft will be level, the engine
being held in position by means of thin wedges in-
serted before the nuts are fully tightened.

199. Other Foundations and Their Failings. — Many
less substantial foundations are in use, and giving fair

Fig. 62. — Alethod of Reinforcing Wooden Floors,

to excellent satisfaction. Wooden timbers are often
used, so are iron girders, reinforced wooden floors,
even the earth, scraped smooth. Vibration troubles
are almost sure to develop some time when an engine
is set directly upon a floor of ordinary strength.
Girders are rather expensive for small engines and too
rigid for large ones, the crystallization danger being in-
troduced. Direct earth foundations are unexcelled as
vibration absorbers but are apt to collect too much
dampness for the good of the machinery, besides being

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 171

subject to changes from frost and other causes that
throw the machinery out of line.

200. A Unique Foundation. — Perhaps the simplest
and most unusual foundation is the so-called vacuum
or sheet rubber foundation, in which a thick sheet of
rubber is spread upon the bare ground or floor. The
pressure from the weight of the engine, it is claimed,
binds this to the engine and the ground as firmly as
bolts would and at the same time deadens the vibra-
tion and reduces the running strain to the minimum.
These foundations are still to be regarded as an ex-
periment and not many of them are yet in use.

Fig. 63. — A Gasoline Engine Driven Concrete Mixer.

201. Portable Foundations. — Portable foundations
are never as satisfactory as stationary, because they
are not as secure. Only the small engine requires them
usually, and the strain is not great enough to be exact-
ing. Many of the smaller sizes are bolted to light sills
Avith handles at each end and may be picked up and

172 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

carried by two men. When running, they should be
secured with floor hooks or by some form of staking
down. Even wheelbarrow foundations are on the
market ; then there are light engines designed for using
on a binder and for such auxiliary work, that may be
fastened almost anywhere by means of hooks or bolts
or some special form of frame. For the larger sizes
sills are often provided, each end of which is shaped
like a sled-runner ; then it is little trouble to hitch a
horse to either end and move the engine about at
will.

Fig. 64. — A Gasoline Engine Driven Stone Crusher.

202. Mounted Engines. — IMounted engines of
course add to the convenience of moving the engine
about, as they also add to both the cost and the vibra-
tion. No stationary engine should be purchased for
this style of mounting without first finding out whether
it is available for such a purpose. Some engines would
produce so much vibration that half of their power
would be destroyed. Others may be set without other
support upon an empty barrel, without any display of
unsteadiness.

Where the engine is mounted on wheels, braces
should be hinged at each end of the trucks and forced
into place while the engine is running empty. If the
coupling is long the sills should be very heavy or a

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

173

jack-screw set under a cross-piece near the middle.
Often the power of the engine will be increased at
least a third by jacking up and making a vibrating

Fig. 65. — A Wheeled Foundation Needed for Tractor hngi

foundation more rigid. For tractor foundations see
chapters on the traction engine.

203. Shelter. — There is nothing about a gasoline
engine except the ignition system that requires greater
protection from the weather than a steam engine ought
to have. Shelter pays with any engine and, where
water is allowed free access to the ignition system of
the gasoline engine, short-circuiting is almost sure to
follow. The batteries must be kept dry. Water in the
coil or spark plug may short-circuit quite as thor-
oughly as a misplaced wire. Outside wires are sup-
posed to be comparatively water-proof ; btit so is a
safe fire-proof; if the fire is not too hot and long con-
tinued. The elements wdll break through any ordinary
protection in the course of time, and the water-proof-
ing about the average engine is provided against
emergencies, and not for continuous service.

174 Tpie Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Any engine, stationary, portable, or tractor, de-
serves shelter and will pay for it in extra service.
Nothing elaborate is required; just something that
will turn wind and water; still, the double walls and
dead air spaces of cement block structures present
arguments of economy if the engine is to be used much
in cold w^eather. Once started, it will furnish its own
heat, but not always wholly from waste heat, or at
least some of that spent in regulating temperature
might otherwise have been used in creating power.
Besides, a farm can make use of the waste heat usu-
ally in cold weather, if the operator is ingenious.

Whatever kind of enclosure is used, it should be
something that will exclude dust, and it should be kept
clean within. Dust may do as much harm to the gaso-
line engine through the intake pipe as bad air can
to the human lungs. Air taken from an elevation is
best, away from the gases of the workshop and the
stables ; but the pipe must be of ample size to insure
against excessive friction. The power of the engine
can be almost destroyed by limiting the supply of
good, pure air. A long pipe no larger than the in-
take or one with many turns is almost certain to give
trouble.

204. Fittings of the Engine Room. — There is more
danger of having too many tools and supplies in the
engine room than of not having enough, but no room
can be kept in order unless there is special provi-
sion for all that has to be kept there. Every engine
room should be provided with closed shelves or cup-
boards, and a few drawers. Devote one shelf entirely
to the various wrenches needed about the engine, and
then regard every wrench found out of its regular
place, when not in use, as so much misplaced matter
that should be set back where it belono-s. Another

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 175

shelf may contain hammer, punch, cold chisels, files,
etc. This should be locked and the key mislaid in
order to give time for a second thought before apply-
ing any of these harsher tools to the engine. A shelf-
ful of supplies will be needed for the ignition sys-
tem ; wire pliers, an ammeter, some insulated wire,
a coil of No. 10 or 12 bare copper wire, a pair of rub-
ber gloves or overshoes, and an extra cell or two for
the battery. Most engines are sent out with an ex-
tra spark plug. Keep this and all other electrical sup-
plies on its own shelf, and NOT in the battery box.

Frame the directions sent out by the factory with
the engine and hang on the wall under glass, or else
with a treatment of spar varnish ; then do not be too
proud to consult them when in doubt. The man who
made the engine knows some things about it that it
is no disgrace for the man who runs it to have to
learn. A drawer should also be given to all the printed
price-lists of parts, or any other literature pertaining
to the engine. Even the selling claims may help
determine what may reasonably be required of it.
Don't be afraid to consult the engine company's lit-
erature, and to study it frequently.

205. Storing Oil in the Engine Room. — One com-
partment which should be kept closed from the en-
gine room excepting when in actual use, and venti-
lated from outside, should be lined with sheet iron,
tin or zinc. An oil-tight tray at the bottom should
be provided to catch any drip and to prevent disagree-
able oily bottoms on jugs and cans, a sheet of cor-
rugated roofing, with liberal perforations, may be
fitted in just above the tray. In this compartment
should be stored a large can or barrel of the best
gasoline-engnie cylinder oil, and fitted near the bottom
with a faucet and a funnel that is small enough to con-

176 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

duct oil directly into the oiling can ; a similar can of
good lubricating oil, for the bearings, a pot of best
tested grease, and one of graphite ; also, a small can
of kerosene, and of gasoline for cleaning purposes.
Keep this compartment as clean as possible, but re-
member that it is not possible to keep it as clean as
the rest of the premises should be. x-\ box of drawers
for waste should be close at hand, with a separate
metal-lined tight drawer, for partly used waste and
oily cloths. This should be small, so there will not be
room for any great accumulation and it should be
strictly fire-proof against any fire likely to occur in
its own contents.

206. The Work Bench. — A small work bench and
vise are convenient, but nothing elaborate enough to
attract general farm repair work to the engine room.
A limited supply of nails, bolts, and rivets in drawers
is advisable, also a rack for a few lengths of water
and gas pipe, with drawers below for the couplings.

207. The Engine Room Floor. — For the stationary
engine a cement or wooden floor is better than earth,
because it can be scrubbed out when necessary.
Where a tractor is housed, grade up enough to insure
complete surface drainage, and use gravel or plank
for the run-way. A large door at both sides is a
great convenience. If a plank floor is used, a pit for
standing while at work under the tractor is a great
convenience though not absolutely necessary, as a
farm tractor does not run close to the ground like a
locomotive.

208. Ventilation. — Ventilation is of great im-
portance in the farm engine house, even though the air
supply for the engine is drawn from outside. There
is always the possibility of a gasoline leak, and an
air-tight building is a constant invitation to disaster.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 177

Window ventilation should be provided, but is not
enough. A three-foot surface of grating should be let
into the two opposite sides of the room and these left
open constantly when the room is not in use. Dur-
ing the severest weather, when the personal comfort
of the operator requires it, they may be closed with
hinged shutters inside. As the pump from the main
gasoline supply tank should be located in this room,
any leak which ever occurs in the system is pretty
certain to find an outlet in this room. Because of this,
as well as to prevent tampering with the engine, it is
safest to keep the engine room locked when the oper-
ator is not there.

209. The Engine Room Lineshaft. — Where a sta-
tionary engine and a tractor are both used, it is a
good plan to run a lineshaft through the engine room,
to which the tractor, when not in use elsewhere, can
be belted. During the winter months, when much of
the inside engine work of the heavier sort will be
needed, one can then have plenty of power and at
the same time have the advantages which the small
engine for some purposes offers over a large one. Care
must be taken in belting two engines to one shaft
that the proportion between the driver and the driven
wheels be figured out correctly, so that both engines
will be driving the shaft at the same number of revo-
lutions per minute ; otherwise there will be a good deal
of lost energy and unnecessary strain of belt and ma-
chinery. If the two engines can be located near op-
posite ends of the shaft a good deal of torsion strain
is saved. A better plan is to use a loose pulley next to
each driving member and run the belt from either
small engine or tractor free, driving from only one
engine.

210. The Mission of Paint. — This is not different

178 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

from its mission around all kinds of farm machinery
which is exposed to hard weather or usage condi-
tions. In general, paint is intended to protect the sur-
face to which it is applied from atmospheric chemi-
cal action ; but it has been discovered that electrical
action may be even more destructive, and in the paint-
ing of metals it is highly important to take this into
consideration. One of the very best paints for pro-
tecting iron from rust is red lead, but to use it is to
turn a small electric battery at work, tearing the iron
to pieces wherever a porous place or a crack admits
the atmosphere and moisture. Theoretically, a good
oil varnish is the best possible covering for iron, if
the iron is absolutely clean when painted. The var-
nish will not adhere to rusty, greasy, or w^et iron, and
its contraction while drying opens up minute cracks
over the imperfectly coated spots and the work of
destruction will continue unsuspected under the
painted surface. In order to render the iron entirely
waterproof, the varnish must be absolutely dry be-
fore exposure to the weather.

Iron can be cleaned of the grease and gum with
which an engine is so frequently coated by thoroughly
covering with turpentine for a few hours, floating the
liquid on freely and frequently until the gum breaks
down. Kerosene and gasoline are sometimes used for
this purpose, but turpentine is better. Concentrated
lye will sometimes succeed where other methods have
failed, as it unites with the grease to form soap, and
that is easily removed. The lye must afterwards be
cleaned oft' very thoroughly before painting.

211. Painting the Muffler. — For painting the muf-
fler or pipes that are subject to severe heat, mix equal
parts by vv^eight of Japan varnish and boiled linseed oil.
For each half-pound of this mixture add slowly and

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 179

in succession, while stirring briskly, one and one-half
ounces of lamp black, the same of pure powdered
graphite, and three-eighths of an ounce of powdered
oxide of manganese. Thin down with turpentine, and
paint at once. As this paint dries very fast, the muf-
fler must be cleaned before the paint is mixed. Stir
constantly while painting, and apply while the muf-
fler is hot.

212. Engine Room Abominations. — The loafer is
always an abomination and especially when around
machinery. Power producing plants seem to be spe-
cially attractive to this class of people who appear to
have so little business of their own, and the boiler or
engine room of many a factory has ever been the favor-
ite loafing place of the chronic story-teller. Avoid
him by making no provision for his entertainment.
The engine room is a place for business only. Chairs,
boxes, benches are all out of place there. There is
no necessity for the operator to remain standing
longer at a time than his feet will sustain him and no
one else has any business there ; not as a long time
fixture.

213. And a Few Cautions. — Nor is the chronic
loafer the only one who likes to hang around engines.
Often it is young boys, who seem to take to them by
nature and who frequently, if the occasion presents,
sometimes through mischief, but more through mis-
directed curiosity and overconfidence, subject the en-
gine to so many readjustments that the owner learns
many new things in engine management before he is
ever able to start up again. The spirit of mechanical
investigation ought to be encouraged in the boys but
they should also be impressed with the fact that all
engine management must be under certain fixed rules
and that only those who are first familiar with the

i8o The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

rules know how to apply them. There is only one way
for anyone to make this impression a fixed certainty,
by knowing when people not connected with the farm
are around the engine, who they are and what they
are doing; that is by taking the same precautions
which circumstances would make necessary in pro-
tecting a new horse or any other attractive purchase.
214. Eliminating the Danger Risk. — The rapidly
revolving flywheel of the average engine when vised
in exposed places introduces an element of danger to
the onlooker that should be carefully guarded against
by making a light frame of iron pipe or wood mem-
bers to enclose the revolving member. If this has
walls of poultry wire to enclose the mechanism, this
precaution will prevent any projecting ends of cloth-
ing from becoming caught in the flywheel. The hot
exhaust pipe, too, is often a source of menace and
should be covered with asbestos lagging to prevent
inopportune burns.

CHAPTER XL
THE FUEL SUPPLY.

215. Gasoline, and Its Nature. — Perhaps more
people are killed or injured annually by gasoline
through ignorance of its true character than by any
other industrial agent; yet, properly handled, it is no
more dangerous than water. At 40° a lighted match
thrown on its surface would be extinguished. At
90° it might be ; it certainly would be in liquid gaso-
line or pure gasoline vapor.

216. Its True Value and Danger. — Liquid gasoline
will not ignite from flame at ordinary temperatures,
but far less heat than that from a burning match will,
if favorably placed, be enough to convert it rapidly
into a gas which, mixed with the oxygen of the air,
is very highly inflammable. This tendency to vaporize
so readily, in fact at any temperature a few degrees
above freezing, is what makes gasoline so readily
available for engine use. As more heat is applied, the
vaporizing becomes more rapid. An open dish of
gasoline in the sunlight where a brisk current of
warm air passes over it will evaporate so rapidly as
to present the appearance of boiling. So the current
of air passing over its surface in the carburetor car-
ries a mixture of the readily formed gas along with it
into the engine cylinder.

217. Pure Gasoline Vapor Non-inflammable. — By
itself, gasoline vapor will not ignite ; it requires the
presence of oxygen, which it gets from the air. About

181

i82 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

one part of vapor to eight of air makes the ideal mix-
ture for thorough combustion theoretically, though, on
account of atmospheric impurities, one part to twelve
of air is more nearly the proportion in actual prac-
tice. Only a little variation either way destroys the
combustible properties of the mixture.

218. How Gasoline Is Obtained. — Gasoline is one
of the most volatile products from crude petroleum,
coming over as one of the first by-products in the
process of distillation. It was formicrly counted of
little or no value, 5c. per gal. being a good price. No
mention is made of it in the 1890 Census report on
the Mineral Industries of the United States, all the
distillations from petroleum being classed together as
naphtha. Its rise in commercial importance may be
referred almost wholly to the development of the gaso-
line engine.

It is a colorless liquid of highly characteristic odor,
the latter quality serving for a highly fortunate warn-
ing as to its presence in case of a leak. Its specific
gravity varies and it is considerably lighter than
water, as it will float on its surface without mixing.

219. Grade. — All gasoline used for engine purposes
had formerly to pass the Baume test around 70° to 74°,
76° being the highest grade. Owing to the increased
demand and scarcity, it has been recently announced
that nothing better than 64° gasoline will be supplied
through the general market. This is only two degrees
above the limit below which the product is no longer
called gasoline, but carburetor construction has ad-
vanced so much in recent years that this lower stand-
ard will probably give no serious trouble ; in fact,
not only kerosene but the distillates are coming into
quite general engine use. Some of these low grade
products stand higher in thermal value than gasoline.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 183

but they are more difficult to vaporize and contain
more solid matter like carbon.

220. Tests. — Quality tests are less important now
than when the best of carburetors could only vaporize
the best of gasoline ; still, there are times when a few
simple tests are convenient.

The volatile qualities may be determined by pouring
a few drops into the hand and noting how quickly the
liquid disappears. With 74° gasoline the hand should
be dry in from seven to ten seconds. Sixty-two de-
grees gasoline should require from a quarter to a half
minute ; the lower grade products even longer time.
Any unevaporated residue remaining in the hand
means some non-volatile substance, and trouble for
the engine. If the residue is sticky, the gasoline is
of a grade unsuitable for engine use, or else it has
been adulterated.

Water can readily be discovered by pouring the
liquid into glass. The water will sink to the bottom
and a sharp line of division will be seen.

221. A Good Storage System. — A good storage sys-
tem without leaks is the best insurance policy in the
handling of gasoline. Without this, no other sort of
insurance will avail. Barrels and tanks stored care-
lessly in barns for even a day are not to be tolerated.
Gasoline is far more difficult than water to confine and,
aside from the danger, a very small leak may permit
the escape of as much gasoline as an engine would
use. An underground tank is best, where the temper-
ature is cool and unvarying. Three pipes should con-
nect with the surface ; the one terminating in a gaso-
line pump ; a second ending in a plate and plug through
which the tank can be refilled, and the third, a smaller
pipe, for ventilating purposes, should be discharged
in the air several feet above the ground, where the

i84

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

gasoline vapors will be diluted before reaching the
ground, where there might be danger of ignition.
Fresh air will enter the tank through this pipe to re-
place any gasoline drawn out but the heavier gaso-

FiG. 66. — A Bowser Gasoline Storage System.

line vapors will not rise up and escape from it unless
driven out by internal pressure. While the tank is
being refilled these vapors, mixed with air, are forced
out and form almost an ideal source for an explo-
sion. ONE OF THE GREATEST GASOLINE
DANGERS IS FROM THE VAPORS DRIVEN
OUT OF THE VENT PIPE AND CONTAINED
IN THE PIPE WHILE THE TANK IS BEING
REFILLED. Fire and lights of all kinds must AL-
WAYS be kept at a distance while filling a tank.

222. A Good Tank. — The tank should be cylin-
drical. Copper is best for the smaller sizes, but for

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

a large tank steel does very well. Galvanized iron
is often used, but zinc coatings are sensitive to the
sulphuric and other acids used in breaking up the
petroleum to increase the yield of gasoline. This
causes a sediment that may at any time close up a feed
pipe, and the metal itself is sooner or later perforated
by that most dangerous of "pin-hole" leaks. These

'Suction pipe
jeadinO to pump.

Double tapped bushing__^

Suction pipe flange
connection

Union e'lbow

Lock filler cap

-Inner filler pipe
Filler pipe
^-niler pipe flange
connection ^

Double'* brass
foot'

Fig. 6j. — Bowser Gasoline Storage Tank With Convenient
Fittings.

acids do not attack tin, and a heavily tinned tank, as
nearly seamless as possible, makes a first class recep-
tacle.

223. The Foundation. — Tanks should be solidly
placed on broad bearings and rigid foundations. A
hundred-gallon tank when full weighs something like
800 pounds, and the foundations should be planned
not only to support this weight, but to so distribute it
that not all the strain will come upon one portion of
the tank.

224. The Connections. — Flexible copper tubing of
not less than ^-inch inside diameter is the best con-

i86 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

nector with the carburetor, as it resists vibrations of
the engine better than soldered joints. Brass pipe
with threaded fittings well shellacked are satisfactory,
while flared tube unions make excellent joints. Heavy
lead pipe at least ^ inch is easily worked, and will
give good service if not exposed to blows and
bruises.

225. The Joints. — Joint leaks are specially hard to
locate and produce leakage of gasoline. Several firms
make a specialty of gasoline fittings, and the standard
ground union made by one of these is excellent; also
one with two flat surfaces to be drawn together, with
a paper gasket set in shellac. A well made globe valve
or a ground pet cock answ^ers the purpose nicely, and
has the advantage of having no gland with packing.
Some such closing device should always be placed be-
tween the supply tank and the carburetor to shut ofT
the gasoline when the engine is not running. To de-
pend upon the carburetor alone is very unsafe.

226. Guarding the Feed Pipe. — The bottom of the
filling pipe should be provided with a good screen
strainer, and another should guard the mouth of the
small feed pipe leading to the carburetor. This is
small in diameter, and a very small scale or grain of
dirt in this may be enough to put the engine out of
business and provide plenty of business for the oper-
ator.

227. Gasoline Dangers. — Nearly all gasoline
dangers consist of either leaks or carelessness. With
a good storage system properly installed, the careful
engine owner need have no fear. No gasoline engine
ever exploded, and never did a steam engine. Gaso-
line tanks and steam boilers sometimes "burst" when
outside heat raises the internal pressure beyond safety
limits ; but gasoline itself is quite as non-explosive

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 187

in the true sense as is steam. The terms explosion
stroke, explosion chamber, etc., are all misnomers
which are justified only by popular use. Gasoline
vapors, mixed with the proper amount of air, will ig-
nite and burn with almost violent eagerness. A dry
pine stick will burn more rapidly than green bass-
wood ; neither the pine nor the gasoline becomes a
true explosive because the combustion is more rapid
than that of something else with which we see fit to
compare it. There is a vast chemical difference be-
tween even the most rapid combustion and explo-
sion ; hence gasoline should never be classed with ni-
tro-glycerine, dynamite, gun cotton, nitrogen chlo-
ride, or any of the true explosives.

228. Gasoline Not Inflammable.- — Neither is gaso-
line inflammable in its pure state. A bucketful of
gasoline dashed on a fire might extinguish it as quickly
as a pail of water would ; still gasoline is not intended
for a fire extinguisher, and this property is here re-
ferred to in order to emphasize the foolishness of ap-
plying it to all things that it might be used for, but
for which it was never intended. In order to quench
a fire the liquid must be present in such excessive
quantity that its own temperature remains low until
the fire is out ; otherwise the heat would vaporize it
and convert it into a gas which, mixed with air,
might become inflammable before the liquid had time
to quench the flame. This same thing may happen in
extinguishing fire with water, the water being decom-
posed, in the presence of carbon (charcoal and burned
wood), to carbon monoxide or water gas. This actually
happened at the great Chicago fire ; but the tempera-
ture at which water is thus acted upon is so high that
the fire which reaches that temperature is very excep-
tional.

i88 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

229. The Exact Danger Point in Gasoline. — Let us

imagine gasoline and its vapors composed of several
distinct layers or zones piled one upon another. The
bottom layer is the liquid itself; that will not ignite.
Directly above it is a layer of pure gasoline vapor
which contains no oxygen, and cannot take fire. In
the zone next higher a small proportion of air is mixed,
though not nearly enough to support combustion. Let
us now begin at the other side of our pile. Some-
where above this gasoline we know there must be a
place which the vapors have not reached. Here we
have pure air. Just below is a belt where there is a
mere trace of gasoline ; not enough to burn ; but the
next zone below is a little stronger. Now if the top
of our pile consists of pure air and the bottom of pure
gasoline, it is evident that at some place between these
two belts is a spot where the mixture is exactly right
to support the most complete combustion of which the
air and gas are capable. It is also certain that a
lighted match dropped downward from above must
reach this inflammable zone before it comes to one so
dense in gasoline vapor as to extinguish it. It ignites
that zone and the disturbance so far mixes all those
nearer to it that almost the entire vapor pile becomes
in an instant a mass of burning gas, the heat and cur-
rent from which almost as quickly convert the liquid
itself into seething flame.

230. Small Danger in Tank from Natural
Causes. — L'nless the gasoline is being subjected to
more than normal heat or the air and vapors above
it are agitated and mixed by some mechanical means,
the proportion of inflammable mixture existing at one
time in a closed tank is very small. The greatest dan-
ger consists of its ready abilit}^ to mix up an inflam-
mable proportion out of the surrounding material.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

189

The air enclosed in a tank soon becomes saturated,
and not inflammable; hence there is practically no
danger of a flame from the engine following the tube

Fig.

58.— Bowser Underground Tank
Attached.

With Pleasuring Pump

back to the tank. The liquid gasoline in it would pre-
vent, or, if it did not, there would be nothing inflam-
mable in the tank.

igo The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

231. Rules for Safety. — Gasoline can, however, be
easily made dangerous ; and a great many people are
getting hurt through ignorance or carelessness in its
management. It is always the free gasoline outside
the tank that causes trouble ; that which has leaked
out or been purposely drawn and exposed to the air.
Leaks should constantly be watched for. When found
they should be remedied at once.

No poorly ventilated room through which gasoline
pipes pass should ever be entered with an open light
until the air is tested for gasoline vapor. For most
people, the nose is a partial test and one which should
not be disregarded. Never bring a light into a room
where there is a noticeable smell of gasoline.

Gasoline vapors are much heavier than air, and will
be strongest usually near the floor ; hence the room
should be ventilated from below.

The leak that is searched for Avith a lighted match
will surely be found, but the searcher may not be.

Gasoline may be evaporated in an open dish by
boiling without ignition, but as soon as the heavy
vapors settle down to the flame, the room will make a
first class combustion chamber for one power impulse
only.

One of the commonest dangers m the handling of
gasoline is its use in small quantities for cleaning
purposes, after w^hich it is discarded into the sink
or slop bucket, where it will surely come to the sur-
face and vaporize. In time, enough of the heavy
vapor is likely to accumulate in the lower part of the
room to spell disaster.

Gasoline should never be drawn from a common
spigot or poured from one vessel in the presence of
flame, as the process exposes a large surface to vapor-
ization and the fumes come ofl:* rapidly. For this rea-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 191

son gasoline should never be drawn in the presence of
another person, who is liable at any instant to care-
lessly light a cigar.

Gasoline, in fact, should not be poured at all ; it is
too wasteful. If drawn from a barrel, lower a length
of rubber hose into the barrel, then pinch the end
tightly between the fingers and draw out until the
outer end of the hose reaches below the level of gaso-
line ; then release the end and siphon out the desired
quantity.

232. Two Fundamental Rules. — ist. Avoid evapo-
ration as much as possible by keeping the gasoline in
a cool place and away from any but saturated air.

2nd. See that all vapor or air space in the storage
system is kept constantly at the saturation stage.
This can always be assured by keeping all tanks, pipes
and joints constantly tight and a supply of liquid gaso-
line within them.

233. Common Risks and Errors. — Do not expect to
locate a small leak by dripping liquid, or even by mois-
ture around it. In such quantities it is the nature of
gasoline to vaporize and become invisible the moment
the air is reached. .^

Do not use a dirty stick to measure the depth of
the gasoline in the tank. It may result in a clogged
pipe. Keep a clean rod in a clean place for that pur-
pose, and have the scale in inches and fractions
marked at its lower end. Some lower a glass tube,
open at both ends, then close the upper end with the
finger and draw out and note the height of gasoline in
the tube.

Do not use the same funnel for gasoline, lubricating
oil, and kerosene. These are sometimes fed to the en-
gine in mixture, but each funnel develops dirt enough
of its own.

192 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Rubber tubing is not suitable for piping gasoline,
kerosene or lubricating oil. The first dissolves it
readily, while oil and the fatty remnants of oil left be-
hind when kerosene evaporates soon rot the life out of
rubber. Specially treated hose is furnished for such
purposes.

All gasoline joints should be unfailingly made up in
shellac. A single joint that is merely "good enough to
answer" may defeat all the other precautions and ren-
der them care and money thrown away.

Unfiltered gasoline is very likely to cause a trouble-
some interview with the intake pipe or carburetor
sooner or later.

Never forget that the greatest danger about a gaso-
line tank is the process of filling it; while the satu-
rated air is being displaced by the inrushing liquid and
forced into the open air to be diluted to the most com-
bustible point. Then the cigar-lighter gets in his
deadliest work.

Wire screen strainers alone are not enough protec-
tion from dirt. The needle valve is small and easily
clogged. A chamois skin at some convenient part of
the system not t©o remote from the carburetor is a
great trouble saver.

Do not attempt to solder a spot in a galvanized
tank that has rusted through. Occasionally it pays,
but it is usually a waste of time.

The gasoline that has stood for some time in the
carburetor of an idle engine may lose its more vola-
tile elements and become useless as an engine
starter. Better drain the carburetor and renew the
supply.

Make it a rule never to draw gasoline at night under
conditions where a light from a naked flame is neces-
sary. The occasional exception may not prove dis-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 193

astrous, but it will soon become the rule and serious
consequences are sure to follow — some time.

A bottle of mushy yellow shellac and a few strips
of cloth should be in every gasoline engine repair
chest. This will repair a leaky union temporarily
without shutting down the engine until the run is

Fig, 69. — Simple Gasoline Tank Gauge.

finished. Som.etimes, when this fails, relief may be
obtained by shutting off the gasoline, unscrewing the
union, and making up the joint in soap or graphite.

Remember always that, aside from the danger, even
a small leak may consume gasoline faster than the
engine does.

234. Gasoline Fires; How to Handle Them. — The
most important thing to do with a gasoline fire is to
prevent it, and the next thing is to smother it out by
cutting off the air supply, or the gasoline. Fighting
with water is time worse than wasted ; it spreads the
gasoline over a larger surface and increases the area
of evaporation. Sand and sawdust are two of the
very best extinguishers, though sand should not be
used too near the engine, as grains of it in the cyl-
inder may cut and ruin it. A few buckets of saw-
dust near a gasoline engine or storage system should

194 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

be as much a part of the equipment as buckets of
water are around the furnace of steam boilers. It not
only smothers but absorbs the liquid and prevents its
spreading, while a few grains drawn into the engine
will not do such serious damage.

If sawdust is not available, old carpets, blankets,
binder canvas, stack covers, anything to shut out the
air, should be resorted to. Out of doors, a few shovels-
ful of dirt may be sufficient and most readily obtain-
able. This has the same objection around the engine
that sand has.

Chemical fire extinguishers are many of them all
right. One of the very best may be made by mixing
common salt and sal-ammoniac in equal parts ; then add
to the mixture two-thirds of its bulk of bicarbonate of
soda. Mix and screen thoroughly; then bottle for
use, and keep in stock for an emergency. A little of
this scattered over a gasoline fire will conquer it
quickly.

235. Kerosene: Its Advantages and Drawbacks.—
In thermal heat value kerosene stands higher than
gasoline in the proportion of about 22 to 18.

Nearly every one is familiar with kerosene and its
treatment, while gasoline is with many people a series
of experiments.

In some parts of the country gasoline is only obtain-
able at certain stations, while kerosene can be ob-
tained at any corner grocery. If the fuel supply runs
out before a certain job is done, a few gallons of
kerosene can be brought in the farm buggy, enough to
finish the work without having to shut down.

If a few gallons happen to remain over at the end
of the season the housewife can burn it in her lamps.
It does not have to be carried over till another year.
This argument is hardly valid, however, in the case of

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 195

small engines, as they are likely to be in daily use the
year around.

Insurance companies are more generally educated
up to the point of tolerance in the use of kerosene, and
are not so strict in their ruling as they are with gaso-
line. Perhaps they realize that people know better
how to handle it.

Various experiments have proven that the same
amount of work can be done cheaper with kerosene
than with gasoline, the difference being due both to
the lower price for kerosene and its superior thermal
efficiency.

Kerosene is somewhat safer to handle, both because
it is less volatile and because it is more generally
understood. Under ordinary conditions if it happens
to escape from the tubes within which it is supposed
to be confined in the form of a liquid it remains a
liquid. This superior stability, however, is also one
of its chief drawbacks.

236. Objections to Kerosene.— It is much more dif-
ficult to vaporize in the engine than gasoline ; in fact,
artificial heat has often to be applied to jt at the be-
ginning of a run in order to start at all. When once
started the engine itself supplies the heat.

Kerosene is not so fully consumed in the process of
combustion as gasoline, and there is a much heavier
deposit of carbon on the valves and in the cylinder.
The piston rings must be cleaned oftener, and
there is greater trouble with pre-ignition and leaky
valves.

Kerosene engines are apt to be offensive to the sense
of smell. Not only that, when used in the stable or
dairy, the milk has to be much more closely guarded
or its products are likely to taint.

Kerosene ensfines are more liable to smoke than

196 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

gasoline, and are less available for interior work, espe-
cially in laundries, kitchens, milk-houses, etc.

Fig. 70.— Typical 10 H. P. Kerosene Engine.

237. Which Is Best.— For tractors and out-of-door
engines kerosene and the distillates are specially avail-
able on account of their cheapness and superior power,
but for small units and for in-door work the gasoline
engine is probably enough better to pay the difference

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 197

in the cost of fuel. Gasoline, too, is best for high
speed engines, as kerosene is much slower burnnig.

238. Changing for Kerosene from Gasoline.— Al-
most any good gasoline engine can be used for kero-
sene by a few minor changes. Two supply tanks are
needed, a large one for the kerosene and a small one
for gasoline." In starting the engine the gasoline
should be turned on first until the iron is well warmed
up; then the gasoline can be switched off and kero-
sene turned on. A few minutes before closing down
at night it is well to change back to gasoline ; then the
carburetor will be charged with gasoline in the morn-
ing for starting. Short shut-downs in the course of
a run do not usually require this change, as the en-
gine, once hot, remains hot enough for a reasonable
Time to vaporize the kerosene. If at any time it will
not start, the carburetor should be drained and then
primed with gasoline.

A good spark and good compression are essential
for the use of kerosene. Without these it is generally
a waste of time to attempt the change. Kerosene is
more suitable for constant than for variable loads.
Valves and connections must be kept tight, and rings
and sparker clean. Sometimes it is necessary to pipe
hot air from some part of the engine across the car-
buretor, or a hot water jacket can be used. The
spark must not be advanced too much or pre-ignition
troubles are likely to come up. Some engine operators
favor mixing a quart of gasoline with each five gallons
of kerosene, while others operate successfully on kero-
sene alone. Under favorable conditions a saving of as
much as forty per cent, has been reported by changing
from gasoline to kerosene, and with an increase of

power.

239. Distillate.— Distillate, which is really a low

198 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

grade of kerosene in which more traces of the heavier
oils remain, can be used in most gasoline engines in
the same way kerosene can, and, like the latter it is
more desirable for tractors and heavy engines of low
speed than for the more speedy affairs for indoor work
Some of the advantages which kerosene presents are
not so marked, while others are more so. Also, the
mam objections to kerosene appear in distillates in
an aggravated form; still they are valuable in their
place, when properly arranged for, and are among the
very cheapest engine fuels.
^ 240. Alcohol.— This is the great unfulfilled promise
to the mdustrial world, of the internal combustion en-
gme; mdeed, it was regarded as so important that a
few years ago special revenue laws were enacted in
Its favor, and it was confidently expected that de-
natured alcohol would revolutionize the small power
industries.

241. Its Advantages.— In many respects alcohol is
specially fitted for this work. It is far cleaner and
less odorous than gasoline, and greater power is ob-
tained from it for a given weight of engine. A gaso-
line engine operating under ordinary compression of
about 70 pounds will increase in power about 10 per
cent, when run on alcohol; then by increasing the
compression to 180 or 190 pounds, which could not
be done with gasoline, the power will be nearly 30
per cent, greater. It will thus be seen that in order
to run on alcohol economically a much higher com-
pression pressure should be provided for than either
kerosene or gasoline would permit.

242. Some Peculiarities of Alcohol.— Alcohol com-
bustion is slower than gasoline, and less noisy. The
heat from the flame goes up instead of spreading out,
and a fire caused by it spreads less rapidly and is

The Gasoline Iingine on the Farm 199

readily extinguished by water, with which it mixes
greedily. All alcohol contains some water; and its
presence in the engine in the form of steam sometimes
has to be considered. It has also a troublesome habit
of corroding metals and of changing lubricating oils
to gummy substances. It is more constant in its com-
position than gasoline in its action and will stand over-
loading better. It will operate the engine, too, when
diluted with water as much as 50 per cent.

243. Its Fatal Weakness. — So far its fatal weak-
ness has been the prohibitive price and its low thermal
value. In heat units it is much lower than gasoline,
the relation standing about in the proportion of 2 to
3, while the proportional price is more than reversed.

244. The Engine User's Dream. — It has been an
unrealized dream of power users that alcohol will
some time be produced on the farm or in each farming
community from farm refuse, like small potatoes, etc.,
at a low cost. It would then be almost an ideal and
inexpensive source of power, of local production and
not subject to excessive tax of transportation. The
power, too, that could utilize the present waste of the
farm and be independent for its source from any other
industry must of itself, if ever realized, be of in-
estimable advantage. Thus far, however, there has
been little progress made in a realization of this
dream, and at its present prices alcohol as an engine
fuel can only be regarded as a promising possibility of
the future.

245. Notes on Fuels. — In spite of the fact that
gasoline is much more costly now than it was a few
years ago its use as an engine fuel is less so because
of greater carburetor and general engine efficiency.

American oils furnish on an average about 54 per
cent, of kerosene and only 6 to 8 per cent, of gasoline.

200 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Gasoline cannot be ignited by overheating a tank,
but it can be made to vaporize until the internal pres-
sure may burst the tank.

The only dangerous gasoline is free gasoline, and
the entire danger from operating the gasoline engine
may be said to consist of failure to confine the fuel.
The difiference in the cost of a good and a poor job in
the mstallation of the storage system should not be
considered.

It is the weak point of the storage svstem that the
gasoline finds. Those parts that are strong enough
are never in evidence.

Any float-controlled valve may become clogged with
dirt and fail to seat properly. This means a leak as
surely as a rusted pipe.

White or red lead is not suitable for making up a
gasoline joint. The gasoline attacks and cuts them
out. Litharge and glycerine mixed to a thick paste
are excellent— as good as shellac.

Alcohol dissolves shellac and soon attacks the usual
float found in the ordinary carburetor, permitting it to
become fuel-soaked and unreliable.

One pint of gasoline or i.i pints of kerosene or 1.4
pints of alcohol should produce on an average one
horse power per hour. At that rate, with gasoline at
14 centf per gallon, alcohol should cost 10 cents, and
kerosene 13 cents; or, with alcohol at 30 cents, gaso-
line at 40 cents would still be as cheap.

IMany accidents arise from the storage of gasoline
and kerosene in small quantities in similar cans. To
prevent this paint all gasoline receptacles on the out-
side a bright red. In some states this precaution is
required by law, as it should be in all by common
sense.

CHAPTER XII.
LUBRICATION.

246. Importance. — If intelligent lubrication could
become the gasoline engine owner's politics it would
be well for him to be in the throes of a great national
campaign continuously. More machinery is sacrificed
each year to the god of friction than to all other legiti-
mate causes ; and the shame of it is that much of this
is easily prevented.

Not only does carelessness in lubrication destroy
machinery, it seriously diminishes the amount of
energy available in useful w^ork by introducing a great
amount of needless and unproductive work. The ef-
ficiency of any power may be reduced as much as 50
per cent, through lack of proper attention at the bear-
ings. The fire risk is also greatly increased by it.
Destructive fires are so often started by hot boxes
that the rate of insurance upon any building contain-
ing machinery is considerably higher than normal.

247. Purpose. — An ordinary cast iron cylinder
shows to the naked eye a rough surface covered with
sand-holes and foundry defects. It is easy to see that
such a bearing w^ould not be permissible in even the
slowest of moving machinery. Steel and some other
metals may present a smoother surface, but we would
not think of using any of these in journal boxings
until the surface was worked to a true circle and then
polished until all of these defects which we readily
see have been removed.

201

202 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

The most highly polished metal surface known to
mechanics will, under a powerful microscope, present
an appearance not unlike that which the unfinished
iron gave to the naked eye (Fig. 71), and friction

Fig. 71.— Polished Steel Rod Looks Rough If Magnified Greatly,
works with microscopic exactness. The hardest steel
is not incompressible either; and, unless we are will-
ing to furnish the extra power energy to tear these
multitudinous inequalities of surface apart and grind
them down by main force, we must render the shaft
more smooth.

248. How Lubricants Work. — Some lubricants ac-
complish their mission almost wholly by filling up
these minute holes and inequalities, and then, under
the pressure, forming a new surface of their own com-
posed of the little globules of oil pressed and ground
into each other until they form a smooth, hard glaze.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 203

Others do their work more by dividing into Httle
elastic balls which cover the bearing surface con-
stantly with self-adjusting ball-bearings, interspersed
with cushions of imprisoned air. Either of these ef-
fects prevents the two metal surfaces from ever com-
ing together and, under perfect lubrication, nearly all
of the wear is on the lubricating surface itself. Of
course, in practice, lubrication is never continuously
complete ; and, even if it were, some friction would
result between the metal and the oil ; but the latter,
being the more yielding, would bear the brunt of the
wear.

249. What a Lubricant Is. — Practically any liquid
is a lubricant, since all liquids are composed of easily
moving molecules or globules which readily adjust
themselves to any surface. Not all liquids can be
made to stay in place, nor have all of them strength or
body enough to hold a heavy shaft clear of its bear-
ings. In order to resist the tendency of the scraping
metal to tear the lubricating film apart and let the
metals come together, the liquid globules must have a
strong inclination to stick together; that is, the liquid
must have good cohesive properties. It must also
adhere well to the metal surface it is applied to, or
the moving shaft will shove it aside ; in other words,
it must have good adhesive powers.

250. Viscosity. — These two properties determine
the viscosity or body of a lubricating agent, and in a
great measure fix its lubricating value. Many liquids
possess one of these qualities without the other.
Water adheres well to the metal but does not stick
together with enough persistence to prevent the metal
surfaces from shoving it aside. Mercury is excep-
tionally cohesive but has not sufficient adhesion to
hold it to its work against the other metals. Neither

204 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

of these two fluids will do as a lubricant because
neither of them is truly viscous.

251. Fluidity.— Fluidity is just the opposite of
viscosity. There is a certain amount of friction be-
tween all moving things which are in contact, not
excepting the separate particles in the oil itself; and
this internal friction or tendency to cling together is
greater in the kinds of liquids which are less fluid.
This stationary tendency in an oil increases its re-
sistance to all motion, including that of the shaft, and
after the point is reached where the oil has sufficient
body to sustain the required load, any addition to the
resistance is only adding to the friction between the
oil and shaft v/ithout serving any useful purpose.

252. The Flash Point — In gasoline engine lubri-
cation the flash point and fire test of the oil are of
very great importance. The first refers to the lowest
degree of temperature at which the vapors from the
oil will flash into momentary flame and then die out;
the second to that point at which the vapor will con-
tinue to form and burn constantly. As the tempera-
ture in the engine cylinder is so high, it is necessary
that a good cylinder oil have a very high test in both
of these, else it would be ignited and consumed be-
fore having a chance to do its work. A fire test of
400° F., or more than the working temperature of the
cylinder, is necessary, and some gas engine men insist
on as high as 500° or even 600°.

253. The Cold Test.— The cold test is of less im-
portance; still it should be considered where ma-
chinery is to be run at a low temperature, as oil which
is so nearly congealed that it will not follow in its
proper channels is of no use as a lubricant. The
usually accepted cold test for gasoline engine oils is
around 20° Fahr.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 205

254. Carbon. — In the cylinder oil the per cent, of
carbon is of very great importance, since each impulse
of the engine consumes all the inflammable parts of
the oil in the cylinder and leaves the free carbon and
other unconsumed ingredients behind to gum the pis-
ton and rings with their troublesome deposits.

255. Gums and Acids. — Gums and acids, though
present in most oils, are a detriment for obvious rea-
sons, and an oil should be selected which is as free
from them as possible. Acids, of course, attack the
surface of the metal the oil is intended to protect and
lubricate, while gum in cylinder oil is not to be toler-
ated, as it is constantly depositing a few more engine
troubles in the cylinder.

256. Variety in Lubricants Needed. — No one kind
of oil is best for all machines or all parts of the same
machine. A thick lubricating film of good resisting
body is needed under the heavily loaded shaft, and for
such heavy machinery its greater internal friction is
of no importance, the weight and momentum of the
machine being enough to overcome the extra resist-
ance without being retarded. For the light spindle of
high speed such heavy oil Avould be unnecessary, and
its retarding tendency would be serious. A drop of
thick cylinder oil would put a watch out of commis-
sion, while a gallon of typewriter oil would be worth
about as much as the same quantity of w^ater to lubri-
cate the line-shaft of an ocean steamer or the drive
wheels of a locomotive. Friction between certain
kinds of metal, too, it has been proven, is best re-
duced by certain oils, wdiile the temperature at which
the machinery works is an important matter. In
comparison tests of good oils of seemingly similar
nature it has sometimes been found that three-fourths
of the oil required of one brand will accomplish more

2o6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

work with the same machine and load than some other
brand would require, and that there would be a ma-
terial saving in power and repair bills at the same
time.

257. Gasoline Engine Cylinder Oil. — This is per-
haps the severest known test ever placed upon a lubri-
cant of any kind. Ordinary cylinder oil which is satis-
factory in the moist air of the steam engine cylinder,
where the temperature rarely gets above 400°, will not
answer at all in the presence of this dry heat of 1,500°
or more at the moment of firing, and a continuous
wall temperature of 350° or more. The oil would be
burned up at once and the released carbon, uniting in
the presence of the heat with the oxygen in the cyl-
inder, not only chokes the engine up with dirt but, by
removing some of the oxygen, interferes seriously with
the firing of the charge.

Gasoline engine cylinder oil must have enough vis-
cosity or adhesive stickiness to carry its load well at
these high temperatures and still be free from gum.
It must have an exceptionally high fire test in order
to resist consumption until after its work is done;
then it must suffer as near complete consumption as
may be, in order that but little deposit from it remains
to trouble the cylinder. It should have a good cold
test also, and it must be free from the various adulter-
ants which are sometimes used to make cheap oil re-
semble high grade cylinder oil in its "handling"
qualities.

Cheap cylinder oil should be avoided, because a
good oil cannot be made cheaply. It requires many
filterings until practically all of the impurities are
taken out of it. It is then nearly colorless, like
glycerine, instead of the dark green or amber fre-
quently seen on the market ; but color alone does not

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 207

prove the quality. Oil can be bleached by certain
acids until it resembles the highly filtered oils ; then
it contains, in addition to the objectionable carbon, a
certain amount of free acid to attack and roughen the
cylinder walls. Soap, alumina, soda, lime, etc., are
often present in cheap oils. Their uses are many to
the oil vendor. For the engine owner they accom-
plish one result only — trouble.

258. Bearings and Their Requirements. — The
weight and strain upon a bearing and the speed at
which the shaft is run in the main determine the na-
ture of the best lubricant for most parts of ordinary
machinery, including the gasoline engine, though the
method used in its application may have much to do
with it. The viscosity should be sufficient to carry
the load and not much more. The oil should be fluid
enough to freely enter the most difficult parts of the
boxing channels, and the flow should be ready enough
to insure a constant supply. The fluidity of the oil
is specially important when some parts of the bear-
ings are difficult of access or when the splash system
of oiling is made use of. On the other hand, there are
places where a thicker oil, even grease, is better for
ordinary journals ; for instance, near an emery wheel,
where bits of metal or grit are likely to abound. Its
thicker body tends to protect the revolving surface
from abrasure and to work the foreign particles out-
side the journals. Where drip from the ends of the
axles is specially objectionable, too, the heavier oils
and greases are more appropriate.

259. The Specific Purpose. — About the only way
for the machine man to really know what oil is best
for any specific purpose is iov him to understand the
nature of the dift'erent oils and then study the require-
ments of his machine, and select that oil best adapted

3o8 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

to supplying them. To know the machine alone is
not enough. There are some oils that might be spe-
cially valuable under certain conditions, which possess
some peculiarity that under other conditions would
render them valueless in the same machine. Tallow
and lard oil, for instance, so largely used on farm ma-
chinery, have practically no lubricating value where
there is much load if the temperature gets above ioo°,
because their viscosity is then destroyed, and they
have not sufficient body to hold the two metals apart.
Beef suet, a favorite with some, will not begin to feed
down until the boxes have become hot enough to be
injured. This is almost a fatal weakness in its lubri-
cating properties, it being the purpose of every good
machinist to prevent hot boxes rather than to provide
them for the purpose of melting his grease. It is
always well when selecting oil to consider the tem-
perature of the place, and to remember that high tem-
peratures readily decompose the animal oils and render
them rancid.

260. Animal and Vegetable Oils. — Formerly the
only oils in common use as lubricants were of animal
or vegetable origin. This was largely due to their
cheapness and greater supply. Animal oils are more
oily, however, than mineral, and they mix better Avith
moisture. For the latter reason they are more desir-
able around steam than gasoline engines, though even
for steam they are not ideal. As a class they are more
oily than the hydrocarbons or mineral oils, and some
of them are said to hold their viscosity better. They
all contain oxygen, however, and so are subject to
atmospheric changes, and form fatty acids which at-
tack the metal. They are also liable to develop in-
ternal heat, and become a serious fire menace through
spontaneous combustion, a property that the mineral

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 209

oils do not possess. The chief animal oils are sperm,
lard, neat's-foot, tallow, and whale oil ; the best known
vei^etable oils include olive, rape, castor, palm and
cotton-seed. Of these sperm oil is specially good, but

Fig 72.-Section Through Four Cylinder Motor, Showing Lubri-
cating System.

not for heavy loads at high temperatures. The vege-
table oils as a class are particularly volatile.

261. Mineral or Hydrocarbon Oils.— The mineral
or hydrocarbon oils are obtained from crude petroleum
by driving off the more volatile elements and then
refining by acids and filtering what remains. This is
technically known as the cylinder stocks. The paraf-
fin distillates, which are somewhat lighter, are sepa-
rately refined and the oil pressed from the flake paraf-
fin which is then purified. From this oil come the

. heavy engine oils, of high velocity. Out of the general
classification comes a variety of brands, many of them
arising from a difference in the characteristics of the
crude oil taken from different fields. The Ohio oils,
for instance, contain more or less sulphur and as-
phaltum, while Texas oils, though free from sulphur,

210 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

have fully as much asphaltum. The Texas oils have
a purple bloom and are specially desirable, because
of their fine cold test, in refrigerating works. Penn-
sylvania oil has a distinctly greenish bloom and is
much used in the cylinder oils of commerce.

262. Testing Oil for Acids. — Mix a little oil with
alcohol which has previously been heated to about
120°. After several minutes dip a slip of litmus paper
(obtainable at any drug store for a few cents) into the
mixture. If the paper remains blue there is no acid ;
if it turns red, acid is present. Or saturate a bit of
waste or cotton with the oil and leave for eight or ten
hours in the sunlight on a highly polished metal sur-
face. Even a slight corrosion denotes free acid. A
third test, rub some of the oil over a bit of polished
brass and leave for twenty-four hours. If acid is pres-
ent the metal will turn green. It is needless to add
that oil which contains free acid will injure metal
surfaces and is objectionable, as it soon roughens the
bearings.

263. Testing for Viscosity. — The relative viscosity
or body of two different oils may be determined by
placing a drop of each side by side upon an inclined
pane of glass. The thinner oil wall of course run the
farthest in a given time. By keeping a systematic
record of all the different oils used and tested, one
may soon have a very good knowledge of the com-
parative body in the different oils he has used, and so
determine the one that suits his purpose best ; provid-
ing, always, this test is always made at the same tem-
perature and with the glass always equally inclined.
Another relative test is by counting the drops that
fall from a small orifice, tlie two oils under the same
temperature and pressure.

In testing viscosity it should be remembered that

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 211

the practical man is interested in the body which the
oil shows at about the temperature which will be
maintained while in use, rather than in its behavior
in the oil barrel.

Often the viscosity can be determined after a little
experience by pinching or handling the oil between the
thumb and finger. This test the adulterer has inter-
fered with by introducing resinous or gummy matter
in the oil to give it body. In order to determine this
a quantity of the oil may be weighed and then ignited
in a crucible until the carbon is burned out. If more
than a tenth of the original weight is left in the ash
residue the oil has been thickened with some adul-
terant.

264. Testing for Adulterants. — Adulterants may
frequently be discovered by mixing a quantity of the
oil with one-tenth its bulk of caustic soda dissolved
in 95 per cent, alcohol. Fatty adulterants become
gelatinous or solid when cold.

265. Testing for Gum. — Going back to our first
viscosity test, w^e may leave the oil on the inclined
glass for an hour and then attempt to wipe it off. If
it comes off clean it is free from gum ; if a sticky
streak remains the oil should be rejected. Another
test : spread a thin layer of oil over a glass pane and
expose to sunlight but protect from dust. A gummy
oil soon becomes sticky or tough. A still more defi-
nite test : barely cover the bottom of a shallow dish
with oil and heat to about 250° F., then cool slowly.
When cold there should be no gummy residue.

266. The Flash Test. — As the gasoline engine cyl-
inder oil is used in the presence of excessive heat it is
highly important that both the flash and fire test
should be exceptionally high, though of course not
nearlv so high as the excessive heat to which it is for

212 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

a moment exposed at the instant the charge is fired.
About the only satisfactory test of this requires a spe-
cial thermometer whereon the reading goes much
higher than the ordinary temperature thermometer;
not less than 400'^ Fahr. Place a small metal or thin
porcelain dish filled with oil in a larger vessel which
has been filled with sand, sinking the fire well into
the sand ; then apply heat until the oil begins to
vaporize. The sand bath is for the purpose of heating
all sides of the dish evenly instead of all at one point
of contact. Hold a lighted match above the dish in
the midst of the rising gases until there is a flash or
ignition ; then note the reading of the thermom-
eter. This is the flash point; that is, the lowest
temperature at which the oil vapors take fire and
then go out.

267. The Fire Test. — The fire test is the same as
the flash test, but is carried a little farther, as the fir-
ing point is the lowest temperature at which the
vapors not only ignite but continue to burn. This
should be from 60° to 75° higher than the flash point.

268. The Cold Test. — There are some instances
where the cold test of an oil is of considerable im-
portance, specially where the engine is to be operated
much in low temperatures. The congealing point of
any oil is easily taken by actual experiment. It should
always be remembered though that after an oil has
shown anything like reasonable working qualities at
low temperature the test should not be too rigid, since
extra superiority here is apt to mean a sacrifice of the
other extreme. After all, a good cold test is more
nearly a matter of convenience, while a high fire test
is a positive necessity.

269. Carbon. — The specific gravity of an oil is a
pretty accurate guide to the carbon it contains, pro-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 213

viding adulterants have not been added. As the heat
in the cylinder is enough to burn and evaporate any
oil more or less, and as this drives out the hydrogen,
it follows that the oil richest in carbon will deposit
the greatest load of dirt and trouble. All of these
oils deposit some carbon when they burn. That oil
which is of lightest weight and still possesses body
enough to do its work is best, where specific gravity
alone is taken as the test. By igniting a quantity of
the oil in a small vessel and holding a bit of window
glass over it for a stated length of time while it burns,
the amount of carbon it deposits can be readily ap-
proximated.

270. Oil Waste and Engine Waste. — No thorough
test of the lubricating system has been made that does
not include the man behind the oil can. The oil that
is squirted carelessly over the outside of the frame is
of no value to the engine, though it serves an im-
portant mission in an accumulation of dirt. A gaso-
line engine, if it is to do good work, must be kept
clean, but this cannot be done unless good oil is used
and not unless it is used properly. Where lubricators
are not used it sometimes requires considerable judg-
ment to know just when to oil ; when they are, one
must know how to set them.

271. Quantity of Oil. — For the new engine the cup
supplying the piston and cylinder should be set to
supply about 25 drops per minute, until the walls have
begun to acquire their glaze and the engine itself has
become tuned up for smooth working ; then the supply
may be reduced. The exhaust is a good indicator if
too much oil is being used, a heavy blue smoke being
pretty conclusive evidence that there is. Too much
oil is better than too little, but it is not very much
better, for it soon loads the piston and rings down

214

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

with a sooty deposit and is very likely to short-circuit
the firing plug.

The quantity of oil needed by the other bearings
can best be told by careful attention, always remem-
bering that some bearings tell the engineer Avhen they
are dry while others only tell their troubles to the
engine. It's always best to keep on familiar terms
with them.

272. Lubricating Systems. — While there are many
lubricating devices and systems in common use, those
described below will probably prove of greatest in-
terest to the owner of a farm engine.

273. The Gravity System. — The gravity system,
much in favor some years ago, depends for the flow

Exterior.

Sectional.

Fig.

'/2i- — Exterior and hiterior Views of Sight Feed Gravity
Lubricator.

of the oil upon the elevated location of the cups
through a small outlet pipe from which the flow can
be regulated to very nearly a stated number of drops

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 215

oer miiuite. While these are fairly accurate it does
'ot " m.re a very great obstruction to cut off he
flow a the pressure from the oil above m so small a
S miel is insiguiflcant. This style, however is u.
ve y common use, in part because of its simplicity

In The Splash System.-The splash system re-
quire; a tight' oil case enclosing the crank shaft.
Enough oil is placed m
the bottom of the crank
case that the ends of the
connecting rods dip or
splash into the liquid on
their downward thrust,

at every revolution, and

so carry up enough oil to

the working parts of the

shaft and crank to sup-
ply them. Enough oil

can be placed in the tank

at once to last for some

time, and all surplus oil

carried up is caught.

With some people there

is more chance of forget-

fulness with anything

which is automatic for

Fig. 74— Explaining the Splash
System of Lubrication.

wnicn IS auLuiiidLi^ XV...

davs and then has to be attended to than with some-
thing requiring constant attention; still the same ar-
gument might be used against the use o a tank o
hold a supply of gasoline ahead. The sp ash system
is very effective so long as a supply of oil is kept in
the tank. Occasionally, as the oil becomes discolored
through use. it should be <lrawn off and filtered or new

oil introduced. . • -i^^

a75. The Loose Ring System.-This is very smidar

2i6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

to the splash system, a loose ring being allowed to
swing upon the shaft and carry the oil up with it as
it slowly revolves. It is hardly as effective as the
splash method, however, and is less in use.

Fig. 75._Loose Ring for Bearing Lubricati

276. The Pressure System.— Sometimes the oil is
held in a central tank or source of supply, into which
pressure can be introduced. This forces it through
connecting pipes with the various bearings and the
pressure is maintained by connecting the tank with
the exhaust or with an enclosed crank case.

277. The Positive or Force Feed.— A favorite
method now because of its certain efficiency is the use
of an oil pump which is geared to the engine and
which forces a certain quantity of the oil through the
various feed pipes attached to it with each stroke of
the engine. This has several important advantages,
and. with a supply of oil back of it, there is practically
no danger of any bearing thus connected being over-
looked. Of course, this system is not so simple as
some of the others, and it is more costlv to install.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 217

278 Oiling Through the Carburetor.— While this
method has hardly passed the experimental stage,
enouo-h success has been attained to render it worthy
of noHce; indeed, when the cylinder walls get hot and

Fig 76.-Mechanically Operated Plunger Oil Pump Insures
Force Feed.

oil refu<;es to stav on them it is sometimes recom-
mended to mix from a pint to a quart of the best heavy
cylinder oil with each five gallons of gasohne and
strain into gasoline supply tank. This divides the oil
into fine globules which enter the engme cylmder
readily through the carburetor along with the fuel
vapor; still it retains enough viscosity to settle m
a fire spray upon the walls and keep them lubricated
where other methods fail. When this method is used
all other means of lubricating the cylinder and its
immediate accessories may be dispensed with, though
of course the bearings and parts contained in the crank
case are not afTected. These must be oiled through
the cups, as usual. As the oil applied through the

2i8 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

gasoline is better distributed directly to the point
where it is needed, less oil is required and less car-
bon, it is claimed, occurs in the cylinder.

279. Filtering.— Oil finally becomes unfit for use,
not only through a mixture of dirt, dust and the metal
particles which scale from the bearings, but through
evaporation and actual chemical change. Still it may
be used over again several times for the bearings if
filtered, but even after filtering should not be used
again in the cylinder. Ordinary wicking makes a
good filtering material, though it may take filler out of
oil or heavy compounding out of paraffin oil or that
of high viscosity, and leave it without body. Oil may
be filtered tAvo or three times and used over. Even
new oil should be filtered before using. This will re-
move much dirt and impurities that otherwise would
be liable to make trouble in some pipe in the lubri-
cating system.

280. Other Lubricants.— Perhaps this chapter would
not be complete without a brief reference to a few
supplemental lubricants so unlike oils in their nature
that it hardly seemed best to refer to them under the
same head.

281. Graphite. — This substance, which occurs in
nature in both crystalline and amorphous form, when
free from grit and impurities, is a true lubricant, and
possesses for certain places several advantages over
oil. It is not aflfected by heat or cold and is not acted
upon by acids or alkalies. In its solid form, too, there
are places where it will stand up under its work when
resisting a pressure that would break liquid lubricants
down. In some measure graphite is a supplement of
oil in that it fills in and removes the inequalities in
the surface to be lubricated, while the oil merely slides
over them. Its glaze surface is probably more durable

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 219

and more the nature of metal itself in point of resist-
ance against the breaking of the gloss than the best
of oil ever becomes, and it has frequently happened
that, applied alone or in combination with oil, it has
succeeded in places where oil alone failed.

As graphite is so little affected by heat, it is spe-
cially useful in establishing a high glaze finish in the
o-asoline engine cylinder, where it may be introduced
through the spark plug port with a teaspoon. If
mixed with oil, use not over a teaspoonful to a quart
of oil, and do not try to introduce it through the
regular oil cup feed pipes. This is frequently done
wiUi entire success, but there is always risk of

clogging.

By adding graphite to the cylinder lubricating sys-
temi faulty compression, when caused by any internal
roughness, may be done away with. One engine user
reports that after considerable trouble with his com-
pression, by adding a teaspoonful of flake graphite
each three hours during a twelve hour run the cylinder
and rings of his engine acquired a mirror-like surface,
and there was no trouble with his compression for

three vears.

In many power plants graphite is considered as
much an essential as oil, especially where there are
unusually heavy bearings with a low speed. Applied
to valve stems in connection with valve oil, it is a
complete success ; also when made into a paste with
oil and rubbed upon cams, slides, gears, differentials,
and other moving parts, chains, sprockets, etc. A
chain treated with graphite occasionally will run dry
but silent and dirt will not stick. It is also excellent
as a coating for any threaded nut or bolt, as it per-
mits easy insertion and at the same time easy removal.
It is often used upon spark plugs before they are

220 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

screwed into their socket, and insures absolutely tight
joints.

282. Grease. — There seems to be no one lubricant
that is best in all places. In some respects grease has
a decided advantage over oil. It stays in place better
for one thing and, if a surplus happens to be intro-
duced, instead of running down the outside of the
boxings, it piles up in high collars on each side of the
bearing and shuts ofif the entrance of dirt and grit.

Oil is not heavy enough in body to protect the shaft
from any real abrading substance which happens to
get into the bearing, while grease is. It also acts as
a cushion, and makes gears run more quietly, and of
course with less strain and friction : hence they are
not so liable to chip when going into mesh. Grease
is also best for differentials, and in places where drip
is objectionable it is of special value. IMixed with
graphite it is one of the very best lubricants known
for gear wheels.

283. Foolish Economy. — Friction and actual abuse
are the two things which above all others make ma-
chinery expensive, and it is certainly foolish economy
to cheapen the one thing with which we are able in
some measure to overcome this expense. Some one
has said that lubrication is cheaper than the cheapest
machinery is, and some one else that it is the cheapest
of repairs. Both of these statements are true. Both
should be committed to memory by every owner of
machinery, and should be repeated daily, especially
if that machine is a gasoline engine. When we con-
sider the tremendous strain of pressure, heat and
speed that is put upon this one bit of mechanism all
at the same time, it seems wonderful that any thing
made Avith human hands could endure it and survive.
Certainlv w^e who are benefitted should so far co-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 221

operate with our little assistant as to furnish the very
best supplies the market affords. After all the d.t-
ference between the price of worthless and of the
be-t oil is but a few cents; not so great but we may
most of us make it up in cleanlier habits and greater
care in the use of the oil can. Much of the trouble
experienced with the first crude gasoline engmes it
has been discovered, lay in faulty lubrication-faults
of 'the world's knowledge. When we take into con-
sideration the fact that our more perfected methods
of -etting the oil we use to the very spot where
it is needed have effected a wonderful saving m the
quantity of oil used, we surely have no possible excuse
for using any but the very best lubricants, be they
oil or graphite,. or grease, that the market will

''"28/ Ten Lubricating Commandments.— The oil

that rolls out of the exhaust in the form of smoke is
not a lubricating expense. ,, c ,

It is the small crystal of grit that plugs the feed
pipe;not the large one that cannot get in.

Some engine owners seem to think that the best
way to oil an engine is by the absorption system,
through the pores of the frame. Don't try it.

Fill all the large oil holes up with woolen yarn in-
stead of hay-seed.

Too much oil is a little better than not enough and
a great deal better than a seized piston.

Don't forget the bearings; the lower as well as the

"Te'ros^'ene or gasoline will carry oil into places where
it would not otherwise go. Be sure that it gets there,

if it is needed. .

The best oil is usually the thinnest that will stay

in place and do its work.

2.22 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Proper lubricants insure against many cylinder
troubles.

There is only a few cents difference in the first cost
of a good and poor lubricant. The later difference
mav be many dollars.

CHAPTER XIII.

ELIMINATION OF ENGINE TROUBLES.

285. Classified Trouble. — Even our troubles may be
classified if we look after them with sufficient system ;
and system is the one thing which above everything
else it is the writer's wish to urge in this unlucky
thirteenth chapter.

286. Starting Troubles. — Gasoline engine troubles
include those numerous ailments, little and big, any
one of which may prevent the engine from starting at
all or with enough real life to keep it in motion until
we have a chance to come upon our second class of
difficulties, or operating troubles.

287. Operating Troubles. — By this we mean the
various matters wuich, while they permit us to start
the engine and keep it going, compel us to face some
more or less disagreeable behavior which is not nor-
mal and which we wish to discontinue.

288. Transmission Troubles. — The engine itself
may operate without fault, and still, because of some
difficulty we may have in transforming its energy into
useful work, we may be able to accomplish a desired
task with it only through the unreasonable waste of
personal effort, or else not at all.

289. Energy Troubles. — It is not so very uncom-
mon for an engine when out of repair to run empty
with as much seeming willingness as usual and still
not develop enough energy to carry it along when
hitched to a load.

223

224 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

290. Irregular Troubles.— Some troubles come to
us out of conditions from which we might expect the
very results we get as soon as our attention is called
to them. There are, however, occasional surprises for
which we are not prepared, and perhaps cannot at the
time account; the irregular things that do not happen
very often, and for which the usual list of ready made
remedies will not avail. To all of these classes we will
now give a few moments' attention.

291. The Origin of Most Trouble.— A\ hen we come
to look at the matter fairly most of our gasoline engine
troubles come from one of two sources, the things we
forget, and the things we don't know. The frozen
water jacket is not one of the inevitable results of gas
engine management. Usually it troubles us only once
at the first of the freezing season before draining the
pipes becomes a fixed habit. So it is with nearly all
trouble ; something that doesn't often go wrong gives
us a surprise, or else some part of the engine that has
been so completely self-attending that we have never
given it any thought springs something upon us that
we did not previously know.

292. The First Thing to Do.— The very first thing
to get when trouble comes is a firm grasp of the idea
that there is a reason. The engine ran all right in
normal condition. If it fails later on it is because
that normal condition has been disturbed. The rea-
son may be hard to find, but there is one, and nothing
else is to be done until that reason is hunted out.
Above everything else, don't get excited ; nothing
serious is going to happen if we keep our nerve. It
isn't like having something go wrong with a steam
boiler and a full head of steam and heavy fire behind
it. While we are studying the situation over the gaso-
line engine is just a harmless piece of iron, no more

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 22^

dangerous than the anvil beside it ; so there is all the
reason in the world for keeping it just a piece of iron
until we can begin to understand the nature of the
trouble.

It's a pretty good idea, first of all, to go over the
simpler things that we sometimes forget, or are care-
less about because they are simple. It does not take
long to investigate these, and it is surprising how
many gasoline engine experts have been called out
when the gasoline tank needed refilling or the engineer
had forgotten to close the switch. Look first of all
to the tank. If it is full, notice whether a flying new^g-
paper or even a dead leaf may not have closed the air
entrance, and so shut off the oxygen. While looking
at the carburetor better notice, too, whether the gaso-
line is coming over. Maybe the pipe is clogged. A
good way to test this is to open the switch, so there
can be no ignition, then have some one crank the en-
gine and stand directly back of the exhaust. If get-
ting its supply of fuel, and the valves are working as
they should, a strong scent of gasoline is noticeable
in the discharge. If the engine is water cooled notice
whether it has been overheating. Even if no ice is in
the jacket pipes are prone to freeze before the heavier
body of water is affected.

293. When It Proves to Be Real Trouble. — Once
convinced that none of the little outside slips of
memory are to blame, we are ready to go after the
difliculty in the interior of the engine. Other things
being equal, it is always best to investigate the
simplest thing first, though of course we ought to
modify this so as to first catch that which we have
some reasonable excuse for thinking may be wrong.
Whatever wrenches, pliers and other tools we have
that we are at all likely to need should be laid out

22.G The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

in convenient reach as there is nothing more dis-
turbing to the puzzled machinist than having to spend
half his mental energy in finding things. A good
assistant is a great help in this, while a poor one is
worse than a wrench without a handle.

294. Test with System. — In no part of engine
management is system more an assistance than in the
hunting of trouble. On no account permit in yourself
or any one else the habit of testing a part here, another
there and another over on the other side. After the
first cursory glance over the entire engine for some
superficial difficulty, the most rigid attention to sys-
tem is surprisingly helpful, even a poor system being
better than none at all. As 60 per cent, of all real
engine troubles lie in some part of the ignition system
that is the most logical place for us to go.

295. A Few Simple Questions. — To avoid the pos-
sibility of confusion, let us take one thing at a time
and think it over a little before beginning to take
things apart. With the switch open, let some one
hand crank the engine slowly and study each stroke
by itself.

Is the suction stroke all right? Does the intake valve
appear to be opening as it should, and does it appear
to close soon after the end of the stroke? If so, step
back of the exhaust and let the cranking continue till
the cylinder is scavenged out; then notice whether the
customary fumes of gasoline vapor are coming over.
If not, suspect the carburetor or the intake system
somewhere, and test in detail. If so, continue the
cranking and study the compression stroke.

Is there as much resistance to the piston as there
should be? The compression in a five-horse engine
should be just a little too much for an ordinary man
to crank against without opening the relief cock. If it

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 227

fails to put up that sort of a fight look for external
leaks first, around the base of the spark plug, the
valves, the joint between the cylinder and its head
if detachable, or the piston rings. Somew^here a hiss-
ing may be heard. If at the open end of the cylinder
the rings are leaking. If the hissing is some place
about the other end, coat all the places suspected w^ith
soapy v^ater or oil, and v\^atch for bubbles. If the
compression is good, try out the power stroke. As
most of the functions of tliat can only be studied from
within, assume them to be properly performed, while
strongly suspecting that they are not, and pass on to
the exhaust stroke long enough to watch the working
of the valve.

We have now found out that the fuel is being de-
livered and compressed, that the cylinder is being
cleared of burned gases. Is the charge really being
exploded? Let us close the switch and see. If so, is
it on time? If it isn't, our interview is with the
timer. If it doesn't explode at all there is something
wrong with the spark, its formation, transmission or
delivery.

296. Protecting the Hands. — The current from a
four to six cell battery, which is about what most farm
engines use, is not at all dangerous, and only moder-
ately painful ; still there are people whose nerves will
be so affected by a few shocks that it may trouble
them, so it is best to put on a pair of rubber gloves.
This insulates the hands. Rubber boots or even a dry
board is usually sufficient, or any other insulating sub-
stance interposed between the person and the ground;
still one may have occasion, while working with both
hands, to connect himself into a circuit through the
iron frame, so the gloves are best. They are not ex-
pensive are so pliable that 'they do not interfere with

228 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the work, and a pair used only for engine repair work,
if kept free from oil, will last a long time.

297. Testing the Electric System. — Before making
any internal investigation notice whether all the wires
are fast on the binding posts, and if the latter are
screwed up tightly enough to insure a perfect contact
with the metal. If there is a loose wire end the trouble
is found. Next, release the wire running to the spark
plug hy turning off the screw cap, and, holding the
point of the wire near the engine frame but not quite
touching ; have an assistant close the switch and crank
the wheel. If a fat, yellow spark jumps the gap be-
tween the wire and frame there is probably nothing
wrong with the electric system unless it is in the plug
or the timing; but if no spark appears or if it is of a
pale color the difficulty is in all probability between
that point and the battery. Care must be taken not
to force the spark over too wide a gap or the insula-
tion of the coil may be broken doAvn and a serious
repair bill engendered. For the inexperienced, less
than an eighth of an inch gap should be used.

298. If the Spark Is Good. — If the spark seems
strong remove the spark plug from the cylinder and
note whether the gap between the points has gotten
closed up with carbon deposit or if the metal is badly
corroded. Clean the points thoroughly and also wipe
the porcelain clean. It is just possible that the in-
sulation of the plug may have been broken down.
Test this by replacing the wire terminal, screwing
down the cap and having the engine cranked. If the
resulting spark is good, the trouble is in some other
part of the engine ; if much weaker than that which
passed between the wire and the frame, the plug is
faulty; if about the same, but weak, some other part
of the ignition system is 'at fault. These directions

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 229

have been written with the jump spark system in mind,
but apply equally to the make and break system.

299 A Poor Spark.— If the spark is poor or does
not appear at all we will follow the cable carefully
back from the plug to its other terminal, notmg par-

Fig 77.-Pocket Size Battery Testing Gauge Indicates Either
Volts or Amperes.

ticularly whether there are any points in it which in-
dicate a broken wire under the covering. If there are
none, see that the terminals are free from grease and
with good contacts under the binding posts.

300. Testing the Batteries.— Beginning at the other

230 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

end of the system, we will now find out Avhether we
have anything that will make a spark. Let us see
Avhether all of the battery wires are properly con-
nected, whether any are broken, if all terminals are
clean and the contact good, or if there are any signs of
a short-circuit in them. Next disconnect both ter-
minal wires and test the reading with the ammeter;
then test each cell separately, at the same time watch-
ing for one coated on outside of cup with white
crystals. If one is weak, remove it, as it will run the
others down rapidly.

If an ammeter is not at hand for this testing, the
same results may be obtained by bringing the bare
ends of two wires attached to the battery terminals
into contact and then pulling apart. Each cell can
be tested separately in this way, although, of course,
the intensity of the resulting spark can only be esti-
mated by its color.

301. Testing the Coil. — We have now reason to
believe that a good spark is being delivered to the
coil ; that is, after we have seen that these connec-
tions are all right. It still remains to test the coil.
If it is receiving a good current it is either delivering
a good one to the secondary cable or else is wasting
it through some short-circuit or broken down
insulation.

Remove the secondary cable from the coil terminal
and substitute a short wire from the end of which an
air gap may be formed with any primary or low-ten-
sion post. If, with a gap of about % inch, a good
white spark is delivered, the wire may be removed
and the secondary cable replaced. But if the coil fails
to deliver the spark, a readjustment of the platinum
contacts (see that they are clean) may help matters.
Loosen the screw that holds them slightly and then

The C7\soline Engine on the Farm 231

tighten a little at a time and test. Then look to the
timer and see that the inside spring is not broken. If
all is found right and there is still no spark we may
be pretty certain that the coil is burned out; that is,
that somewhere within that winding of wire the in-
sulation has given way and is permitting the current
to short-circuit and be wasted. It is useless for the
novice to attempt to remedy this, or, in most instances,
for the local repair shop, either. The coil should then
be removed from the engine and sent back to the
factory where it was made or to one of its branches.
Except from abuse this very seldom happens. Ex-
posure to moisture, however, will in time rot out the
insulation while an over-resistance placed in the path
of the current, such as a wider gap than the coil is
made for, or poor contact of the terminal wires through
careless connections or greasy terminals, may cause
the spark to break through the insulation in its ef-
fort to find an easier path.

If spark from coil is intermittent, examine the plat-
inum points for pitting and, if found, smooth them
down with a fine file or, better still, an oil stone.

If the spark is uniformly weak there may be a
broken dov/n condenser which the shop had better
replace.

302. A Faulty Magneto.— If the spark is uniformly
weak in the case of a magneto the field magnets need
remagnetizing or else the armature winding is burned
out. In either case the magneto must be returned to
the shop.

Irregular firing of the magneto may be due to the
incorrect working of the contact breaker. This can
be determined by swinging the flat spring (numbered
119 in cut) aside, taking off the end cap (117) and
tightening up the screw at 2 (see cut No. 45). Also

232 The Gasolixe Engine ox the Farm

tighten screw at 5 and 6 and the steel segments at
21. Examine platinum points and remove any oil or
grease. The contact breaker can be removed by means
of screw at Xo. 2 but any further dismantling of
the magneto by the novice is useless and should not
be undertaken.

Aside from dirty or wet connections or a slight dis-
placement of the contact points, it is not once in a
hundred times that any trouble will be found with the
coil or magneto; indeed, the trouble here is so infre-
quent that it sometimes is overlooked because one is
likely to forget between times that any trouble can
occur here. Always, before condemning either, be ab-
solutely sure that all connecting Avires are insulated
and that the terminal connections are complete. A
loose binding nut due to a stripped thread, or even
dirty contacts, may be enough to interrupt the current.
Spark plugs, it is well to remember, may short-
circuit an electric current when hot and not when
cold ; also they sometimes fail to produce a spark prop-
erly when in place in the cylinder although they may
do so when removed from it.

303. A Good Spark.— It may. be well to describe
what a good hot spark looks like and what some of
its feeble imitations are.

A w^hite or blue-white compact spark is ahvays a
good hot one. If it shows red it is weak. If divided
into little tongues of flame, look for short-circuits. If
pale and rather greenish the spark is weak. A short,
fat, yellow spark can always be trusted.

304. Where the Shock is Felt.— In making the ex-
amination of the ignition system one may notice that
the primary circuit causes no serious inconvenience
when so handled that a shock is felt, and that it is
always the secondary currents that have the sting in

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 233

them. The Avinding in the induction coil is for the
purpose of intensifying the current of the secondary
or high tension system. How well this is done may be
surmised from the fact : that, while a battery of six
ordinary dry cells produces a current of about nine
volts, it requires something like 4,000 volts to pro-
duce a ^-inch spark.

305. A Few Ignition Facts. — Faults of insulation,
that is, short-circuits, are more important along the
transmission line than are dirty plug points unless
there is a complete bridge between the latter for the
current to cross.

The positive battery terminal, the carbon, should
always be connected with the coil, in the jump spark
system.

With the wiring all connected up, the absence of
the characteristic buzz at the coil box when the engine
wheel is turned over is evidence that something is
wrong with the system.

Six volts and one-half ampere of current should be
ample to operate a good coil. If set to use more,
it only runs the battery down that much faster. Five
cells of dry battery ought to give this.

Excessive current or disconnected secondary wires,
if the cells are fresh and strong, may cause the cur-
rent to seek a short cut in the coil and break down
the insulation.

The make and break contact points gradually fuse
and shorten with use until presently the time comes
when they will no longer reach to complete the cir-
cuit ; then the engine refuses to fire at all, until they
are lengthened.

If one cylinder of a multi-cylinder engine continu-
ally misfires while the others do not, suspect the plug.

If ignition fails suddenly it is a pretty good indica-

234 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

tion that there is a short-circuit, probably in the wires
or coil.

Often a broken porcelain in the spark plug causes
the short-circuit; and the break is often due to screw-
ing the plug into its socket too tightly. Never use a
large wrench for this. The hand is often enough
though, with the standard }4-inch pipe thread which
is tapering, more leverage may be needed. A plug
that is moderately tight wdien cold may become so
tight when heated that the porcelain will break.

306. A Suspected Timer. — Notice if there are any
worn parts about the timer. It must be absolutely
accurate, and there is nothing accurate about worn
parts. The ground wire circuit should be looked after,
lest the timer lubricants may be interfering with it.
Clean out all grease, gum and oil, and put in new
castor oil or light sewing machine oil.

Open pet cock in top of cylinder and turn engine
over by hand with switch closed and fuel shut off.
The spark should come just after the escaping air stops
hissing. This is not a very delicate test but it is
sufficiently accurate to prove whether the timer has
slipped.

307. Other Troubles. — With a good spark at the
plug and the gasoline mixture coming over all right
some of the other reasons for a balky engine are stick-
ing valves, and water in the gasoline. The first of
these may be detected by watching the valve stems
while the engine is being cranked ; the second, by test-
ing the gasoline.

Often, too, the novice, in his anxiety to start well,
is overzealous in supplying gasoline to the carburetor,
and floods it so that too rich a mixture comes over;
or the air inlet may be too small, or obstructed. On
the other hand, there may be an excess of air because

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 235

of a leak somewhere along the intake pipe or on ac-
count of a grain of dirt in the spray nozzle. Remem-
ber that air is sure to occupy all space not taken up
with gasoline vapor, and, if anything cuts down the
supply of the latter, there is certain to be an excess of
air.

308. When the Engine Starts. — It is generally use-
less to continue cranking the engine that refuses to
go with the first half dozen turns. That is more
than enough to overcome all the little ordinary causes
of hesitation. Let us suppose the engine starts off
nicely and takes us along to our next counterful of
troubles — operating difficulties.

309. Lack of Power. — Many an engine will run
nicely empty, and still balk if asked to take on even a
moderate load. Almost the same list of questions may
be asked again that were, when it refused to start, al-
though the answers may be different.

1st. What about the mixture; is it right?

This question can only be answered by experiment-
ing a little. Increase the supply of gasoline until black
smoke appears in the exhaust, then gradually cut off,
and watch the engine. When it begins to show more
power, continue cutting down the gasoline until the
explosions begin to lack regularity and vigor, then
increase until at their strongest. In the same man-
ner, open and cut off the supply of air until satisfied
that there is nothing wrong with the mixture.

2nd. How about the compression?

This can best be studied before the engine starts,
so, after having previously watched it so closely, we
can now afford to take it for granted for the time.

3rd. All that remains to study about the ignition
is to. notice whether the timing is in harmony with the
work and the fuel ; whether the explosions come at

^Z6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the right moment of revolution, and if about the right
proportion are missed. Running under full loadt a
miss of one explosion in eight is a very fair perform-
ance: and running under light load, three misses be-
tween each fire is not bad. A short time studying
these symptoms sometimes accomplishes more in the
right direction than several hours of dismantling and
reassembline.

4th. The exhaust should next be studied; whether
the valve is opening fully and at the right time or if
it is closing as it should. It is always barely possible
that there is not sufficient vent, owing to an accumu-
lation of carbon or lime. Never forget, either, the im-
portance of the symptoms which may be found here;
that black smoke means too much fuel or, rather'
faulty combustion ; blue smoke, too much lubricating
oil, and white smoke, too much oil or water or oil of
an inferior quality. While only a matter of extrava-
gant expense in itself, this represents a condition in
the interior of the cylinder which is daily bringing
us nearer to the time when pre-ignition, broken or bent
crank shafts and similar troubles will be taking our
attention.

5th. Is the power impulse delivered to the crank
shaft, or is it distributed pretty evenly through loose
piston rings, worn bearings and connections, or wasted
in overcoming useless friction in the shaft or bear-
ings out of line? It is not uncommon to see a large
proportion of the power after it is produced dissipated
in some such useless way.

6th. Is the lubrication what it should be at all
points? Faulty lubrication always means needless fric-
tion, which is one of the worst machine and energy
consumers in the world. Often a few drops of oil
more per minute will add lo to 20% to the available

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 2};j

power by preventing the cutting of a shaft. With the
gravity system, 8 to lo drops per minute are required
by the moderate size farm engine. This number, on
account of the larger drops, should be reduced to 5
or 6 per minute if force feed is used, and will have
to be increased a little if the engine is air — instead of
water-cooled — on account of the higher temperature.

Three or four drops per minute for the crank shaft
bearings, if w^ith gravity feed, should be enough, the
exact amount being of course determined by appear-
ances in each individual case.

When w^e consider each of these half-dozen matters
by itself we are apt to get a more comprehensive view
of things than when we try to scatter our attention
over too much territory at once.

One other cause for lack of power may come up in
the cooling system. If that fails for any reason the
engine heats, the oil burns out, the rings leak com-
pression, and the gas may expand so in the hot
chamber that less than a full charge is inhaled each
time. Any or all of these might easily affect the
power of the engine appreciably.

310. Overheating. — When an engine shows a ten-
dency to overheat under load, the job in hand may
sometimes be completed by giving it a little extra
time and an occasional rest. A perfectly Avorking
engine ought to run under load continuously from one
week's end to the other if necessary ; but nearly all
farm work may be adapted without great loss to short
runs in an emergency, and by that means the engine
kept upon the job without injury.

311. Causes of Overheating. — Overheating may be
the result of faulty construction ; then, perhaps it can-
not be overcome. It may be due to overload, or to
some other form of mismanagement. Dirt may have

2sS The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

clogged the water or the lubrication system in some
pipe or valve. The exhaust valve may not lift enough
or the exhaust port be too small ; or' the same result
may come under a different name from back pres-
sure in the muffler. An overdose of gasoline will
cause excess heat and a late spark is specially trouble-
some as a heat producer and power extinguisher as
well. Nearly all of these difficulties are registered in
the discharge from the exhaust.

312. Other Causes.— An engine that has once been
tested on a full load without overheating has elimi-
nated from the possible causes faulty construction.
What has been done can be done again. With a
water-cooled engine the trouble, if it lies there at all,
IS purely mechanical, similar to any of the correspond-
ing troubles that come to any pump. If the engine
is air cooled there is the possibility of a displaced fan-
blade, or the current may not be directed against the
air jacket around the cylinder; or very possibly some
partition near by is interfering with the ready air
supply.

313. Cooling a Hot Engine.— If the trouble is not
noticed until after the engine is very hot it may not
be safe to start up the water circulation suddenly until
the iron has had a chance to cool. The load should
be removed at once, but if the engine is seen to drag
it may be unsafe to shut down entirely, or a seized
piston may result. If such is the case, keep run-
ning slowly, with the greatest spark advance, but with
the fuel cut almost off, until it has a chance to cool
so lubrication becomes effective again. Watch the
temperature carefully during the continuance of these
more favorable conditions; then, as SQon as safe, start
up the cooling circulation.
314- Speed Variations.— A certain amount of speed

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 239

variation is to be expected on account of the power
impulses coming in the shape of sudden blows rather
than by steady impact. This tendency is very no-
ticeable in the running of an electric generator direct
from a single-cylinder four-cycle engine, which is not
provided w^ith a special balance wheel. These varia-
tions are, however, normal within certain limits, after
which they indicate some fault in the engine or its
management.

315. Suspecting the Governor.— Racing and then
dying way below normal may be due to a disarranged
governor or to one the springs of which are too stifif
to respond as readily as they should. If the charges
are being admitted and exploded regularly, do not
blame the governor. If several charges are exploded
without missing when the engine runs way above
normal and then a number are missed after it has
dropped below, the chances are that some part of the
governor is working too hard, either on account of
a stiff spring, or a rough casting, or some other source
of excess friction.

316. A Lazy Engine.— A lazy engine is pretty cer-
tain to have a leak in the valves or the piston rings
or the spark plug, unless the ignition is at fault. In
a well timed engine good compression may be con-
sidered a result and, if it fails, a leak is the cause. If
every charge under the extreme load the engine will
carry is being fired regularly the spark is all right
and 'nothing is left to suspect very seriously except
the compression. If the engine still runs too slow
when firing every charge and the compression seems
all right, suspect overload. Throw oft' a part of the
load and note whether speed is increased so that the
governor begins cutting out. If not, there is some
other cause, and it is findable. The day of spooks

240 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

and witchery has gone by. Sometimes a leak occurs
from the water jacket, which admits water or steam
.nto the combustion chamber. The water-coo^ ' J"
en, and the lubrication should be looked after at^onc
as there may be a threatened seizing of the piston'
Heated bearings at the crank shaft, or even in' s me
o he driven machinery, may slow down the engine
or there may be trouble with the mixture. The im^
proper admission of air will cause irregular spee^
rhis IS a trouble that must never be allowed to con
tinue witliout hunting out the cause. The tightenTg
of worn bearings may i„ time affect the alignment
enough to cause excessive friction and heating The

are normal, may be the most affected by this
317. Pre-ignition.-Pre-ignition, fortunately for the

self w th so much vigor that it is not apt to be long

itf'. '."'''"'"^ '^ *'" "°^-'" -ho nieets with
t for the first time. It may be caused bv advancing
the spark too far, so that the power impul'se is buried
against the piston before it has quite finished its com-
pression stroke; then it is driven violently back
against its own stored energy. Anything like burn-
.ng soot or failure of the cooling system, or anything
which permits the temperature of the combustion
chamber to reach the igniting point of gasoline, may
cause It, or an attempt to run on advanced spark when
an excessive load has crowded the speed of the engine
below the point where an advanced spark can be used.

and v!it? ''■°"\''^'='!-fi-"§^> -'"ch it closely resembles,
and wit which It IS often confused, in that pre-igni-
.on IS the result of some igniting influence exerted
too eariy in the engine cycle, while back-firing may
and may not be. Often the latter is caused by a

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 241

faulty mixture which burns so slowly that the interior
of tlie combustion chamber is still a mass of flames
when the intake valve opens to receive its next charge ;
then the flame flashes back along the intake pipe, fre-
quently to the carburetor; or a poorly fitting valve
may not close sufficiently tight, and the flame rush
back Pre-ignition is accomplished in the cyhnder,
too; while back-firing takes place in the intake pipe,
although its source may be in the cyhnder.

318. Misfiring.— This occurs from any of several
causes or a combination of them. The mixture may
be faulty and fail to ignite, or some defect of the elec-
tric system may occasion a spark that is not hot
enou-h. Weak batteries or faulty insulation or foul
spark points, anything which tends to reduce the spark
intensity, may bring about misfiring, especia ly a
hio-h speeds or if the timer happens to be slightly out
of adjustment. Misfiring is perhaps more frequent
than pre-ignition, but not so serious in its results, it
wastes the charge and allows considerable speed
fluctuation and slowing down of the engine, but it
does not jeopardize the crank shaft and piston by
hurling its energy directly against the energy already
developed. Its efl:ect is negative almost wholly, in-
stead of a positive hindrance. ^ _

319 Back-firing.-This is one of the legitimate
results of misfiring, which it very often follows, the
unfired charge being trapped in the hot muHler and
there fired into the open air. Perhaps its greatest harm
is the consumption of good fuel without benefit, but
there is perhaps no other engine prank more terrify-
ing to the amateur, who first receives a fusillade of
these startlingly sharp reports, especially if two or
more charges happen to be delivered before either of
them is ignited. If the mixture was too rich to burn

242 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

well in the cylinder it may, on being discharged into
the presence of more air, become readily combustible.
It also frequently occurs when the spark is being re-
tarded before stopping the engine.

320. Knocking. — Knocking, rightly enough, sets
the operator hunting for its cause — frequently quite
in the wrong direction. Usually it means that some-
thing serious is wrong, such as a broken piston-pin,
a worn cylinder, or worn connecting rod bearings.
Bad lubrication or a piston threatening to seize are
other possible causes that demand immediate and
rapid attention. Occasionally a certain amount of
knocking arises from a tardily fired charge or some
less serious cause, but the occasions are so many
where this can be taken as a most alarming symptom
that no one should allow a knock to go uninvesti-
gated.

321. Pounding, often classed with knocking, is
only an aggravated form of the other in its manifesta-
tions, although it is usually caused by a pre-ignited
charge being hurled against an ascending piston, and
is generally due to an over-advanced spark.

322. Outside Knocking. — Knocking outside the
cylinder is less difficult to locate, though it demands
immediate attention. Usually it means some purely
mechanical trouble about the crank shaft or its bear-
ings, things not at all exclusive to the gasoline engine,
and only coming to it with a little more severity be-
cause of the extra force that is behind the piston.
Any loose shaft may occasion it more or less; also
occasionally a cylinder loosened from its base.

323. Summing up Common Troubles. — In general
terms, most of the distinctly characteristic gasoline
engine troubles may be subdivided into four groups,
as follows:

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 243

Faults of poor mixture, including carburetor faults,
clogged pipes, cups, nozzles, screens, water in the gas-
oline, clogged valves and faulty air inlet.

Faults of poor ignition : Weak current, short-cir-
cuits, broken circuits, poor spark plugs, worn or dirty
points, loose wires and poor connections, broken-down
coil, poor timing, points too close or too far apart.

Poor compression : Leaky valves or piston rings,
broken rings, faulty construction.

Poor delivery : Poor foundation, poor balance, un-
due friction, due to failure of cooling system or of
lubrication, bearings untrue or out of alignment.

324. A Bit of Parting Advice. — Remember always
that the best way to overcome gasoline engine troubles
is to prevent them by taking in advance of the trouble
the care that has to be given afterwards.

When trouble comes it is best, unless one really
knows the cause from its nature, to look for some-
thing simple first, the empty tank, the corroded or the
open" switch, the disconnected wire.

Do not be too ready to meddle with things that are
working all right. Carry the oil can and the cleaning
rags around a little more, and leave the hammer and
the monkey Avrench alone unless it is certain they are
really needed.

In making adjustments, especially of the carburetor,
expect a few back-fires and have the room well ven-
tilated, and a pail or two of sawdust handy in case
of fire.

Above all, when things go wrong do not get excited.
Take things cool all the time, but take them to pieces
only when it is recjuired. Remember, that there are
a few hundred thousand gasoline engines doing good
work in the hands of all kinds of people, and that the
burden of blame before the engine can be condemned

244 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

is with the user. Barring accidents and long con-
tinued wear, the only trouble that ever comes to the
engine comes through the operator; while the most
frequent source of trouble is the fact that it is not
understood.

CHAPTER XIV.
SELECTING AND OPERATING A GAS ENGINE.

325. Selecting the Engine. — Perhaps no mistake is
more common among purchasers of the first gasoline
engine than the determination to get the best, unless
it is the effort to get the cheapest. There is no best
for all purposes; nor can the most experienced en-
gineer, after having tested different standard engines
side by side for months, always decide which one he
likes best even for his own use. Almost any engine
will give entire satisfaction so long as everything runs
well. When trouble comes the engine is apt to be
criticized, whether it is to blame or not. The first
step, then, in selecting a good engine, is to decide,
not which is the best, but what particular place and
work it is wanted for. The question must be answered
wholly out of the farm, from the kind of work it is
to do.

326. Style Required. — For stationary purposes, the
horizontal engine requires more floor space than the
upright, and is not so well adapted to high speed. Be-
cause of its broader base, it is firmer under a heavy
belt pull than the upright, the piston and cylinder are
more accessible, and it can be bolted more rigidly to
its foundations. Its lower center of gravity, too, ren-
ders it more solid for portable purposes, and in most
cases it will probably give the best results in larger
than four or five H. P. sizes. For the smaller engines

245

246 The Gasoline ExNgine on the Farm

intended specially for extreme portability, such as for
doing the choring and hand work about the house and
barn, the upright has the advantage of lighter weight
for a given horse-power both on account of the liglfter
frame and because of its higher speed. They are
also more economical in floor space, and in the smaller
sizes seem to be preferred by purchasers and manu-
facturers alike. They have some advantage in the
matter of friction, a more important consideration in
the small than in the larger engine, where there is a
greater likelihood of margin in power.

Fig.

-A 'J'ypical Horizontal Gasoline Engine.

327. The Best Size. — Every large or even moderate
size farm needs two engines; one to do the heavier
work like threshing, wood sawing, feed grinding, hay
baling, etc., and another of from one to three horse-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 247

power capacity for economical use in doing those
numerous bits of drudgery that will save the man
and woman. As a rule the man who buys a two- or
three-horse engine now will put in more machinery
in a year or two which may require more power ; then
he will probably regret having purchased so small an
engine, but it is well for him to remember that he
needs the small one worse than any other. For the
heavier work he can, if he has to, get along with a
hired engine, by adapting his heavier work to longer
runs while the light engine is used perhaps several
times every day in doing that back-breaking drudgery
that is killing more men and women daily on the farm
than anything else, but that would still be done in
the old way in spite of the larger engine. Only the
small power engine fits into this work with either
economy or convenience. How many, for instance,
have their buildings so arranged that it would be con-
venient or economical to use an eight or ten horse-
power engine for pumping a couple of buckets of water
or running the churn or the cream separator in a
small family dairy for four or five cows? It is just
such tasks as these, however, that are shortening the
lives of hundreds of people on the farm ; not the hard
work so much as the unvarying hard drudgery.

The larger engine is u^^ually purchased to save the
farm team or to increase working capacity. It is the
small engine that saves the man himself and his fam-
ily. It will be used for a greater variety of work and
more continuously than the larger engine, and the
man himself will derive more direct benefits from it.

328. A Plea for the Small Engine. — It seems a
little like advising a man regarding the size of his
hat to tell him how large an engine he needs,
the advice in both instances being the same :

248 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

get the size that fits the place. In farm work,
though, the power required has an unusual range, and
when one engine only is to be purchased the ques-
tion seems to be one between a life of greater ease
for both the farmer and his wife and family, or more
extended field operations. Perhaps the best solution
would be, say, a one or two horse-power engine for
doing the every day farm drudgery, and a tractor for
the farm. AVith the latter all such tasks as thresh-
ing, hay baling, wood cutting could be done, while at
the same time the farmer and the housewife would
be relieved of more real work and care through the
engine of smaller size.

Fig. 79-— Easy Work for One and One-half Horse-power Gray

Engine.

329.— Power Required for Various Farm Tasks.—

For most of the work about the house and dairy a
one or two horse-power engine will be ample. This
will pump water in moderate quantities, separate the
milk, churn, run the washing machine and wringer,
spray the trees, and water the flower bed and garden,'
wash the windows, including those of the upper story,'
run a dish-washer or a vacuum sweeper, supply a
modern bath room and all rooms of the house with
running water, run the shop lathe, grindstone, emery

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 249

wheel, rip saw and small cut-off, wash buggies, white-
wash the outbuildings, ten times faster than can be
done by hand, sprinkle the lawn and a few other sim-
ilar tasks that on the average farm are done at the
price of aching backs or not at all ; while in its spare
time the same industrious little worker would, with
the aid of a storage battery, accumulate enough elec-
trical energy to give the farm buildings every night

Fig. 80. — Corn Sheller Easily Operated by One Horse-power.

the same lighting conveniences enjoyed in the city
residence at very little cost.

With a three to five H. P., the farm supply of wood
could be sawed, the feed ground, hay and straw and
stalks run through the cutter, grain and hay elevated,
corn shelled, stock watered, and feed conveyors
handled almost without hand work. An eight to ten
horse-power would do practically all of the heavy
work a stationary engine could be made to do upon a
farm; such tasks as threshing, ensilage cutting, heavy
grinding, corn husking. For a tractor, less than twelve
horse would hardly be advisable, while for real satis-
factory work at the plow and harrow on say a 200-
acre farm, less than a twenty horse could not be ad-
vised. For smaller farms, tractors are now made of
half that power that will do good work with the plow.

For attaching to the table or rear of machine for

250 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

binding grain, one of the light three H. P. now made
is just the thing.

The power required depends a good deal on the con-
dition of the material delivered to the machine, and
a great deal more on the condition of the machine itself
and of the engine ; in other words, upon the care of the
man who runs it. An engine that is big enough to
do the work under most unfavorable conditions is,

Fig. 8i.— Simple Prony Brake Test.

of course, powerful enough for all the others, while
one that will come up to the estimate only on the
supposition that the material will be delivered in rea-
sonably good shape may fail if the conditions are
extremely bad.

There is, of course, danger of having a small engine
overloaded in a short time if it is installed for gen-
eral farm work, but for really saving the work and

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 251

sparing the health of the man and of his wife the small
engine is ideal. It is also best to learn with ; then it
can be turned over to the boys to give them a new
interest in farming, and a greater love for farm life
than all the grindstones in the world could ever do

unaided.

330. What Horse-power Means.— Horse-power is
a somewhat arbitrary measure of energy, same as the

Pic_ 82.— Another Type of Prony Brake.

foot or the mile is a measure of distance, though it is
founded upon the more definite supposition that a fair
load for an average horse would be the equivalent of
a lift in one minute of 33.000 pounds a height ot one
foot. Since this unit of energy measure has been gen-
erally adopted as a standard, it is quite as accurate for
purposes of comparison as though an actual horse had
really been sent out to make the lifting test.

There are several kinds of horse-power in common
use, however, or rather the standard of measurement
is taken in several different ways, no two of which

252 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

mean exactly the same thing in amount of work actu-
ally done. As some machine men have been known
to take advantage of this while others have certain
standards of their own which are recognized generally
111 the measurement of certain kinds of ener-y it is
necessary to understand the comparative value of each
m order to know what horse-power really means.

331. Various Kinds of Horse-power Defined.—
Actual horse-power is the horse-power really devel-
oped, as proved by trial.

Brake horse-power is the power shown by a friction
brake, the Prony brake being a favorite means of meas-
unng. This is not scientifically accurate, but is near
enough to answer all practical purposes. Brake horse-
power represents the amount of working energy de-
livered at the belt.

Effective horse-power is the same as brake.
Indicated horse-power is the measure of the power
developed in the cylinder, and is, of course, consider-
ably m excess of the actual energy delivered. It is
figured out by multiplying the area of the piston head
m niches by the length of stroke in feet and the prod-
uct first by the number of strokes per minute and then
by the average effective pressure on the piston in
pounds during each power stroke. The result, being
m foot-pounds, is divided by 33,000 for the indicated
horse-power. This is the measure upon which all
formula for computing horse-power from piston area
are based. The brake horse-power is equal to the
mdicated horse-power after we have subtracted from
the latter the energy lost in friction, passive resist-
ance, etc.

Nominal horse-power is defined as the horse-power
calculated by a conventional and usuallv incorrect
method of rating, as that based on the area of the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 253

piston It has so far lost any fixed meaning it ever
mav have had that it is of little hnportanee exeeptmg
for' the fact that it is still used as a commercial term
for selling engines and confusing purchasers.

Tractive horse-power, owing to the rapid advance-
ment of the traction engine, must now be admitted as
, measure of engine efficiency. It represents the work-
ino- energy delivered at the draw-bar: that is the belt
energy less whatever power is absorbed m the trans-
mission gearing and the moving of its own weigh^
This usually amounts to between 50% and 60% of the
brake horse-power, though one tractor now on the
market claims a draw-bar energy of Sofo.

332 Purchasing Horse-power.-With even the
most careful attention to the relative meanings of these
different ratings, purchasing horse-power is stUl some-
what an elastic operation. Many engines, - m tance
which would operate for an hour or so at f"" latec
capacity would by that time have become so hot that
they could not be run at all. While most farm work
is done on comparatively short runs, an engine should,
none the less, be capable of maintaining for an indefi-
nite period the full rated capacity for which it was
sold. Probably no gasoline engine can develop more
than 90% of its full possibilities and maintain it
steadily for an entire day ; hence it is necessary that an
engine to be honestly rated, have at least 10% reserv
energy above its rating. Many of the best engine
makers now supply this reserve; some of them, mtic
more. In buying a cheap engine, though, or one f om
an unknown firm, it is well to keep this po.n m mincl
In justice to the gasoline engine before it 1. made
to suffer from comparison with steam engine or actual
horse ratings, we must give fair consideration to the
subject of overload.

254 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

333. The Overload as Affecting Ratings.— An ac-

tua horse, under the lash of a brutal driver, can be
made to develop several horse-power for a few min-
utes and then perhaps drop dead the next. A good
steam engme, with an equal or heavier rated boiler at
Its highest rated pressure and a hot fire back of it
might be able to handle an overload of 40% or even
50% for a little while; then its capacity might drop
below normal until steam was raised again unless in
the meantime it had the assistance of a m.ost strenuous
and wdling fireman.

The gasoline engine will take up the load that it was
built to carry, less a small margin t)f under-rating al-
lowed for unfavorable conditions, and will carry it con-
stantly without any help from anyone. Beyond a small
margin, no amount of urging will tempt it into in-
creasing its exertions for even a short time- and
abuse. It It has any effect at all, will probablv retire
it from the job. It has little reserve force back of
It to draw on, and that little may be needed in over-
coming the unfavorable conditions under which it may
be working. The statement sometimes made that a
steam engine will outpull a gasoline engine of the
same rating is not true if the steam engine is worked
in accordance with its permanent capacity, as the -as-
oline engine is. If a 15 horse-power boiler is set be-
hind a 10 horse steam engine and steam raised to the
point of blowing off, with the hottest of fires in the
grates, and a good fireman doing his best to make it
hotter, there is nothing to prevent the engine carry-
ing an overload of several horse-power so long as the
stored steam, the overcharge of fire, and the energy
of the fireman hold out. The gasoline engine is self-
contained, and depends upon itself. It has the strength
for even a greater overload, for its shafts and bear-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 255

ings are heavier, but it has no stored-up or borrowed
energy to help it along. Whatever power it is re-
quired to use it develops and uses as the occasion re-
quires, and, if it has no reserve power to help it along
on overloads, neither has it a lot of reserved and
wasted energy that was not used when an overload
was not required. When we consider that overload-
ing any engine is an unwarranted strain upon its
structural strength, it would seem as if the engine that
can be depended upon to develop its full rating stead-
ily, without reserve power and without wasted power,
has the best of the argument.

334. The Question of Weight. — The question of
weight is more a problem of individual requirement
than of engine necessity. There are places where,
other things being equal, the heavy engine has a de-
cided advantage. The massive frame absorbs consid-^
erable vibration and, like the heavy man on the lever,
does some work to better advantage. There is also
less strain on the engine because it is distributed
through a greater mass of metal.

335- Where the Light Engine Wins. — On the other
hand, one of the greatest arguments in favor of the
gasoline engine is its supreme portability; and every
pound of unnecessary weight added thereto is a de-
parture from one of its great advantages. Weight
alone is not always strength, not unless it is put where
greater strength is needed than the light engine pos-
sesses. The old-fashioned binders were immensely
heavier than the light steel structures of to-day, yet
no one will say that they were as strong. Often the
light machine indicates that it is a better balanced
machine, more carefully planned out and less cum-
bered by unnecessary weight. Undoubtedly the heavy
fly wheel and the corresponding machinery back of it

256 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

supply a greater amount of stored up energy; that
is, the momentum is greater to carry the engine over
sudden loads, or the idle strokes, but for much of
the every-day farm work the light engine is decidedly
preferable. For strictly stationary purposes the heavy
engine bed and massive balance wheel absorb much
of the destructive vibration, and add rigidity to the
engine providing the weight is properly distributed.
The present-day tendency though is toward lighter en-
gines, not so much on account of the price as because
of their greater convenience. Engines that weigh 200
pounds or less and develop three horse-power can be
used in many places to far better advantage than a
heavier engine could. In tractor engines w^eight has
a greater significance, the tractive power of the wheels
having a direct relation with the weight which holds
them down.

336. Simplicity.— Always, when simplicity is ob-
tained through a skillful placing of parts, the engine
is more durable and easier managed, besides requir-
ing less energy for its own propulsion. When it re-
sults from the omission of important details, we have
to consider whether the result obtained will lose more
in efficiency than we have gained in mechanical econ-
omy. The engine should have parts enough to insure
good work, but those added for show alone should be
discarded, and even the value of the conveniences
should always be weighed against the extra parts they
require. It never pays to curtail to a material degree
the usefulness of the engine for the sake of saving a
few extra parts or a little in price and weight. Neither
should we choose an engine cumbered with a lot of
attachments that are not needed for our work and
that only render the task of taking care of the engine
a little more complicated. On a farm where hired

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 257

help is kept we should always bear in mind that the
engine ought to be so simple that the most inexperi-
enced farm hand can soon learn to operate it under
ordinary conditions, while it should not be beyond
the boys of the farm to fathom its management under
any conditions. So long as kept within the bounds of
continued efficiency, simplicity means freedom from
trouble for the novice.

337. The Price. — Price sometimes gets greater con-
sideration than it deserves. We get about what we
pay for, usually, but in the purchase of an engine it is
well to consider whether we really need all that we
get or whether some of the price is being expended
upon things of negative value. Quality, experience in
engine building, good workmanship, and good mate-
rial are all worth paying for. Expensive clerks and
salesmen, big commercial splurges, are not unless the
increased sales they bring enable the manufacturer to
give better quality on a closer margin of profit. Al-
ways it is the purchaser who has to pay the manu-
facturer's bills, but he can only judge of them to a lim-
ited extent, and when they represent a policy that is
specially aggressive.

Continued improvements represent a progressive
spirit. Excessive changes every season may represent
designs that have not been w^orking out right or ex-
periments which may be more costly than beneficial.

It is a good idea for the prospective engine buyer
to read and study the catalogues of a good many man-
ufacturers, not only for the suggestion he will get
in the selection of an engine for his purpose, but be-
cause in this way he will finally get at something like
a normal price ; then when an agent asks him much
above or much below this figure he will be in a posi-
tion to find out why. It is well, too, for everyone to

258 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

remember that the ''terms" of 30 days' trial offered
by many engine firms are of little practical value
except possibly a means of determining whether a cer-
tain size is large enough to do the work required of
it. So far as general engine merit is concerned, any
engine that will run at all will run for thirty days
without showing much wear. Almost any engine sent
out can be made to run quite well by an expert, while
a novice would hardly be accustomed enough to his
engine in that length of time to give it a fair trial.

338. Adaptability. — This is of more importance
than some phases of the price consideration or alluring
''terms." The cream separator needs a steadier run-
ning engine than the hay work hoist or the pump re-
quires. The light, air-cooled cylinder could stand
work that was cut into one or two hour periods, and
not be suitable for a steady pull under full load all
day. There is a record of one engine that had not
made good under certain conditions, that nevertheless,
when nearly submerged in a cellarful of water, pa-
tiently pumped itself and the cellar dry, a feat that
would have been too much for many a sturdier en-
gine.

339. Other Considerations. — Repair economy is al-
ways a feature worth paying something for, and the
engine made by a responsible house near home is
worth several dollars more than one sent out by an
institution about the stability of which nobody knows,
and which at best is hundreds of miles away, with a
heavy freight rate between. Other things being
nearly equal, the engine with a local representative
can be kept in working order better and cheaper than
one that can never receive a supervising word from
one of its own people.

Ease of adjustment is specially important on farms

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 259

where hired help is kept and engine experts hard to

find. ,

Some engines save enough fuel in a season to make
up for a few dollars difference in first cost. The pur-
chase price is an investment ; the upkeep, an expense.
Sometimes it is a choice between the two. A pint of
gasoline per horse-power hour is a liberal allowance
of fuel for some engines, while others have been known
to more than double this amount, while there are a
few that can reduce it.

340. Testing an Engine.— Every engme sent out
from the shops is supposed to have been tested, but
shop conditions are very different from actual work
in the field. A reasonable test should mclude the
same character of work the engine will be used for,
and under similar conditions. If wanted for electric
lio-ht work and the plant has not yet been mstalled
hitch the engine to something that will show speed
variations readily, and run it for several hours on a
steady pull. Part of an engine's, test should be un-
der a full load and part of it at considerably less.
A loaded engine sometimes develops characteristics
such as heating, which it would not do running empty,
but the loaded engine will be run as a rule at a lower
percentage of fuel expenditure. Wood sawing is
rather a trying test as the strain is so intermittent
but that will not bring out a propensity to heat, i hat
requires a steady pull at full load. ^

341. Being Fair with Engine and Agent.— Be fair
with the engine and the agent, though. A new en-
gine is never in condition to stand the run without
heating that it could after the bearings, rmgs and
cylinder walls had seen a little service. It is not fair
to put it to the last strain, nor to subject it to any
strain which is not a part of regular work. The de-

26o The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

liberate effort to stall the new engine or in some way
force it to show a weakness that is not a part of its
factory inheritance is neither good business nor good
intelligence. If an expert is there to install the en-
gine, do not have a big crew of hostile men and a lot
of work piled up in his face. Plan to give him all the
chance in the world to get the engine into good work-
ing order rather than to get a lot of wood sawed, or
furnish amusement for the neighborhood. Do not
undertake anything that will keep you too busy to
receive and think about his instructions. Do not keep
him too busy to give them. Have plenty of mate-
rial handy for a reasonable test, with a man or two
to assist him if he needs them. Let him do the test-
ing, and the helpers all the other work, while you
watch him and the engine. If you are sincere in want-
ing to buy an engine, you want it to be a success ; give
it a fair chance to be, and give yourself a fair chance
to see how it can be made one. After he has had it
working nicely for some time get him to shut down
and watch you run it. Power and efficiency curves
are worth a lot to the engine designer. An hour or so
of practical field work with a practical man is worth
a great deal more to you, and be sure the average ex-
pert will exert himself a great deal more to help you
if you help him by being reasonable.

342. When the Agent Does Not Come. — Sometimes
no agent or expert is sent. In that case the engine
generally comes crated, and set up ready to run. The
first thing to unpack is the instruction book ; take it
to the house and study it until the next day. In re-
moving the crate, be careful with the hammer. Some
parts of the engine are made to stand hard knocks ;
but learn which first. A half day spent in washing it
off thoroughly with turpentine will be well spent

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 261

for two reasons. There will be more or less grit about
it that may, if at once started, be drawn into the cyl-
inder, so it really needs the thorough cleaning. Then
as the work is done each part is likely to be located,
studied and compared with the description in the in-
struction books. At the end (not the beginning) of
that time would be most suitable for marking the
timer and similar adjustments that are not already
marked. After the cleaning is done, oil carefully and
hand crank, again studying the different parts in
motion.

Before starting under its own power, fasten se-
curely to the floor or some solid foundation. No en-
gine can do its best work while hopping around
loosely. Run empty for balance of the day, and note
carefully the exact consumption of gasoline and oil.
Never start an engine standing over a spot where gas-
oline has been spilled. If the engine should race it
might back-fire and cause trouble. After getting some-
what acquainted with it, turn off the gasoline, feed
slowly until the place is found where it will develop
its full power and where further reduction decreases
it.

343. Turning on the Load. — Perhaps you have seen
the claim that "the engine runs itself." After run-
ning it empty for a while, to prove that it does, it
is time to find out what else it will run. Hitch it
first to some empty machine and turn on the load
gradually, watching closely. Let it carry a fair load
then for several hours, but on the first sign of heat-
ing above normal, shut down. Once cutting begins,
it is very hard to overcome. Do not condemn the
engine for a little heating until paint and all rough-
ness have been worn down. Above all, do not begin
trying it out on overloads until the superfluous paint

262 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm.

is taken off, and your knowledge how to run it put
on. Nothing is harder on an engine than to stall it
down, as the advanced spark throws full force of the
explosion against the engine for the last few strokes.
Do not give it a taste of full load the first run. No
skilled machinist would think of doing that with a new
lathe or new machine of any kind. The first day he
accomplishes little real work w4th it; just works it
into harness gradually, and watches it too closely for
any little troubles to have time for much work. If
the troubles come he tries to help it overcome them.
Often he does not allow it to carry a full load for two
or three da3^s. When giving the engine its first run,
shut down frequently and examine, to see if it is
heating beyond what it ought to and if the parts,
particularly the cylinder, are being oiled. Watch all
the bearings, and be careful that none of the nuts jar
loose. Make no changes in the adjustments when run-
ning all right, but study out what you would do if
this or that went wrong, and why, before it does go
wrong; then try and find out from the instruction
book or some one who knows whether you are right,
and, if not, why not. Do not take the advice of any
one as the last w^ord in engine culture, though. The
man who thinks he knows all there is to know about
the management of engines would do well to wait a
few days, for he has a lesson coming to him. If he
realized that, he would think the other fellow might
be like him and not trust too implicitly to all he said.
344. The Outfit. — When buying an engine some ex-
plicit understanding should be had as to what it in-
cludes. There are some outfits being advertised at a
low price which include little but the bare engine.
Tank, connections, pipe, batteries, spark plug, etc.,
have all to be bought afterwards. Some outfits in-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 263

elude part of these but not a carburetor. Others in-
c de all that is necessary, even a magneto belt pul-
: and all connections ready to turn the wheel over
and start All of these matters should be arranged by
a"reement beforehand or they are likely to arrange a

'^'^f ^krndrnd' Engine.-A second-hand engine
i/ga^erally a bargain for buyer or seller; the question
is which? Anyone purchasing an engine so far re-
;; -ed from the dealer's guarantee is justified in ask-
" a good many questions. Why is f be>ng sold?
'said to be "too light." just what did it fail to do
and what did it do? Look closely tor wear at the
b arings. particularly if a two-cycle: also to the con-
nec ng od, and all the cams and their rolers. The
bearings may be replaced with a little babbiU met 1 ,
the cams cannot be. Test the '^-"P'^f ^'°\*".' ^ ' " f^
if poor, try and make out whether the leak is at the
park plug or the rings. Hand crank for this test,
afd tur'n off all lubrication in order to find out whether
it is the rings or the oil that is holding Notice
whether the valves are pitted or if they have been
reground until they are almost buried in their seats_
If the spark is a little weak test the connections and
the coil; then the batteries. If the fault is here fig-
ure on an expense of about $1.50 to "-enew them. I
the coil is wrong the cost may be ^— ' / "« J^^
much The cylinder and water jacket should be ex-
amined for cracks and the owner made to give a
definite statement as to their condition. A crack can-
not always be seen, but gasoline under pressure will
find it Paint may tell something about the age of an
engine and how well it has been cared for: or ,t may
be used fresh for the occasion to cover up defects.
Which one the engine is a bargain for depends as much

264 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

upon the honesty of the seller and the practical knowl-
edge of the buyer as upon the engine. It is always
safe to remember that an expert will get good work
out of any engine for some time if it will run at all,
and that the owner is very likely to be something of
an expert with his own engine.

346. After Buying. — Having purchased an engine
of this sort, do not get discouraged at the first
glimpse of trouble. Any engine may be thrown out
of adjustment while being torn out and moved. A
wire may be broken or rusted ; many trifling things
may happen. Don't take the w^ord of the first *agent
that it is only fit for the junk pile. Let him show you
why, if he wants to, but do not let him take it to
pieces to show you. He may drop some valuable hint ;
his aim is to make a sale.

Write to the company who made it and get their
catalogues, their directions, their advice. It may have
to be sent to some shop for a general overhauling, or
it may not be worth it; but be game until you find
out. Don't condemn it until the minor repairs are
made, if the case is hopeful. If it isn't, don't buy in
the first place ; but, having made the one investment,
better put enough more with it to see it through. If
the trouble is in the trimmings, the chances are it
may be fixed up at a reasonable expense. If there
is a cracked or oval cylinder to deal with, the case is
dubious, though not hopeless.

347. Oiling the Engine. — So many of our engine
troubles come to us because of things we forget, that
any system which enables us to remember things will
do much to eliminate our troubles. A regular system
in starting and stopping the engine will save us many
failures and not a few cracked water jackets in cold
weather.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 265

First, clean out oil holes from dirt and grit, and see
that lubricators are all in place and filled. For start-
ing the first time, open the cylinder lubricator and per-
mit the oil to drip a short time, hand cranking the
engine so as to get the inside of the cylinder, the piston
and rings thoroughly oiled. Oil the balance of the
engine same as any other machine, beginning at one
side and making a clean sweep of it while going
around. Take this occasion always to notice whether
the valves are sticking or the governors and gearing
all right.

348. The Cooling System. — See that the cocks are
open along the water system and that the water is
circulating through the pipes. Do not guess at this ;
be sure. Of course all drain cocks must be closed and
there must be a supply of water in the tank. If the
engine is air cooled notice that the fans are all in
place. If the engine has been run, open drain cock
in muffler pipe if one is there, and drain off any con-
densed water it contains.

349. Retard the Spark. — Of all directions, this is
one of the most important, for upon its observance
depends the operator's safety. Set the spark lever
back as far as it will go, or follow whatever directions
for spark retarding came with the engine. Perhaps
more people have been injured by gasoline engines by
reason of not observing this rule than from any other
cause.

350. The Carburetor. — Open the cock between
carburetor and fuel tank and depress the spindle to
the float valve until a supply of the liquid comes over.
See that the air intake is open. In cold weather it
may be necessary to warm the tube or the intake.

351. The Switch. — Close the switch by bringing the
lever down until it is pressed clear back into the

266 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm •

groove made to receive it. See that the metal is clean
and the contact good.

352. Starting the Engine. — If the engine is small
grasp the fly wheel rim with both hands, if crank is
not used, and turn the wheel over, in most engines
from left to right or with the hands of a watch. Re-
lease just as the compression has been overcome and
the resistance begins to ease ofif. If the engine is too
large to turn over by hand, a bar is sometimes used,
but is rather dangerous for a novice. If there is a
relief cock in end of cylinder, open this and crank until
first explosion occurs, and then close at once ; if not,
the exhaust valve may be held up with a block tied
to a string until the power stroke begins ; then the
block should be jerked out quickly. Usually the ex-
plosion will come with the first or second turn of the
wheel. If not with the first, catch the rim as it comes
around after being driven back by the compression
and, with the momentum gained, try and keep it go-
ing over the next compression. Do not forget to re-
lease the hold at once when extreme of compression
stroke is passed. If the spark does not come within
the first half-dozen turns better stop and investigate,
as something is wrong. Be careful always, while turn-
ing the wheel, that there are no projections to catch
the clothing or strike the person. Never under any
circumstances turn the wheel by setting a foot on the
spoke.

353- Just After Starting. — As soon as possible after
the engine has started shut ofif the cock on the gaso-
line line about a half, as the mixture, once the -suction
of the cylinder is established, would otherwise be so
rich the engine would soon choke down and stop. Ad-
vance the spark gradually, as the engine picks up
speed until it is running strong ; then go back to the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 26^

gasoline supply and regulate the flow of air and gas-
oline as already described until just the right open-
ing is found. By noting the position carefully, these
adjustments can afterwards be made with very little
trouble, although there is a little variation required
under certain conditions.

If the engine should not start, don't blame the en-
gine. Open the switch, shut off the lubricators and
read youi" instruction book again.

354. Getting up Power. — Do not expect full power
of any engine at once. Everything about it is cold.
Sometimes in cold weather it will be found necessary
to partly close the end of the air pipe while starting.
In that case open again gradually as the engine warms
up, until wide open. If the engine is new, a good deal
of its power may have to be expended on itself for
some time. If old and for some time in disuse, the
cylinder walls may have become rusty and so retard
it.

355. Going After All the Power. — A surprising
number of people will select their engine with most
critical regard for its economy in fuel for the power
developed, and will then defeat their own object
through carelessness in adjustment. Engines that are
set level and on firm foundations will do more work
and at less cost for fuel and less wear on the engine.
Dirt, grit, floating dust, obstructions of any kind, have
more or less effect, and that effect is always bad. In
the first place it invariably means careless habits, and
that is fatal to getting the full power out of the en-
gine. Valves that are poorly regulated are wasting
fuel and energy. The poor adjustments which might
be made right as easily as wrong may overcome more
than 30% of the engine energy sought after with so
much care while making the selection. The man who,

268 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

after paying a round price for an engine of the high-
est efficiency, gets less result from it than one who
buys a cheaper make, may have his ignorance of en-
gines to excuse him at the start. If that ignorance
continues, he has no excuse. He is to blame himself.

Dirt means anything out of place. Too much gas-
oline in the cylinder is dirt, and so is too much oil.
Even the tools required to operate the engine may be-
come rubbish by getting out of place. The most un-
tidy engine room on earth may not contain so very
much that its most up-to-date neighbor does not con-
tain. The difference is only in the arrangement; in
a carelessness that will be fatal to the working of an
engine. Remember that whatever is worth doing at
all is worth doing the right way, and whatever has
to be done is worth doing well.

Some gasoline engine men will run their engine for
months without learning more about its construction
than they were obliged to learn the first day in order
to run it at all. This speaks well for the engine but
not for the man. A steam engine would in that time
compel at least a speaking acquaintance with the man
behind it, or quit work. Possibly the engineer would
quit at the same instant. Some engine men, and not
professionals either, can tell from the sound what the
engine is doing; others are barely able to tell from
the looks afterwards what it has done.

356. The Gospel of Attention. — Gasoline engines
are often advertised to run without attention ; that does
not mean that reasonable care is injurious to them
although they are often neglected on that account.
A new engine, in particular, should be watched for
loose nuts, loose bolts, tight or loose bearings. Very
few things go wrong without some indications or
symptoms that the observing attendant can read.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 269

Not only does the engine need this close attention
until thoroughly installed ; the novice engineer needs
it even more. The drill in close observation v^ill be
invaluable to him, and will serve him many times in
getting out of trouble because of his familiarity with
the exact performance of each part when all was
working well. Reading instruction books may do
much toward teaching him what to look for. Experi-
ence and observation alone will teach him how to make
the most of what he sees.

After the engine and the engineer have been tried
out and are fully acquainted with each other, close
attention or at least continual attendance may not be
necessary. The engine may often be left to itself for
hours. In all machinery, however, there is always the
possibility of something going wrong, and the true
engineer will prefer to at least come within earshot
of his engine occasionally. As a general thing the
man who could leave his engine wholly to itself with
the least risk is the one who would be last to do so.

357. Importance of Letting Alone. — The gospel of
attention should include special instruction in the
necessity of letting alone. When everything is going
as it should go, further adjustment is work for the
experienced engineer. The novice who begins to ex-
periment is just beginning his troubles. Even worse
than this, though, is a willingness to let someone else
experiment. We should be alert for suggestions, but
should use our own brains a while on the idea before
using the latter on the engine. If the engine don't
work, master it yourself or else get an expert ; don't
let someone else try experiments at your expense.
Even an expert, if the agent for some other line, should
not be trusted. He may be conscientious ; he is sure
to be prejudiced and to have less real personal inter-

2^0 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

est in fixing up your engine than he would have in fix-
ing his own.

Whenever, in walking around an engine, one is
tempted to take up a wrench and go to work on some
questionable adjustment make it a rule to pick up a bit
of waste instead and clean a wheel or brighten the
trimmings. That rule alone, if rigidly adhered to, will
save a vast amount of trouble, as will the other rule
to never take up a wrench until there is use for it.

358. Shutting Down.— There should be a regular
system of shutting down as well as of starting; then
nothing will be forgotten. Shut off the water supply,
if a water-cooled engine; shut off the gasoline, open
the battery switch. Stop the engine so that all valves
are closed, so there will be no communication between
the inside of the cylinder and the open air. Remove
the drive belt by running it from the fly wheel as the
engine slows. Shut off the lubricators. If the weather
requires it, drain the water pipes. Clean up all patches
of grease and oil; put tools in their place. Leave
everything in perfect order for beginning another day.
If intending to leave the engine idle for some time,
inject a small quantity of kerosene into the cylinder.
It will remove most of the carbon and still leave the oil
glaze on the walls and piston and rings. Turn the
engine over a few times by hand while introducing
it, then drain out, until the oil comes fairly clear. If
very bad, inject a pint and let stand for ten min-
utes, turning the engine enough to keep it agitated;
then open tap and leave open for 24 hours or else pre-
pare to leave the neighborhood when next the engine
is started. A coating of vasoline on the valves will
do much to protect them while the engine is standing
idle.

359. Things to Think About.— It's always the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 271

blunders that cost. Things that go right are inex-
pensive.

In the present age of well made engines, the only
troubles that usually come to an engine, outside of
disturbed adjustment through vibration, are due to ig-
norance, carelessness and natural wear. Of these three
causes, the first two are most prolific of trouble, and
both of them are directly in the hands of the man
himself.

The driven as well as the driving machinery must
be kept in order if we are to get full returns in power
from our engine investment. Dull knives, worn cogs,
and shafts out of line all destroy engine energy and
waste both fuel and power.

An engine that will deliver 10 full horse-power per
hour on a gallon of gasoline may barely develop power
using the same amount, in other hands. The differ-
ence is neither due to engine nor to fuel, but to the
men.

Sometimes we know what we' are paying for our
power, without knowing wdiat power we are getting
or what it is costing us per unit of useful energy.
" The vital time with any machine is when it begins
to wear out. Easy repairing sometimes determines the
difference between continued service and the scrap
pile.

When the engine balks, as it some day surely will,
consider five things well ; compression, fuel, timing,
spark, insulation.

At all times bear in mind these four rules :
Use good oil, especially about the cylinder.
Draw off the water in frosty weather.
Do not feed too much gasoline.
Keep battery connections tight.

If you want to make a success of operating your

2'j2 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

engine study the engine. If you want to become a
neighborhood expert at it add to your course of study
mechanics, heat, chemistry, electricity, good sense, and
your own engine.

360. Overhauling an Engine. — If the cylinder heads
are removable, remove them, if the operation is to be
thorough. Place them in kerosene to soak while
cleaning the cylinder. Note the nature of the deposits ;
whether the oil used has been what it should be.

Have valves in soaking. Clean and scrape the heads,
especially at the joints, but do not break the surface
glaze. The valves may be rubbed with fine emery
cloth. Notice that the valve guides are not worn un-
evenly along the side, and whether the valve seats
properly.

Let the timer alone until the setting as supplied by
the factory has been unmistakably marked. This
should always be done when the engine is new, before
it has a chance to lose its adjustment. By using
graphite on the nuts they go on much better and do
not rust.

If the engine is a multiple C3'linder do not mix the
pistons, even though they are interchangeable. Do
not even change the rings. Each wears to its own pe-
culiar position. If made to scrape out a new one
each time there will be lots of waste energy and
waste engine. Each ring will seat best in its own
groove.

Note carefully the wear on the gudgeon. There
should be some side float but no shake. Worn pins
are probably case-hardened and something is wrong.
If the wear on pins or bushings is at the ends, the
rod is out of line. If full length the bushings should
be scraped to fit the new pin. Bearings that are bright
all over should not be meddled with ; but if in spots

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 273

only, scrape the spots down enough to ease them.
Scrape out any score marks on pin or in shell, then
rub with oil stone or emery stone and finish with fine
emery cloth. ,

The crank shaft should be specially well mspected
for signs of uneven wear or false alignment. Nothing
is harder on an engine than to jerk a wabbly shaft
around by means of a twisting piston.

Clean all the wiring terminals thoroughly with gaso-
line The coils should be cleaned also, but always
with a care for the insulation, which must be guarded
from oil or water.

If possible blow steam from a steam boiler through
all the fuel and water pipes. Do not leave them un-
connected until dirt gets in again. Connect up at

once.

If a magneto is used, take it over to the electric
light station and have it fully tested with a generator
and Ohm meter. Coat the winding with shellac after
brushing out and .cleaning the armature thoroughly.
After the shellac is dry, varnish. Do not forget to
clean the armature bearings and to see that the oil
grooves are open. Spark plugs should be removed
and cleaned, then coat the screw base with graphite
and screw into place with the hand if possible, never
with a large wrench. Spare plugs should be looked
over at the same time, coated with mineral grease,
and wrapped in waxed paper. Keep them dry as well
as dry cells and spark coil.

Even the fuel tank should not be forgotten. Clean
out and look for leaks. Disconnect the pipe and get
rid of all rust and scale.

The muffler should be given a thorough cleaning
and its load of soot entirely gotten rid of. There is
nothing to be injured here; use kerosene, gasoline,

274 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

whatever keeps the dirt coming, until the liquid comes
out clear.

Goat the battery terminals with vaseline if the en-
gine is to remain idle for a while as a protection from
acid.

361. The Personal Hazard. — Accidents to the per-
son usuallv consist of burns about the hands and arms

^ A\ \

Fig. 83. — Correct and Incorrect Method of Cranking an Engine.
Correct Method, Left Hand Used. In Case of Pre-ignition
Handle Is Jerked Away from the Hand, Which Is Left Out-
side of Crank Circle. Incorrect Method, Uses Right Hand.
Back Kick Will Either Drive Handle Against Hand or
Leave Hand in Crank Circle. Result, Broken Arm or Wrist.

or about the face from flashes of gasoline at some un-
expected time and place. Hot pipes, hot cylinders, a
hot muffler, and the hot blast of the explosion itself
are all about equally frequent ofifenders.

Injury to the eyes come from the muffler blast on
account of after-firing or from back-firing to the car-
buretor.

Broken bones, broken noses and lost teeth are part
of the general tribute levied by the fly wheel on the
careless operator. To avoid these, never forget to
retard the spark before cranking the engine.

The fans on an air motor give many a vicious
bruise and cut.

A good many sore fingers have resulted from the
hand-hold on the fly wheel being such that it brought

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 275

the fingers against the base or a projecting part, as
a bolt head.

In starting with crank see that the crank is on and
properly clutched; then, standing at the rear of the
wheel with respect to its revolutions, grasp handle
firmly and revolve over and from the person until
compression is passed, then bring the handle around
until turning against compression again. This ought
to start the engine, when the clutch will be disengaged
and the crank will drop from the wheel and remain
in the hand. Use weight rather than strength in
turning heavy engine over, then keep it rolling with
the hands imtil the first impulse is felt.

Always suspect that there is a charge of unexploded
gas in the cylinder. After the plug is removed this
may be tested for with a lighted match, but keep
hands and face away from all ports.

It is the business of every engine operator to pro-
tect all visitors he admits to the engine room. Danger
signs are good, but not enough. The engine looks
harmless and inviting, while the damage, if any, that it
does is done in an instant.

2^/6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

£0

CHAPTER XV.
THE TRACTION .ENGINE.

362. Its Message to the World. — The stationary
gasoline engine has given its message to the world
through farm and factory alike. The traction engine
is to discharge its more important mission through the
farm alone, a mission of threefold import at least, ob-
tained as a direct result of accomplishments which
are wholly its own.

I St. Through more extended operations.

2nd. Through more thorough work.

3rd. Through more timely work.

No mention is made here of the additional message
to the farmer himself of cheaper labor, easier and
pleasanter work, and more time to enjoy the luxuries
of life, for which the tractor also furnishes the oc-
casion.

363. Its First Accomplishment. — That the average
man could not give true intensive culture to more
than twenty-five acres of land has been the judgment
of the best agricultural authorities for years, and even
this amount would not be taxed to its utmost as fully
as the man would. As the pressure for supplies be-
comes greater it has been more and more evident that
the world cannot afford large farms skimmed over with
careless culture ; her one course, if she would keep
her children all supplied with bread, is to increase the
product of each acre by substituting twenty-five acre
culture wherever the extensive methods are in use.

277

278 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

This means more men ; more than she has to spare of
the right kind. The problem was a perplexing one
until the traction engine solved it by putting into the
hands of one man the reins which control the work
C)f twenty-five to fifty horses. Since the American
farmer has not the time to properly till all the tillable
land in the old way and there is no way of increasing
the number, the time that was his has been increased
by putting into his day the working energy of many
men and teams.

364. The Second Message. — Usually the area of a
single man's cultivated fields is increased at the ex-
pense of efficient work. The tractor is permitting him
to do better work by giving him the power that is
needed to run the most efficient machinery that can
be made. The machine designer does not now have to
limit his implements to machines that a team will
handle ; he is permitted to regard them from the stand-
point of efficiency alone.

365. And the Third. — Only the farmer himself
realizes how many times he has been forced to begin
his plowing or seeding or harvesting before the ground
or the crop was ready because at best the last part
of the work w^ould be delayed until later than it ought
to be. With a 25-acre field to plow and fit for each
man and team not less than twenty days would be
required, of which perhaps ten would be within the
time w^hen the crop should be sowed and the ground
in the best condition. During the first five days of
the fitting the ground would be too wet to work well ;
during the last five the season would be getting late ;
but if the farm work was planned to the best me-
chanical advantage and the harvesting of the field to
be done all at once as it should be, none of the field
was sowed until all was fitted. Then how many of

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 279

us can tell the story of a large field almost ready for
drill or planter when a three days' rain suspended
operations for at least a week, made refitting neces-
sary, and brought the planting almost hopelessly late?
Not less than thirty per cent, of the world's output in
farm crops — her possible output — is lost annually be-
cause of unseasonable seeding.

366. What the Gasoline Tractor Is Doing. — The
small tractor for the 150 to 300-acre farms is plowing,
fitting and seeding fifteen to twenty acres a day ; an
output to cover the entire farm it is intended for within
the usual best seeding season, and enough to complete
in one or two days the usual field of any one crop on
a mixed farm of that size. Some of the farming mo-
guls of the West are multiplying this output by three,
and could, if run the full twenty-four hours, as they
may be if required, have a couple of townships in
growing crops at the end of the average seeding
season.

367. Special Appeals to the Farmer. — Almost all
kinds of soil, if worked in the proper condition, can
be harrowed as soon as plowed more effectively than
at any other time. Some farmers make it a rule to
do this, though it necessitates extra teams or else a
change of teams each working period from plow to
harrow. The tractor can harrow as it plows. Once
over and the work is finished, no matter what weather
changes may come up.

Farmers differ greatly in their belief as to which
is the best kind of harrow to use even for the same
purpose and upon the same land, while many fields
differ in patches in character of ground. The fact is,
every harrow has its own distinct uses, and on most
grounds a combination of several kinds would be a
distinct advantage did it not necessitate driving over

28o The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the ground so many times. A good tractor will pull
a number of these different harrows after it at the same
time it plows the ground, and may be rigged to be
the most effective of clod crushers with its own weight.

One objection to the thorough harrowing a field
should really have is the trampling of the fresh plowed
earth by the horses' feet. The tractor can be rigged
to plow, harrow and seed all in one operation ; or, if
more harrowing is desired, the broad wheels do not
throw nearly as much weight on one portion of the
ground as the horse does and the rolling contact is
less objectionable. If they are run twice over the field
the thoroughness of the harrowing that can be done
with them in the two operations would exceed per-
haps a dozen times what could be done with horses,
since several different kinds of harrows could be
hauled at a time and supplement one another.

The plowing can be deeper than is done with teams
and can be regulated more uniformly. A good many
fields plowed by team power are from four to six
inches deep, though perhaps their owners would be
astonished to see their own furrows measured. The
depth of a furrow is very deceptive to the eye. Eight
to ten inches is the usual depth for tractor plowing,
though a greater depth can be used if desired. This
greater depth is of special benefit on those farms
which have been plowed for years on the system of
surface skinning until a hard, polished bottom of com-
pressed soil has been established by the bottom of
the plow, that cuts the roots of the plant off from nour-
ishment below. By plowing a couple of inches deeper
for a few years and then increasing the depths again,
the depth of the seed bed can be gradually increased
without bringing to the surface an excessive amount
of hard-pan at any one time. The tractor can turn

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 281

this extra depth without torture and with astonish-
ing uniformity. The thorough harrowing it can give
while the earth is fresh will so completely pulverize
this hard-pan and mix it with the other soil that it
will not have any injurious effect, while it will help
in the work of air and moisture-gathering and the seed
bed will be deepened.

A horse cannot pull more than fifteen miles per day
on an average, but a team must w^alk sixteen miles to
plow two acres with a 12-inch furrow. The tractor
will draw a gang of from two to twelve 14-inch plows
two and a half or more miles per hour and will keep
it up all day, without stopping to rest at the end of
the furrow ; then, by changing men, will keep it up all
night.

The life of a horse is figured at about 10,000 work-
ing hours, but his maintenance is several times that.
The working life of the tractor is at least twice as
many hours, and its maintenance ceases when its work
is done. The first cost is not so great as that of the
horses it displaces.

Whether working or idle, the horse requires food,
attention and shelter. All the idle engine wants is
shelter — and work. This does not mean, however,
that an engine should be kept idle. The man who
makes his tractor pay the best is the one who man-
ages to keep it busy the greatest proportion of the
time.

The engine can be made an all the year around
servant, something that can be said of very few other
farm machines. Besides plowing, harrowing and seed-
ing, it hauls binders, hay, and grain wagons both to
the stack and to market, by almost a train load ;
threshes, grinds, and does all the other work a sta-
tionary engine can do, digs ditches, grades roads, rolls

282 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

meadows and grain fields, and hauls heavy loads of
any kind. If the ordinary wagon load is to be con-
veyed, the tractor w^ill do it. If some unusual work is
to be done, such as the moving of a building, the
tractor is ready with the power, and if, in the midst
of its various tasks, night overtakes it, the headlight
turns night into day ahead of it and guides it along.
Twenty-four-hour stunts are not by any means rare
in operating a tractor during the busy season.

The tractor, too, will take up its w^ork at full ca-
pacity after a season of idleness without any coaxing
or favoring while its muscles are being hardened. It
is never out of condition.

One acre in five under cultivation is required to
produce the food for the horses that supply the power
to work the rest, a food product valued at $1,250,000,-
000 per annum, or the total income of 2,000,000 fami-
lies. The tractor consumes nothing that could be
made into food for the human family in any more
direct way than through the tractor.

"There is no question," says a modern agricultural
writer, "but that the crops on many farms might be
doubled if a proper seed-bed were prepared and proper
cultivation given ; but on account of having a large
acreage the work is hurriedly done ; consequently only
about half a crop is realized. One of the advantages
of the small farm is that it is possible to do things in
the proper way and at the proper time for growing a
maximum crop." Profitable farming is now a power
and implement problem. Power combines the intensive
culture possible on the small farm with the economi-
cal management of the large one. In actual experi-
ment a gain of two hundred per cent, which was made
in the productiveness of a certain area, one hundred
per cent, was found to be due to better plowing and

The Gasoline Engine on the Farai 283

harrowing, fifty per cent, to better cultivation and the
rest to better seed.

Sixty per cent, of the power used in raising wheat
at the present time is expended in plowing ; the shal-
low plowing method now so generally in vogue. For
permanent culture deeper plowing is needed — and the
farm world is power-short now. Horses increased fifty
per cent, in numbers in the past ten years and one
hundred and forty-three per cent, in price. The supply
has not nearly kept step with the demand. Neither
are horses able to adapt themselves so fully as the
tractor to the wide range of utility represented be-
tween the slack and busy season on the farm. The
horse force must be kept on an average 9,000 hours
for every 1,000 hours of full service. Animals cannot
respond quickly enough to the increased demands of
the rush season unless they are kept in numbers which
at most seasons of the year are entirely excessive.
The tractor can be worked to its full capacity every
da}^ of the year if there is work to do, and wdthout re-
gard to excessive heat, flies or continuous hours.
Weed-killing, in particular, can be done by plowing at
a time when both the heat and the flies are a torture
to horses. Engine culture, too, makes it possible to
work land that because of its extreme refractoriness
could not otherwise be put into tillable shape. It also
makes it possible to avoid bad conditions by rushing
the work through w^hen weather and ground are the
most favorable.

368. The Small Farm Tractor. — Because there are
tractors now plowing and seeding a fair size farm
complete between sunrise and sunset we are apt to
forget its importance on the small farm; indeed, until
quite recently the manufacturers have so far over-
looked it that there was not a single small farm

284

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

_ O

•S'o

a
^ bo

tu-

tu bfl
•^ O

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 285

tractor excepting those home-made affairs constructed
out of old binder and mowing machine wheels. The
success of these and the demand for something of a
more finished and uniform design has forced the fac-
tories to take the matter up, and several of the late
designs are intended (as some of them succeed in
doing) to cater to the wants of the small farm. This
demand has been more difficult to meet than that for
the large farm, for the big tractor, working in large
areas where there is ample room to turn, can be rigged
with trailers, and its work may be of a more re-
stricted nature, and still be profitable.

The small farm tractor must be furnished at a cost
in keeping with the other equipments of the place.
It must contain within itself a place for attaching and
operating four or five plows, and it ought to be so
constructed that it will thoroughly pulverize, roll and
seed the strip it covers in one operation.

The seeding done, the tractor should be readily
stripped of its tilling attachments and converted into
a common power truck or general farm wagon, made
so nearly a part of the load it conveys as to derive a
part of Its tractive force from the weight it is carry-
ing. In a similar manner it should be converted into
a manure spreader by attaching its tractor trucks in
place of the customary front trucks of the regular
machine. Again, in the meadow, the same tractor
truck must be readily equipped with cutting bars, a
complete power mower in itself.

One of the features which the user of the farm
tractor should insist upon is greater efficiency as com-
pared with any other sort of farm power. The tractor
that does not do its work better as well as quicker has
failed in its mission, and so have its manufacturers
failed in theirs. The heavier weight, the smooth, broad

286 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

o
c

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm • 287

wheels which apply their own powder without the de-
stroying footprint of the horse, should make our cul-
tivated fields as smooth as a floor, and decrease the
strain on the machinery w^e use by forty per cent.
Instead of seed beds that in spots contain unbroken
clods and poorly w^orked land, every foot of the land
should be ground, and pulverized and crushed into
almost a powder, until the dust-bed of the most in-
tensive market gardener is obtained, thoroughly
aerated, completely oxygenized, but still without the
clodding effect of the horse's foot. Not only will the
work of the harvesters be greatly reduced by the
smooth, even ground over which they will travel, but
the cultivation, in the case of corn, can consist more
directly of soil culture without partaking of the
nature of miniature plows and harrows, completing
the work that in the seed bed was neglected. Experi-
ence has proven beyond question that a thoroughly
tilled field is given a fair coating of manure every
time its soil is brought into thorough contact w^ith the
oxygen of the air.

As a cultivator the ideal tractor will be readily
stripped of its broad wheels and a narrower set pro-
vided which will enable it to traverse the rows with a
set of crust breakers and soil aerators that will cover
several rows at a time. The rows in planting are
measured accurately and run absolutely straight. As
a cultivator the same width setting should be used,
then the minimum amount of guiding will be neces-
sary for w^orking one row or many at a time. With
the same set of wheels, the field spraying should be
done ; and with such facilities it will be done, and will
not be neglected.

369. Trailers Not Satisfactory. — For most of our
eastern farms trailers will not answer, for they require

288

The Gasoline Exgixe ox the Farm

too much space in which to turn. Some of these late
self-contained plows claim to turn in a space of from
eight to fifteen feet, while the old heavy tractors re-
quired something like fifty, not including the train of
implements which they dragged along behind.

■ ^1

^^^•^7— The Broad Wheels of the Gas Tractor Should Alake
Cultivated Fields as Smooth as Floors and Add Greatly to
Lite ot Alachinery.

370. Cost of Tractor Farming.— This is determined
so largely by individual conditions that anything more
than a general estimate is out of the question. Per-
haps of all farm operations plowing furnishes about
the most uniform conditions and may be compared
most accurately.

In a number of competitive tests with all kinds of

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 289

tractors the cost of plowing an acre has ranged from
18 cents up to $1.00, or perhaps a little more. The
smaller figures however do not include the wages of
the operator — just the fuel, lubricating, and other cash
expense ; while in the higher estimates are included
the wages of men, interest on investment, deprecia-
tion and all legitimate expense. With all of these
included, from 40 cents to 50 cents per acre seems at
the present time to be a fair cost estimate, figuring
the wages of the operator at $2.50 per day and board.
Here is a fairly representative estimate with all the
items included.

Cost of plowing for 10 hours.

i^ gal. gasoline $0.20

57 gal. distillate 2.85

2 gal. lubricating oil 40

Depreciation 1.20

Interest J2

Labor, engineman 2.70

Labor, plowman 1.50

Board of men 1.14

Total $10.71

Amount plowed 25.6 acres. Cost per acre $.418.

It will be noticed that this estimate is for an engine
requiring the attendance of two men, while many rigs
of equal capacity are now constructed so that only
one man is needed.

CHAPTER XVI.
WHAT IS BEST IN THE TRACTOR.

371. The Demand. — Few more severe strains are
ever put upon any form of machinery than that which
falls to the lot of the farm tractor. Not only must it
do a certain amount of work at the drawbar as its
stationary brother does, and at the same time propel
its own weight, but it must do this while traveling
over uneven ground and constantly shifting positions
in relation to its work. To stand this strain, all of the
w^orking parts must be made strong and heavy, and
an important percentage of the power developed has
to be diverted into the moving of its own weight.

372. The Tractive Power. — Weight is also neces-
sary in order to increase tractive power, or the grip
which the drive wheels get upon the ground. A light
weight engine, even though it could be constructed
strong enough and powerful enough, would fail as a
tractor because a reasonable weight is necessary to
insure firm contact and prevent the wheels from slip-
ping upon the ground the moment a load was hitched
to the drawbar.

373. General Construction. — The gasoline tractor
consists of a gasoline engine mounted upon wheels, of
which usually the two hind wheels are the drivers or
tractors and the front truck a part of the steering
gear. Usually the latter is equipped with two wheels
like a wagon, but there are special forms of tractors
now on the market where one broad wheel or roller

290

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 291

is substituted for the usual front wheels. Some
tractors have the drivers in front, and at least one
tractor recently brought out derives its tractive power
from all of the four wheels.

Usually the power is transmitted from the engine
to the drivers through a train of gearing of which a
bull gear is cast or bolted securely to the drive wheel.
This meshes with a pair of bull pinions, or one for
each tractor wheel. A compensating gear or differ-
ential and an intermediate gear connect the bull
pinion with a main pinion secured to the friction
clutch and revolve with it on the main shaft with the
fly wheel of the engine. This intermediate gearing is
necessary for two reasons. First, it reduces the
speed from the fly wheel rate of several hundred rev-
olutions per minute to a safe rate for engine operation
over rough ground; second, it permits the engine to
be located in the most convenient place, even though
not always in close proximity to the drive wheels.

374. Other Forms of Transmission. — \\h\\e gear
wheels are in almost universal use in steam tractors,
and are most common in gasoline tractors, some other
forms of transmission are occasionally seen. Friction
gearing is becoming more and more a favorite, for one
reason, because of the greater range it allows in the
matter of speed. In some home-made tractors, too,
belt power has been utilized, though it is hardly neces-
sary to add that most of these have little power beyond
that of self propulsion. Chain driven tractors, too, are
in occasional use for light forms of work, but the gear
wheel occupies a place with heavy tractors that noth-
ing else has yet usurped.

375. Steam and Gasoline Tractor Differences.— In
most respects the gasoline tractor is merely a steam
tractor without the boiler, and its mounting is more

292

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

simple. There are, however, certain radical differences,
of which one of the most important is the methods nec-
essary for reversing and for changing speed. Steam
engines can be made readily reversible, the forward
or backward movement being accomplished at will
through the engine itself. In the gasoline tractor this
has to be accomplished in the transmission gear, dif-
ferent sets of cogs being thrown into mesh for higJi
and low speed and reverse. All gasoline tractors are

Fig. 88.— The Power Plant Is the Heart of the Tractor. Many
Present Day Traction Engines Are of the Four Cylinder
Four Cycle Type.

limited to two or at most three speeds ahead and re-
verse. The starting of the gasoline tractor has also
been more of a problem than for the more elastic
steam, though it is one that has been worked out at
the factory rather than on the farm. A steam engine
may be started very slowdy and gradually speeded up.
The gasoline engine speed is practically continuous
almost from the first turn of the wheel ; hence, far
more depends upon the operator and the management
of the clutch in the easoline than in the steam tractor.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 293

Friction gear tractors have, of course, a greater elas-
ticity of speed, but they obtain it from the transmis-
sion and not from the engine.

376. The Best Engine.— Most of the best tractors
now on the market favor the four-cylinder four-cycle
type of engine with oiling system incorporated in the
crank case. The water jacket should be ample, and, if
the thermo-syphon system is used, the w^ater spaces
must be generous in size. The crank shaft and bear-

PiG 89.— Bevel Reversing Gear Train.

ings must be heavy, and, of course, the lubricating
system is of far greater importance than in the case of
engines designed for lighter work. The exhaust pipe
should be large and, if noise is not too much of an ob-
jection, the muffler should be dispensed with. This
adds materially to the power and subtracts from the
cost in fuel. The power of the engine should be care-
fully calculated to the work. There is always the pos-
sibility of too powerful an engine in a tractor just as
there is in a boat. Power enough, with a reasonable
reserve, is necessary. More than that means unneces-
sary torsional strain — and weakness.

294

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

377. The Clutch. — Since this regulates the applica-
tion of the power to the work, the life of a tractor
depends very largely upon the clutch and its opera-
tion. An irresistible power applied of a sudden to an
immovable object means catastrophe, and that, to a
limited degree, is what it means to turn the full powder
of a gasoline engine operating at top speed suddenly
loose against the transmission of a tractor which is
at rest. Either the gear wdieels must be stripped of

Fig. 90. — Reversing Gear of Gas Tractor.

their teeth or there will be a tremendous strain upon
both engine and tractor connections. It takes a good
deal of power to bring several tons of metal into
action, and it is the mission of the clutch when
properly handled to effect this work without undue
suddenness. ]\[ost clutches and the pinions they carry
to engage the transmission gear are not fixed upon
the main shaft of the engine wdiere they usually run
and onlv revolve with it when the toggles force the
clutch blocks out solidly against the inside of the
belt-wheel's outer rim.

378. The Transmission. — There is room for a good

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

295

deal of difference of opinion with regard to the
strength of transmission required, one operator get-
ting along nicely for years with gearing that another
would strip in a day. The farm engine, though, needs
to have much heavier gearing than the thresher en-
gine only. Good authority estimates that the relative
strain placed upon the threshing and the plowing
tractor is about as 30 to 70. While this estimate may

Fig. 91. — Typical Tractor Steering Gear, Front Truck Showing.

seem a little high, the main gear of a plow engine
should not be less than a 6 or 7 inch face, while some
thresher engines are only 4. This difference in re-
quired strength accounts at least in part for the num-
ber of thresher engines which have been ruined
through being harnessed to the plow. They may have
sufficient power, but they haven't the means of trans-
mitting it.

Tractor wheels, too, should be broad enoueh to in-

296 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

sure good grip. Usually they are provided with spurs
or lugs to prevent slipping, and there is quite a preva-
lent opinion that their power to hold is materially
greater if the lugs are sharp and new. This is not
always the case. Particularly on springy sod, the
sharp edges of the new lugs cut away the ground more
readily than the rounding corners do, and as long as
the ground is merely cut and thrown back the tractor
is powerless to move. Large wheels travel over soft
ground best because there is a greater bearing surface
and a small angle of contact at the front of the wheel.

379. Differential or Compensating Gear. — The use
and construction of the compensating gear are so sel-
dom understood that it seems wise to give the subject
a little special notice.

If the two drive wheels of an engine were fastened
rigidly upon a shaft and the entire shaft revolved, it
is plain that both wheels, if of the same size, would
not only turn over an equal number of times but they
w^ould both roll forward the same distance upon the
ground. This is exactly what is wanted so long as
the engine moves in a straight course over level
ground. If, instead of revolving the shaft, we ap-
plied power to each wheel by means of revolving
pinions of equal size, we would accomplish the same
result. Both wheels would travel ahead the same dis-
tance and at the same speed.

If we now wished to turn a corner we would find
it impossible, since in turning it is necessary for one
wheel to advance faster than the other and describe
a greater arc in the turning circle. We might provide
for turning by applying the power to only one wheel,
but that would reduce the tractive power of the engine
one-half. Or some means might be devised of throw-
ing the one wheel out of gear while turning by means

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 297

of a lever, but that would hardly be convenient, espe-
cially when we came to a field of which the surface
was so uneven that in effect the engine would be
obliged to make almost continuous little circles, first
with one wheel and then with the other. Some means
of relieving either wheel automatically on demand
without releasing it from its w^ork is necessary, and
that is exactly what the differential does.

380. How It Works. — Let "us suppose that three
pulleys, numbered respectively i, 2 and 3, are sus-
pended close together on a shaft on which they revolve
loosely and independent of each other. By so plac-
ing them that a spoke in i and 3 are in exact line and
say two inches in advance of the spoke in 2, and then
thrusting a two-inch rod or bar across between these
spokes, it is evident that if we turn 2 the wheels will
all revolve at the same speed. This will continue so
long as 2 revolves and the bar remains at right angles
to the pulleys.

Now if we should attempt to revolve No. i a little
slower than 2 was turning by retarding it the bar
would be swung around the spoke of No. 2 as a pivot,
and if we continue to retard No. i the bar will finally
be so far deflected from its first position that its ends
will slip from the spokes of both i and 3 entirely. By
thrusting a second bar through at this instant in the
same position the first bar originally occupied the
process would be repeated and would of course con-
tinue so long as we replaced each bar, as it slipped
away from the spokes, with a new one, providing we
still continued to retard the same pulley with the same
force. If the spokes were properly spaced in relation
to each other and w^e could slip bars in fast enough
to keep one at right angles constantly as well as at
all the angles between that and the point where it

298 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

slipped past the spokes, there would be no change in
the influence of one wheel upon another, even though
the one still continued to move at a slower rate.

Let us now substitute for the spokes and bars a pair
of bevel gear wheels, the smaller one revolving on one
spoke of pulley 2 for its axis, each tooth of the larger
wheel taking the place of a spoke and each one on the
smaller pinions answering for one end of the bar. As
each tooth slips out another is slipped in to take its
place mechanically, so that the action is continuous.
This principle is introduced not only into the traction
engine, but in other similar machinery one wheel of
which must occasionally turn faster than the other.
By this means one of the tractor wheels is free to
travel much slower than the other, while both are still
doing equal tractor work.

381. Power of the Gasoline Tractor. — In estimat-
ing the horse-power recjuired in a gasoline tractor we
must remember that the power of a horse is measured
by his effective pull, which is made while he is in
motion. No tractor can propel itself about and at the
same time do the same work at the belt that it could
do as a stationary engine. Some of its power is lost
in transmission ; much of it, in self-propulsion ; hence
it is unreasonable to expect a 25 H. P. engine to draw
as much load mounted as a tractor as twenty-five
horses w^ould draw. The brake test rating measures
power of a stationary engine only, and does not repre-
sent effective draw-bar pull.

Formerly some gasoline engines, rated the same as
steam engines, when mounted as tractors gave disap-
pointing results because a tractor when pulling its full
load is being almost constantly overloaded for an in-
stant by the little obstacles which even the smoothest
ground presents. When one of these is struck the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 299

steam engine's more elastic power will carry it over,
and then it will recover while the load eases down.
The gasoline tractor hasn't the reserve ; it has to stop.
Gasoline tractors, too, when used for threshing pur-
poses are being continually "tested," "crowded" and
"tried out" by hostile or curious threshing crews,

-^ ^JiS-'^W -^ ^

Fig. 92. — Bevel Differential and Spur Driving Gears of I. H. C.

Tractor.

some of whom would like nothing better than to "stall
the new-fangled engine down." For this and various
reasons it is wise to be certain that the engine pur-
chased is large enough for the work.

382. Power Needed in Plowing. — The plow test is
the hardest necessary test the tractor ever has, and,
with plowing requirements provided for, the operator
has no occasion to be afraid under any reasonable con-

300 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

ditions. Tests have shown that a pull of from 500 to
900 pounds is required to draw a plow 4 inches deep
through gumbo soil. On ordinary farm fields one
large engine user reports that with a 35 H. P. engine
he can easily handle fourteen 14-inch plows cutting 8
to 10 inches deep and running at a speed of three
miles per hour. For moderate sized farms 20 to 25
H. P. tractors can easily operate from 4 to 6 plows,
while even more has been accomplished. Tractors of
15 and even 12 H. P. have been reported as doing
satisfactory work on moderate sized farms, while in
a few instances home-made tractors of special design
have been made to plow wdth even less power. It is
doubtful, however, if less than a 12 horse tractor of
the trailer type can be regarded as a practical plow-
ing engine for even one or two plows under most
conditions, while a 20 to 25 horse will undoubtedly
give far better satisfaction and be found most eco-
nomical.

Specially designed plowing engines with the plows
a part of the engine are illustrated elsewhere, and it is
possible that further development along these lines
will bring out a gasoline plow of much lighter power,
one that will be wholly available for small farm plow-
ing. Until quite recently it was believed that some-
thing like a 7 H. P. engine w^as required for the con-
struction of a self-moving tractor. Home-made af-
fairs constructed out of binder wheels, mowing ma-
chine wheels and other remnants of the junk pile
proved the fallacy of this belief, and many ingenious
farmers have at small cost rigged as small as 2 and 3
H. P. engines up as available tractors. Now one en-
gine house manufactures regularly working tractors
of as little as 6 H. P., while self-moving engines of
1V2 H. P. are now on the market.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 301

383. Home-made Tractors. — Perhaps the reluc-
tance of the manufacturers in taking up the problem of
farm tractors has had as much to do as anything with
the number of home-made tractors which have been
constructed and put into practical use by farmers and
their boys. Some of them have been made in the
simplest manner and have cost very little that could
not be supplied from the old machinery on the farm.
More elaborate designs have also been attempted, in
some instances disastrously expensive, the cost finally
reaching more than the price of a regular market
tractor and the results much less. Until the manu-
facturers awoke to some idea of the opportunity they
were facing, these home experiments seemed about
the only way the requirements of the farm could be
served. Now that special study is being given the
subject by practical machine men it is usually much
cheaper in the end to purchase a tractor than to con-
struct one. The home-made tractor is an entire prac-
ticability, however, and for those who are unable to
afford a factory-made one, and who are willing to put
up with less convenience in order to get something
that will do the work, it is often worth while trying,
and for such people several home-made tractors are
illustrated in this volume. Most of them are belt
transmission, a simpler and cheaper form and a far
less durable one than gearing. Probably most of the
performances reported represent work done when the
tractor was first constructed. Some of them have,
however, been made at a cost a little in excess of $10
money outlay and were undoubtedly well worth what
they cost, even though of short life.

For the lighter sort of tractors^ mowing machine
wheels are favorites as drive wheels, but for heavier
work binder wheels are essential. Some of these

302 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

have been made to do quite heavy work, and under
favorable conditions have even been harnessed to the
plow. Discarded steam tractor wheels have also been
utilized and engines of lo, 20 and even as much as 40
horse-power tractors have been made at home which
w^ere capable of any sort of farm work at all likely to
be put upon them, and including threshing, and pull-
ing the rig from barn to barn over hilly roads, ensilage
cutting, corn husking, plowing, moving buildings and
tearing out hedge fence. While such ambitious efforts
have been frequently successful, it is well to remem-
ber that the first attempt of an amateur in tractor-
building is at best only an experiment, and it is well
not to undertake it upon a. scale that will sink too
much time and money in the venture if it proves dis-
appointing, until some experience is obtained by
smaller ventures.

CHAPTER XVII.
OPERATING THE TRACTOR.

384. Preparing for the First Start. — The man who
is at all self-conscious or easily confused by the com-

FiG. 93. — Simple Home Made Tractor and Circular Saw Stand.

ments of other people had better restrict his audience
to one or two efficient helpers, and it might be well
enough to give these helpers plenty of their own work
to do. A good many men, in control of their first
tractor, have landed it in the ditch at the start, per-
haps at the same time trying to check it with a

303

304

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

strenuous **whoa." An experience of this kind is
rather stimulating to a crowd of idle spectators; also,
it is somewhat confusing to the man who has made
the blunder. Any man needs all of his attention cen-
tered upon his work when starting his first tractor,
without having any distraction by the comments of
a crowd.

By all means if possible make the first start at some

Fig. 94-— a Recent Factory Output With Enclosed Power Plant
and Mechanism.

place where there is plenty of room. At any rate,
avoid the street or any place where a short mis-
directed run may endanger the operator, or the en-
gine, or the lives of other people. A level field with
a firm, hard sod is the ideal place.

Before attempting to start, try the spark and see
that the current is all right ; also make sure that there
is gasoline in the tank and that it is coming over
properly. No steam engineer would think of starting

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 305

without looking to see if he had plenty of water, fire
and steam. Oil the engine as though it were a sta-
tionary affair and, after making sure that the clutch
is disengaged, set the fly wheel in motion. While it
runs, go over the transmission and tractor part and
see that everything is in order and with a good supply
of lubrication. Remember that a more liberal amount
is needed when first starting a new tractor than after
the bearings have taken on their glaze. Notice while
oiling that there are no cinders or bits of metal in
the oil holes or at any place where they will be likely
to get into a bearing. Look the position of the levers
over and be certain to know the use of each. Try the
steering wheel enough to make sure that it will turn
freely and that the front wheels of the tractor are not
half blocked by an obstruction that will deflect them
from a straight course. The steering gear is much
harder to operate when the tractor is at rest than
when it is in motion.

Examine the bearings of the engine to see that
nothing is heating and that it is working properly as
an engine. You will have no time to consider the
engine itself when first beginning to operate the
tractor.

385. Starting. — If there is a moderately extended
clear course straight ahead, as there should be, with
the steering wheel bring the front truck of the tractor
into place, at the same time noticing whether the
steering chains are too loose or too tight. If the
former, the tractor will be hard to guide because it
will not respond quickly enough ; if the latter, there
w411 be excessive friction and strain.

Lock the steering gear in place for a straight course
ahead (most tractors have provision for this), and so
be rid of the details of guiding the engine at the in-

3o6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

stant of starting. Engage the clutch carefully, not
suddenly enough to set the transmission into action
with a jerk, but without letting the rim of the fly
wheel revolve unduly long against the clutch arms
after beginning to make contact. It takes some little
skill to do this always at the happy medium, but
practice will bring the skill. The tractor should be
first started on slow speed.

386. Learning to Guide the Tractor. — As soon as
the tractor is fairly started unlock the steering wheel
and hold it to a straight course with the hand. A
skilled engineer can tell much from the "feel" or vi-
bration thus conveyed to him. After becoming some-
what accustomed to this quivering sensation under
normal conditions and well before there is any neces-
sity for forced action, begin to experiment a little
with the steering wheel by turning it slightly and
then bringing the engine back to a straight course
again. If the chains are properly adjusted the wheel
need not be turned far in order to change the direc-
tion of travel quite a little. Continue this practice
first in one direction and then in the other for some
time, but do not attempt any short turns. Aim to
acquire the habit of bringing the tractor about easily
and smoothly rather than by means of abrupt and
sudden changes.

Before reaching the end of the field, and with
plenty of room ahead, begin to bring the engine
around for the return trip, first in a wide circle, then
narrowing down to a shorter turn after getting fa-
miliar with what a certain amount of changing the
steering wheel will do. Remember always that neither
the new engine nor the novice in operating should be
given a severe test at the start. After a little practice
at slow speed the higher speed may be undertaken,

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 307

and after that the reverse. The first run should not
be a lengthy one without a stop and examination for
hot boxes, nor should any attempt be made to run
near deep ditches, bridges, or to turn in narrow places
until considerable self-confidence seems justified by
previous control. In stopping, the novice should al-
ways try to select a place in which there is reasonable
space for starting again. To find out in advance
just how short a turn may be made with any engine,
cramp the wheels around, while it is stationary, as
far as would be advisable when running, and draw a
line directly under the front axle, extending it some
distance from the engine. Next draw a line under the
rear axle and continue it until it intersects the first
line. This point of intersection will be the center of
the circle within which the engine can turn, and to
find the exact amount of room needed double the dis-
tance from this point to the further side of the truck.

Perhaps the most important rule of all in tractor
guiding is to run slow enough always to keep the
tractor under perfect control and have plent}^ of time
to use the steering wheel. If the place is specially
difficult or the turn unusually short this is particularly
important. By always following this rule and watch-
ing the front axle of the engine closely as a guide,
the problem of steering will soon become almost
wholly automatic and need give one but little con-
cern under ordinary circumstances.

387. Mud-hole Philosophy. — So long as there are
mud-holes tractors will get into them occasionally,
and it is probable that there will be mud-holes as long-
as tractors last. The first thing to do is to keep out
of them ; the next, not to get in deeper. It is a great
mistake to turn on all the power available, and pos-
sibly the high speed into the bargain in a case of this

3o8 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

kind. The momentum a stuck engine will acquire is
very little, and it is always safe to remember that
the tractor which is moving slowly, so long as it is
really moving, stands a much better chance of climb-
ing out than if an attempt is made to hurry it. The
tractor can pull ahead or back only so much as the
ground into which it thrusts its wheel lugs holds for
it to pull against, and the ground is far more likely
to hold if the strain is thrown upon it very gradually,
so that it has a chance to compress than if it is hewed
and torn violently by rapidly revolving lugs. The
moment the wheels begin to slip and spin around shut
off the power, as a slipping drive wheel will dig a
deep hole very rapidly.

Often the tractor will climb out of itself if it can
only be given something that will not allow it to slip.
Pieces of fence rail, straw, plank, anything in fact
into which it can sink its lugs and not have them
break out again, will help. If that fails, a long rope
hitched to the main shaft and then carried ahead
and hitched to a tree may be sufficient ; then start the
engine and wind up the rope on the shaft. If a chain
is handy drop it into the mud hole ahead of the
tractor wheels ; then start the engine. So long as the
wheels can be turned the engine is ready to pull itself
out if something can be put under them that will hold
and not permit them to slip. If the engine cannot
turn its wheels, probably the only way out of it is to
dig the tractor out.

388. Sandy Places. — Always aim to run the engine
as straight and as steady as possible in crossing
patches of sand, so as not to break the grip of the lugs
loose by disturbing its surface. The weight of the
engine helps to pack it down ; on a straight, steady
pull it may hold, but to screw and twist the wheels

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 309

across it is only to loosen up the surface without doing
any good. Often a bale of hay or straw will save all
trouble if scattered ahead.

389. Bridges and Other Obstacles. — The farm
tractor is not often called upon to cross a bridge un-
less in use hauling a heavy load to market, but oc-
casionally a bad bridge is encountered. A strange
bridge should always be examined before attempting
to cross and, if it shows much wear or rotten plank
or timbers, should be avoided if possible. If it must
be crossed, a couple of long planks three inches thick
at the center and tapering to two at each end may
be laid across to run the tractor wheels on and so
distribute the load over more of the bridge at once.
For a longer bridge use shorter planks at each end
of the long ones. Always carry a supply of good plank
along when traveling on the road with a tractor unless
familiar with the condition of all of its bridges. A
long rope should also be at hand so that the load
drawn behind, if any, can be hitched back far enough
to be clear of the bridge until the tractor has crossed
it. Run very slow across bridges and avoid sudden
jerks or anything that tends to set up vibration.

Hill climbing with a gasoline tractor, unlike that
needed when using steam, requires no special precau-
tions other than to climb slowly and without any at-
tempts at gaining an advantage by the use of sudden
spurts. No advantage will be gained, and every jerk-
ing strain should always be avoided.

Occasionally some seemingly good authority will
recommend the surmounting of small obstacles which
are too much for the engine at ordinary speed by
throwing out the clutch until the engine is running at
full speed and then throwing it in again suddenly. If
one is willing to risk stripping the cogs from a gear

310 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

wheel and the certainty of a very severe strain upon
every part of both the engine and the tractor, this
plan may be adopted, but not otherwise. Under all
conditions it is the aim of the really skillful engineer
to handle his tractor as quietly as possible, to avoid
all useless strains and sudden jerks, and to make
every move count in the right direction. There is no
bluster or swagger about the man who is fully master
of his job.

390. Speed Allowable. — When running on good
roads the gasoline tractor may be put upon the high
speed without any serious risk, providing the operator
has skill enough to guide it. As this is not over five
or six miles an hour with most engines, a little prac-
tice ought to give him this. Obstacles, lack of skill
in the engineer, and increased vibration are about the
only things that make it necessary to keep the speed
of the engine down when traveling over fair roads.
In plowing again the speed is determined more by the
plow than by the engine. Usually 2^ to 3 miles per
hour is considered about right.

391. Hauling with Tractor. — Approximately the
load a tractor of known power will draw with wagons
as trailers may be figured from the fact that with i^-
inch tires a weight of one ton shows a resistance of
121 pounds on broken stone roads and of 466 pounds
on freshly plowed land. With 6-inch tires the pro-
portion is 98 to 323. A common earth road gives a
resistance of 100 pounds per ton to the tractor power
with an addition of 20 pounds extra for each per cent,
of grade.

392. The Real Tractor Danger. — The man who can
run any kind of a gasoline engine will generally find
that any difficulty he may have with a tractor is a
matter of his own fault. He mav be careless and

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 311

attempt to run his engine without proper provisions
for controlHng it. With such a man a few tons of
metal in motion may become a pubHc menace ; so,
for that matter, wouhl the same man render a spirited
horse dangerous. He may be prone to take the advice
of others and so fall a victim of every one who has a
curiosity to see how some pet theory of his own
would work out — at somebody else's expense. He
may like to show off and may believe that starting
things with a lively bang and bringing them up with
a whirl looks fearless and skillful.

The really skillful engineer sees to it first of all that
everything about his engine is in working order, and
he tries to avoid all risks and strains which might in-
cline to put it out of that condition. He shows his
skill by keeping as far away from trouble as he can,
by starting up quietly, without any jerks and strains,
by doing everything with as little fuss and swagger
as he may. If people offer him advice he receives it
for what he thinks it is worth, studies it over in his
own mind, as well as the source from which it came ;
then, if he thinks it good, perhaps makes cautious use
of it at some future time — .ifter he has given it due
consideration.

393. General Care of a Tractor. — All that applies
to the care of an engine might be repeated in connec-
tion with the tractor, and" to this may be added such
shelter and protection as any reasonable man would
expect to give any sort of transmission machinery
which operated between his investment and the profits
he expected from it. Some tractors are weatherproof
— for a time. The writer knows of none that are in-
jured by reasonable protection when idle or that are
improved by exposure to every passing storm.

312 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

CHAPTER XVIII.
POWER TRANSMISSION.

394. An Important Problem. — The best engine in
the world is of no value on the farm or anywhere else
if the power it develops cannot be transmitted to
some other machine. Every one knows this, but not
every one realizes what a difference there may be in
the manner of transmission or how easily the power
that is developed in the engine may be thrown away
while conducting it to the w^ork.

395. Methods in Use. — Shafts, belts, and gear
wheels are the means most commonly used for trans-
mitting power from its source to the place where it
can be converted into work. Nearly all the rarer
methods are merely modifications of some of these.
For instance, the belt drive may be accomplished by
a rope or by chain and sprocket wheels as well as by
means of the usual form of belt and pulley ; gear
wheels may include friction as well as tooth gearing ;
shafts may refer to revolving rods or to various forms
of levers.

396. Shafting. — Usually when we speak of shafting
it refers to rods which revolve and carry pulleys or
gear wheels somewhere along their length. They are
usually of metal and the better the material the less
the shaft will cost in power. Cheap shafting is one of
the most serious means of wasting power in the trans-
mission.

397. Why Poor Shafting Does Not Pay. — Shaft-

313

314

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

ing should transmit to the pulleys or wheels that it
carries whatever working energy it receives, less that
amount consumed by friction at its own bearings.
Where a steel shaft of the best quality requires i
H. P. of an engine to revolve it a given number of
times per minute a cheap iron shaft of equal strength
would Aveigh nine times as much and require some-
thing like a 28 H. P. engine to operate it at the same
rate. As the power consumed by friction is a con-

FiG. 96. — Countershaft and Hangers Ready for Belts.

stant expense while running, it will be seen that cheap
shafting is the most expensive in the world.

Shafting should be of the very best material in
order to reduce friction by reducing the size. It
should be absolutely straight because it requires a
good deal of power to spring even a two-inch line-
shaft into line once during each of its 200 or 300
revolutions per minute. All of this power comes out
of the engine, but the strain is divided between the
engine, the shaft bearings, and the belt. A shaft
should be somewhat elastic or it will quickly crystal-
lize and break. If possible the driven pulley should
be toward its center and between two bearings. By

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 315

all means, if it can be done, avoid applying the power
on one end and taking work off at the other. When
this must be done on a long line the shaft should be
composed of lengths decreasing in diameter, and the
power should be applied at the heavy end. A lighter
shaft can be used if the strain is applied between bear-
ings instead of at the end, and friction thus avoided.

398. General Shaft Wisdom. — If possible, heavy
shafts should have their bearings rest upon posts with
a ground connection, as there is always more or less
spring in any ordinary floor. Avoid shifting weights
on the floor above long shafting that is hung from
the ceiling as the floor is constantly springing them
out of line.

Line shafting hangers should not be over 8 feet
apart, and if the shaft is light they must be closer.
Even the smallest engine needs not less than a i 3/16
shaft. Approximately, the horse-power a good shaft
ought to stand may be found by multiplying the cube
of its diameter by the number of revolutions per min-
ute and dividing the result by 82 for steel and no
for iron. The amount of power that can be trans-
mitted by two shafts of similar quality varies directly
with the speed of revolution and w^th the cubes of
their diameters.

The twisting strain upon a shaft is greatest near
the main drive and, aside from friction, is zero at the
bearings ; hence, the nearer the main drive is to the
bearings the more nearly will this strain be counter-
acted.

A disregard of any of these principles not only
wastes power but delivers an unsteady, jerky energy
to the machine driven, and affects both its life and
efficiency. In many instances the shifting of the main
drive from the end of a shaft to a point between two

3i6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

bearings has been known to overcome trouble that
had previously prevented the operation of a machine.

399. Balancing Pulleys. — If the shaft is a long or
a light one the question of balancing weights and
strains along its length may become specially im-
portant. The heavier driven machines should take
their power from the shaft at points not far from
where it is applied, and two heavy machines should
be set on opposite sides of the drive pulley. This is
true to some extent whether both machines are to be
run at the same time or not, since the pulleys driving
them will be heavy and this arrangement will better
distribute the weight. A heavy belt pull or even a
great pulley weight at the end or anywhere along the
line that is not properly supported by the bearings
may throw the whole shaft out of line.

400. Speed of Shafts. — The relative speed of the
driven and the driving pulleys of course determines
that of the shaft, as one of the uses of the latter is
to temper the speed to the machine. Where only one
machine is driven from the shaft the problem is easy,
providing the speed of the engine and that required by
the machine are known. (See rule elsewhere.) If
several machines of different speed are to be run by
the same shaft it is sometimes necessary to take an
average between the highest and lowest speed re-
quired and then make up the additional difference by
varying the size of the pulleys. This avoids ex-
tremely small or extremely large pulleys.

401. Size of Pulleys. — To determine the size of
pulley needed on shaft when there are given the speed
and diameter of the engine pulley and speed of shaft,
multiply engine pulley speed by its diameter and di-
vide by the speed of the shaft.

402. Pulleys. — Pulleys are made of cast iron, steel,

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 317

wood and paper; and, of the four, iron is in more
common use than all of the others united. It is more
compact and neater than wood, and cheaper than
steel, although a wooden pulley can be safely speeded
up considerably higher than can an iron one of sim-
ilar size and design. Wooden pulleys have the ad-
vantage, too, of holding the belt better. They are

Fig. 97. — Construction of Split Wood Pulley.

usually made, in the larger sizes, in the split form ;
that is, they can be divided into halves, secured upon
a shaft without disturbing other wheels, and then
bolted together. Iron pulleys may also be obtained in
the same form and, if large, are safer than when cast
solid, on account of possible defects in the latter
through the contraction of the iron.

403. Straight and Crown Face. — Iron pulleys are
usually made crowning, that is, slightly oval, across the

3i8

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

face, where there is no belt-shifting to do, as a belt will
always hunt the high place in the pulley, if there is
one,- to run on, and by giving it a high place in the
center of the pulley it can easily be kept there. Some
machinists object to the crowning face because it
throws the entire load upon the center of the belt
instead of distributing it, but nearly always where a

Fig. 98. — Method of Covering or Lagging Pulley,

pulley is ordered one with a crowning face will be
sent unless the straight is specified. Where belt-
shifting is necessary the pulley must be straight-
faced.

404. Use of Pulleys. — Pulleys are used to convey
power, to change speed, and to alter direction or form
of motion. They are usually used in connection with
a belt, but also in friction transmission and occasion-
ally with crank-pins and connecting rods. More than
90 per cent, of power transmission, it is estimated,

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 319

is effected in America by means of the pulley and belt.

405. Covering Iron Pulleys. — Frequently an iron
pulley does not hold the belt well and a great deal
of power is lost in slippage. To overcome this pul-
leys are often faced with leather. One way of doing
this is to clean the pulley thoroughly, coat with coach
varnish, then a layer of soft paper and a second coat
of varnish. Put on the leather, cut to proper size and
length, and thoroughly clean; then lace loosely, as in
Fig. 98 ; slip into place, and tighten lacing.

Another wa}^ roughen face of pulley with cape
chisel. Lace the proper length and width of cotton
belting loosely and soak well in pail of paste made of
cold water and flour. Slip this upon pulley and draw
lacing tightly as possible. Put on more layers pre-
pared in the same way, taking care to break joints each
time. Then drive in Buffalo belt fasteners here and
there to clinch against pulley. As the covering dries
it will shrink and hug the pulley nicely.

In both cases, particularly the latter, it must not
be forgotten that the diameter of the pulley has been
materially increased and the speed must be regulated
accordingly.

At least 25% may sometimes be added to the power
transmitted by covering an iron pulley, as iron has a
tendency to polish quickly and refuse to hold the belt.
Cement and glue will not hold a leather covering on
iron.

406. How Secured on Shaft. — Pulleys are secured
to the shaft either by key seat or set screw. If the
former, the key should be the exact width of the key-
way and the latter, cut in both the shaft and the
pulley, must match accurately; otherwise the key can-
not be driven tight, the pulley will be forced away
from the center and will soon work loose. If secured

320 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

by a set screw the latter should be kept tight enough
to avoid slipping as, after a set screw has been allowed
to slip a few times and thread the shaft, it will never
hold as well.

407. The Dangerous Set Screw. — Perhaps no
simple thing about machinery is more dangerous than
a projecting set-screw head or similar projection on a
revolving shaft. When in rapid motion it cannot be
seen, and some one, while oiling a bearing, is almost
certain to have the clothing caught and be drawn upon
the shaft or at least have a finger or a hand destroyed
by it. Always, if it can possibly be done, have every
set screw deeply recessed and use a socket wrench.
Test them frequently until they become thoroughly
fixed, as the expansion of heat often loosens them ;
then, once they are thoroughly settled in their place,
avoid disturbing them if possible.

408. Other Pulley Dangers. — Pulleys out of bal-
ance on the shaft run with a wobble that is ruinous to
belts and machinery, and destructive of power. This
may occur if the pulley does not fit the shaft or if
the key does not fit the keyway ; or the pulley may
have been improperly cast or bored. A wabbling pul-
ley should be fixed or else replaced ; it costs too much
to retain it.

Pulleys having a thick or thin edge at one side
while true at the other may seem to stand up well
when at rest, but run decidedly wrong wdien set in
motion.

Small, high speed pulleys full of dust are dangerous ;
so are pulleys used as convenient shelves while remov-
ing nuts from some near-by machine. Never permit
anything to be laid on any part of a pulley. If left
there it may be hurled against someone with almost
the force of a bullet when the pulley starts.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 321

409. Tight and Loose Pulleys. — The tight and
loose pulley consists of two pulleys, side by side, one
of which revolves with the shaft and the other re-
volves upon it. By shifting a belt from one to the
other the shaft and its machinery may be started and
stopped at pleasure without disturbing the operation
of the engine or of any other machine belted to the
same shaft. It is a necessity in cases where one ma-

FiG. 99. — Countershaft Assembly With Tight, Loose and Stepped

Pulleys.

chine of several, belted to a line shaft, is frequently
to be thrown in and out of motion.

410. Its Love for Trouble. — The loose pulley is
generally thought a necessary nuisance, but much of
the trouble comes from carelessness and neglect. The
hubs should have an oil reservoir of some sort with a
tight cover, as fully half of the oil used on most loose
pulleys is wasted. Then the pulley should be started
in right when new. First, it should be removed from
the shaft and cleaned out thoroughly; then oiled; then
returned to shaft and revolved on shaft under belt for
a half hour. Remove, wipe off black coating of oil,
dirt and iron particles ; then, after it is clean, oil
and replace, and run again. Repeat this until pulley

Z22. The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

is absolutely clean; then it will take on a smooth
polish or glaze. If properly oiled it will then run
smooth and true for years ; otherwise it will wear off
at the edges in the shape of an hour glass, and speed-
ily develop a wobble that will render all the other
machinery silent by comparison. A good many of the
loose pulley's troubles are due to the fact that it is
not considered of enough importance to merit atten-
tion until it has developed the ability to out-clatter
everything else in the place.

411. Cone Pulleys; Their Use.— Cone or stepped
pulleys are sometimes used on farm machinery for
the purpose of changing the speed of a shaft by
shifting a belt from one section to another, but are
in more common use on lathes and similar machinery
of the shop. Usually connection is made between the
two pullcA^s by means of a belt, though friction pul-
leys are frequently used in this way. The same prin-
ciple is made use of with spur gear wheels in chang-
ing the speed of traction engines and automobiles.

412. Home Made Pulleys.— Sometimes one is
tempted to utilize a rainy day and a few pieces of
plank in making a wooden pulley, and so save the
outlay of several dollars. Occasionally this is entirely
successful, but it should not be undertaken unless one
has facilities for turning off the face of the pulley
absolutely true and for centering it accurately when
boring it out. A good many home made pulleys
are now in daily use and their owners point them out
with pride as doing their work all right at only a
fraction of the cost of a "boughten" pulley. The fact
is, they cost less to obtain in the first place, but they
are most of them wasting their price many times every
season in strained shafting, strained belts, worn bear-
ings and lost power. Not one person in a hundred

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 323

can construct and bore out a wooden pulley that will
be absolutely true in face, bore and balance, unless he
has better facilities for that kind of work than are
available on the average farm.

413. Bearings. — The ideal bearing is a perfectly
round hole surrounding an absolutely round shaft, and
with just enough room between the two for a film
of the proper lubricant. If this could be secured in
the first place it is evident that it could not be re-
tained because the pull upon any machinery doing
work is in some one direction more than another, and
the hole could not long remain round. Bearings for
light, high speed machinery are generally made of
phosphor-bronze or some such high-test, unwearable
metal, but for heavier and slower running machines,
babbitt is usually preferred, as it does not cut the
journals and it is easily replaced when worn. Bear-
ings of the same material as the shaft are not found
suitable. They develop more friction and are more
likely to abrade than are two metals of different hard-
ness.

414. Roller Bearings. — Roller bearings have been
proved by experiment to require less than half the
power to overcome their friction that is required for
ordinary babbitt bearings. While their use is being
extended somewhat it is still of only limited applica-
tion because they are rather costly and difficult to
keep in order, on account of their reluctance to re-
main parallel. In theory their contact with the shaft
is a line, but in practice it is a narrow parallelogram,
a much larger surface than that presented in ball
bearings. They have the advantage of a much longer
bearing and can therefore carry a heavier load and
carry it steadier.

415. Ball Bearings. — Ball bearings consist of a

324 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

number of hardened steel balls confined in grooved
raceways (Fig. 102) and presenting but a small part
of their surface to the journal. As formerly employed
they were quite small, and sometimes gave trouble by
jamming so as not to revolve freely, then the sides
soon wore flat. Improved methods now in use pro-
duce them very accurately formed, and they are some-
times made as large as 4 inches in diameter and ca-
pable of sustaining a load of 50 tons. Theoretically,
their bearing surface is a point only, but in practice
it is a small circle. They are calipered and accurately
sorted as to size so that all fit accurately into the
same groove. Those to be used for shafting are fitted
with an adapter to permit easy assembling.

When cheap bearings are used one of a set of balls
may break and the sharp, edges are likely to do seri-
ous mischief to the rest of the set. Of late their use
has been greatly extended, because of improvements in
design, and they are in quite common use in various
machines which the gasoline engine is now operating
on the farm, as well as in line shafting applications.

416. What Babbitt Metal Is. — Babbitt metal,
named after its inventor, the late Isaac Babbitt, is
somewhat variable in composition but is made up
principally of block tin and antimony. In the better
grades a little copper is added, while that of an in-
ferior quality contains a little zinc. This causes the
boxes to heat more or less, and is not so durable as the
true babbitt. About 5 parts tin to 5 of antimony and
I of copper is the usual proportion. The result is a
soft white metal that is easily fused, and that has
the peculiar property of generating little friction.

417. Preparing Boxes for Babbitting. — All the old
babbitt, dirt and grease must be removed and the box
washed out with gasoline. The box must be thor-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

325

oughly dry or steam will form and cause trouble.
Bolt the box into position so there will be no danger
of throwing it out of alignment after the babbitting

Fig. 100. — Solid Box Bearing or Pillow Block.

is done. If the box is solid, that is, not cast in two
pieces bolted together, wrap a paper smoothly around
the shaft and gum the lapped edges fast. Otherwise,

Fig. ioi. — Sells Roller Bearing Shaft Box Fits Standard
Hangers.

the cooling metal will shrink so tightly about the
shaft as to hold it fast and make it necessary to break
the box or subject shaft and all to the babbitt furnace.
The ends of the paper should project a little beyond

326

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the box. Block up the shaft so that it is properly
aligned and central in the box, then close up the ends
with stiff putty or clay. Vent holes must be left at
the top for the escape of air and for pouring the hot
metal into the box. The oil hole is sometimes used
for this purpose ; if not, insert a wooden plug through

RETAINER

Fig.

102. — Sectional View of New Departure Bal
Hanger Box.

Bearini? Shaft

the oil hole in the casting with the end resting on
the shaft, and so save the bother of drilling it out
afterwards. A wall of putty or clay should be made
around each vent-hole to keep it clear of flowing
metal.

418. Preparing the Babbitt. — A plumber's furnace
is convenient for melting babbitt, as it is portable and

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 327

the metal needs to be poured hot. Some boxes re-
quire three or four pounds of metal, and the ladle
must be large enough to hold the full amount for one
pouring as it will not unite with fresh metal when
once set. Heat the babbitt until it will brown or
char wood. Test the temperature by inserting a pine
stick occasionally.

419. Casting the Bearing.— When the metal is hot
enough pour it as fast as it will run through the hole
and without any breaks until it begins to come up
through the air holes. Do not stop if some is spilled.
It can^ easily be gathered up when cold. Keep the hot
metal running in a full stream into the box and give
attention to nothing else.

After it is filled and cool remove from the shaft,
clean off the clay or putty, ream out ihe oil hole with
the sharp end of a file, trim off the edges and, start-
ing at the oil hole, cut a groove slanting down and
across each side. These are for the oil to lie in against
the shaft, and must not be forgotten.

420. Babbitting a Split Box.— The box is prepared
in the same way excepting that pieces of cardboard
or sheet-iron must be placed between the top and
bottom half of the casting. These should be wide
enough to rest tightly against the shaft and holes
should be cut through them corresponding with the
bolt holes through which the two parts of the box are
bolted together. Enough of these shims or liners
should be^ used to allow for taking up the box after
the bearings have become somewhat worn. Notches
should be cut in the ends of these liners next the shaft
to allow the metal to run down into the lower half of
the box. Rapid pouring is even more essential in
babbitting a two part box than in a solid one.

When the metal is cold loosen the bolts a little and

328 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

with a sharp cold chisel break the two halves apart;
then remove the top half and with a file trim off the
edges, cut off the pouring gates with the cold chisel,
file smoothly and with a round nosed cold chisel cut
the oil grooves. The job is now complete and, after
removing the paper from the shaft and smoothing any
roughness noticed about it with emery cloth, the box
and shaft should be thoroughly oiled and returned to
place.

In bolting a split box together use the shims to
build up the shoulders enough, so that the strain of
the bolts when drawn down will come upon the
shoulders and not upon the shaft. This is of vital im-
portance; otherwise, the shaft will either heat or re-
fuse to turn at all. It is also important to put the
same thickness of shims at both sides, so that the
stress on the bearing be alike all around. As the
babbitt wears the shims may be reduced either by
removing part or by using thinner ones, but they
should always be reduced on both sides of the shaft
alike. The bearings should hold the shaft firmly, but
must not bind it.

Instead of casting the top of the box solid some pre-
fer to fasten a strip of leather in the top around the
oil hole before pouring and then fill this with wool
as an oil holder, from any part of which the spiral oil
grooves may be cut.

Do not attempt to use too small a melting pot, as
it is practically impossible to use up all of the metal
melted without some of it becoming too cold to run
well. More than is needed for the job should be
melted, the amount depending a little upon how con-
venient the furnace may be placed in relation to the
job. On the other hand, too large a melting pot is
heavy and inconvenient to handle. For the ordinary

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 329

run of farm work one holding five pounds would prob-
ably be about right.

Do not attempt to make a catch-up and hurry-up
job of babbitting. The bearings are of enough im-
portance to merit careful work and a good job, once
done, need not be repeated for a long time, if the oil-
ing is attended to.

• CHAPTER XIX.

BELTS AND BELTING.

421. Reasons for Using Belts. — While the transmis-
sion of power by means of belts has long been known
to the mechanical world, its wide application is due to
America, European machinists until recently having
favored gear wheels. In this country more than 90%
of all power used is transmitted by means of belts in
some form.

Belts are almost noiseless. Power may be trans-
mitted by them at much greater distance than by di-
rect gears. There is less risk from accidents. They
are simpler and more convenient, applicable to a
greater variety of conditions and, in case of a break-
down or a change in the position of machines, they
may be repaired or refitted w^ithout sending to some
distant factory for a machinist. For this last reason
they are particularly valuable on the farm.

422. A Few Drawbacks. — In one respect belts are
expensive ; they are wasteful of power. The move-
ment of gear wheels, properly set up, is absolute. One
revolution of a 12-inch wheel will drive its mate a
distance equal to its own circumference each revolu-
tion. Belts will slip ; and while the per cent, of waste
from slippage ought not to exceed 2% there is no
question but that there is a much greater loss than
this under average working conditions and that if the
belts are not closely watched the loss is liable to be
quite serious.

330

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 331

423. Belt Essentials. — The value of any belt de-
pends upon four special qualities; strength, durability,
absence of stretch and pulley grip. In special cases
other things must be considered ; resistance to mois-
ture, flexibility, etc. The first four qualities are neces-
sary, however, in any belt, and material which has
not a fair amount of all of these is not suitable for
belting.

424. Leather Belts. — Oak-tanned leather is the best
of all for belts — it being strongest, most durable and
best in nearly every way. It has the disadvantage of
coming in short lengths, but these are so perfectly
united in the modern methods of belt-making that the
joints can hardly be found and in most cases do little
harm.

425. Rubber Belting. — Rubber belts are made of
several plies of cotton duck alternating with rubber
composition, and then vulcanized. Their strength de-
pends upon that of the fabric out of which they are
built up, and is something of an uncertain quantity.
They have the advantage when new of being water-
proof, and may be made in any length with but one
joint or even without any, endless belts being supplied
to order by any belting house. Oil of almost any
kind is ruinous to them and must not be allowed to
come in contact with them. Rubber belts are spe-
cially valuable in the presence of steam and they stand
a greater amount of both heat and cold than leather.
They are less liable to slip on the pulley. In strength
a four-ply rubber belt is counted about the same as a
single thickness leather belt of the same width. The
first cost of a rubber belt is considerably less than for
a leather belt of equal capacity.

426. Canvas Belting. — Canvas belting is about the
same strencrth as rubber and is liehter. It is much

332 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

used in connection with thresher engines but is less
suitable between two fixed pulleys because it stretches
and contracts with the weather.

427. Care of Belts. — The efficiency of a belt de-
pends fully as much upon its care as on its original
quality. They should be kept pliable and reasonably
clean. A belt run too tight or under an overload will
give out first besides causing trouble with hot boxes,
broken pulleys and sprung shafting. It has been found
by experiment that as high as 30% more power and
considerably greater wear can be obtained from a
leather belt by running it with the grain or hair side
toward the pulley. If this is not done the less pliable
grain side is likely to crack from being strained over
the pulleys and, as this is the strongest side, the belt
is seriously weakened. A cemented or lapped leather
belt should be turned so that the pulley runs of¥ and
not on the point of the lap. All belts should be some-
what narrower than the pulley upon which they run
as few things strain a belt worse than projecting over
the edge at one side or the other and so being pulled
across the rim.

Some belts do not stretch alike at both edges. If
one inclines to climb continually toward one side of
the pulley, reverse it. If it still runs on the same side
the fault is in the pulley, the shafting or the align-
ment; if toward the opposite side it is in the belt.

Belts should be kept as free as possible from mois-
ture and extremes of heat and cold. Under no cir-
cumstances oil a rubber belt. Put the oil on the
bearing. The practice of throwing oil and powdered
rosin on any belt, particularly rubber, to make it stick
to the pulley is almost certain to shorten the life of
the belt by months if not years.

428. Belt Dressings. — Avoid belt dressings as

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 333

much as possible. As a rule the belt that requires the
use of a sticky dressing to make it adhere to the pul-
ley is suffering from some form of abuse, such as
overload or faulty drive. Many of the dressings on
the market are decidedly injurious. Seldom if ever
are any of them needed except for one of two things ;
to keep the leather in soft, pliable condition or else
to tide over some emergency strain that, if avoidable,
should never be placed upon the belt. A hard, glazed
surface on a belt is a pretty sure indication of some
form of injurious dressing, though it is not always
anything that has been put upon the belt intention-
ally. It may be the result of some dust and moisture
combination in the air, and occasionally it means over-
work. In either event it ought not to be there. It will
always be found more difficult to keep belts clean
than to keep them soft and it is fully as important;
in fact, if they are kept clean and not abused in any
other way they are more than likely to be soft. If
it is found necessary after cleaning it to soften a
leather belt, use something with a neat's-foot oil foun-
dation, but not mineral oils. If a dressing is found nec-
essary to hold a rubber belt to its place — don't use it ;
instead, correct the load or the alignment. A belt
should be wide enough to transmit twice the horse-
power required of it.

429. Size of Belt Required. — The breaking strain
of the best leather belting is given at 3,360 pounds per
square inch of cross section and, figuring out the nec-
essary factor of safety, the safe working strength is
counted but one-tenth of that or 33 pounds per square
inch or about 41 pounds per inch in width of belting
ys inch thick. This allowable strain in practice is
still further reduced to from 30 to 35 pounds by
the best authorities, presumably to allow for the ordi-

334 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

nary range of strength to be expected even in a good
quality of belting. Some adhere, however, to the
higher estimate. A belt one inch wide traveling 800
feet per minute is figured to transmit i H. P. and
each additional inch should add i H. P. if conditions
are favorable. The pulling power of a belt depends

Fig. 103. — A Study In Belt Contacts. Two Equal Pulleys, a and
b Have a Belt Grip of 180 Degrees. When Two Unequal
Pulleys Are Used the Largest One, d, Gains in Transmission
Efficiency, Because Belt Contact Is More Than Half the
Circumference ; the Smaller One, c, Looses Because Belt
Contact Is Less Than 180 Degrees.

Upon its frictional surface presented to the pulley and
its pulling strength. A double leather, six-ply rubber,
or six-ply cotton belt will safely transmit from 50 to
75 per cent, power, the usual rule being one horse-
power for each one inch width at a speed of 550 feet
per minute.

430. A Convenient Rule. — To avoid calculating the
number of feet per minute that a belt is traveling a
convenient rule is to multiply the diameter of the pul-
ley in inches by its number of revolutions per min-
ute and this by the width of the belt in inches. Di-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 335

vide this product by 3,300 for single belting and by
2,100 for double. The quotient will be the required
horse-power.

431. Length of Belts. — Within reasonable limits a
long belt will transmit more power than a short one,
and can be run much looser. To find the length of
belt required between two given pulleys add the diam-
eters of the two pulleys and divide by 2; then mul-
tiply by 3^4 and add the product to twice the dis-
tance between the center of the shafts. Where space

fe^

Fig. 104.— The Crossed Belt. Each Pulley Has an Arc of Belt
Contact More Than 180 Degrees. In General, Loss Because
of Friction in Twisted Belt Overcomes Advantage of Greater
Belt Contact. Arrangement Shown Useful for Reverse
Drive.

permits, a distance of 20 to 25 feet between pulley
centers is a good working distance.

432. Speed of Belts. — Increasing the speed of a
belt increases its power up to certain limits, but this
cannot be carried beyond 6,000 feet per minute, as the
power then begins to fall. In practice it is a safe rule
in anything to avoid extremes, 4,000 to 4,500 feet per
minute being a more economical and a far safer speed,
while as little as 600 can be used. In lagging or cov-
ering pulleys it must always be borne in mind that

336 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

adding to the size of the pulley increases the speed of
the belt.

433. Belt Slipping. — All belts slip more or less,
and within certain limits it is an advantage, as the
sudden obstruction of a load, such as the clogging of
a thresher cylinder or similar accident, may merely
cause the belt to slip when a positive drive like cog
gears would cause a serious breakage. When a belt
because of slippage fails to deliver 97 or 98 per cent.

Fig. 105, — Driving With Long, Heavy Belt, Showing Sag.

of the power it should transmit, the loss is too great.
Most slips originate where the laced joint strikes the
smaller pulley, which is where the contact is the least
and is therefore most easily broken. It is important
that the joint be made as even as possible to decrease
the jerk at this point. Pulleys of about equal size hold
the belt much better than where the difference of di-
ameter is great, as the belt is in contact more nearly
its full 180 degrees (see cuts). For this reason a belt
that is long and heavy enough to permit considerable

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 337

sag without loss of necessary tension hugs the pulley
better than a tight belt. On account of the greater
tension, however, the tight belt will deliver the most
power, but an over-tight belt consumes more power
by increased friction on the journals and is less ef-
fective than one of moderate tension. Slipping creates
hot belts and a tight belt causes hot boxes. By mak-
ing the lower side of a horizontal belt do the power
transmitting and letting the upper do the sagging the
amount of contact is increased and the tendency to
slip diminished. For small high speed wheels, light,
soft belting hugs the pulley better than heavy or
double belts.

Nearly three times as much power can sometimes
be transmitted from a leather faced as from a smooth
iron faced pulley. Manila paper answers a similar
purpose, and if smoothly put on and not overloaded
will last for years. Soak good glue in its w^eight of
water till water is absorbed, then melt. Roughen pul-
ley face with acid or coarse file and spread on glue,
then paper, rubbing on with a brush to expel all air.
Use several layers of glue and paper ; or old split belt-
ing or split leather may be used if desired.

When a belt once slips badly it is more difficult to
hold, and it is more important to guard against the
first slip than to correct it afterwards. Wet belts
are sure to slip on iron and are injurious to wood pul-
leys, hence should be dried before used. Belt dress-
ing that contains mineral oil or rosin soon coats belt
wath a glaze that is fatal to holding unless kept con-
stantly sticky; then it is disagreeable to handle and
catches all the floating dust and dirt. A belt once
glazed by dope is half spoiled, as the natural oils of
the leather are drawn out and the fiber deadened. If
a belt becomes hardened castor oil may be used to

338 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

restore it partially. One of the worst dangers of belt
dressings is the fact that any of them work w^ell at
the start.

434. Belt Hints. — Cold weather is hard on belts.
When first starting, run without load until they are
warmed up.

Tight belts are expensive in leather, power and bear-
ings. A belt so tight as to cause the loss of power by
friction at the journals to exceed 20% of the load may
be classed as a tight belt.

Six-inch belts or heavier should have bearings on
each side of pulleys.

Old belts that are saturated with grease are hard
to hold. They may be partially restored by sprink-
ling Fuller's earth or prepared chalk over them to ab-
sorb the grease and then scraping with a wooden strip
slightly sharpened.

Narrow double belts are more economical, efficiency
considered, than single wide ones.

A rubber belt from which part of the rubber sur-
face has been worn will shrink badly if wet.

Cheap grade leather belts are fair for light work
and slow speeds, but are not suitable for heavy or
high speed machines.

Belts running curled over the edges of pulleys may
be due to faulty alignment in shafts, a slight taper in
the pulley, a hanger support that yields under a pull,
or to the uneven stretching of the belt.

Belts should be run with a slight wavy motion on
slack side, showing slight tension. Swaying is caused
by pulleys being out of line or out of balance, or there
may be an unevenness in the thickness or the pull of
the leather. At rest the edges of the belt should hug
the pulley.

To avoid as much friction as possible, belts should

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

339

be run at rather high speed and with less tension.
Heavy pulls should come near hangers and ought,
if taken from a line shaft, to be delivered to the side
opposite that from which the power is taken in order
to have the pull of the machine in some measure
counteract that of the engine.

Never overload a belt that is not in sight, as there
is constant danger from fire.

A good leather belt, well cared for, ought to last
for ID or 12 years, though' there are cases on record

Fig. io6. — A Useful Kink. Driving Belt Loose, But Kept in
Contact With Pulleys With Lighter, Narrow Binding Belt.

where they have been kept in continuous service for
i8 or even 20 years. A belt working under moderate
load and over well set pulleys will last much longer
than otherwise.

A crossed or twisted belt is sometimes necessary for
reversing the motion. If the pulleys over which it
works are nearly alike it should increase the arc of
contact though it adds to the friction.

435. A Useful Belt Kink. — The drawing power of
a large belt may be materially increased and the strain
on both the belt and the journals greatly diminished
by running decidedly loose and at the same time hold-
ing the belt snugly to the pulley surfaces by running
a small binder belt outside of it (Fig. 106). The lat-

340 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

ter should be drawn tight. This permits doing away
with most of the tension without diminishing the grip
of the main belt on the wheel face.

436. Belt Lacing. — A good belt should have but
one joint, and even that, where practicable, had bet-
ter be dispensed wath. Endless belts are' only avail-
able, however, where one of the pulleys over which
they are to be used may be moved up or back at will,
as a belt will stretch and, wdien made to fit between
two wheels at the beginning, will soon become too
long for the place, and have to be taken up.

To lace a belt, first cut the ends off square across
so that the tension will be even. Cut the holes with

:t=i

107 108

Fig. 107. — The Finished Joint, Pulley Side.
Fig. 108. — The Finished Laced Joint, Top of Belt.

a belt punch, and a sloping, shearing cut gives smooth-
est edges. One row of holes is enough for light work
and two is plenty for the heaviest work around the
farm, though three are sometimes used in running
heavy machinery. The lacing should be done so that
an equal strain is placed on all the holes and none
of the laces either twisted or crossed on the pulley
side of the belt. The laces will not wear out nearly
so fast and will not jerk the machinery so much. An
oval punch is best wnth the large diameter turned
lengthwise of the belt. Many belts are ruined by large
holes or holes too close together. The latter makes
a stronger lace but weakens the belt.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 341

If a six-inch belt or less is being punched, mark a
line square across each end one inch back, and along
these lines lay off the places for the holes exactly op-
posite each other and with equal spacing between. An
odd number of holes in each row works out best. For
a larger belt and for heavier loads use a second row
of holes the same distance back of the first. The dis-
tance apart and from the ends may be increased a
little for w^de belts and diminished for narrow. Can-
vas belts should be punched with a pointed instrument
that will shove the fibers aside instead of cutting them
off. For leather or rubber, a smooth cut is best and
the hole should be large enough to pass the lace
through twice without straining the fiber of the
leather.

437. Lace Leathers. — Rawhide is used for lacing,
and it may be purchased already cut or by the side,
and then cut up by hand. The latter method is much
the cheapest, but the strips should be cut straight,
smooth and even in width. A lace that varies in width
is an abomination. When buying those ready cut, se-
lect those of medium and uniform thickness in pref-
erence to extra heavy or light. The first are not flex-
ible enough ; the second lack strength. From five-six-
teenths to a half-inch is the usual width, the former
being preferable excepting for the heaviest belts. If
the smooth or hair side of the lace is placed out if
will wear longer. By wetting the ends and then burn-
ing them until slightly crisped they may be put
through the hole more easily.

438. Methods of Lacing, — To double lace a single
row of holes, begin at the center of the belt and, with
the pulley side below, pass each end up through the
center hole in each end of the belt, then down, the
one to the right and the other to the left, through the

342

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

next hole in the opposite end of the belt. Continue
this until the edge is reached, then turn and lace back
through the same holes. When the edges of the belt
are again reached each hole will have two laces
through it, all of the crossing will have been done
on the upper side, and the ends of the lace will also
both be at the top. Instead of tying these, poke the
ends through under one of the other laces and then
carry them down through smaller holes that they
will fill snugly, and cut them off with the ends a very
little beyond the under surface. The pressure of the
pulley will soon settle them into place. The two sides
of this lace when finished will, if rightly done, look
like those in Figs. 107 and 108. Short pieces of lac-

FiG. 109. — Several Methods of Belt Lacing.

ing drawn in over the main piece where it wears
upon the pulley will increase the life of the lace but
it also adds to the jar of the belt in passing, and de-
creases the surface of contact at the instant when it
is most needed. Other methods of lacing are given in
the illustration (Fig. 109), from which they may be
easily worked out. Hinge lacing takes less lace than
some of the others, and has the advantage of drawing
upon the body of the belt between the holes instead
of directly on the hole. For this reason it is specially
good for old rotten belts ; also for rubber and web
belting. Bootleg lacing does not come in contact with
the pulley at all, and for cotton or badly frayed rub-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 343

ber belting is cheapest and makes the smoothest run-
ning belt. It looks bungling and unworkmanlike,
however, and is somewhat dangerous to operators, and
is little used.

Never allow several inches of free lace ends to whip
about the machinery. It is constantly catching and
straining both lacing and belt, and is dangerous to op-
erators. Cut the ends off or tuck them under.

439. Wire Lacing and Belt Hooks. — Wire lacings
when properly made are quite durable and give little
jolt at the joint, but their efficiency depends a good
deal on the lacer. The holes may be much smaller;

READY TO APPLY FtNISHED JOINT

Fig. no.— Some Approved Metallic Belt Hooks.

just large enough for the wire to pass through twice.
They are fastened by flattening with a hammer. They
are specially intended for leather belts and are also
used for canvas. Wire lacing should never be crossed
on the pulley side of the belt. Belt hooks and other
metallic fasteners are convenient to apply but some of
them lack flexibility and should specially be avoided
with small pulleys. Some of them work well when in
good condition. A broken and projecting belt hook-
may become a very dangerous thing.

440. Cementing Belts. — But for the one difficulty
of stretching, the cemented or spliced belt would be
ideal for leather, but unless the distance between jour-

344 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

nals or the size of the. pulleys can be varied, such a
joint should not be made until the stretch has been
taken out of the belt by a period of use. A joint of
this sort, if well made, is permanent and is supposed
to wear as long as any other part of the belt, and it
runs over the pulley without jerk or vibration.

For a six-inch belt or smaller, cut the belt six
inches longer than for lacing; mark off six inches
from end and taper with plane or spoke shave. Do
the same with the other end but on the opposite side.
Scrape the laps with steel or glass to make them even.
Have a smooth surface under belt while splicing.
After cutting, place belt on pulleys and draw tight,
with the joint at some point between the pulleys. Hold
a board under joint and nail belt to it with small
nails to insure again slipping. Remove belt and board
to a convenient place and apply belt glue (not com-
mon glue) hot. Apply this to both ends of the lap,
then place together and hammer lightly for a few min-
utes to expel all air. Glue a strip of paper over the
tips of the leather to keep them in place until the work
is thoroughly set; then clamp tightly together for a
few hours. The laps must be kept clean while gluing.

441. Splicing a Gandy or a Canvas Belt. — For a
six-inch belt make the splice about four times the
width of the belt and lay ofif the splice into as many
equal parts as there are layers in the belt. Cut one
ply off the entire length, the second at the next point
of division, and so on ; then do the same with the
other end but work from the other side of the
belt, so that the longest ply in the one end will come
opposite the place where the full lap was cut off in
the other.

Fit the ends together and sew lengthwise of the belt
with waxed thread, the seams about one inch apart.

Tpie Gasoline Engine on the Farm 345

An occasional coat of linseed oil and red lead will
prolong the life of a Gandy belt materially.

442. Rope Transmission. — Where the power has to
be transmitted considerable distance and a variety of
directions, cotton, manila and hemp ropes over
grooved wheels or sheaves are becoming popular as
they wear longer, are more flexible, less costly, and
transmit more power than belts. Their motion is also
very smooth and noiseless. The speed should be
around 4,000 .feet per minute ; never over 5,000, and
the smallest pulley should have a diameter at least
30 times the rope. Rope drive may be used even if
the shafts are not quite parallel and, on account of
greater contact in the wedge-shaped grooves, they
may be run more loosely and with less slip. There
should be a distance of at least 20 feet between pul-
ley centers. Worn rope, once it begins to roughen,
is very troublesome and should be replaced. An occa-
sional dressing of beeswax and graphite will add much
to the life of a rope drive.

CHAPTER XX.
OTHER FORMS OF TRANSMISSION.

443. Gear Wheels. — In spite of its defects gear-
wheel transmission will probably be in use so long as
it is necessary to transmit an absolute motion, no
matter how much the load varies. With it there is
no stretching or slipping of belts. Whatever the over-
load the motion will be transmitted so long as the
driving wheels revolve unless the gear is stripped. It
is also a convenient means of cutting out or revers-
ing or changing speed, though lately the friction
clutch has in part usurped this field. In using this
form of transmission, however, one must remember
that as the power is faithfully transmitted, so is any
unsteadiness in it likewise, together with more or less
vibration originating in the gear itself. Overloading
is more unsafe, too, than with belts, because there is
no slippage to guard against a serious strain. With
the belt, something gives ; with the bearing, it breaks.

444. Material. — Gear wheels are made of brass
(for small work), iron, steel, bronze and raw hide.
They vary in size from the finest pinion of a watch
to mill machinery weighing many tons. On account
of their absolute transmission under variable load,
they are specially well liked for traction engines.

445. Finish. — Iron gear wheels are made to certain
specifications, recognized as standard by manufac-
turers. To depart from this is not only to insure

346

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

347

greater cost on the first special order but on all sub-
sequent repairs and possibly some difficulty in coup-
ling up with other machinery. Iron wheels are either

Fig. III. — Internal Spur Gear.

cut or cast, the latter being cheaper, and the cut gear
much the smoothest and most desirable for fast run-
ningf wheels, or where an even motion is desired. For

the rougher work, and with slow moving machinery,
the cast wheels will often answer. Many farm ma-
chines use the cast gear, though some of the finer sort,
like the cream separator, require the cut.

348 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

446. Spur Gearing. — Spur gears, the most common
of all in use, are those which turn on parallel axes,
without regard to the form of teeth. They may be

Fig. 113. — Bevel Gearing.

either within the rim of the driven wheel, as in the
main drive wheels of some mowers and of most
tractors, or around the outer side of the rim, as in

Fig. 114. — Intermittent Gears.

most of the intermediate transmissions. Fig. iii il-
lustrates the first type, and 112 the second.

447. Bevel and Miter Gears. — If the axes of a pair
of gear wheels meet at an angle they are called bevel
gears ; if they meet at a right angle and the gears

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

349

are equal they are termed miter gears. All miter gears
are bevel, but not all bevel are miter gears. They are
used when the direction of the power transmission
must be changed (Fig. 113).

448. Intermittent Gears.— Intermittent gears are
occasionally introduced into the timing system of a
gasoline engine, but are not in common use in farm
machinery. Their purpose is to transmit power while
turning a certain distance but not continuously. Most
engine timing is done by means of cams (Fig. 114).

449. Cams.— Cams are a species of gear peculiar
in that they are fashioned on the principle of a wheel

Fig. 115.— Action of Cam Outlined.

turning on an axis not at its center, in order that
they may press more firmly against a near-by lever
or spring at one time than another. Often their shape
is such a departure from that of the true wheel that
they bear little resemblance to it (Fig. 115).

450. Worm Gear.— Worm gearing is in very com-
mon use in the guiding systems of tractors ; the power
applied by the operator to the hand wheel being trans-
mitted to the front axle through a worm gear.^ They
represent a very great reduction of speed applied and
distance covered by the actuating energy but add
greatly to the power, combining as they do the lever-

350 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

age principle of the wheel and the inclined plane (Fig.
1x6).

451. Other Gear Wheels. — Some of the other com-
moner forms of gearing are the sprocket wheel,
ratchet wheel, escape wheel, crown gear wheel, spiral
gear, rack and pinion and elliptic gear. Most of them
are found in farm machinery so seldom that their
special description is unnecessary. Cog wheels, the
name under which all gear wheels erroneously pass
with many people, are wheels into which the gear
teeth are set in separate pieces. They are seldom seen

Fig. 116. — Worm Gearing Used In Tractor Steering Gears.
Fig. 117. — Spiral Gear Used for Cam Shaft Operation.

on the farm and are only referred to because so often
confused with gear wheels.

452. Rawhide Gearing. — One of the objections to
iron gear wheels has always been the noise they make.
To obviate this, other substances as fiber, leather,
etc., have been tried. Leather has been found spe-
cially successful after being subjected to special treat-
ment but is rather expensive for large wheels. It has
been found that an iron wheel meshing with one of
leather does away with most of the noise, so leather is
often used for the small wheel or pinion to mesh with

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 351

one of iron much larger. For a specially silent gear
the face of the rawhide gear is sometimes made
slightly wider than its metal mate and, to guard
against curling over, brass flanges are bolted securely
to each side of the wheel, including the teeth This
adds somewhat to the cost and a great deal to the life

of the gear.

Even when badly worn, a leather gear wheel re-
tains its elastic nature and continues to transmit
power without vibration or jar and so materially in-
creases the life of its metal mate. It is not desirable
in places where it is likely to become wet and not
,n connection with irregular motion or with cast gear-
in.r the irregular shrinkage of the latter, in cooling
making too much unequal strain because of the rough

surface.

453 Care of Leather Pinions.— Do not use min-
eral oil on rawhide pinions as it tends to soften them
and they usually get all the oil they need from their
bearings. Instead, coat the surface with a dressing
of graphite and hard grease.

Never allow the bearings to become hot. Leather is
an animal substance and may be consumed.

Store them, when not in use, in a cool, dry place
and cover the rawhide slightly with the hard grease
and graphite mixture.

See whether the teeth are meshing properly. 1^ all-
ure to do this may ruin the pinion in a very short

454 Rules Governing Gear Repairs.— The outside
diameter of a gear wheel is taken from the circle made
by a line drawn around the outside tips of the teeth.

The pitch diameter is taken on a circle through the
point where the teeth roll into working contact with
those of another wheel.

352 The Gasoline Engine on the FaRxM

Diameter, applied to gearing, always means pitch
diameter unless otherwise specified.

The diametrical pitch is the number of teeth to each
inch of pitch diameter. The pitch of any standard
wheel may be obtained by dividing the number of its
teeth by the number of inches in its pitch diameter

SPOKED GEAR

Fig. ii8.-IIlustrating Terms Used In Ordering Spur Gear
Wheels.

The pitch of any standard wheel may be obtained
from the outside diameter (which is more convenient
to measure) by adding 2 to the actual number of
teeth and dividing by the outside diameter. From this
the pitch diameter may be found by dividing the num-
ber of teeth by the pitch.

Circular pitch is the distance from center to center
between the teeth measured along the line of the pitch
circle. It may be obtained by dividing 3.1416 by the
diametrical pitch.

The above rules will enable any one to calculate for
themselves by counting the teeth and taking the out-
side measure of the wheel those commoner specifica-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 353

tions which are necessary to know in ordering gear
wheels that will fit other gearing.

The length of a gear wheel hub is its projection
beyond the rim and not from the spoke. It is much
better to state the length of the hole instead of the
hub.

To find the size of a gear wheel needed upon a fixed
shaft to mesh with a certain gear wheel on a second
fixed shaft, measure the distance from center to center,
between the two shafts in inches, double the distance
and multiply by the diametrical pitch (as obtained
by means of rule already given from wheel on shaft),
and from the quotient subtract the number of teeth
on the wheel given ; the result will be the number of
teeth in the wheel to be obtained. With this and the
diametrical pitch, which is the same as for the other
wheel, all the dimensions of the new wheel may be
worked out.

Whenever the term "pitch" is applied to gearing it
is understood to mean diametrical pitch; that is, the
number of teeth to each inch of pitch diameter.

The above rules are for spur gear calculations.
Those for bevel gear are considerably more compli-
cated and of less general use.

455. Power of Gear Wheels. — The horse-power
that a certain gear wheel will transmit depends upon
four things; the face, the pitch, the velocity of pitch
circle in feet per second, and the kind of wheel,
whether spur, or bevel. To find the velocity multiply
the pitch diameter in inches by the number of revolu-
tions per minute and divide the product by 230. At
a velocity of 6 feet per second a spur wheel with i-
inch face and i-inch pitch will safely transmit 2.782
horse-power and each trebling of velocity for the same
wheel will a very little more than double the power.

354 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

If the pitch and face are more or less than one inch,
multiply the power given at the required velocity
by the number of inches or the fractional part of an
inch, and that result by the number of inches of face.
This gives the horse-power transmitted. In practice
under average conditions but half or two-thirds of this
result should be expected.

The velocity of gearing should be kept below 2,200
feet per minute for iron gear and 3,000 for wood and
iron.

456. An Ideal Gear Wheel Order. — If the follow-
ing specifications are given there should be no excuse
for any supply house failing to send the wheel wanted.

I, material — 2, outside diameter — 3, pitch diameter —
4, face — 5, bore — 6, number of teeth — 7, pitch (dia-
metrical or circular) — 8, diameter of hub — 9, distance
through hub — 10, projection — 11, distance from center
to center of shafts.

When ordering spur gears to transmit a certain
horse-power give the number of revolutions per min-
ute, size of shafts or bore, and largest and smallest
allowable diameters.

Bevel gearing will transmit approximately ^ the
horse-power safely conveyed by spur gear.

The above calculations are for involute teeth, which
are now more popular and in far more common use
than the epicycloidal pattern, one advantage being
that they do not require such accurate adjustment.

457. General Care. — Transmission gearing requires
occasional attention quite as much at its rim as at
the axle, and this is particularly true in relation to the
tractor gearing, especially the differential. Grease,
oil, graphite and reasonable cleanliness, at least free-
dom from the grit of road dust and ground-up peb-
bles, will cure most of the ills it is heir to, old age

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 355

excepted. The proper use of the clutch might also
be urged here. More gearing has unquestionably-
been stripped by sudden than by excessive strains.

Noisy gears may sometimes be silenced by cleaning
thoroughly with kerosene or gasoline and then pack-
ing with medium grease to which flake graphite has
been added.

Worn gears should be replaced promptly as they are
a constant source of annoyance and even danger. The
strain of any sudden emergency hunts out the worn
tooth with unerring accuracy and a broken gear or
pinion is likely to set some of the others to stripping.
Worn gearing does not mesh properly and not only
causes considerable loss of motion or power through
slippage, but wears more rapidly, once the proper re-
lation between the wdieels is disturbed.

A temporary remedy for worn and noisy gearing is
a handful of sawdust. This, of course, is a make-
shift only. Thick grease and French chalk are also of
considerable use. Worn gear teeth are noisy because
they strike against each other instead of rolling.

CHAPTER XXL
THE FEED-ROOM.

458. When Feed-grinding Does Not Pay. — There
is a great difference of opinion as to whether the
grinding of feed is profitable under the usual condi-
tions. That it is beneficial no one doubts. Wliether

Fig. 119. — Feed Mill With Direct Shaft Drive From New
Holland Engine.

the benefit is enough to justify the double handling of
large quantities of grain, of hauling it, perhaps over
bad roads, several miles to the nearest mill and then
back again, and of the expense in cash or toll for
grinding is an open question. Often it is cheaper to
let a part of the grain be wasted by being fed un-
ground than it is to put so much extra work and ex-
pense into the grinding.

356

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 357

459. Convenient Grinding. — With a gasoline engine
properly installed this waste of the farm crops at the
feed bin is unnecessary, nor is any great an^onnt of
extra work called for. A link-chain conveyor or ele-
vator, run by the engine, should carry the grain in a
constant stream from a portable bin or trough set be-
side the thresher to elevated bins in the feed room
above the stables. Below these bins, and connected
to its hopper by closed v/ooden spouts, should stand
the feed grinder, belted to a shaft or directly con-
nected with the engine. By opening slides in one or
more of these spouts a stream of any grain stored in
the bins above or a mixture of any two or more is con-
ve3"ed directly into the hopper without a pound of
grain having to be lifted with human hands. The at-
tendant may then start the engine and, once having
thrown the mill into operation, need give it no further
attention until the grinding is completed.

460. Convenient Feeding. — The discharge from the
mill may be conveyed to a bagger or directly into
a portable bin supplied with wheels and shafts, and
which is easily moved along the row of feed chutes
leading into the feeding boxes in the mangers below.
From the time the grain leaves the threshing machine
it need not be touched until it is stored, ground, mixed
in any desired proportions and delivered to the hands
of the feeder directly over the animals in the stable
below. All lifting is avoided and all carrying. The
engine and gravity do it all ; but only the work of the
engine renders it convenient to elevate the grain
where gravity can be used.

461. Feed Always Fresh. — Ground meal, if stored
in quantities, is far more likely to taint, heat or be-
come infested with insect enemies than the whole
grain. No matter how well seasoned the corn, there

358 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

is always so much risk in the continuous storing of
corn meal in quantities that constant watchfulness is
necessary; often frequent handling. Still, if the grain
has to be hauled some distance to a mill or if it is
worked up on the farm with a steam powder grinder,
there is little economy in grinding it in small quan-
tities.

With the gasoline engine feed may be ground fresh
as needed, wdiile the water is being pumped or the
morning chores done. Little attention is required.
All mixtures, too, may be regulated when the slides
are opened so that the nature of the feed is changed,
without any trouble, to suit conditions ; or a different
mixture may be provided for different lots of cattle
or even for different individuals. It is no longer nec-
essary to have storage bins for the mixtures best
adapted to the dairy cow, the horse, the growing calf,
nor are we compelled to feed the same mixture to all
alike without consulting the purpose.

462. The Balanced Ration. — The farm feed mill
and the power which can be made available at any
time without fuss lend themselves specially to the
compounding of balanced rations best suited for any
specific purpose or for several of them which may be
served all at once.

463. A Good Feeding Plan. — Most animals are in-
clined to bolt their grain and then pick over their
roughage very gingerly, selecting only the choicest
portions and - tossing the rest upon the floor to be
wasted. Hay thrown to them in bunches and separate
from the grain rather invites a playful attack with
the horns and a tendenc}^ to cull it over with too much
discrimination, while the grain, fed alone, is eaten too
fast.

If the hay or fodder is first run through a feed

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 359

cutter or shredder there is ahiiost no waste. It may
then be fed in tight boxes and, by being mixed with
the grain and fed all at once, it is all eaten and at
the same time the grain is not swallowed so hurriedly,
nor does it reach the stomach in a compact mass. The
actual quantity being fed is more handily determined,
too, either by the scales or by measure, and there is
far less likelihood of feeding entirely by guess. Tak-
ing into account all of the leaks which accompany
the old method of feeding, there is here an increased
efficiency of from 25% to 40% in the actual feeding
value of the same hay and grain.

Fig. 120. — Mill for Grinding Two Kinds of Grain.

464. A Special Appetizer. — The addition of water
in reasonable quantities does much to freshen up the
usually dry, hard feed of the w^inter months and a
small handful of salt adds not a little to the relish.
Three minutes with the spray pump over the mixing
bin prepares the cut hay specially well not only to be
relished by the cattle, but also moistens it enough so
that the ground feed scattered over it is eaten at

360

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the same time, and does not sift through to the bot-
tom of the manger.

465. Grinding Cob Meal. — The cob meal attach-
ment should not be forgotten when the home grind-
ing mill is run. It is true that there is not a great
deal of nutrition in the cob itself but when reduced
to a coarse meal it serves well as a mechanical mix-
ture and helps lighten up the heavier portion so that

Ipiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimii

Fig. 121. — Power Driven ^Nlill for Grinding Grain, Cob and Husk.

it is better exposed to the action of the gastric juices.
Cobs are rather hard to grind and the average miller
will not grind them except for an extra price. Besides,
they are bulky and that much more of a load to haul
over the roads, when taken away. Worked up on the
home mill they are worth at least the extra power
they take, and well repay the little attention they
require, even though they feed a little more slowly
into the hopper.

466. Grinding Family Grists. — By adding only a

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 361

few dollars to the first expense of the mill one can be
obtained which will do first class work on corn meal,
graham flour, and whole wheat flour for family use.
The grist obtained is at least a good ways ahead of
some that is furnished when grain is taken in exchange
by the village miller and stored meal supplied. The
home grist is always fresh and every man who takes
enough pride and care in his farming to produce first
class grain is certain of being rewarded by meal from
his own instead of from that raised by some careless
neighbor.

467. Accessories of the Feed Room. — Good feed
alone is not the only subject of importance to the feed
room nor is it the only one wdierein the gasoline engine
plays a most important part. Actual experiments have
proven that where water is supplied to dairy cows
at stated intervals of twice daily the milk yield aver-
aged 225 pounds less per annum than where they
were allowed to drink at will. As nearly half the ani-
mal weight of the fat ox is water it is evident that
drink should play an important part in the fattening
of beef cattle as well as in their growth and develop-
ment. It is safe to say, though, that for every stock
barn equipped with a continuous watering device there
are hundreds wherein cattle are watered less than
twice daily ; in fact, the average general purpose farm
is conducted on the single-watering plan.

468. Objections to the Continuous Water Supply
System. — Ordinarily there have been several objec-
tions to attempting to maintain a constant water
supply. First, running water is not furnished by na-
ture at every location, while we are becoming more
and more suspicious of that which is, as a possible
source of contagion. Storage tanks of sufficient size
to supply constant running water are expensive, in

2^62 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the way and, to a certain extent, dangerous. To run
the troughs full of water once or twice daily is to in-
vite a mixture of dust and hay stems in the water that,
in the process of drinking, the animals are liable to
draw into the wind-pipe, while_ much of the most nu-
tritious part of the hay finds its way into the water-
ing trough to be drawn off and wasted whenever the
trough is cleaned. It is always objectionable, too,
for water intended for stock to be exposed to the
breath of stabled animals on account of the vapors
absorbed by it.

469. Constant Renewal Necessary. — No system of
stock watering is successful which does not supply
the animals with fresh water whenever it is supplied
at all, without having to resort to any extensive stor-
age system. A small reserve supply is not only al-
lowable but necessary ; but the system which depends
on great quantities of storage water exposed to the
dust and odors of the place is never suitable.

470. The Gasoline Engine a Necessity. — Excepting
in some few highly favored localities, some form of
dependable power must be at hand which is so easily
applied that we may safely rely upon direct pump-
ing, with scarcely any storage provisions of any kind.
A small pressure tank, though, is a great addition, in
the absence of which a closed storage tank holding
two or three barrels of water will answer nicely.
Whichever is used, an indicator must be attached to
regulate the amount of pressure in the one case and
of water in the other.

471. The Open Trough. — The simplest method of
getting the water constantly before the cattle is to
run it directly into one end of a continuous trough
and allow it to drain out at the other. This consumes
lots of water; all the objections urged against the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 363

old style water systems may be raised against it ;
while those cattle at the end most remote from the
inflow are entirely dependent for their own supply
upon the caprice of all the other animals in the
stable.

472. Automatic Troughs. — There are several styles
of individual automatic troughs upon the market that
are satisfactory, though some of them are rather ex-
pensive to install. The water is under very perfect
control though, and all that is stored ahead is confined
in air-tight pipes which protect it from dust and stable
odors.

473. A Home Made Substitute. — For the drinking
wells a row of ordinary granite wash basins are not
at all bad, although a dish measuring a little less in
diameter would be somewhat better. These are all
fitted snugly into wooden seats or collars that hold
them rigid and distribute the strain well over the bot-
tom and sides of the basin. It is but to so arrange
them that they may be easily removed for cleaning
whenever desirable.

Behind these and supported to the back of the
manger, an inch or inch-and-a-quarter pipe serves as
the main conductor, and from it a half-inch (or less)
tee located opposite each basin permits water to
escape through a discharge pipe coming up over and
then down into the basin. The main pipe should be
so placed that the top surface of the water it con-
tains is rather less than two inches above the bottom
of the basins. This insures about two inches of water
always in each basin, a quantity so small that the
arguments against standing water do not apply to it
with any great force. One draught of the animal
empties the basin and starts the water to flowing in
until the level in the pipe is reached again. At niglit

364 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

and in cold weather the main pipe may be drained by
a spigot at the lower end, or a small stream left run-
ning, and all danger of freezing is avoided. Perhaps
the gasoline engine does not seem to have a great
deal to do with this system but in the majority of
barns the plan would be impracticable were it not
for some power that could be called upon readily and
that would always respond.

474. Advantages of This System.— Aside from the
benefits of a constant supply of unpolluted water,
there are several other advantages. The supply comes
rather slowly to each animal, if the discharge pipes
are small, and rapid drinking is discouraged. The
water, pumped from far below the surface, is freer
from contagious influences and dangerous germs of
all kinds. It is practically never exposed even to the
air from the time it leaves the well until it is dis-
charged into the animal's basin. Neither does one
animal have to drink what another has left. There
is no danger through the transmission of disease from
the drinking water and a well balanced system with
a capacity reasonably tempered to the size of the
herd admits of no contaminated water finding its way
from any herd to any near-by stream. The amount
of water which enters this system and escapes it save
through the stomachs of the animals is so small that
it filters into the earth and is purified before find-
ing its way to any natural channel. The matter of
temperature, too, is of considerable importance.
While it has not been found advantageous to regu-
larly heat water for animals, it is none the less in-
jurious to them to be compelled to drink that which
is far below the normal. A milch cow promptly
shows this in shrinkage of milk. The effect is just as
serious to the beef animal, only the latter is not sup-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 365

plied with a natural thermometer that we can read
as readily as we can the record of the milk pail.
Water pumped from deep in the earth and not sub-
ject to any great change of temperature, winter or
summer, never chills or shocks the sensitive nervous
system of a cow, while that which varies with the
weather is almost sure to do so.

475. The Work of the Engine. — Any watering
system which depends upon anything but gravity or
some form of natural delivery must have back of it
a source of power which is actually dependable ; one
that can be used whenever needed, and one so conve-
nient that it will be used. Without such a power,
meaning the gasoline engine in most cases, watering
systems like this would be worse than useless, be-
cause, once depended upon, if something went wrong
with them suddenly, their very completeness at or-
dinary times would make us forget to provide against
possible failure.

476. Flushing Out the Gutters. — One form of
gasoline engine efficiency in the stable has never been
appreciated as it should be, excepting by the few who
have the system in operation. That is in the flush-
ing out and better cleansing of the gutters and the
application of the manure upon the fields in its best
form.

477. Stable Arrangement Necessary. — In order to
adopt this system it is necessary that the stable be
provided Avith good gutters, either cement or wood ;
then it is the work of the engine to supply plenty
of water and good pressure, either direct from the
pump or from a pressure or storage tank. One other
duty the engine must perform as already referred to ;
the chaffing of all the hay, fodder and bedding used
in the stables.

366 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

478. The Flushing Process Easier and More Sani-
tary.— Instead of scraping out the gutters with a
fork or shovel and leaving every crack and depres-
sion reeking with filth and germs, both gutters and
floors are washed clean by means of a hose, with
water under pressure. The work is done more quickly
and thoroughly than is possible in any other way,
and the process is far more agreeable to the man who
does it. Everything is either reduced to a liquid form
or at least held in suspension until it can be removed
from the stable ; while every crevice, no matter how
small, is searched out and thoroughly cleansed, in-
stead of being left to ferment and form a harbor for
vermin and disease.

479. Final Disposal on the Fields. — From the
end of the gutter the liquid is conducted by any con-
venient method directly into a tight manure vat or
tank, which is mounted on wheels. This should be
provided with some sort of agitator operated by means
of gearing, to insure against the undissolved particles
settling to the bottom of the tank. When hauled to
the field the contents may be far more evenly dis-
tributed through a coarse sprinkling attachment than
the best spreader can do under the most favorable
conditions, Avhile there is none of the hard lifting
ordinarily required in loading up.

No other method of stable cleaning is so free from
lifting or unpleasantness. No other is so economical
in the application of the manure upon the field. No
other method gets it into the earth as a plant food so
quickly, all through the water and the pressure, which
the engine supplies.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE WORK-SHOP.

480. Its Purpose. — The farm work-shop is required
for two purposes ; for making things and for repair-
ing them. Of the two objects the last is undoubtedly
of greatest importance. Because of his greater re-
moteness from the town or village shop, the farmer
must always depend more upon his own skill in keep-
ing his tools in order than his city brother has to do ;
and a good farm repair shop, with a good man back
of it, always means better kept farming tools, more
conveniences, more efficient work and better farming.

481. As Trouble Healer. — The great mission of the
farm repair shop is in the prompt removal of possible
trouble before trouble itself comes. When the re-
pair of a weakened part means a trip to town, there
is a tendency to continue using it as it is so long
as it holds at all ; then it frequently gives way in
the midst of the very busiest time, when it is being
put to the greatest use, and often with disastrous re-
sults to the entire machine. We do not like to spend
too much time and money making repairs until we
see for a certainty whether the part is ever going to
break or not. With our own work-shop handy though,
and well enough equipped to be efficient without add-
ing to our drudgery, the first rainy half hour will
probably see the part made good as ever, and save
an expensive breakdown.

482. A Good Equipment. — Almost any farm pos-

367

368 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

sesses a grindstone, an emery wheel, perhaps a lathe
and a saw arbor. All of these are valuable only as
they are made use of. When their use means an
extra session with the tread mill there is a human
tendency to postpone work that might, if promptly
done, increase the efficiency of our regular work.
Even a grindstone may easily become a source of
drudgery to some one, usually the boy of the farm.
Anyone who has ever turned one by hand for an
hour at a time appreciates the tendency to slight the
grinding of the mow^er knives or to let the axes and
hoes go with less keen edges than they ought to carry.
The emery wheel loses much of its efficiency unless
speeded up well ; while the farm lathe must either be
too light for real efficiency in order to keep within rea-
sonable foot power limits or it is certain to have
weeks of rest that it has never earned.

483. The Engine in the Work-shop. — The gasoline
engine in the farm work-shop is out of place ; it has
no business there. Connected to the end of a line
shaft running the work-shop machinery it is the ideal
power, but the union should be neighborly only, not
domestic. Emery dust, grit from the grindstone, even
the floating particles of wood, notably cedar, have an
abrading tendency, wdiich is disastrous to the engine
cylinder; while we have already seen that nothing
is more disastrous to the valves than particles of shav-
ings or an accumulation of light dust of the air drawn
through the carburetor.

484. The Proper Place. — The proper place for the
gasoline engine is either in an enclosure adjoining
the work-shop or with a good tight partition to pro-
tect it from the shop air. It must be belted to a line
shaft anyway, in order to allow us to start and stop
any machine in the shop at will. There is no neces-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

369

sity for having it in the same room the machines are
in.

485. An Ideal Shop Arrangement. — The shop itself
should be equipped with a good roomy bench along
one side, the lower part of which may contain a sys-
tem of drawers and cupboards for the convenient
storing of the bench tools ; or a near-by cabinet of
drawers made from boxes of one size may be pre-
ferred. If the shop is in the barn, the position of

Fig. 122. — A Handy Shop Engine, Equipped With Countershaft
and Three Different Sizes of Driving Pulleys.

the power shaft must be determined by that of the
engine, which will, of course, be the same one which
provides power for other barn work. If a separate
shop is to be built, it should be quite long in propor-
tion to its width and, if located near the house, can
wxll be arranged for a shop at one end and a laundry
at tlie other.

486. The Engine's Position. — The engine should
preferably be installed near the center of the build-
ing and one line shaft run the full length, near the
ceiling. This gets the shaft out of the way better
than any other location and prevents accidents. By

370 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

belting the engine to it near the center instead of
at one end a good deal of torsion or twist is avoided.
No matter how well the shaft is put up, if the power
is applied at the end there is more or less of this
twisting tendency, which in field machinery becomes
side draft. The shaft may be so rigidly held that it
will stay in place and do its work all right ; still there
will be considerable lost energy, consumed by the ex-
tra friction, and friction ahvays means w^ear as well
as work. For this reason the longer shaft can be
run and two rooms equipped with power as easily as
the shop alone, and at less cost of friction.

Fig. 123. — The Most Important Farm Implement.

487. Connecting Engine to Work. — For ordinary
farm shop work a i-fV shaft will probably be the
best size, although, if of considerable length, the
hangers should be close enough together to insure
against an}^ possible tendency to spring. Remember
always that a bent shaft requires the engine to bend
or spring it into line by "main force" every time the
shaft turns over, and when that is a good many times
per minute it wastes a good deal of engine energy be-
sides wrenching the machinery. The shaft may be
equipped w4th tight and loose pulleys for each ma-
chine to be connected, or loose belts and tighteners
may be used. The former are the best in most cases
and they cost the most to install. For directions as

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

371

to size of pulleys and belts required, see chapters on
Belts, Pulleys, etc.

488. Locating Machines. — Where convenient it is
always best to install the heaviest machines, that is,
those that require the most power, nearest the en-
gine. Always remember that, no matter how rigidly

Fig. 124. — Gray Engine Driving Bandsaw in Wood-working Shop.

the shaft is held to its place, side draft or twist still
remains in the line of working energy whenever the
pull of the machine operated is at one side of the
engine working line, and the farther to one side it
is removed the greater is that strain. If a heavy
lathe is installed it should be placed near the parti-
tion next to the engine room, while something of
light draught, though of steadier use, should be re-
served for attachment at the further end. Light ma-
chines, such as emery wheels, jig-saws, small cut-off
saws, etc., may be located along the bench at the most
convenient places. Among the light power machines

Z7^

The Gasoline Engine on the Farai

which should by all means be included in the work-
shop equipment is a small rip saw suitable for rip-
ping up plank. A six or eight-inch saw will be suffi-
cient and a self feed equipment is not necessary. Per-
haps there is no other single experience which will
bring out the blessing of power in the work-shop
so much as will one job of plank ripping with the cir-
cle saw in comparison with the old back-breaking
laborious way.

489. Effect on Man and Boy. — The introduction
of power into the repair shop will make so many

Wood YiTork Bcr>cV»

1^^

/Jnva^

Torrit

(ivindstonc

/4o)

Dff

Fig. 125. — General Farm Workshop Floor Plan, Showing Good
Arrangement of Machines and Housing of Engine In Sepa-
rate Compartment to Reduce Fire Risk.

labor-saving machines available, that are not of much
practical use without it, that the care and repair of
the farm implements soon become a pleasure, in-
stead of a dreaded task that has been in the past too
often neglected. Then labor-saving devices will be
studied out and made in spare minutes which will
gradually make the equipment of the whole farm
more complete, convenient and up to date. Gradually,

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 373

too, the habit of noting the condition of tools more
closely will be formed, the little defects noticed and
remembered as they come to us in our field work ;
and the defect will be remedied at the first leisure
time. Without this observation habit, the weakness
might have been forgotten as soon as the occasion
for annoyance, because of it, had passed. In no other
place more than the shop does the engine develop in
the man and the boy the attention and thorough care
of their equipment.

374

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE FARM WOOD-PILE.

490. Two Memories. — There are two memories,
either in combination or one of them alone, which
even yet disturb the farm boy of yesterday with
dreams of cold fingers, backaches and frozen mit-
tens— and ahvays more of it ahead. One of them is
flavored with the old cross-cut and its never-ending
toll of hard work and spoiled half-holidays. The other
is still accompanied by the grating ring of the neigh-
borhood buzz-saw, which always meant weeks of
strenuous log-piling and splitting in advance, a couple
of days of almost killing work throwing the cut blocks
of wood upon high piles, always hurrying to "keep
ahead of the saw," or else "to keep the saw busy," and
with the consciousness that there were days of this
ahead helping the neighbors through similar jobs. Al-
ways, too, there was the consciousness that the very
hardest part of this, the piling up of those great log
heaps and the great stacks of wood, that all had to be
undone again as time afforded, was labor wasted ; that
it was only necessary, because, in the hurry that the
one or two day job of buzzing required, things had to
be done the hardest way because there was no time
for any other.

491. A Thankless Task. — Nothing is more dis-
couraging than to do the hardest kind of work for
hours or days, knowing all the time that it is abso-
lutely resultless work and that it is only necessary

375

376 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

because of inefficient planning; that an easier way
would be even more efficient. Those high piles of
logs were required because, with the saw only avail-
able for a day or two and at a high cost for ma-
chine and men per hour, the material had to be at
hand ; but it meant that all of the hard lifting was
only to be undone almost as soon as finished ; that
the big wood pile, builded up by one laborious swing
of aching arms for each stick it contained was only
a temporary affair, to be torn down again and hauled
to the house as soon as there was time. All of the
hardest work in the job was due to inconvenient and
inefficient methods, but methods which, nevertheless,
seemed the best that could be used,

492. What It Really Cost. — Much of that hard
work was condoned by the thought that "the boys"
were at home and the farm labor cost little or noth-
ing. It probably cost many a farmer the help he
afterwards needed from his grown-up boys, and it
no doubt cost many a boy who was unfitted for the
struggle for existence in the city, but who was driven
from the farm by just such tasks, long years of dis-
appointment; perhaps a ruined life. If we were to
ask a number of farm-bred men who are now strug-
gling in the congested cities, with more or less suc-
cess, why they left the farm, it is likely that at least
eight out of ten of them would think first of the
wood-pile, the old pump, the grindstone and similar
bits of every-day drudgery, before they would an-
swer. It was just such tasks as these that convinced
most of them the farm was only a big factory for
turning out hard work and most of it of a hopeless,
ineft'ectual kind.

493. To-day's Wood-pile. — Methods of that sort
would be even more expensive now. Good farm labor

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 377

is scarce, and time is worth money. Then, too, the
trees which were then only fit for fuel are plenty good
enough for lumber now, while the material for fire-
wood has to come from sources which would then
have been despised. The straight-grained maples that
split easily are no longer food for the buzz-saw. In-
stead, the wood-pile is replenished from the occasional
windfall from which the best of the body wood has
been removed for boards ; from the scraggly apple
tree ; from the old rail fence. Not even boy labor
would justify the time and teamwork necessary to
handle these odds and ends of the woodlot in the way
the ''buzz wood" was formerly managed, and on many
farms these are permitted to rot where they fall, be-
cause it costs more to work them up than to buy
coal.

494. Why Popular. — The gasoline engine has made
the wood-pile of to-day a popular place with the aver-
age healthy farm boy. It is worth a trip to the woods
for a load of logs for the privilege of running the
engine long enough to saw them up. The work does
not have to be done at break-neck speed and it does
not last so long that every muscle in the body is pro-
testing ; neither does the wood have to be thrown upon
a pile that will presently all have to be torn down
and piled over again. The wood is cut with the mini-
mum amount of handling and all the work required
can be efificiently applied so there is no dissatisfac-
tion in the thought that it is energy thrown away.
Enough logs can be hauled up for a reasonable run
without having to lift them upon a high pile or drop
them back too far from the work. Wood-cutting now
is a glimpse of modern life, instead of drudgery and,
if the boy should ever leave the farm, one of the
pleasant memories that will occasionally call to him

378 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

will be that of the gasoline engine that he had to leave
behind him when he went.

495. The Circle Saw Rig. — For cutting up limbs,
old rails, tops and small logs, the circle saw still has

Fig. 127. — Gasoline Engine and Circular Saw Outfit in Portable

Form.

the call, although the drag saw will require less heavy
work, used in connection with logs of considerable
size.

Any farm machinery supply house will furnish a
good circle saw outfit, or one may almost make his
own. There are several styles on the market, not
different in general principle and only differing in
those little details which mark the variety in personal
tastes. A wooden or iron frame to hold the saw arbor
and that may be anchored securely to some solid foun-
dation ; a tilting or sliding table ; a four-foot steel
shaft, i^ inches or more in diameter and with saw
arbor and flanges at one end ; three babbitted boxes
bored for bolting to the frame; a loo-pound balance
wheel, a 6x6 or 5x6 crown-face pulley; a saw
guard ; these, with a 20 to 24-inch saw and a good two

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 379

or three horse-power engine will keep one or two men
fairly busy ; or, if the rig is turned over to the boys,
it will cut more wood in the course of the afternoon
than they would willingly cut all winter ; two or four
cords per hour being an entire possibility, providing
there is provision for getting it to the saw and tak-
ing it away.

496. Power Required. — With a somewhat heavier
engine, say a five or six H. P., a 28 to 30-inch saw
may be easily run and, with a force of four men, 50
or 60 cords a day may be cut and piled. The fact
remains, however, that on level ground there is con-
siderable lifting to do. On the ordinary farm the
smaller size is best ; then the work can be taken in
smaller doses and less unnecessary work in repiling
will be required.

497. The Best Rig. — If the saw is to be taken to
the work a traction rig is an advantage, or at least
a mounted portable power. For this purpose one of
the home-made tractors produced from the junk pile,
at the cost of a few idle days and perhaps a dozen
dollars, is just the thing. It will not be strong enough
to draw a load behind, but may quite readily be made
self-moving, which is all a wood sawing rig requires.
Bolt the engine securely to the bed timbers over the
drive Vv^heels and the saw frame over the front trucks.
Once bolted in place to the same timbers, there will
be no bother about having to line up the engine with
the rig every time it is moved.

498. Setting Up. — If convenient, run the rig below
a bank upon which the logs can be hauled ; then lay
skids from bank to saw table. The rear end of the
log may be held up by extending a part of the skids;
or, better, support a steel rod on tripods and bolt upon
it some form of track-door hanger or hay carrier that

380 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

runs upon a single rod. From this suspend a double
rope, the one end reaching within a couple of feet of
the level of the saw table and terminating in a few
rather large links of chain. The other rope should
be long enough to reach around a small log as it lies
on a level with the saw table and should be provided
at the end with a hook. The logs may then be hauled
by team poAver upon the bank, rolled along the skid-
way until nearly upon the saw table at one end ; then
by throwing the rope about the other end, raising it
slightly and catching the hook into the proper link
in the chain and then rolling it from the skidway, a
carriage will be improvised that will move the log
forward as required with the minimum of friction and
with practically no lifting. By rigging a 6 x 6-inch
hard-wood timber upon supports and spiking regular
door track along one side, two and even three hangers
can be rigged which will not only support the entire
log and allow it to swing free from all rigid supports,
but would have the advantage of permitting it to
swing against the saw with far less muscular effort
than where a table is used. A permanent rig of this
sort just outside the wood-shed will permit the run-
ning of the logs under cover during the actual saw-
ing, the saw frame and engine being set inside. The
work could then be done in stormy weather and the
wood be stored in the shed as fast as sawed.

499. The Drag Saw. — For larger work the drag
saw has a number of advantages. It handles logs
of any size without turning and does not require that
they be lifted up to it or shoved forward by hand
power. Though slower than the circle saw, it can
be arranged to go on working, once it is set and put
in motion, and permit the operator to split or pile
the blocks already sawed off. so there need be no time

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 381

lost. Considering the man-power it requires, a drag
saw well set-up and operated will probably accom-
plish as much as the average circle saw, and do it with
less previous preparation.

Fig. 128. — A Drag Saw Worked by Engine Power.

500. Construction. — Drag-saw frames can be pur-
chased, or they can easily be made on the farm and
the conditions under which they operate vary so much
that this is often the best plan. Two 6x6 hard-wood
sills should be tied together by three 2 x 8 or four
2x6 planks, which should be morticed in and bolted.
Two 6-inch uprights, four feet long, should be se-
curely bolted and braced upon one sill, with" a two-
inch block between at top and bottom. A small wheel
fastened to a slide works freely up and down between
these guides. This carries the weight of the saw
frame and is raised and lowered by means of a rope
carried over a grooved pulley to a lever. This may
be arranged to hold the saw in place when lifted, by
means of a quadrant, or merely with a hook, the
weight of the frame being allowed to rest upon the
log when lowered.

The pulley for the engine belt should be between
the sills. This, in turn, belted to a countershaft,
should reduce the speed of the latter to about 70 rev-
olutions per minute. At one end of the countershaft,
preferably at each end, if steady running is desired.

382 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

there should be a balance wheel, one of them pro-
vided with a crank-pin on its rim. A hard-wood arm,
with a brass bushing at one end for the crank-pin,
is clamped solidly to the saw at the other and works
between the two four-foot uprights. If an ordinary
cross-cut blade is used it should be made rigid by
clamping an upright iron at each end to a slide arm
18 or 20 inches above the blade ; otherwise there would
be constant danger of a kinked or broken saw. Short
legs should raise the machine just high enough to
give the balance wheels room to revolve, though the
shorter they can be the less will the log being sawed
have to be raised from the ground. The diameter
of the crank wheel must, of course, be the same as
the desired sweep of the saw. The sills must be long
enough for mounting the engine back of the saw rig,
so that all danger of its shifting in relation to its
work or the trouble of lining up is done away with.

In front of the rig construct a narrow log slide con-
taining a series of rollers along the bottom and with
a groove around their center sufficiently deep for a
half-inch steel cable to pass over freely. This cable
terminates at the one end in an ordinary log hook
while the other passes the length of the slide through
the grooves and around a grooved sheave at the end
of the slide from which it goes to a drum revolving
loosely on (not with) the shaft for the engine belt
pulley. A taper or cone pulley, leather-faced, is
mounted beside this drum which revolves with the
shaft. A few inches of the shaft should be squared
for the cone pulley to slide on and still revolve with
the shaft in any position. This virtually makes a
friction clutch and by means of a shifting fork the
cone may, by being forced into the drum, lock it to
revolve with the shaft or, by releasing the lever, the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 383

drum will remain stationary while the cone and shaft
are still rotating.

501. To Operate Drag-saw Rig. — The log to be
sawed is rolled upon the slide, which is adjusted in
width so that the weight rests upon the rollers in
the bottom and the log hook at the end of the wire
cable is driven into the end . most remote from the
saw. By means of a loose or friction pulley on the
engine belt, the countershaft which runs the crank
wheel and the saw is started and at the same time the
blade is allowed to rest lightly upon the top of the
log, the entire weight being gradually let down after
the saw is in full motion. While the cut is being
made the taper pulley revolves with the drum upon
the shaft. As soon as it is completed the saw frame
is raised clear of the log and stopped at the same
time by releasing the friction pulley; then the shift-
ing fork is made to crowd the cone into the drum
and turn it with the shaft. This winds the cable upon
the drum and so draws the log hook and log endwise
along the slide toward the saw. For convenience a
log stop or buffer should be set across the slide on
the opposite side of the blade and this should be ad-
justable for any length cut desired. When the log
advances until it strikes this stop, the shifting fork
is reversed, the drum ceases to revolve and the saw
may be let down and started as before. By lock-
ing the friction pulley to its place the operator can
then leave the rig to itself, while carrying on other
work, until the next cut is nearly completed. A well-
made rig of this sort will handle almost any size log,
without lifting or wasted work and it may be kept in
such steady operation that the amount a single oper-
ator can do with it in a day's run is quite surprising.

502. A Complete Automatic Rig. — Occasionally it

384 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

may be found convenient for the operator to devote
nearly the whole of his time to other work near by,
such as splitting and piling up the wood as it is cut.
If the work is close at hand and the logs not too
rough to handle easily, this may be arranged by a
little addition to the above rig.

The square portion of the main pulley shaft must
be increased in length and for the single taper pul-
ley we must substitute one that tapers at both ends
and with a narrow ring or ridge running around its
largest circumference at the center. If a pulley of
this shape cannot be purchased one can be turned
out of wood and rendered quite serviceable by hav-
ing iron rings shrunk upon each end. These should
be recessed in and should be flush with the surface
of the wood. Both tapers of the pulley should be
leather faced.

The same loose drum is used at one end. At the
other a second drum is mounted, exactly similar to
the first. These drums and the pulley between them
are spaced so that the latter can be shifted to engage
and lock either one at will ; or it may remain at the
center and neither of the drums will rotate. The one
drum is connected as before with the cable that ad-
vances the log; the other with a similar cable, which
passes over a grooved pulley at the top of the guide
frame and so raises or lowers the saw, as the drum
winds it up or releases it and permits it to unwind.
When the drum is released the weight of the saw
frame unwinds it. The ridge at the center of the pul-
ley is a convenient means of engaging it with the
shifting fork.

A slot is cut in the upright guide sufficiently deep
to permit the insertion of a one-inch lever, an end
of which is pivoted to the main sill. This lever has

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 385

a few inches vertical play and crosses the path of the
slide which carries the saw below and at right angles
to it, but directly above a toggle joint. As the log is
sawed and the slide descends it reaches and presses
against the free end of this lever which, as it is
forced down, finally depresses the toggle below it until
the latter is pressed shut and its free end made to
crowd the end of the shifting-fork lever to one side.
This forces the ccme into the drum which raises the
frame of the saw by winding up the cable. As the
frame rises its top bar presses a similar lever above
it, which, at a given point, releases the toggle again
and shifts the pulley from the drum. At the same
time a similar toggle has been depressed by this sec-
ond lever and the shifting fork made to engage the
second drum, which advances the log. This second
drum revolves until the log, pressing against the top,
releases, by means of a rope, the second toggle and
returns the shifting fork to an intermediate position.
The second cut is then ready to be made without the
operator so much as lifting his hand.

Theoretically, once a log is placed upon the slide,
it may be entirely sawed up before requiring the
slightest attention ; in the meantime the operator
could go to the woods for another log. In practice,
while the rig may be made to work complete, it
should never be left entirely to itself. All the regu-
lar operations of sawing up the entire log it can be
made to do, entirely with engine power. But logs
intended for wood are seldom straight or free from
knots, and the little unexpected hitches and irregu-
larities inseparable from such rough work as wood
cutting require the supervision of the human brain.
The man who runs the rig may devote practically all
of his time to other work. He should be at hand

386

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

though, in case a projecting knot or bit of bark should
happen to check the advance of the log, as otherwise
the engine will most certainly try to force matters,
possibly with disastrous results to engine or rig.

Fig. 129. — Wood Splitter Operated by Engine Power Works Well
In Combination With Circular Saw.

503. Wood Splitting. — Even wood splitting is now
done by machinery, some firms now having upon the
market splitters that are guaranteed to split the knot-
tiest oak or maple at the rate of 4 or 5 cords per day,
with an engine of one or two horse-power. One of
these and an automatic saw rig might be run by one
operator at nearly full capacity.

CHAPTER XXIV.
ORCHARD AND GARDEN.

504. Thorough Spraying Essential. — There are
some things which produce results in direct propor-
tion to the thoroughness with which they are done,
while others, unless the process is complete, are en-
tirely unproductive. This is often true of spraying.
In the lower branches of large trees the work may be
ever so thoroughly done, but the lift to the upper
limbs, particularly when a good many trees are
sprayed, soon sets the muscles aching and relaxes our
diligence. The result is a fine colony of some dreaded
insect pest above the spray line to descend and undo
the thorough work we have done lower down.

505. Where the Engine Excels. — A gasoline en-
gine outfit puts greater pressure upon the escaping
liquid and so divides it into finer particles. This ob-
viates the danger of damaging the foliage by drops of
over-strong liquid falling upon the leaves, as the fine
spray, even though considerably more heavily charged
with the poison, distributes it so evenly over the en-
tire surface that a smaller quantity may be used and
still be more effective. Then the fine spray, propelled
by a greater force, penetrates crevices in the wood or
nooks shielded by heavy foliage, which no reason-
able amount of hand pumping would ever reach. The
highest limbs, too, are as thoroughly sprayed as those
nearer the ground, so there is no danger of some un-
sprayed limb, a little beyond our reach, furnishing

387

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

enough of the pests to undo most of the work that
we have faithfully done.

506. Nature's Method. — One of the most efficient
methods of spraying is to force the stream of fine
mist high into the air above the tree and then let it
float down by its own weight into the foliage. This
is nature's method, and so long as she arranges the
leaves for this very purpose we may be certain we
can do no better than to imitate her method of ap-
plying liquid, which is always from above.

507. Real Purpose of Spraying. — Spraying, from
being a desperate expedient, has become that last atom
of human efTort which renders all the rest effective,
and without which, more often than not, the fruit
grower's reward is a half-crop of imperfect and un-
marketable fruit, or none at all. If a single tree is
maintained at a loss it is one of those dangerous little
canker-worms that devour the farm profits on so
small a scale that it is not apparent, yet just as surely
as though it were multiplied by hundreds and formed
so large a part of the investment that to fail meant
ruin.

Spraying is for protection ; it is not a cure ; and the
man who does it incompletely either by not half pene-
trating the thick foliage or by missing the higher
branches is like the one who weatherboards his barn
and then leaves the roof frame uncovered. It is also
an operation which has its own brief seasons. It is
specially effective then, while it may be entirely use-
less at any other time. A day later may be compared
to leaving ofT the shingles ; a week's delay after the
proper time may be like leaving ofif the whole roof.

508. Causes of Failure. — There are several reasons
why spraying may fail of its object, of which the use
of the gasoline engine will remove a number. Prob-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

389

390

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

ably no other farm process depends so vitally upon
thorough work, because in the dealing with insect
life that which escapes treatment on a single un-
sprayed limb may cover the whole tree with the pest
that we are fighting so completely that all our thor-

FiG. 131.-— Gasoline Engine With Triplex Pump for Large Ca-
pacity Spraying Outfits or Water Supply Purposes.

ough work on the rest of the tree may be practically
defeated. This does not mean that it is necessary to
so drench the tree that all of its leaves are dripping
with the poison liquid; indeed, the foliage may easily
be injured by just this practice ; and many an orchard-
ist has taken to reducing the strength of his spray to

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 391

the point where it is only partially effective under the
impression that he had been using it too strong, when,
as a matter of fact, the trouble was in the over quan-
tity with which he deluged the lower portions of the
tree in his vain attempt to reach the higher limbs.
For best results the spray should reach the entire
foliage in a fine mist that moistens the whole of it,
without drenching any part, and this is only possible
where power is used and the liquid thrown with
enough force to reach easily the most remote branches
and penetrate readily into the densest foliage. Even
the cracks and crevices in the bark must be reached
in the case of many fruit pests — where the force ob-
tained from hand pumping would never penetrate.
One of the most efficient methods of spraying is to
force the stream of fine mist high into the air above
the tree and let it come down as a fog by its own
weight into the foliage. This is Nature's own method
of applying moisture, and the leaf growth has been
arranged with the special object of doing this most
thoroughly and economically, and it is very certain
that we can do no better than to distribute it from
above. This method, if backed by high pressure, in-
sures a thorough and even distribution of the poison.
509. A Successful Method. — For the best results
the pressure should not be less than from 125 to 150
pounds, while in practice the hand pump seldom rises
above 50. The hose should be long enough to reach
all sides of the tree with one setting and an agitator
of the liquid in the tank should be provided. This is
highly important ; otherwise, the poison will settle to
the bottom and the first of the liquid thrown will fail
of efficiency because too weak while some of the
settlings will be dangerously strong. Various forms
of agitators for the smaller outfits are provided, but

392

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

they add something to the power required to work
them and thereby become inefficient in hand-power
outfits, either by being neglected or by rendering the
work so much more tiring that it will be less thor-
oughly done. A gasoline engine never gets tired, and
the extra strain of running a thoroughly efficient agi-
tator constantly does not trouble it at all ; so by its
use the spray is properly mixed as well as applied.

Fig. 132. — A Typical Animal Drawn Gas Engine Operated
Spraying Outfit.

510. A Good Pumping Outfit. — A good spraying
outfit may be made with a i^ to 2 H. P. engine of
either horizontal or upright design. Quite frequently
the marine type is used and is as good as any if prop-
erly fastened to a foundation. Usually, though, the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

393

394

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

pump and engine mounted on a single base or directly
connected are the most satisfactory as the two are then
much easier held in a constant relation with each
other, while with the two separately mounted the
chance of one or the other shifting about and disturb-
ing the power connection is greater, especially if the
orchard, as often happens, is situated on a hillside or
on broken ground.

The outfit should be so mounted that it may be eas-
ily turned and also may be readily conveyed under
the low branches, although an elevated platform for
the operator with an extension pipe is necessary where
the trees are large. Of course the pump should be
double acting; that is, water is taken in and thrown

.Sprinklaij. Lonj Dijttjict, Oi»4utir.gVcfTTicM:Noi2!e. Rtgu!

Fig. 134. — A Few Examples of Spraying Nozzles.

with both the up and the down stroke. It should be
supplied with a relief valve for the return of a part
of the liquid to the tank after the pressure gets too
great. Of course no power outfit with which either
gas or liquids are forced into an enclosed space can
safely dispense with a pressure indicator; that is as
indispensable as it is on a steam boiler, and should
be as carefully watched for signs of failure.

511. Good Nozzles. — It would be the height of
foolishness to provide an expensive spraying outfit and
then fail in the work for want of good nozzles. Get

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

395

396 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the best, and do not be satisfied with one or even
two. One that will work interchangeably with another,
though of a somewhat different pattern and de-
signed for another purpose, may be the means of sav-
ing the day if one of them suddenly plays out — and
of saving the crop. One of the Vermorel types is the
most popular. In this the stream is given a rotary
motion as it leaves the orifice. For power spraying a
grouping of nozzles is a great saving of time, two or
more being so arranged that they are both used at
once and vastly increase the area of the tree Avhich is
constantly being sprayed. A supply of coarser noz-
zles should also be at hand for use where the trees
are to be thoroughly drenched, as in the case of us-
ing a lime-sulphur wash ; also for spraying after the
petals have fallen, as the greater direct force with
which the liquid is expelled carries it more surely
into even the most remote cavities of the calyx.

512. The Hose. — The best hose for power spray-
ing is ^ inch, although the necessary couplings are
not quite so easily obtained. One-half inch is per-
haps in most common use and should not be less than
3 or 4 ply. with a pressure capacity of not less than
200 pounds per square inch. It is very necessary to
provide for excess pressure. Twenty-five to 50 feet
is a good length for working on the ground around
the trees and 10 or 12 feet for use with extension
rods. These are not only necessary for getting into
the tops of tall trees but are convenient for working
lower down because they carry the spray at any de-
sired angle quite away from the operator. Often Yz-
inch gas pipe or less is used, though bamboo fitted
with brass or other metal connections is lighter to
handle and very well liked. One end of these pipes
is fitted for direct coupling with the hose and should

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

397

<+H

j_j

C/J

) ,

-i->

fl^

,(_,

>ii-^

-^3

r/)

398 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

be provided with a stop cock. At the other end the
nozzle is attached. The pipes may be made in sec-
tions if desired for different heights of working, and
may total anywhere from 8 feet to twice that height,
depending upon the size of the trees. For high
spraying a platform rigid and safe for the operator
to stand on should be raised above the wagon bed
6 or 8 feet.

513. Good and Cheap Outfits. — All working parts
of the pumps, the bar, the valves, etc., should be made
of brass or bronze, as tin or iron is easily attacked by
some of the liquids in common use. A good brass
spray pump ought to be good for a number of sea-
sons, and a good grade of hose for two or three,
though some prefer to get a cheaper quality of the
latter and then renew every year. This may be a
little dangerous, because the hose that is cheap enough
to throw away so quickly is apt to be so cheap that
it is not of uniform quality. There is liable to be a
weak spot in it — and an accident.

514. Results of Spraying. — The beneficial results of
intelligent spraying are clearly shown at Fig. 136.
A peach yield from sprayed trees consisting of a trifle
over nine baskets is shown, and of these only about
2 per cent, of the fruit was unsound. As a general
rule, spraying will result in saving over 90 per cent,
of the fruit yield, providing proper solutions are used
and applied in a careful manner.

515. When Trees Are Not Sprayed. — A low ca-
pacity spraying outfit is not desirable and a higher
initial investment to procure first-class material is
more than justified by the returns. When trees are
not properly sprayed, it is seldom that 50 per cent, of
the fruit yield is marketable if the parasites are at all
active. If overlooked, the fruit grower will be ex-
ceptionally lucky if he saves 25 per cent, of the crop.

CHAPTER XXV.
IRRIGATION.

516. Why Needed. — "Irrigation is essential to all
parts of the country where continuous and heavy
cropping is expected. The farm which is always sup-
plied with sufficient moisture will yield 20% to 50%
more than another in the same region without a reg-
ular water supply. This has proved to be true in
nearly all parts of the country, where averages have
been kept for series of five years." The above state-
ment, made by an agricultural expert in Washington,
D. C, in effect sums up a number of good reasons
in two words — better crops.

517. Where. — In the arid and semi-arid regions ir-
rigation is, of course, a necessity. It has already re-
claimed for cultivation tens of thousands of acres
which were previously considered worthless and which
would again become worthless if left to depend upon
natural rainfall.

In regions of normal rainfall it is hardly less valu-
able because, although the full required amount of
water may reach each acre of ground from natural
sources during the year, much of the rain falls at a
season when it does no good because it is not needed.
Water applied by artificial means comes at the time
when it does the most good because it is most needed,
and considerably less water in amount may equal in
efficiency or even surpass several times that which
comes in torrents at irregular intervals. <

399

400 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

518. When. — Everyone knows that crops are dam-
aged and often ruined by continued drought. Not
everyone stops to consider that even a short period
of extreme thirst injures the vitahty and quahty of
the plant as certainly as it does of a suffering animal.
The quality of growing vegetables is greatly improved
if plenty of moisture is always available to their
roots through the entire growling season. To deprive
them of this even for a short time is certain to give
both the quantity and quality of the crop produced a
decided setback.

519. Where Drought Has No Terrors. — Drought
has no terrors for the man who has a really effi-

FiG. 137. — Drought Has No Terrors Where Power Driven Pump-
ing Outfits Are Used.

cient irrigation system in a country wdiere there is
little rain ; in fact, he finds it rather an advantage, as
the rainfall does not then interrupt his work and he
can at all times regulate the watering of his crops to
his own convenience without subjecting them to ex-
cessive moisture or violent downpours. ^Nlany of the
fungus germs, too, which are found in the air and
carried into the ground or upon the plants by the
rain, are avoided by the system of root irrigation, the
water for which is pumped from deep wells.

520. Certain Drawbacks. — The expense and addi-
tional w^ork of having to supply the water ourselves

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

401

are always the greatest objections to it. Then, when
the supply is pumped from the rocks it is pure and
does not carry the loads of silt always found to a
greater or less extent in surface water and which,
however objectionable it may be for drinking pur-
poses, has a distinct fertilizing value to the growing
plant. There are some other objections. These, too,
are specially mentioned, because they are among the
most important and because the gasoline engine has
in a great measure done away with both.

Fig.

138.— What a Good Irrigat
ing Plant Contains.

521. What a Good Irrigation Plant Contains. — The

chief essentials of a good water supply are: ist,
that it be economical ; 2nd, reliable ; 3rd, easily oper-
ated ; and 4th, that it must not require too much at-

402 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

tention. Natural rainfall always fails in relation to
the second and third essential and frequently, after
pouring torrents have undone much of our careful
work, seem to be deficient with regard to the last.
The good irrigating plant must be economically op-
erated, as the gasoline engine outfit is. It must be
available whenever needed ; must require very little
attention and be so easily operated that one man
can run the engine of a fair sized plant and have
time to take care of the water after it is pumped.
With a good gasoline engine he can do this, if the
trenches are prepared in advance ; can fill the oil ciips,
start the engine, and remain at work out in the field
until the cups need refilling; four or five hours, if
large enough cups are put on the engine. The cost
of irrigating should be kept within $2.00 per acre for
the season under ordinary conditions, and the supply
can always be depended upon at the time and place
it is desired. Root irrigation has the advantage that
it can be applied at any convenient hour of the day,
whether the sun is shining or not, while sprinkling
from above is likely to do injury unless done after
night or in cloudy weather.

522. Quantity of Water Required. — -Corn, oats and
wheat require from 350 to 400 tons of water per acre
to bring them to maturity, but much of the water ac-
tually applied escapes, so that several times this
amount must reach the ground in which they grow,
if they are properly watered. One inch of water per
acre weighs something like 112 tons and it is esti-
mated that on an average it requires six acre inches
to thoroughly irrigate the ground ; that is, if none of
the water soaked in or ran off, each acre would be
covered with a sheet of water six inches deep. Two
or three such irrigations as this per season will be

The Gasoline Engine on the F.

\RM

403

404 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

needed, or a total of 16 to 18 inches. Making due
allowance for the waste from evaporation, it requires
a little less than 28,400 gallons to irrigate one acre of
ground one inch deep, and an acre-foot requires about
325,900 gallons.

523. The Cost. — A general rule applied in many
places is 5c. per acre for the season for each foot of
lift. This requires a good engine and a good pump,
neither of which will do the work without the other.
It includes all operating expenses and supposes that
the plant is in good working order and that the at-
tendant knows his business. Bad management or un-
usual conditions may increase this cost a little and
there are ways in which it can often be reduced. For
instance, if there is a natural basin at hand or if one
can be made by erecting a dam and holding back
some of the natural waters that fall in too great quan-
tity or at times when they are not needed, the amount
of water to be pumped from a deep well might be
decreased by drawing on the supply in the pond. For
many reasons a good storage basin is quite a con-
venience.

524. Engine Required. — A good pumping plant
once installed frees from all worry about moisture as
no other system will ; a poor one is itself a source of
constant worry. Of course, the engine is the heart
of the plant. Too small an engine means too low a
speed for running a centrifugal pump most econom-
ically. On the other hand, too large an engine for
the pump, unless so located that other work can be
done with it at the same time, is not utilizing its own
efficiency to the best advantage. The pump and the
engine should be figured to balance each other very
closely. A 10 to 15 H. P. engine will run a No. 4 to
6 centrifugal pump with a lift of 15 to 25 feet and

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 405

deliver around 2 cubic feet of water per second. A
cubic foot of water per second equals about 450 gal-
lons per minute and 600 gallons per minute will cover
1.3 acres one inch deep per hour, or 13.2 acres per
working day of 10 hours. If the plant was run the
whole 24 hours the amount covered would be 31.8 acres
per day. Five and three-tenths acres per 24-hour day
could be given the full six inches of water required
for thorough irrigation and a plant of this size in con-
tinual operation might be able to supply the water
requirements of a fifty-acre farm each ten days with-
out rainfall if run continuously. A great deal, how-
ever, depends upon the lift required and the efficiency
of the pump as well as on the crop and season. Under
certain conditions an engine of this size has been
found ample for irrigating 200 acres with a 20-foot
lift.

Fig. 140. — Centrifugal Pump Directly Coupled to Gasoline Motor.

525. The Centrifugal Pump. — For raising large
quantities a short distance the centrifugal pump is

4o6

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

without a rival and is almost entirely used for pur-
poses of irrigation and drainage. As they are valve-
less they are not likely to clog and are for that rea-
son adapted to pumping muddy water which an ordi-
nary valve pump would only handle under continu-
ous protest, if at all, even such solid substances as

Fig. 141. — Small Gasoline Power Plant Operating Two Diaphragm

Pumps.

large pebbles, walnuts, leaves, etc., not troubling the
centrifugal pump seriously. The water also comes
from them in a steady flow, instead of impulses as
with valve pumps. Centrifugal pumps have been con-
structed that would deliver several hundred tons of
water per minute.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 407

526. Their Limitations. — Formerly it was believed
that the centrifugal pump was only capable of lift-
ing water a few feet and even to-day many people
consider 40 to 50 feet the extreme limit of their work-
ing possibility. As a matter of fact, the single stage
volute centrifugal has been operated on a lift up to
500 feet, but this requires so great a speed and such
heavy power that a plant of this sort is too expen-
sive for the irrigation of ordinary crops, the working
parts of the pump being made of a special bronze and
very carefully adjusted. Single stage pumps of this
kind can be economically and safely used though up to
a 100-foot lift and, by compounding the stages, this
lift can be very much increased.

527. Different Types. — Centrifugal pumps may
be of the vertical or horizontal form, the latter being
sometimes called the top-lift and depending upon suc-
tion. They are placed at the mouth of the well and
ought not to be more than 20 feet above the source
of supply. As they are the easiest to install and re-
pair they are in most common use. They often need
priming, though, which the submerged does not. In
some comparatively shallow wells, too, they would be
useless because of the shifting of the water level, the
water perhaps dropping 20 or 30 feet or even more
after pumping begins before the level is reached at
which it remains constant. In such a well a pump of
this sort if set at the top would be beyond suction
distance and if lowered to suction distance of the
working level would be submerged when pumping was
suspended.

The vertical type of pump will work submerged and
may be lowered into wells of sufficient diameter,
where, if properly installed, they do excellent work.
They are specially intended for wells too deep for

4o8 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the top lift pump and will be found most efficient if
the suction lift is not greater than from 12 to 20 feet.

Centrifugal pumps are very sensitive to speed in-
fluences, their output being determined by the height
of the raise and the speed at which they are run.
A speed indicator should be used and, once the most
efficient speed for a certain pump and well is de-
termined, it should never be allowed to drop below
that speed. It may for a short time go higher, but
at a waste of energy and relative economy.

Centrifugal pumps are sometimes sold at a price
too low for good internal finish. The blades and sur-
faces are left rough and without machining. They
will work but, on account of the extra friction retard-
ing the water, w^ill be very greatly reduced in effi-
ciency ; in other words, by buying such a pump the
continuous or operating cost is greatly increased in
order that a few dollars may be saved in the instal-
lation cost. The purchase of cheap unfinished pumps
is perhaps the most frequent and worst trouble against
which the centrifugal pump has to contend. Their
other chief troubles are poor priming, leaks in the
suction connections, and being run at too low a speed,
either because of wrong calculations or because the
pulleys on both pump and engine are too small and
too much power is wasted in belt slippage.

528. Garden and Small Farm Irrigation. — Where
the lift is greater than 50 feet the subject of general
irrigation as a regular dependence becomes somewhat
questionable. For special crops, however, and as an
occasional resort much greater lifts are entirely feas-
ible ; indeed, after a crop has been started and per-
haps brought well toward maturity the most expen-
sive irrigation one can imagine is that which might
have insured a fine harvest, but did not, because it

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 409

was not done. It is very seldom that the rainfall is
heavy enough at the right time to insure a full 100%
crop without damaging it. Crops are every year re-
duced from 20% to 80% in some places by dry weather
and thousands of dollars are annually wasted in the
regions which do not depend upon irrigation, that
might be saved by a little timely work in an ama-
teur way. Even the difference between a good and

Fig. 142. — Garden Irrigation by Flowing Method.

a dried up garden may almost mean a living, during
four or five months of the year at least, to the aver-
age farmer.

529. For Deep Well Pumping. — Driven or drilled
wells, if deep or of small diameter, may be more ad-
vantageously pumped with some form of valve pump,
although the cost, efficiency considered, is much
greater. Power pumps for this are of two general
classes, the horizontal and vertical. The first of these
is for conditions not unlike those best adapted to the
centrifugal pump, for shallow wells, cisterns, and
springs.

The deep well power pumps sometimes require a
long stroke and cylinder of small diameter. They
consist of a rigid frame carrying the shaft for the
engine pulley, upon which are keyed small pinions
that mesh with large gear wheels near the rim of

410

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

which a crank-pin projects. To these are attached
the connecting rods, working on each side of the pump
frame and carrying at their other end the cross head,
which travels upon or between vertical guides and at
its center operates the plunger rod. This is the gen-
eral type. Special features refer to discharge pipe ar-

FiG. 143. — Power Pumping Outfit
for Deep Well.

ranofement, air chamber, valve location and distribut-
ing arrangements. These pumps are often run in
connection with artesian well cylinders which may
be lowered any depth into the well and operated near
its bottom as suction pumps below and lift pumps
above the plunger. Connection is made between the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

411

plunger and the crosshead by means of wooden rods,
coupled together to the required length. Air chambers
are used at the distributing tees where the water is
forced any distance from the mouth of the well or into
elevated or pneumatic tanks. For the latter, they may
be so arranged that the air will be compressed for
use in the tank by the action of the pump itself to the

Fig. 144. — Deming Horizontal Power Pump.

desired amount and then cut out at will, without in-
terfering with the working of the pump.

The horizontal pump is also intended for forcing
water into tanks and may be equipped with the same
air condenser. The pulley shaft is generally carried
on the cylinder head ; connecting rods working from
each end of this along each side of the pump body to
a guided crosshead which works the piston in the
cylinder. This avoids all twisting thrust and not only
reduces strain but also friction. Valve chambers at

412

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

some convenient point contain the suction and dis-
charge valves. Access for cleaning and repairing the
valves is usually through hand holes for that purpose,
so the cylinder head need not be disturbed. A good
pump of this type is provided with tight and loose
pulleys and should be operated at a speed of about 40

Fig. 145. — Air Cooled Engine and Pump Mounted on Common

Base.

strokes per minute. These belted power pumps,
though long known, as now developed are a direct
result of the gasoline engine.

530. Distributing the Water. — Instead of the irri-
gation ditches and expensive provisions necessary in
the west for extended irrigating, the truck patch and
family garden may be watered without great outlay.

The Gasoline Engine on the I'\\rm 413

Usually it is best to first pump the water, or a por-
tion of it, into a tank of moderate elevation. It is
rather more convenient to distribute from a tank than
direct from the pump and water pumped from a great
depth is apt to be too cold. By standing exposed to
the sun the temperature is more suitable. With a
garden hose, a spray nozzle and a moderate pressure
the water may be applied from above. This is nec-
essary in the case of grass and similar close-growing
plants, but for garden crops and plants in rows root

Fig. 146. — Water Distribution by Seepage Method.

irrigation is the best. This is done by running the
water into small trenches on each side of the row of
growing plants. The trench made by a cultivator with
shovels set for hilling up is just the thing, particu-
larly if the garden is cultivated with a wheel hoe and
the rows close together; say a foot apart. Run the
hoe exactly as though hilling up, being careful not
to cut through the headlands at the ends ; then across
the highest end of the garden cut a similar furrow
somewhat larger than the others, by expanding the

414

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

wings of the hoe a little and deepening by several
cuttings. Connect the tank or the pump with this
main ditch and then see that it is opened to each of
the irrigating trenches cut between the rows. The
discharge pipe from the tank should end in a hori-
zontal wooden box with holes in the side or one end
removed, to avoid the wash that would accompany
the continued discharge of water under pressure upon
loose dirt.

The trenches should all be prepared before the water

Fig. 147. — Water Distribution by Flooding Method.

Is turned on. Then oil up and start the engine, con-
nect with the tank, open the escape from the tank
into the head ditch and the rest of the job, aside from
an occasional supervision, may be turned over to the
engine. Without interfering with the regular field
work, it is possible to start up the engine just before
supper, after the night chores are done, and then just
before bedtime go out and shut down the engine, the
work completed and a fine crop of vegetables or ber-
ries saved. In time of a severe droug-ht it is not much

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 415

of a farm garden that will not produce more than a
small gasoline engine costs in return for occasional
treatment of this kind.

531. Kinks and Cautions. — Where the spraying
method of watering is used do not apply the water
until after sunset or else before sunrise or on a cloudy
day; never when the sun is shining.

If a full stream of water fails to come from the
pump and the supply in the well is ample try run-
ning a little faster. If that does not work and the
pump seems to be in good condition it is probable
that the strainer is deficient in waterway.

It pays to keep the connections between tank and
pump tight and free from leakage. The greatest
troubles and expenses come from neglected minor de-
tails. This is specially true in relation to the engine
itself.

Trouble always means expense. To cut expenses
down keep things in order.

A breakdown in dry weather may mean ruin to the
crop and loss of all work previously put upon it.

Other things being nearly equal, select that imple-
ment, machine or system that is likely to give the
least trouble afterwards.

Produce from a well watered garden will be fresh
and marketable in spite of drought.

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE WOMAN'S STORY.

532. What Machinery Has Done for Some Farm
Women. — From perpetual motion to hours of rea-
sonable industrial requirements the daily working
period of the modern farmer has been reduced by
farm machinery. In some instances the wife has
shared in this emancipation ; in a good many others
the only direct benefit she has received from the me-
chanical helps she has helped to pay for is a partial
or complete escape from having to go out in the field
and help the men with their work after having done
her own. Men no longer care to cradle and rake and
bind their grain by hand. Still less would they favor
a hand-power threshing machine or fodder shredder.
They sometimes forget that a w^asherful of clothes
requires some form of motive power even if the washer
itself is of the latest design. Nearly all washing ma-
chines are rated by machine men to require from a
^ to I H. P. engine and the average man is expected
to be capable of producing 1/7 H. P. How about
the woman who has to turn the w^asher by hand?
The average w^ringer turns even harder than the wash-
ing machine, and the clothes all have to go through
it three or four times. Is it any w^onder if the woman
who turns it sometimes thinks longingly of that will-
ing little helper, the gasoline engine, that would do
the hard part of her washings for her if it had a
chance?

416

The Gasoline Engine on thf Farm 417

533. The Farm Power Laundry. — No doubt the
average woman would be so much relieved by hav-
ing the washer and wringer turned for her that she
would be satisfied for weeks to come ; still it is much
more economical to install complete plants, once the
power is supplied, than to provide a few separate

1 ii, L4S. — The Woman's Engine.

items. It will cost some money but the beginning is
the most expensive part of it.

The complete power laundry should include a w^ash-
ing machine and wringer mounted together and ar-
ranged to operate at the same time or either one
alone, at the will of the operator. There should be
space on the tub rack for one or two rinsing tubs,
beside the washer and the wringer, made to slide along

4i8

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

a frame to operate over any of these and in either
direction. The clothes may then be wrung from any
one tub to the next one without lifting. The wringers
on some power washers are thrown in and out of
gear by a foot pedal ; on others with a lever. It is
very important that, whichever method is used, the
device should be within easy reaching distance of the
operator at any time so that the accidental catching
of the clothing or a finger between the revolving rub-

FiG, 149. — The New Washerwoman Lightens a Former House-
hold Burden.

ber rolls may be checked before any serious damage
is done. Unprotected gear wheels about a washer
should never be tolerated, the clothing is so easily
caught and wound in. A belt drive is much safer,
though belts are rather prone to slip when run near
soapy water. Some washers have enclosed gear which
is comparatively safe.

Washers are on the market which are guaranteed
to handle the heaviest carpets or the most delicate lace
curtains. This claim should be made good to a rea-
sonable degree. There must be no bearings where

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

419

the oil required will reach the clothes. In many of
the modern washers raising the lid of the machine
throws it out of gear and stops it until the lid is again
closed. This is much more convenient than having
to shift a belt or stop the engine whenever it is nec-
essary to turn or examine the clothes. A reversible
drip-board makes it possible to wring the clothes from
one rinse tub to another; then back again into a new

WRINGER ON „,^,,ro

, MOVABlt FRAME ^ ^t?rDR.?E

niNCED

riATFORM FOR
ORAININb TUK

Fig. 150. — A Complete Washing Outfit Adapted for Use With

Power.

water ; or, one washing may be going forward at
the same time that an earlier one is being rinsed.

The best washing machine in the world is not com-
plete unless conveniently placed faucets supply hot
or cold water at will to any of the tubs. This may
be arranged by a swinging faucet for each over the
central tub but with the swinging arm long enough
to reach over the other tub or the washing machine as
turned. For convenience the arms may be kept folded
back against the wall when not in use. Both tubs and
washer are drained from below by means of faucets

420

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

emptying into a sink or basin from which the water
is conducted by a pipe. From the time the clothes are
put into the washer until they are finished ready for
the drying line they need never be lifted excepting
as the ends are inserted between the rollers of the

W^^9

Fig. 151. — No Lifting Excepting to Fold for Wringer.

wringer and the pieces straightened out as they are
being run through. If efifectively arranged, a good
sized family washing can be done in from ^ hour to
I hour with very little drudgery for the operator. The
engine does all that, and does not mind it in the least,
but the power washing outfit is no longer merely a

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 421

concession to aching back and muscles; it is an
economic necessity in the household as surely as the

Fig. 152.— When Electric Power Is on Tap to Operate Washer.

A Washer Pulley. B — Wringer Pulley. C — Countershaft

Pulley. D— Electric Motor Pulley. E — Washer Driving
Pulley on Countershaft. F— Hangers. I — Electric Motor.
K— Snap Switch. L— Power Release Lever.

binder is in the harvest field, while the price of two
5c. cigars a week for a few years is enough to pay
for the outfit.

422 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

534. Ironing by Engine Power. — This may be done
by means of the mangle, engine run. The smooth rolls
of polished steel, operating much like a wringer, are
usually heated by gas, where that is available, and
take the place of the hot flat-iron admirably, the oper-
ator merely having to fold and arrange the garments.
As the pressure between the rolls may be regulated
at will, not even the most liberal expenditure of "el-
bow grease" can be as effective as this nerveless laun-
dress that never tires and does not have to ease off
on the pressure because of aching arms. Where gas
is not obtainable some other means of heating the
air in the interior of the rolls, which are hollow, can
be obtained.

535. The Water System. — A good old proverb
states that water never rises higher than its source.
The success of any laundry is limited to its conve-
nient supply of water, but the same engine that sup-
plies the power is specially adapted to supplying the
water also. Not even a special kind of pump is nec-
essary, though sometimes it is preferred. There are
pump jacks on sale that may be hitched to any hand
pump, and in such a manner that the pump may be
released and used in the ordinary way in an instant.

536. The Storage System. — With a gasoline engine
there is no necessity for storing up enough water at
a time to last until the next wind blows ; the power
is always available. For some purposes, though,
water under pressure is a distinct advantage, even
though it is no more work to start an engine up than
to pump half a pail of water.

537. Elevated Tanks. — An elevated tank outside
is at the mercy of the hot sun in summer and of freez-
ing troubles in the winter. If set indoors, there is
apt to be more or less drip and leakage to rot out the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

423

timbers of the house and cause dampness, with always
the possibility of a weakened hoop, a burst tank and
disaster.

538. The Pressure Tank. — The water storage sys-
tem under present favor is the pressure tank, which
consists of an iron or steel cylinder holding anywhere
from a few to many barrels, and tapped for the inlet
pipe from the pump and the discharge for the dis-
tribution of the water. A third hole, small in size,
is usually made for attaching a pressure gage or in-
dicator; or this may be made a branch of the other

3 Va PRESSURE
GAUGE
ELL

lyr STREET ELL

SPECIAL PUMP JACK

Fig. 153. — A Complete Pneumatic Water Supply System Gives
Important City Convenience in Country Homes.

pipe but must not under any consideration be omitted,
and is far more dependable when attached to its own
orifice.

The tank, of course, is full of air at first and the
air condenses as water is forced in by the pump until
it forms an elastic cushion in the top of the tank with
a pressure sufficient to drive the water, out through
the distributing pipe, to any part of the house. Usu-
ally the pumping is continued until the pressure gage
shows 30 pounds. As the air in the tank would not
alone supply enough pressure to force nearly all of
the water out, more air is pumped in so that when the

424 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

gage shows 30 pounds pressure there may not be
enough water to more than half fill the space. Many
power pumps are now made so that air or water or
both together may be forced in by the engine. Of
course, a much higher pressure may be carried by
forcing in more air.

539. Advantages Over Elevated Tanks. — There are
several advantages which a pressure tank has over one
that is elevated. In place of being set in an exposed
position, if outside, it is usually buried under ground ;
if in the house, it is in a cellar or basement where any
accident would flood only the one room instead of the
whole house. Because of the location of the tank the
w^ater is cooler, and because of the air forced through
it it is thoroughly aerated and much more palatable
and wholesome.

540. Making Use of It. — With a pressure or ele-
vated tank installed and a convenient means of filling
it, the water system of the farm house is merely a
question of distribution, and may be made quite as
complete as that of any city house. Hot and cold
water can be had with the turning of a faucet in any
room desired, upstairs or down. The modern bath-
room, for years so impossible for the farmer to possess,
is one of the most natural consequences of the tank.
With water coming to the faucets above the tubs the
laundry becomes a complete plant, and of course the
same method will be used to bring water into the
kitchen sink. By running up a little extra pressure at
cleaning time and attaching a hose, both upper and
lower windows may be washed thoroughly without re-
moving the sash or risking a broken neck. One of the
beauties of this system, an advantage over that in the
city home, is the control the individual has of the pres-
sure. On special occasions it may be run up to the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 425

point which would under ordinary circumstances be
unnecessary and inconvenient. In the country home,
too, the water may be pure ; there is no excuse for its
being otherwise, but the city man has to drink what-
ever is furnished him and must pay for its production
tmder the management of somebody else.

Mopping, one of the dreaded tasks of the farm
housewife, becomes, with the pressure tank, a matter
of very little concern. A few turns of the engine will
drive the pressure to the point where the hose will
easily take the place of the scrub brush. There need
be no more wringing out of dirty rags with bare hands,
and no corners are too inaccessible for the hose to
reach without any stooping or hard work.

541. Dish-washing. — In the same way, but with a
smaller pipe and less pressure, much of the dish-wash-
ing can be done without wetting the hands. The
dishes placed in the sink and soaped as needed, hot
or cold water, or a combination of the two, may be
turned upon them with sufficient force to do the wash-
ing more effectually than any hand work and in less
than half the time. Dishes not injured by heat may
be washed in water much hotter than the hand will
bear; then the pressure under which it is applied is
even more of an advantage.

Mechanical dish-washers now on the market are
quite a little in use in hotels, and are frequently run
by engine power. They are a convenience. Without
them, though, but with this easily regulated pressure
at command, the housewife on the farm has quite as
efficient a dish-washer as the city housewife and one
that will not be nearly as destructive to the dishes as
the average hired girl.

542. Outside the House. — Lawn sprinkling, while
not eactly a part of woman's work, falls to her fre-

426 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

quently; that is, she assumes it rather than see it go
undone. To the flower beds and pet shrubs she is ac-
customed to carry a good many pails of water in
the course of a season, but the engine 'could do it for
her through the pneumatic tank a great deal easier
than she can and much quicker, for he makes no re-
turn trips empty handed. Automatic sprinklers, too,
may be introduced ; such details every one, once the
means is at hand, will work out for themselves, and
enjoy the fun of doing it. As a general thing there are
some fruit trees near the farm house if there are any
on the farm. If the women folks have an engine and
pressure tank to carry water for them it will soon be
noticed that the trees around the house are pretty
certain to bear some fruit whether those in the orchard
do or not. EverA^thing that has life carries within it a
large percentage of w^ater, and a good many small boys
and women folks have had reason to conclude that
life itself was most of it made up of carr3ang water
for the rest of creation.

543. The Vacuum Cleaner. — With provisions for
convenient water cleaning it is time to consider that
which is best done dry. Whenever a really new ma-
chine comes out one may judge a good deal as to its
value by the number of cheap imitations which are
thrown upon the market. The vacuum cleaner is one
of those machines mentioned earlier in this bool^
which does not reach its full efficiency until some more
efficient power than is ordinarily available is applied.
Hand power is not enough, though hundreds of hand-
power machines are in daily use and are pronounced a
success; still they lack in complete efficiency. It is
the extra pound of energy which makes their success
absolute. The gasoline engine can supply that.

544. Cleaning House. — House-cleaning time is

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

427

largely dreaded because of the general tearing up con-
sidered necessary. With the vacuum cleaner this is
done away with, providing the cleaner has its full ef-
ficiency back of it. With the stronger machine and
more complete vacuum available with engine power,
the carpets may remain upon the floor and be thor-

FiG. 154. — A Portable Vacuum Cleaner Operated by Cushman
Farm Motor.

oughly cleaned every day instead of twice a year. Not
even moths can resist the suction of a vacuum cleaner
that is working as it should. With a clean carpet al-
ways, there is less dust to settle on the furniture,,
although the vacuum cleaner is supplied with a special
nozzle for cleaning it. Window curtains and the most
delicate draperies are cleaned where they hang. Even
the wall paper may be brightened by this method of

428 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

renovation as well as by the comparative absence of
dust. Clothing may be brushed out and cleaned after
a muddy ride and the beauty of it all is that the dirt
is really removed instead of being chased from place to
place, ^^^hen one stops to consider the work being
done by these comparatively new assistants there
seems to be some little foundation for the advertised
claim of one establishment: "We clean everything
but the baby and leave everything but the dirt."

At the barn more than one progressive dairyman is
now currying the cows with a vacuum cleaner and in
that way, just before milking, ridding their coats of
all dust and loose hairs without loading the air w^ith
dust that will settle into the pails while the milking is
being done. Power for this purpose is supplied by
the same engine that runs the milking machine in the
same stables.

545. Milking Machines.— While the milking ma-
chine seems at first thought to belong to the stable
rather than the kitchen, it is a part, and an important
one, of the dairy, over which the woman usually pre-
sides. Milking machines of the past have some of
them been unsanitary, inefficient, expensive and posi-
tively harmful. Any mechanical device which is ob-
jectionable to the cow is sure to decrease the milk
flow. The successful machine must be easily cleaned,
sanitary, strong, time-saving, economical, and not in-
jurious. It must also reduce the amount of help
needed or else increase the possibilities of the help
employed in number of cows handled.

The milking machine of to-day is not more difficult
to clean than the average cream separator. Some spe-
cial devices are needed with it; so are they with the
separator. It is more sanitary than hand milking, as
the work is all done under cover. The milk at no

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

429

time comes in contact with the dust or odors of the
stables from the time it is drawn until it is poured into
the separator tank. There is nothing about it that
cannot be made strong; that is merely a matter of
manufacturing economics. It milks a cow more
quickly than a hand milker can, and one man can be
milking two or even four cows at a time. It is eco-
nomical in permitting a reduction in the number of

Fig. 155. — Creating the Vacuum for Milking by Gasoline Power.

men employed or of an increased number of cows that
the present force can manage. That it is not injurious
to the cows has been indicated from the fact that they
no longer object to it, some of thetn standing more
quietly than for hand milking and giving better re-
sults. It also frees the owner from absolute depend-
ence upon hired help. Formerly he either had to keep
a number of men or else reduce his herd to a point
where it could not be run the most economically, and

430

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

if he chose the former course he was absolutely at
the mercy of his men.

While several different machines are now in use a
description of one will answer for all. The machine
consists of a heavy covered tin pail with a cone-shaped
top, the disc-like lid "of which contains the vacuum
motor operating on the cows. One rubber tube con-
nects this with a pipe overhead from which the air is
exhausted by the engine. When the stopcock is
opened between pail and pipe the air in the pail is dis-

156.

-Milking Cows by Vacuum Process Cleanly, Sanitary
and Not Injurious to Animals.

tributed through the vacuum and a suction set up.
The pressure carried is about ^ an atmosphere or 7I/2
pounds per square inch. Valves prevent the milk from
being drawn back into the pipe and give continued
suction for 10 to 15 seconds, then pressure, about 60
pulsations per minute, is applied by alternating the
suction with the pressure of an air compressor. One
pail or machine is set between two cows. A vacuum

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 431

reservoir is connected with the pump to prevent too
high a vacuum. Two rubber tubes, each with a glass
section inserted for inspecting the flow, lead from the
top of the can to the cows and terminate in four caps
which are adjustable as to size. The operator should
watch closely that all of these are working, and, as
soon as milk ceases to flow through glass sections,
should shut ©fif the suction. One machine is usually
allowed for every ten or twelve cows. While the ma-
chine should have intelligent attendance, there is noth-
ing complicated about it, and trouble comes to it
through misuse rather than from any fault of the ma-
chine. No doubt milking machines, like all other im-
portant inventions, will be greatly improved upon
after they have come into more general use, but in
their present stage they are neither less efficient nor
more objectionable than many another farm utensil
that is regarded as a success.

546. The Cream Separator. — It is possible to so
contrive the stable arrangement that the milk, instead
of falling into a pail, will be drawn along through a
tube, from the milking machine, directly into the tank
of the separator, which may itself be kept covered. At
least one separator now on the market contains a gaso-
line motor in its own base and may be started up as
soon as the milking begins and kept running con-
tinually until the work is done. This of course re-
quires no intermediate pulley. As a rule, however,
one of the special clutch or friction pulleys must come
in between engine and separator, as the latter, though
•strong enough to do its own work, is not able to en-
dure the constant though slight -rise and fall of speed
that accompany the impulses of the engine. Some
separator bowls revolve as many as 20,000 times per
minute, and are geared so high that a variation of 10

432 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

revolutions per minute in the engine's speed might
make a difference of 500 to 1,000 in the bowl.

547. The Governor Pulley, Why Needed.— Sepa-
rators do their work best at the speed they were made
to run, and they must be protected against sudden

Fig. 157.— The Present Day Dairy Maid Uses Gasoline Power
to Advantage. Note Engine on Base of Cream Separator.

jerks or extreme variations. Few people turn the
separator as steadily as it should be turned by hand,
and not many turn it fast enough. Without a pulley
between there is always trouble when starting. A
gasoline engine starts off at full speed ; the separator
has to be coaxed up gradually. This trouble can be
overcome by means of a belt tightener, which can be
thrown in easily and the speed of the spindle brought

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 433

up ; after that it is at the mercy of the engine, no mat-
ter how unsteady the pull or how great the overspeed.
This soon throws the bowl out of balance and ruins
the separator. A steam engine can be run without any
governor, and so can a power separator ; neither one
is safe nor economical. The speed of both should be
right and it should be uniform. With a governor pul-
ley and a gasoline engine the speed of the separator
may be made both without any guess-work. The
combination is better than hand work ; not so much
for a saving of work, as for conserving cream and
butter fat.

548. How It Works. — The governor pulley is a
friction pulley which controls the amount of energy

Fig. 158. — The Parker Speed Governor Pulley Secures Steady
Separator Drive From Even Intermittent Gas Power.

or pull which the engine exerts upon the separator as
the governor does the amount of energy turned into
the steam engine. The central part of the pulley re-
volves with the engine and starts at full engine speed,
with the shaft that turns it. As the wood friction
blocks are forced out slowly against the rim of the

434 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

loose pulley that carries the separator belt, the latter
is coaxed gradually into motion, the blocks slipping
a good deal but holding enough to start the bowl. As
the grip increases the speed of the bowl increases also,
and the blocks slip less until they are finally brought
into full contact and turn the belt pulley uniformly
with the shaft. By means of weights and spring, how-
ever, if the speed of the pulley gets above a certain
limit the grip is partially released, the blocks slip a

Fig. 159. — How Parker Speed Governor Pulley Is Employed.

little and continue to slip until the speed drops back
to normal and the weights to their place.

549. For Bottled Milk. — Where milk is sold direct
to families without separating, or where cream is sold,
it should be aerated thoroughly. This may be done by
allowing the discharge to run over a cone-shaped cap
of tin which may, if cooling is also required, be packed
with ice. The milk, discharged upon its apex, spreads
out in a thin sheet and is cooled very rapidly. If
cooling is not desired and aeration is the object, the
cone may be made of fine strainer cloth.

550. Churning by Power. — With the coming of the
gasoline engine butter-making is likely to again be

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 435

drawn away from the factory and revived upon the
farm. After the cream is separated the work saved
will be more than enough to run the cream into a re-
volving churn, throw on a belt and let the engine do
the churning. The hard work in such a dairy is all
done by engine power and under conditions that the
operator can control. If the temperature is too low
there is plenty of hot water to raise it ; if too high,
cold water will reduce it, and of course thermometers
will be at hand to tell when it is right. Even the

Fig. K.'O. — Chuniing by Power oi Gray Alotor.

butter working may most of it be done with power,
several rotary workers being on the market that are
easily adapted to engine action.

551. The Ice Problem. — Cold storage, or at least
some means of applying a low temperature at will is
an essential to good butter-making. Without it some
people make good butter; their care and skill in every
other detail overcome the lack in one, but their suc-
cess is achieved in spite of the one lack and not be-
cause of it.

Ice-making is certainly not a woman's work, nor is
ice-storing, but much of her work is made so much
more effective with the use of ice that the subject is
referred to hurriedly and its possibilities merely
touched.

For the many farmers who wish to put up ice but
dread to do so for fear of an accident if the work of

436

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

cutting is done with team power, a gasoline motor ice-
cutting machine is illustrated ; then, of course, whether
the ice is to be stored at the edge of the pond or has
to be hauled, the engine can be made use of just as
readily as for any other kind of hauling.

Fig. i6i. — Gasoline ]\Iotor Driven Ice Cutter.

When the ice crop fails, or in parts of the country
where there is no ice, artificial refrigeration has to be
resorted to. Condensers, and in fact the entire plant,
can now be purchased for family use with a capacity
of as little as ^ ton, the rating in this case meaning
not the amount of ice manufactured, but the amount

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 437

of freezing or cooling capacity equal to that which ^
ton of ice would have in 24 hours while melting.
One of these small machines will cool for one day a
properly insulated cold storage room of 80 cubic feet,
or say 10x10x8. By a system of piping in connection
with tanks of calcium chloride solution the desired
temperature, once obtained, may be held for some
hours and the engine used for other purposes. The
same plant would actually manufacture about half of
the above amount of ice in twenty-four hours. Ala-
chines of large capacity may, of course, be obtained.
While outfits of this kind are somewhat costl}^, once
installed, they may be operated on less than the annual
loss sustained on many farms for want of ice ; while
a good team lost in some lake while harvesting ice
would go far toward paying for an artificial plant.

552. Other Household Uses. — The ice cream
freezer naturally comes to mind, after mentioning ice,
as one of the uses to which gasoline engine power is
daily being applied, though it may not be an important
labor-saver in that one instance. It is the application
of power to the countless little things, the doing of
many things at once, the doing of all things more
thoroughly than would be possible if it depended upon
muscle power, that accounts for the extra time and
vitality and satisfaction the housewife feels who really
learns to make the engine help her in every task that
comes to her, whether she ever heard of its being so
employed before or not. Even if it proves to be no
saving the first time, if it succeeds it probably will be
the next, for she wall know better how to go about it.

553. A Handy Device. — Back of each farm kitchen
work-table a shaft two or three feet long and faced
with leather should be stationed, with a driving pulley
at the end, where least in the way. This may be

438

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

driven from a line shaft at the ceiling of the kitchen
or from one hung under the floor. The entire leather
face of this revolving shaft is virtually a friction pul-
ley. Near it fasten in a row, by means of wooden but-
tons or easily adjusted clamps, some of the various
revolving utensils of the kitchen, the coffee mill, the
spice mill, the meat chopper, egg beater, nutmeg
grater, whatever runs by wheel power. It looks like

Fig. 162.

A Well Kept Lawn Insured With ]\Iotor Propelled
Lawn Mower.

a foolish thing to use an engine for beating an egg.
How about dropping the egg in to be prepared for
that cake ; then, by swinging the beater into place
and turning a button so that its wheel is brought into
contact with the friction shaft, being able to turn the
attention at once to grinding the coffee for dinner.
That in the mill, and the mill swung into line, we
might just throw a nutmeg into the grater in prepara-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 439

tion for the noontime pie. Or perhaps a batch of
pepper is to be ground, or scraps of cold meat ; maybe
all of these. By the time they are all in place the egg
is ready for use, enough coffee ground for the next
meal or two ; in fact a lot of odds and ends that would
have kept one pair of hands busily occupied for an
hour or more will have been gotten out of the way in
five minutes without even a moment's tiring of the
wrist, or the slighting of anything for want of time.
Patent bread mixers are in extensive use by bakers

Fig. 163.— a Light Horizontal Air Cooled I. H. C. Engine
Suitable for Household Use.

and in hotels, and many of them are run with engine
power. If there is no bread to mix or if there is, set
the engine to chopping cabbage or, if there happens
to be fresh pork or beef at hand, just run out a mess
of sausage ; then if the engine is still running light,
stop sweating, switch on that fan overhead and enjoy
better air and a cooler kitchen. There are a lot of
things in any kitchen that alone do not require en-
gine power, that deserve it if enough of them can be
collected together and all done up at once.

440 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

554. Cleaning Various Utensils. — When it comes to
washing the kitchen utensils water pressure and
rotary brushes, if necessary, will do wonders. Even
the heavier dairy machinery may be in part at least
cleansed as a direct result of engine energy. Of course
the old rag that formerly was used in washing out the
churn has long ago given w^ay to a brush that may
not be any more effective but is less offensive to the
health inspector ; still it has its germs. Maybe sprays
of hot water under pressure have theirs, but they don't

Fig. 164. — Dynamo Operated by Small Gas Engine Provides In-
exhaustible Lighting Current.

live long. Cream separators have to be taken apart
in order to be thoroughly washed, but as each piece
is taken out it can be laid upon a frame where pres-
sure water of any desired temperature is playing upon
it. By the time the last piece is out the first and
probably all of the rest have been well cleaned. May-
be the engine is not doing all of this work, but it
supplies the energy that went into it.

555. Starting and Stopping the Engine. — Turning
the sewing machine is fun for an engine, and the tread
can be replaced with a foot lever for throwing a belt-
tightener on and off in order to stop and start at will.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 441

About every important task about the house the en-
gine will take a hand at except perhaps filling the
lamps and making the beds. Even in this it is not
wholly useless. If an elevator is put in it will readily
carry the bed-maker up to the task and then, if desired,
down cellar, when the work is all done, to turn off the
power. Even this is unnecessary work. A string can
be carried from the end of the switch lever to the
kitchen table and a pull upon it is enough to put out
the vital spark and turn this jolly little helper in a
moment into a piece of motionless iron. It will take
a trip to the basement to revive the spark, but, by
storing up a little compressed air in a tank for the
purpose, or by a friction brake, we may easily ride
down in the elevator and then, having started the en-
gine, come up on gasoline power.

Such are some of the possibilities, serious and other-
wise, of the gasoline engine as a helper for woman-
kind. Many of them are given only suggestively.
Actual conditions vary too much for accurate details.
The fact remains that ingenuity and a little money
may introduce into any department of housework, al-
most, a force that will save both time and vital energy
for other lines of work. Filling the lamps we have not
made the engine do yet. Let us see if that is pos-
sible.

556. Filling the Lamps.— ^A number of engines now
on the market run so smoothly that it is possible to
run a dynamo directly from the engine, but it is not
always convenient to keep the power in operation at
night, when lighting is needed ; so a storage battery is
by far the best, as a successful lighting system must
be available at any hour. These batteries may be
charged during the day, whenever the engine is run-
ning some other machine which does not require all

442 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

of its energy. At first, to save installation cost the
battery may be small in size ; enough for a little re-
serve electric energy but still depending in the main
upon the engine itself. This is quite economical if the
engine is no larger than necessary to run the dynamo
alone. If larger than that all of its superfluous energy,
without the storage battery, is likely to be wasted.
The storage system can be added to, cell by cell, much
like the sections of a built-up book case, until not only
enough energy to run the lights for the entire farm for
a night is stored ahead, but enough for some of the
small tasks that might be done by the engine direct,
such as rimning the sewing-machine. For many of
these light tasks electric motors are even more con-
venient than the gasoline engine ; still it is all gaso-
line power in another form, since it was the gasoline
engine that created our electric current.

557. Storage Battery Capacity. — Storage batteries
are rated in ampere hours, a 24-ampere hour battery
meaning one that will give 24 hours of current service
when not discharged at more than normal rate. A
battery of this capacity may give 3 amperes for 8
hours at the normal rate, but if discharged at more
than its normal hourly rate the time of its service
would be more than proportionately decreased, so that
its full 24-ampere hour capacity would not be reached.
It is on this account ir-oortant that the battery in-
stalled has sufficient capacity for all demands upon it.
It takes about 10 hours to fully recharge at the same
rate the 2-hour battery. A 36-ampere hour battery will
run 9 15-watt i2-candle power tungsten lamps 7^
hours (the standard time of normal rating) in a 30-volt
low voltage plant, which is satisfactory for the
average residence lighting; it will run twice that num-
ber (18) only 2y^ hours, or considerably less than half

Tpie Gasoline Engine on the Farm 443

as long. On no volts (used generally in large lighting
plants) it will operate 19 25-watt, 20-candle power
tungsten or 10 50-watt i6-candle power carbon lamps
yYo hours.

As there is always some wasted electric energy in
the use of a storage battery it is more economical to
operate the lights in part from the dynamo and depend
upon the battery rather as an assistant when it is not

convenient to run the engine. Stil

the storage bat-

«iil^

Fig. 165. — Electric Farm Lighting Outfit Turns Night Into Day
and Provides Another City Convenience for the Farmer.

tery does prove that a gasoline engine can be made to
fill ready for lighting the finest lamps in the world.

558. Lighting Up. — For the man or woman in the
living rooms above lighting up consists only of press-
ing a button or, more often, of turning a thumb-screw
in the base of the lamp. The duty of the attendant in
the basement is hardly more difficult, though of a dif-
ferent nature. At one side of a well equipped electric
light outfit stands the switch-board (see Fig. 166). If

444 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

the lamps are to be operated from the dynamo only
the dynamo or main switch is closed by bringing the
handle downward until the copper frame is pressed
into the grooves made to receive it. If the battery is
to be charged, the two battery switches are raised. If
the lamps are to be run with the battery only, the
dynamo switch is opened by raising the handle and
bringing the two battery switches downward.

Fig. i66.— Complete Residence Lighting Outfit for Country Use.

559. The Complete System. — The conditions placed
upon an engine used to run a dynamo are so severe
that it was long considered impossible to meet them
with a power which, like the gasoline engine, acquires
its energy in bunches; in fact, the present high ef-
ficiency of our best steam engines was forced upon the
engineering world to meet these electrical demands.
To belt a dynamo directly to a gasoline engine is to
reproduce in the current sent out all the energy pulsa-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 445

tions of the engine. Lights run directly from
the dynamo would flicker and wink. This may
be in part overcome by putting heavier balance wheels
on the engine and so absorbing in their heavy rims
slight speed variations. Governor pulleys are also
sometimes used, the same as for a cream separator ;
or the current may be conducted to a storage battery
and then drawn from that. Several engines are now
on the market, however, that run so steadily that

Fig. 167.— Storage Battery Employed In Connection With House
Lighting- Outlit.

quite satisfactory results may be obtained from the
direct belted dynamo providing the engine is not over-
loaded.

The low voltage (30-volt) outfits generally favored
for residence and farm lighting consist of about a
2 H. P. gasoline or kerosene engine, say a 50-light
dynamo, a storage battery, switchboard, and the lamps
required for the place, w^ith necessary wiring sup-
plies. If there is plenty of room the dynamo should
be driven by a belt; if not, it may be direct con-
nected with the engine, but a belt driven outfit is
rather more steadv.

446 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

An outfit of this sort will furnish plenty of light
for the average residence, barn and out-buildings, and
at the same time the dynamo is charging the stor-
age battery the engine may be used for other light
power such as cooling fans, cream separators or any
light running device that develops little speed varia-
tion; or a part of the current produced may be di-
rected into convenient little electric motors for run-
ning sewing machines, ice cream freezers, or into elec-

FiG. i68.— Electric Lamp Using Incandescent Fila

ment.

trie flatirons and many other household conveniences.
Where much of this work is to be done a larger
dynamo and engine will be necessary. If general
power engines are used for electric light work they
must be of the highest grade.

The wiring system should be as short as possible
as there is always more or less waste along the line,
usually 5% or more. The lighting plant is not com-
plete, though, that fails to include the barn in the
circuit. Not only is the electric light much more

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 447

convenient than any other kind, it is much more
effective and safer. There is no chance for over-
turned lanterns and the hghts do not blow out at
just the critical moment. When caring for sick stock
the electric light is of special value. These low volt-
age plants are not in the least dangerous as they are
not powerful enough to be harmful if by acci-dent an
uninsulated wire was touched.

560. Door Maid and Burglar Chaser. — Among the
earlier household conveniences likely to be installed
after the electric light has been established is a sys-
tem of electric door-bells and electric burglar alarms.
The latter is particularly valuable in the country,
where, as a rule, the attention of marauders is given
to the hen-roost or horse stable or some part of the
premises so far away that the invasion could not pos-
sibly be heard at the house, except by accident. Not
only will these electric signals frighten intruders away
but they will keep them away more effectually than
any watch-dog can. Either bells or buzzers or, per-
haps better still, an electric light can be so wired in,
that the opening of a door at night will close an
electric circuit and flood the place with light.

561. Making Electrical Conveniences Available on
the Farm. — Practically all of the household duties that
the gasoline engine can do the electric motor can
do even more conveniently, after the engine has given
it the power to do at all. Without the engine elec-
tricity could not be made available on more than
one farm in a hundred, and even where electric power
plants are within wiring distance the man who must
depend for his power upon someone else, rather than
upon his own resources, is at the mercy not only of
every breakdown but of all the strikes and disputes
between labor and capital without having any voice

448 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

whatever in their settlement. At best, the average
price of electric energy when purchased is more than
its production costs upon the farm and it is only into
the home-grown product that the farmer may put his
own work or that of his eager boys. Taking the
country over, the average price charged by the cen-
tral station companies is 12 to 15 cents per
1,000 watts, which is equivalent to about i^
horse-power. Making a fair allowance for losses
in transmission, the cost of the home-made cur-
rent is less than half of that produced in the distant
plant.

562. The Engine the Housewife Needs. — The gas-
oline engine for the woman must not be hard to start.
Some of the first light engines brought out were too
heavy and difficult; the average woman became dis-
gusted or discouraged. The man who has been ac-
customed to pottering with machinery problems all
his life may be willing to spend two hours making
an engine do a bit of work that he could do without
it in twenty minutes, rather than give up. The aver-
age woman will do the work the old way and order
the engine to the junk-pile.

The household engine must be moderately clean in
its habits. A w^oman may put up with a tobacco-
soaked man, but with an oil-soaked floor and greasy
engine — never.

It must not be immoderately noisy, and it must be
dependable. After she has used it enough to form
a lasting attachment for it she will overlook some of
its occasional short-comings. At the first, the chances
are she does not more than half believe in it any-
way, and every little fault will only add to her
suspicions.

In short, the engine that a woman wants is one that

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 449

will relieve her of a portion of her worries instead
of adding to them.

563. The Farm Girl and Boy. — Someone has dis-
covered that the way to keep the boy on the farm is
to keep the girl there, and there is a good deal of
wisdom in his discovery; still it is only a half truth.
The rest of it is to make farming conditions and coun-
try life such that it will develop rather than suppress
the best social and intellectual tendencies and
respect the courtesies of life. Both the boy
and the girl prefer the drudgery of some phase
of city life which is a complete mystery to
them to that of the ditch-digger and scrub-
woman some of them are familiar with in their own
neighborJioods. Such conditions have been abolished
in many parts of the country and wherever this is
so we will find farm conveniences and farm machin-
ery in an advanced state of development ; the develop-
ment, in fact, being largely responsible for the condi-
tions. No boy or girl of independent spirit can will-
ingly become a part of a life that seems inferior and
humiliating so long as the world seems to offer bet-
ter opportunities elsewhere. It isn't so much the
lightening of their work that they demand ; it is the
elevation of farm life from the drudgery of the slums
to a plane of which they have no need to be ashamed.
It means the touch of beauty and cultivated taste that
all right lives desire ; an occasional hour of leisure for
self culture, for improvement, for recreation, and that,
too, in the midst of surroundings which suggest some-
thing more than constant hard work. The average
farm boy is not lazy and neither is the farm girl.
They do not wish to escape work so much as to reap
some of the rewards for it that they have earned, one
of which is the right to develop their best ideals with-

450 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

out the depressing influence of humiliating compari-
sons. If there are any means within the reach of to-
day's farm life for permitting this, that cheerful little
plodder, the gasoline farm engine, is the most im-
portant.

564. The Price. — Reckoned in dollars and cents,
the price of all this saving of a woman's energy may
run anywhere from $20 up ; less than the cost
of a binder, a mowxr, a corn harvester, a hay
rake, a drill, a loader or any one of a dozen
other man-saving devices. At least one special
household engine, guaranteed to develop a full
>^ horse-power and capable of running almost
any one of the devices suggested at a time,
can be purchased in one style for $16 and in another
for $18; then there is the additional cost of installa-
tion and applying, in money, work and ingenuity. The
price of one good cigar a day for a month, of one
doctor's bill, of a few weeks' loss of time while re-
covering from the result of overwork, of a few months'
washing bill if done outside, of the waste in cream
and butter fat that occurs between factory and
farm ; any of these, if we count it up in dollars and
cents, would represent the price.

565. What Others Pay. — The price that others
pay, that we pay, if we persist in the old methods, is
not to be so easily computed in coin of the realm,
though it has a liberal expression in that also. The
real cost, however, is in human life ; in the life of the
housewife that is shortened by overwork ; that is
blighted even before it is completed by the ceaseless,
hopeless, unending drudgery which is never lightened
by a sense of completion or by a promise of any-
thing better for to-morrow than the unending tread-
mill of to-day. The real cost is the home influence

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 451

out of which the entire family is cheated because
there IS no time for anything but work ; not the work
that uplifts and inspires but the sort that dulls the
intellect and kills out the ideals which are a legiti-
mate part of human life and of which no one, young
or old, has any right to be deprived. The real cost
is the lost respect of the young people for the farm,
which is to them a synonym of resultless toil ; their
hatred of all that pertains to farm life, almost of do-
mestic life, because of its caricature which has been
forced upon them by a system of hard work which
has all too often been allowed to degenerate into the
drudgery that makes of the home only a place to
eat and sleep — and work.

CHAPTER XXVII.
HOME-^IADE CONVENIENCES.

566. Self Moving Engines. — With the possible ex-
ception of wind-mills, home-made tractors have un-
doubtedly been launched in greater variety than any

Fig. 169. — Tractor Sawing Outfit of Leslie Reed, Cottonwood,
Idaho, Goes to Work Under Its Own Power and Is an In-
genious Home Made Apparatus.

other form of home contrivance of importance on the
farm. This has partly been due to the general call
of the farm for power and partly to the tardiness of

452

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 453

the manufacturers in seeing either the possibilities
along this line in the farm gasoline engine or the pe-
culiar requirements which a farm tractor must ful-
fill. Tractors and trailers had become so much a fix-
ity in the manufacturing brain that no one but the
farmer himself thought of considering any other
design.

567. Light Power Tractors. — Naturally the first at-
tempts at farm tractor building were of the simplest
kind. A pair of discarded mowing machine wheels
furnished the drivers, to one of which a belt pulley
was securely bolted. The other was left to turn free,
and so the necessities of differential gear were avoided.
A belt run from the engine to the drive wheel pulley
applied the power to the work. A tightener pulley
applied and released by a lever made it possible to
start the engine without moving the drivers and then
to turn the power upon them gradually. A team was
sometimes hitched ahead to do the guiding or a guide
rod similar to a regular tractor might be rigged. Any
form of vertical drum upon which is wound at its
center a length of rope which terminates at each end
at the front axle makes a complete and cheap guid-
ing outfit. Such a tractor can be made at very small
cost, less than $10 outside of what material may be
pulled from any junk pile, and it makes a very con-
venient means of moving an otherwise stationary en-
gine about from place to place, under its own power.
Many 3 H. P. engines have been utilized in
this way, while even as small as i H. P. tractors
have been reported. This latter outfit had a
speed of 6 miles per hour, would climb any
ordinary hill and was capable of carrying two
people besides moving itself. Its rear wheels came
from an old mower and the front ones from a worn-

454 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

out go-cart. Instead of the drum guide it was fur-
nished with a lever which connected at one end of
the front axle with both a rope and an iron rod. When
the lever was pulled the rope drew the axle back ; when
it was pushed the rod shoved it ahead. As extreme
lightness has to be sought in these very small power
rigs in order to keep within the capacity of the engine,
there can be little tractive power and the work can
only be of a carrying nature, the load being applied
to the axle of the drivers from above and so adding
to their tractive capacity. On a draw-bar pull so light
a rig could not be very effective.

568. The Horseless Buggy. — Quite naturally when
it was discovered that small engines could actually
be made to propel themselves, somebody thought to
load one into a buggy and connect up in a similar way.
The wheels of course lacked w^idth and tractor lugs ;
still the greater diameter made the experiment enough
of a success to w^arrant other attempts and it is not
uncommon to see these home-made horseless bug-
gies travelling around at a fair speed in sections where
the roads are not too hilly. Where tractor lugs are
found necessary, a makeshift that has the merit of
cheapness may be made out of heavy fence wire
wound spirally about the tires and properly secured.

One rather unique road outfit was constructed out
of a 2 H. P. marine engine mounted on ordinary bi-
cycle wheels with the cones taken out and babbitted
to a steel shaft. It was driven with chain and
sprocket and developed a speed of about 15 miles per
hour.

569. Low Power Trucking. — Greater working ca-
pacity can be gotten out of these small engines on
trucking outfits than in any other way, because all
the weight of the load put upon them, within the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 455

capacity of the engine, adds to their tractive power.
Motor trucks which carry the engine within them-
selves have a very much higher percentage of effi-
ciency than do tractors used to exert their energy at
the drawbar, and this advantage is, of course, more
marked in the smaller engines than in large ones that
have more or less power to spare. Farmers who have
taken advantage of this fact have frequently obtained
surprising results from their small-power engines and
have in effect moved themselves several miles nearer
to their city markets than they were while depending
upon horses.

570, What an Old Farm Wagon Can Do. — The
ordinary farm v/agon, harnessed to a gasoline engine
in the simplest manner, can be made to do almost the
work of the factory truck so long as the pull is al-
ways straight ahead and at the same rate of fravel.
In practical work, however, it becomes necessary to
introduce differential gearing and so permit of short
turns and all inequalities of rate at which the driving
wheels revolve. It is not good economy to apply
the power to one wheel only when hauling loads and
not convenient to apply it separately to each of the
two wheels. The differential is the only really cor-
rect solution. It is also often necessary, when going
over difficult ground, to slow down much below the
rate at which the wagon should ordinarily move, nor
is any working rig satisfactory if it cannot be backed
a few feet or inches by the same power that propels
it. For these requirements a transmission, including
gear shifts of some sort, is essential. All add a little
to the work of construction ; also to the expense, but
they add still more to efficiency, which after all is
the true measure of profitable construction. With this
in mind a number of farmers have constructed motor

456 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

trucks of their own with which they can go any place
on the farm at a safe rate, and on the road at a speed
that makes them far more profitable than a team,
although they did not cost as much. With 3 to 6 H. P.
engines farm wagons have been turned by home work
into motor trucks capable of hauling the full capacity
of the wagon at a load and of making at least three
trips to market while the average farm team makes
one.

571. A Rapid Post-hole Digger. — ^Making the hole
and setting a post complete for the wires at the rate
of one a minute would be considered quite a feat by
any fence-builder, but the gasoline engine with a
home-made rig can easily discount that. If there is
a hoist at hand that can be mounted on the sills of
the engine the work is greatly simplified, it being only
necessary to add to the rig a couple of uprights 12
or 15 feet high, well braced and boxed to guide a
descending weight between them, and fitted at the
top with an axle bearing a crown or sheave pulley for
carrying the rope. An iron weight weighing from
fifty to one hundred pounds is secured to one end of
the rope wdiich passes over the sheave to the drum of
the hoist and works easily up and down in the guides.
By throwing the clutch to engage the drum this
weight is wound up and lifted ; then hand power or
an automatic clutch-release frees the drum and per-
mits the weight to fall several feet upon the end of
the post, which should be suspended over the spot
where it is to be driven, so that it may of itself take
a vertical position. The post, of course, is sharpened
same as for hand driving, but a few blows delivered
by such a force wdll settle it into the earth much
quicker and more securely than the most vigorous of
hand driving. A stop should be provided under the

The Gasoline Exgine on the Farm 457

weight to prevent its descent below a certain point ;
then all the posts driven will be left the same distance
above ground without the trouble of measuring. The
truck on wliich the outfit rides may be hauled by team
or by one horse, though it is much more convenient
to make it self propelling, as the engine has nothing
else to do while being moved from post to post. The
weight should be large enough in diameter to permit
of some variation in locating the post, as the rig may
not alw^ays be stopped exactly on the line of the fence.

Where a ready made hoist is not at hand the same
results may be obtained by substituting for it a home-
made drum or wheel of large diameter in the rim of
which a crank-pin catches and then suddenly releases
the rope, exactly as is done by the drill in well drill-
ing. \Mth a well made outfit of this sort one can
drive posts almost as rapidly as they can be swamg
into place, a very few^ blows from such a weight being
enough to sink a post any reasonable depth.

572. The Home-made Well-drill. — Home-made
well-drilling rigs are practically only simplified exten-
sions of the post driving outfit. The uprights must be
high enough to lift the drill and auger stem clear
of the ground and strong enough to support it. Auger
stems for w^ater wells usually run from 6 to 25 feet in
length and weigh from 150 pounds up, a three-inch
stem weighing about 23.5 pounds per foot of length.
Where a very short string of tools is used the length
of a joint of pipe or tubing will determine the height
of derrick as it is much easier to add to the height
than to cut and thread each joint.

After strength and capacity for handling standard
length pipe, the main features that determine the suc-
cess of a w^ell-drilling outfit are the lift of the tools
and the suddenness of their release, their power to

458 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

penetrate the earth depending upon the number of
foot-pounds energy per minute with which they strike.
It is evident that a weight of 300 pounds falHng a
distance of two feet will deliver twice the force in
foot pounds of that given by a 150-pound weight fall-
ing the same distance ; also that its penetrating ca-
pacity would be doubled if its fall w^as four feet in-
stead of two. Whether this force were delivered in
the form of a sudden blow or as a gradual thrust mat-
ters only because, if the latter, it indicates that there
is either an excess of friction against wdiich the energy
of the descending mass expends itself or else that a
part of the force is absorbed by the rope. If it is the
latter, it means that the cable is being restrained so
that the foot-pound energy is being expended in part
upon that instead of on the rock ; that is, the release
of the cable is not quick enough or complete enough
to allow the falling tools to follow the call of grav-
ity without interference. The drilling speed depends
entirely upon the hardness of the material penetrated
and the number of foot-pound energy delivered
against the rock.

573. A Good Barn Hoist. — Tw^o stout brackets or
standards, preferably of iron, support each end of a
stout iron shaft on which revolves a flanged iron
drum to which, when used in hoisting hay, the hay
rope is attached. A friction clutch or disk which re-
volves with the shaft is pressed forward by means
•of a lever against the drum and made to revolve it as
rapidly as the shaft revolves or less so, as the con-
tact pressure is increased or diminished between the
disk and drum. The pressure may be maintained by
holding the lever on, in case the operator wishes to
also run the fork at the load, by means of a small
rope attached to the lever, while a heavy spring con-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

459

stantly tends to draw it back and insures the drum
stopping- promptly when lever is released. By eas-
ing the friction contact the load may be held at any
desired point or lowered a little and then caught and
held. With a return weight attached to hay car, when
the load is dumped and the clutch released, the drum
revolves as a loose spool upon the shaft and unwinds

Fig. I/O. — Double Drum Hoist for Use In Connection With Gaso-
line Engine Made by Brown Clutch Company.

the rope readily, with far less pull than is necessary
in drawing a heavy rope back over the ground. The
shaft itself is geared or belted directly to the engine
and revolves in the one direction constantly. In lifts
of this sort gear or sprocket wheels are preferable
to belts on account of the slippage of the latter under
intermittent pulls. It is of great importance that the

460 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

shaft be heav}" enough to insure against bending or
springing. A good three-horse engine ought to oper-
ate a well made rig of this sort with entire satisfac-
tion and will unload hay considerably more than twice
as quickly as a team will, especially if there is a
shortage of help. One man on the load can tend fork
and hoist very nicely, leaving all the rest of the help
free to go into the mow if they are needed there.

The same rig can, of course, be used for swinging
up hay ladders, hoisting wagon-boxes or elevating
loads of any kind. By means of it a small elevator
may be operated from beside the threshing floor and
the grain taken in lots of ten or more bushels to ele-
vated bins, though a more convenient arrangement
for the purpose is the regular grain elevator.

574. Grain Tender at Threshing Time. — Elevated
grain bins have many advantages, the most important
of which, perhaps, is the ease with which gravity
may then be made use of when bringing the grain to
the stables, the feed mill, fanning mill, or when load-
ing it for market. As a rule, too, elevated bins may
be located in some out-of-the-way place where there
is room to spare instead of on the main floor where
perhaps every inch of space is needed. The one draw-
back to them is the work required in getting the grain
into them. This work the gasoline engine is always
ready to do.

A first class grain elevator is worthy of a perma-
nent location ; it should be made a part of the barn
itself. Having determined about what the position of
the separator grain spout will be at threshing time,
take up a couple of planks from the threshing floor
and build a hopper-shaped bin or one with sloping
bottom in between the joists; one that will hold from
five to ten bushels of grain. Cut off enough from the

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

461

462 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

ends of the flooring plank to cover this bin, return
the long ends to place and fasten securely ; then out
of the short ends construct a solid door or man-hole
cover, both ends and both edges of which rest upon
solid supports below. A little care in this respect may
be the means of avoiding a serious accident. Never
depend on dropping the short pieces into place with-
out some means of fastening them there. Secure them
with a hasp of some sort. If this fastening can be
done from the lower side it will save the presence of
annoying staples on the floor above.

The elevating trough should begin just below the
lowest point in the hopper bottom of the bin, so that
everything in it will drop into the trough. At the
lower extremity a pair of sprocket wheels carry each
a chain to which are attached the conveyors. The
shape of these depends a good deal on the pitch of the
ascent. If there is plenty of slope a very satisfactory
elevator may be made of wooden slats bolted upright
upon the chains ; if the ascent approaches the perpen-
dicular the regular purchased buckets, such as are used
in mills, are best. They occupy less room and are
so uniform in size that the spout in which they run
may be a very accurate fit and so permit little grain
to fall back. At the upper end of the elevator, which
should go considerably above the top of all bins, a
trough conveyor should be hinged in such a manner
that it can be swung to discharge into any bin in
the granary.

When the grain thresher is set up, ready for work,
a canvas or sheet metal spout is run from the grain
spout of the separator into this bin under the floor
and the grain, as it is discharged from the machine, is
delivered to the elevator with no hand work what-
.ever and with the least exposure to threshing floor

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 463

dust. At least two men are saved in the threshing
crew and, thanks to the gasoline engine, grain is de-
livered directly into the bins without carrying, with-
out hauling and without bagging. Not even tally-
ing is necessary. The bins are measured and the exact
amount of grain determined much more accurately
than in the case of ordinary machine measurements.

575. A Tractor Mower. — People had been making
use of mowing machine wheels for some time for
tractor drivers before it occurred to some one that
the wheels ought to answer a similar purpose if power
was applied to them wdiile they were left on the ma-
chine. For this purpose one of the sprocket and chain
drives is most convenient though not absolutely nec-
essary. Instead of the tongue a pair of stout culti-
vator wheels serve the double purpose of steering the
machine and of supporting the end of the sills upon
which the engine is mounted. The mounting should
be back far enough to throw most of the weight on
the mower wheels, wdiich are the drivers of the tractor.
The pitman frame sustains exactly the same relation
toward the sills which support the engine that it for-
merly did to the tongue of the machine, and is sus-
pended from it in the same way.

Between the engine and the machine a counter-
shaft should be placed. This should carry a friction
clutch ; also two sprocket wheels speeded respectively
to the drive wheel of the machine and of the pitman.
Aside from this there need be practically no change.
The mower itself is fitted with the differentials and
its mechanism remains almost exactly as it was ex-
cepting for the removal of the tongue and the con-
nection of drive wheel and pitman each independently
to countershaft instead of with each other.

In operating, the engine is first started w^th the

464 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

clutch thrown off; then as that is engaged the tractor
part of the machine begins to operate, the gearing
running exactly as it would with a team when out of
gear. The cutting gear is then thrown into action.
This machine has several advantages over one that is
horse drawn, and a number of differences. If a long
grade is struck the engine is not likely to gradually
tire out and slow down as a team will. If it does
the cutting gear will not begin to lag at the same
time and so choke down. There is no necessity of
stopping to rest the team at every round or tAvo and
no need of turning out before noon in the best of
haying weather because the sun is too hot for work-
ing horses to endure. On the other hand it is more
important that there be no hidden obstacles in the
grass. A tough stubble or small stone that stops the
team by stopping the cutting bar probably will not
check the engine. If the knives must stop, some-
thing will have to break and it is usually some part of
the machine, which was built for horses only. About
the only remedy for this is greater watchfulness and
cleaner fields.

576. Two Boys and a Motor Cycle. — There has
been a good deal of doubt expressed about whether
a gasoline tractor, light enough for ordinary plowed
and cultivated fields, could ever be constructed to take
the place of a horse-drawn cultivator. While several
successful rigs have been built of a large size it re-
mained for two southern boys to hit upon a form of
cultivator specially adapted to garden cultivating. The
machine they used was a motor cycle. A light frame
for the usual cultivator attachments was carried be-
fore the front wheels and then sloped back along
either side, the width of cut being regulated by ex-
panding or drawing together the outer ends of these

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 465

Avings through rods and levers operating between the
wheels of the machine. In order to give the machine
as smooth and easy a path as possible a shovel plow
or double hoe attachment may be located directly in
front of the front wdieel and a smooth furrow with
a firm bottom opened for the tractor wheels to run
in; then, if desired, this trench can be closed by a
pair of disks and some cultivator teeth following the
rear wheel. The idea doubtless admits of some im-
provement, but it may easily prove to be a step in
the right direction for light power cultivators.

Fig. 172.— Engine Outfit Easily Moved by One Man Because of
Wheelbarrow Truck.

577. Wheelbarrow Energy. — Several seasons ago
engine makers began to advertise the fact that two
men could easily pick up an engine capable of devel-
oping several horse-power and carry it where it was
wanted. The weakness in this w^as the fact that very
often the engine is wanted on the one-man sort of
jobs ; it was evident that some means was needed for
one man to convey the engine from place to place,
so it was mounted upon hand trucks. This idea had
a decided advantage — and a drawback. Rolling sup-

466 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

ports invariably add to unstability. The hand trucks
had to be blocked very securely or they would show
more vibration than would those on sills. Some bright
mind has united the two principles in the wheelbarrow
truck. One end of the sills under the engine is
mounted on small wheels and have their lower
corners cut away so as to clear the floor easily even
though the diameter of the wheels is less than the
depth of the sill. The other ends terminate in handles
like those of a wheelbarrow. Wljen these handles are
raised and the weight thrown upon the end supported
by the wheels the engine may be moved about by
one man like a wheelbarrow. When the handles are
let down the deep sills raise the wheels entirely from
the floor and the engine at once rests upon sills —
ready for business.

578. A Unique Fruit Gatherer. — Who, after weary
hours of climbing up and down a ladder, tugging
baskets of apples with always more to be picked, has
not yielded to temptation or ill-temper, and ended the
job by shaking bushels of good fruit down to be
picked up from the ground? Of course, it was ruin-
ous to the fruit, but after the hard work that had been
endured there w^as even a little satisfaction in the ruin.
A device made similar to a set of horse clippers, but
with shorter blade and wider teeth, may reduce both
the time and labor of hand picking and at the same
time do the work quite as well.

The blade is attached to the engine exactly as horse
clippers are and a rod secured to the flexible shaft.
A canvas tube, held open at its mouth by a small
hoop, is swung to the rod directly below the blade.
This may reach to the ground or, better, to the wagon
in which the engine sets and that will be used to
haul the fruit from the orchard. If this wagon has

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 467

been fitted out with tractor power the same engine
which supplies the power can be used in picking the
fruit.

The operator on the ladder hooks a rod at one end
over any convenient limb and the other into some part
of the canvas tube, some distance down. This relieves
him from the weight of the apparatus. With the rod
which carries the blade and mouth of the tube he
svv^ings the contrivance here and there, just under the
fruit and as rapidly as a stem is touched it is cut
by the jaws of the blade which are driven by the
motor below, the fruit falling through the hoop into
the canvas tube, whence it is received by the attend-
ant in the wagon below and sorted, if dry, into the
regular packing barrels. Not only does this save all
loading and nearly all climbing up and down ; it also
avoids practically all handling of the fruit excepting
the one placing in the barrel. The canvas bag or tube
should be of sufficient length to admit of some slack
so that the fall of the fruit will be retarded by fric-
tion among the folds. It must also be kept constantly
emptied by the attendant so that the fruit will not be
bruised by contact. While a device of this sort might
seem rather trifling for operating with engine power
by itself it is no more so than the shearing of sheep
or the clipping of horses, both of which have long
been done with the help of power. There is no rea-
son, however, why the same engine should not at
the same time supply the tractor power for moving
the wagon about ; also, for raising the ladder and
swinging it from the tree while the wagon was shifted
to another place. In fact, about all the lifting that
goes with the harvesting of fruit can be done with
a gasoline engine, and at very little expense.

579. A Home-made Power Saw. — As an example of

468 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

what may be accomplished by one possessing mechan-
ical ingenuity and the ability to utilize odds and ends,
which are found lying around any farm, the tractor
saw outfit depicted at Fig, 169 is presented. This
machine is built entirely of components wdiich had
reached the end of their usefulness on various farm
machines. Common header binder wheels serve as
drivers, while the front end is supported by separator
trucks having narrow bands shrunk onto the rims to
prevent side slip. The differential gear is on the rear
axle, which revolves in babbitted boxes. The counter-
shaft is directly under the engine base and a chain is
employed to transmit the engine power from the coun-
tershaft to the differential sprocket. A jack shaft,
which runs lengthwise of the frame, receives its power
from a single pulley on the rear end of the engine
crank shaft and drives the countershaft by a bevel
gear. The reverse motion is obtained in a very in-
genious manner. Two bevel pinions are keyed on
the jack shaft a little further apart than the diameter
of the bevel gear, driving the countershaft, which in
turn drives the differential sprocket. If the jack shaft
is moved endwise, so the back pinion engages the
bevel gear, the machine moves backward on the road,
while if the jack shaft is shifted backward so the front
pinion engages, the forward motion of the tractor is
obtained. A short belt, six inches in width, drives the
jack shaft from the engine pulley and a jockey pulley
or tightener serves the purpose of a clutch. If the
jockey pulley is moved back, so that the belt is loose,
the engine will run independently of the road wheels,
whereas, wdien the belt is placed under tension, the
engine will drive the conveyance. The frame is made
of round wrought-iron pipe and the cooling water is
pumped through it so the frame performs the func-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 469

tion of a radiator, as well as a support for the power
plant. The saw is operated in connection with a swing
table which the maker considers the quickest acting
and easiest handled form of saw table. The engine
is adapted to use kerosene so that very cheap power
is provided. A machine of this nature may be dupli-
cated by anyone having the patience and ingenuity to
contrive and sufficient mechanical ability to join the
various parts together and adapt odds and ends to a
useful purpose.

580. Other Home-made Conveniences. — The mak-
ing of ingenious little labor saving devices, if per-
sisted in, becomes a matter of demand and of habit,
rather than of study. The occasion will supply the
desire and, with that, the trained hand and brain soon
find a way of accomplishment, although that way
may not be exactly the same with any two different
people. As surely, too, will the habit of applying
power and mechanical advantage to the simplest tasks
grow upon one, after it is fairly exercised, until the
work of brute force and animal muscle will nearly
all of it be replaced upon the farm as elsewhere
through energy which originates with the brain and
the intelligent directing of the forces that nature has
placed within reach of our hands.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
MODERN POWER APPLICATIONS.

581. Helping the Binder. — Any practical farmer
understands that the bull wheel of a grain harvester
must perform two duties ; first, carry the weight of
the machine, and, second, supply the power required

Fig. 173. — Small Gray Motor Helping the Binder.

for operating the cutting, elevating and binding ma-
chinery; and it is this second operating strain that,
more than anything else, causes the binder to choke
down and sink into the soft earth, when the ground is
wet or the season unfavorable. Rarely is a team
stalled with a binder running empty or when the bull
wheel is merely carrying the dead weight of the ma-
chine. Several years ago much of the grain grow-

470

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 471

ing section of the west became a veritable quagmire
on account of heavy rains, and the grain was going
down and shelling badly. Unless saved at once, thou-
sands of bushels would be lost. Team power enough
to drag the weight of the binders through any depth
of mud could be supplied, but the instant the machines
were thrown into gear the drive wheel would slip and
refuse to turn.

Someone, desperate at the prospect, fastened stout
iron brackets to the rear of the binder frame and set
a light gasoline engine on, took the drive chain from
the binder, connected the sprocket drive to the en-
gine, turned on his power and started his teams. That
idea saved the world many thousands of bushels of
wasting grain that season and the same idea has been
in operation in the world's great grain fields annually
ever since. Even if the ground is solid it saves one
or two horses out of each team and makes it very
much easier for them. It is also easier on the ma-
chinery, as the motion can be regulated once and then
kept uniform. There is no slowing down of the cut-
ting bar in tangled spots where the full speed is most
needed. The horses are not worn out or winded at the
end of a few rounds. If there happens to be a long
hard grade they do not in addition to this extra work
have added to their burden the extra draught from
the slower motion they are almost certain to maintain ;
nor is a portion of the grain pulled oiit or slid over.
The work can be done much faster, too, because a
wider cut machine can be used with the same team,
the dead weight of an eight-foot cut being very little
more than one of six.

A gasoline engine for this service must be light
and smooth running. About three horse-power is gen-
erally used, and an engine that can be mounted on

472 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

brackets behind the binder or even set upon the table
is best, as there is no trouble about alignment. Heav-
ier engines are, however, mounted upon light trucks
and dragged behind as trailers, the power being con-
veyed to the binder by a shaft and universal joint.
When mounted on the binder they are usually set
directly on the table or else placed between the bull
wheel and the beam back of the axle and are con-
nected with a chain to the small sprocket.

In 1909 the gasoline engine saved several million
dollars worth of grain in the flooded districts of the
Missouri river valley in this way. On account of their
proven value in this field, binders are now being de-
manded, with the engine supplied as a regular part
of the binder, but detachable, for other light work
when needed.

582. In the Hay Field. — A light power engine set
upon the frame of a mowing machine not only does
the same thing for the hay harvest that it will do on
the binder, but it enables the ordinary team to keep
in steady operation, with little or no time wasted in
turning corners or resting at the end of the swath.
For this grade of work a sprocket wheel should re-
place the usual belt wheel on the engine and posi-
tive chain drive be used. Very little change need be
made in the mower, a sprocket wheel being intro-
duced to receive the drive chain and the regular driv-
ing gear being disconnected from the drive wheels
of the machine. The engine should be mounted well
back, so that at least one-third of its weight will
fall back of the machine axle. As it is usually neces-
sary to move the driver's seat back a little his weight
in its new position will generally about balance the
extra weight of the engine so there will be no added
pressure on the horses' necks.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 473

IMany small farms have been deprived of the use
of the ]:ay loader for no other reason than because it
is too heavy for a single light team to handle ex-
cepting under the most favorable of conditions. A
bracket platform hinged at one end to the under side
of the loader at its base and supported at the other
end by small wheels forms a convenient support for
the ens^ine, which can then be attached to the ele-

FiG. 174. — The Motor Truck In the Hay Field.

vating machinery of the loader and the pull of loading
the hay be transferred from the team to the engine.

583. Making the Spreader Work. — The manure
spreader is also a forbidden luxury on many farms
because of the team powder it requires, although in all
the list of farm machines, the gasoline engine alone
excepted, there is no other that will pay for itself
more certainly and readily. The work of the spreader
is, however, more intimately associated with that of
the team which propels it than of the binder or loader,
there being no part of it that can be operated to ad-

474 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

vantage independently from all of the rest. The en-
gine may be applied to one or more wheels as a tractor
or it may be attached to the spreader mechanism
only and through the medium of a governor pulley
which would admit of the engine exerting its full pull-
ing capacity and at the same time guard against its
being overloaded and choked dowm. Once started, a
three or four horse engine will take off so much of the
load from the team that there is no necessity as a
rule for the latter to stop. With a little care on the
part of the driver the team and engine may be kept
working so nearly in unison that neither will be over-
loaded and the advantage of the spreader will in this
way become available upon thousands of farms that
are now getting along the old, hard and extravagant
way.

For use with the spreader the engine should be
mounted on a platform at the extreme front end of
the box and across the top, so as to be above all the
scatterings that might otherwise interfere with some
part of the engine, or the connecting gear.

584. The Short Power Wagon. — It is the experi-
ence of everyone that, while an ordinary team can
haul all that the farm wagon should be expected, as
a rule, to carry, there are times when it is economy
to overtax the usual capacities of the farm team.
The pull may be over good roads but a long dis-
tance ; or the roads may be too heavy for a team to
handle enough of a load to make the trip justifiable;
still, it may have to be made.

The gasoline engine, applied as a tractor, can make
possible a full profitable load under conditions that
would otherwise make only a half loaded wagon avail-
able. It will also supply that unflagging energy that
will enable a team, without undue fatigue, to convey

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

475

their full capacity for a long distance. With a good
driver in control, the engine and team may become
valuable supplements of each other and do work to
good advantage, that neither one would do as well
alone. Often the slippery track will not permit the
drive wheels to hold enough to take the wagon on
tractor power alone when a very little help from the
team will relieve from that last pound of pull that

Fig. 175. — The Modern Connecting Link Between Farm and

Market.

breaks the hold of the wheel lugs. Often even a
little help from an untiring source will prevent the
team from wearing out.

Especially in going to market, where the pull is
long and steady rather than hard, the engine will en-
able the team to endure a load that could not other-
wise be taken more than half of the distance, without
cruelty to animals.

585. At Threshing Time. — All energy, unless being
continually overtaxed, is judged by the way it meets
the calls of emergency, when some unusual demand is
to be met. The farm equipment that goes smoothly,
most of the time, may be found seriously wanting at

476

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 477

such unusual times of stress as threshing time and
may have to draw heavily for help upon the resources
of the surrounding farms. For the fully equipped
farm only a little of this is necessary. A good gaso-
line engine of very moderate size, but well managed,
can do away with much of the old time calls upon the
neighborhood and make each farm nearly, if not quite,
self-sustaining in the matter of labor equipment.
Many farms of the future will have each their own
threshing equipment quite as certainly as they now
have their own provisions for storing their own hay.
Stripped of its portability and its wholesale capacity,
the grain separator is not nearly so complicated nor
so expensive as the binder or the mowing machine.
When one is found built into every barn, the grain
will be hauled from the field and unloaded directly
into the separator without any intermediate handling.
Such a process will not be as long or as hard as the
present one, for both grain and straw will be elevated
by machinery.

Even with our present day system of neighborhood
threshers, the gasoline engine can be made to take the
place of most of the hands. We have already seen
how it may supplant the two or three men at the
grain. The modern wind stacker, directed into a tight
mow and with its discharge end hung to a pulley
traveling back and forth along a steel track, can be
made to distribute the straw well over the mow with-
out much attention. With the help of the engine,
when hauling in and storing the grain, the mows may
be so located that gravity may again be utilized to
the best advantage and, by means of sloping floors,
one or two men can frequently receive at the foot of
the slope and drop into a conveyor almost every sheaf
in the mow. Two hands, at most, would be ample

478 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

for the grain sheaves. The gasoline engine, once the
sheaves were dropped into any part of the conveyor
trough, would take them to the machine. There are
mechanical band cutters on the market ; one of these,
at the end of the conveyor, w^ould dispense with an-
other man. In all, we have one or two men in the
mow and another one to watch the operations in the
stack and bins; that is about all that are needed, pro-
viding all the possibilities which the gasoline engine
makes available are taken advantage of. Let anyone
who is inclined to pronounce such arrangements vi-
sionary take a trip through any other kind of factory
and note how completely even the most trivial oper-
ations are made automatic and mechanical before he
decides that it is impracticable to put our great farm
factories upon this same carefully constructed busi-
ness basis.

586. Harvesting the Corn Crop. — Because silos
and corn harvesting by machinery are of such com-
paratively recent origin, we have had fewer old pre-
judices to overcome and it has been comparatively
easy for people to adopt methods that are well ad-
vanced in their mechanical perfection. Already we
have corn harvesters at work cutting by the acre as
we once cut by the hill, and we have them operated
by gasoline engines both in the form of tractors and
of small power helpers auxiliary to the team. We
have tractors hauling the crop from the field after
having loaded it on with their own power. We have
ensilage cutters with self feeders, which require only
a little hand work between the time when the shocks
are taken from the load and the moment when they
are finally deposited, shredded and with the ears sep-
arated out and husked, if we wish, in the silo or the
mow. We have elevators and wagon dumps that

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 479

will deposit the husked corn, a wagon load at a time,
in the cribs. We have shellers to shell it without our
once touch'ng it by hand, and mills to grind it ; or,
if we wish, it may go to the mill cob and all. From
the time the seed is poured into the planter, until
it has been raised, harvested, ground, fed, and con-
verted into beef, it is necessary for the human hand
to come in contact with it hardly at all. Surely this
is a triumph for farming machinery along this one
line, which ought to convince the most skeptical that
equal results may be obtained along any other. But
only a little of all this could be accomplished without
the help of power — ^mostly gasoline power.

587. Hauling by Cable. — Before the days of
tractors, hauling and even plowing by cable was in
common use, and even yet, in some parts of the world,
it is resorted to, quite a little. It has one great ad-
vantage over tractors, the difference between tractor
and draw-bar efficiency which, in the case of most en-
gines, amounts to 30% or 40% of the entire efficiency
of the engine. Cable hauling, however, like coasting,
has certain drawbacks in relation to the profitless and
sometimes difficult "trip back up the hill." Where
the engine can be located central to considerable work
and within reasonable distance, such as where clear-
ing off a piece of land from stumps or stones, the
cable may be used to reasonable advantage ; but, for
ordinary conditions the tractor, though it uses up a
good deal of power in its own propulsion, is the most
economical because the most efficient ; the engine
power saved by the cable method having most of
it to be made up by the extra man power required
in the handling of the cable.

588. What Gasoline Is Doing to the Road Ques-
tion.— It was the bicycle first, and afterwards the

48o

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 481

automobile, that impelled the recent countrywide
movement for better roads. A little sectional feeling
may have been engendered at the start because a
few city people out for pleasure first made known to
the world, with perhaps unnecessary criticism, the
discovery that the country roads were, some of them,
bad ; still, the farmer w^as not long in deciding that
the same highway condition which was keeping the
city pleasure seeker out of the country was making
the distance between himself and his markets even
more objectionably great, because his use of the roads
was largely a matter of business instead of pleasure.

Since it was through the agency of gasoline that
this great problem was first convincingly presented,
let us see what progress gasoline has made in solving
it.

In Bement township, Piatt county, Illinois, which
now boasts of some of the best dirt roads in the state,
a 45 H. P. gasoline tractor is used first to clean out
both ditches thoroughly w^th the grader, then to level
and crown the center of the road with the leveler, and
last to press it into a compact surface that is almost
waterproof by going over it with a 6-ton roller. This
is done at a cost of $2.40 a day for coal oil, 55c. for
gasoline, $1.00 for lubricating oil and the wages of
two men ; say $8 in all. The result has been some
of the finest dirt roads in the state of Illinois, 35 feet
from gutter to gutter and from 16 to 20 miles of them
completed each day. Three years ago these same
roads were often all but impassable. Now the only
attention they require is an ''occasional leveling after
a rain to maintain their crown."

Comparing these results with those obtained by
other methods, including one or two expensive steam
outfits, the road commissioners state that thev have

482 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

moved more dirt in two years with the gasoline tractor
and have accomplished more with it than in the en-
tire twenty years preceding. Steam power they de-
clare to be much more expensive in wages, fuel, run-
ning expenses, and wear on engine, both while in use
and specially when idle.

589. Fighting Weeds. — For those highways, the
surface of which is unsuitable for road making, there
are gasoline outfits that gather up the loose dirt in
the roads and ditches and deposit it either into a
wagon driven at the side of the rig or at the side
of the road beyond the ditches. This not only disposes
of the wash from the ditches, which has left the road
bed because it is too unstable in nature to be of use ;
it also, in part, buries and discourages the weeds and
brambles so prone, if left to themselves, to come up
along the space between the ditch and fence. A more
important weed-killer, however, is found in the spray
pump, which, as we have already seen, is operated best
by engine energy ; the efficiency of the work against
the weeds, without injury to the growing grains and
grasses, in the case of field work, depending very
much upon the solution being applied in a very fine
spray driven with a good deal of force — at least 100
pounds pressure to the square inch being necessary
at all times — and with enough pumping capacity to
distribute from a barrel to a barrel and a quarter per
acre, 52 gallons being reckoned as a barrel.

In preparing the solution, too, the energy of the en-
gine is of direct assistance, especially if copper sul-
phate is used in preference to iron sulphate, as it dis-
solves with greater difficulty, although 10 or 12 pounds
of it, if really pure, are equal to perhaps 100 of the
iron salt. Where horses are used as a motive power,
it is customarv to take on a barrel or two of the pre-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 483

pared s(7iution at a time and then have more of it under
preparation with hand agitation of the liquid, at dif-
ferent points of the field. Where help is scarce, this
is not always convenient, and where it is plentiful, we
still have another case of using intelligent man energy
for a purely mechanical task that a machine would
do as well and even better. With the tractor a lareer
quantity can be carried without an overload and a
couple of barrels of the complete solution in one tank ;
in the other the same amount, in process of prepara-
tion, will only keep the tractor moderately busy; the
same engine that carries the tanks about supplying
the pressure for spraying and running the agitator in
the mixture being dissolved. With plenty of carry-
ing powder, a third or reserve tank may be advantage-
ously carried, if the fields are large. Then as soon
as one tank is emptied the second one can be switched
to the spray nozzle and the refilling of the first done
ready for beginning a new solution without having
to wait until the stationary water supply is reached
at the end of the field. By this means both of the
working tanks may be kept supplied w^ith material
for their respective tasks at all times and the re-
serve tank replenished at the convenience of the
operator.

Another advantage that the engine sprayer has over
one driven by horse-power is the fact that there is
no animal life to protect against the effects of the drift-
ing spray. Horses used in spraying must be kept
closely blanketed and even then are more or less ex-
posed to injurious effects, as they are continually
breathing in air that is more or less charged with a
poisonous mist.

590. Ditching. — In a good many places tile drain-
age is a necessity if w^e would obtain full 100% re-

484 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

suits ; in very many it is a material advantage. Al-
ways, though, it is an expensive and laborious task,
when done by hand labor. Intelligent workers are
specially hard to get at a reasonable price for ditch-
digging, but it takes a certain amount of intelligence
to finish the bottom up to the grade. A machine will
do this much cheaper and with far more uniform re-
sults. Gasoline ditching outfits are now made that
not only dig the ditch any desired depth, but at the
same time lay the tile and fill up the trench after
themselves, a six to nine-foot ditch being dug by some
of them at the rate of 120 feet per hour. Under spe-
cially favorable conditions much greater results have
been reported. With the advent of cheaper ditching,
more of it will be done, many acres of land, that has
been, hitherto, untillable or only partly so, will be re-
claimed and thousands of acres will be sweetened and
rendered more productive by making it possible to
work them more promptly at the proper seasons and
gaining control of underground moisture conditions.

591. The Farm Roller. — Friction is the great en-
ergy absorber wherever one moving body comes in
contact with anything that supports it and this is
quite as true of all contact with the earth as it is of
journal boxes in machinery. In just the same way,
too, can this power destruction be decreased by
smoothing the surfaces at the points of contact. While
we cannot lubricate the track of the binder across
the field as we can its bearings for the axl^, we can
decrease to a very great extent the friction strain
by rendering the road under the wheels as firm,
smooth and level as possible, an efficiency of any-
where from 10% up to 60% or 70% being possible
in this way, the gain depending a good deal on the
amount of necessity for it. Of all known implements

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 485

of the farm, the roller is the most effective in doing
this.

Horse drawn rollers have a number of drawbacks.
In the first place, the ground that is mellow enough
or soft enough to respond the best to the roller's pres-
sure is just in the right condition to be injured by
the sharp-cutting hoofs of the team. If the ground is
firm enough to withstand the footmarks of the horses
it requires a heavier roller than the ordinary farm
team can handle to do the work in a really thorough
manner.

Powder driven rollers may be made a part of the
power plant itself, the broad, smooth wheels that will
entirely cover the ground the tractor covers being
substituted for the usual tractor wheels. Because
of the broader surface pressed upon there is no
sinking below^ the general surface level in spots as
in the case of a horse. Because of the unlimited horse-
power that may be turned loose in a tractor there is
no limit, within reasonable efficiency, to the weight
that can be brought to bear directly upon tlie ground
to be rolled. Where tractor farming has been in use
for some time the fields will be found smoother even
without the rolling, partly because of the continuous
leveling off wdiich traction farming insures and partly
on account of the more thorough system of harrowing
and cultivating all the plowed fields are certain to be
given and because, in order to get the work done at
all, the ground does not have to be worked out of
condition.

592. Sheep Shearing. — Although sheep shearing is
not generally thought of as one of the heavier tasks
of the farm, it is safe to say that there are few others
which leave the operator more tired when night
comes, the work being particularly trying on the

486 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

muscles of the arm and wrist. One of the most effec-
tive and inexpensive sheep shearing outfits ever
brought to the writer's attention was constructed by
an Ohio farmer and consisted of a i H. P. gasoline
engine mounted in a light wagon and belted to the
shafts which operated two horse clippers. Very little
alteration was needed excepting in the shape of the
blades. The framework which supported the shearing
arms was adjustable and could be readily moved to
the extreme end of the rig when in operation and slid
forward to the center of the buggy box when on the
road. The entire outfit is easily hauled about with
one horse, and w^orking full capacity it uses less than
a gallon of gasoline per day.

593. In the Poultry Yard. — In the poultry yard,
aside from the usual work of shelling and grinding
feed, the uses of the small power gasoline engine are
numerous. Bones, instead of being buried or burned
or thrown about the place, are thrown into the hopper
of the cutter and reduced to good poultry tonic by the
boys of the place for the fun of seeing the engine go.
The straw is cut into short lengths and clover hay
chaffed into meal. Water can always be handy and
the roosts and inside of the building kept thoroughly
sprayed out and cleansed and disinfected. Outside,
the whitewash spray pump takes the place of the
brush, and fills the crevices better besides doing it
so much more quickly that it is done wnth greater fre-
quency. Coops and all parts of the poultry plant will
be kept in better repair because there is more time for
it, and it can be done with so much less work.

594. The Road to Market. — Aside from the things
we eat, the value of what the farmer produces is after
all finally determined largely by the proximity of his
markets and his means of reaching them. Distance

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

487

488 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

alone is not the measure of remoteness. An im-
briclged river, with no boat at hand, might cut a seri-
ous amount of profit off from produce that would
have a high commercial rating on the other side of
the stream. The stream of mud, the channel of im-
passable roads between the farm and its nearest mar-
ket has sometimes been an equal menace to profit ;
but now that the mud is being removed, and the bad
roads in some measure done away with, actual mileage
distance can be more directly reduced. Even this the
gasoline engine has done much to overcome.

Taking the country over the average team haul of
wheat, to place it on the market is 9.4 miles, at a cost
per ton of 19c. ; the average haul of cotton has been
1 1.8 miles, at a ton mile cost of 27c. After a limited dis-
tance the cost of hauling by team increases rapidly, as
the reasonable endurance limit of the horse is ap-
proached. The cost of hauling by motor decreases with
the distance, the main expense being the handling of
the load at either end of the trip. On the road the cost is
very slight. This fact is an important one, both to the
farmer and the man to whom he sells, because, as the
population of the cities increases faster than the pro-
ducing capacity of the territory around them, a larger
area must be levied upon for the same quantity of
supplies for each person; that is, the haulage distance
is becoming greater. It has now outgrown the capac-
ity of the horse and requires that of some other power.
To a great extent railroads have taken and will con-
tinue to take this place ; still there must be some
means of connecting even the local station with the
farm, and more and more is it becoming necessary for
the farmer to handle his produce in the most economi-
cal manner, by taking it in larger quantities ; by re-
ducing the time required for each trip.

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 489

Again the gasoline engine has met this new farm-
ing condition. With the automobile at hand the road
to town has been reduced at least 60 per cent., or, put
in another way, the area of farming land now within
reasonable market distance from the city is increased
from four to eight times. In the matter of truck farm-
ing alone the average haul was formerly 3 miles, a
total acreage of 28.26 square miles. Improved roads
finally raised the average haul to 6 miles, and threw
open to each market an available area of 112.9 square
miles. In these same good road communities the
automobile has considerably more than doubled this.

The above facts are considerably modified by the
additional truth that, while only 80 years ago but 4
per cent, of the population of the United States lived
in cities, that percentage has now increased to over 40
per cent. This means a smaller proportion of agri-
cultural producers ; about 30 to every 100 inhabitants,
as against a former 96 out of 100. The demand, then,
is extending, and, while the average production per
acre has also increased, the necessary hauling dis-
tance, the territory that must be levied upon by each
trade center, has been extended, from the capacity of
the horse to that of the automobile and the motor car.
Through good roads the cost per ton mile of horse
haulage, as has been proved by experiment, may be
reduced to lOc. but the cost of the same for a motor
car is already only 3c. over good roads, a difference
of $840 per 1,000 tons of country produce delivered,
to be divided between producer and consumer, figur-
ing on a twelve-mile haul.

595. Building Home Memories. — "My recollections
of the farm," declared a successful merchant several
years ago, "consist of going barefooted through the
frosty grass along about daylight after the cows ; in

490 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

having to carry the wash water up a steep hill from
the spring before breakfast, in order to get time for
gathering sheaves after the cradlers and binders in
the stubbly grain field the rest of the day^ of hav-
ing to go out after supper for another load of hay,
and then of hunting up the cows again and helping

Fig. 179. — Home ^Memories.

to milk them until after bedtime : of seeing my mother,
sober-faced and weary, dragging herself, day after
day, about the house with her entire life centered upon
the drudgery of her kitchen and all the rest of the
world a closed book to her; of seeing my father,
broken down with long hours and hard work, finally
relieved of the task of paying for the old place — just
a few months before he died. I know that those early
discouragements hardened me to meet those I have
since met; that the strenuous life I lived in my child-
hood did much to fit me out with habits of industry
that have brought me success — that it equipped me

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 491

with a bitter prejudice and an intense hatred of farm
life. I know that the conditions there are different
now, but my whole life, in spite of that, has been
shadowed in a measure by certain mempries which I
cherish, against my will, of the old farm. The man
or woman who has been deprived of sweet home mem-
ories in childhood has missed the best of life, and I
still hate the farm for so depriving me."

That merchant was right and wrong; wrong in
permitting a prejudice to distort the experience of an
individual into a type condition ; right in the extent
to which old home memories may exert their influence
and teach their lessons long after the home itself has
nothing left but memory. No material results can
ever equal the far-reaching influences they may be
made to wield upon the man or w^oman all through
life, if rightly exerted upon the child. Is not, then,
all that will help materially in elevating those home
memories, in lifting them out from the slums and
ditches of drudgery more potent in the uplifting of
the child than any material wealth that we can give
him? So long as prejudice endures, the industrial
status of farming will be judged by its influence upon
the memories of our young people — whether it leaves
with them impressions of a drudgery that is little
above that of the animals of the field, or whether
the recollections are linked up with intelligent appli-
cation, a busy life, perhaps, but one wherein the su-
perior brain power which has been given to the human
race is not degraded into sheer brute force. On these
old memories depends not only the industrial choice
of the boy, but the respect of the man for farm work,
country life, and the old home ; and no other single
phase of the standing of agriculture in the world of
industry so surely determines her place in the realm

492 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

of intelligence as does the story of the power that
turns her wheels ; whether it be expressed in terms of
brute force or intelligence ; of animal muscle or of that
greatest achievement of the human race — mechanical
power.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE IDEAL FARM.

596. A Look into To-morrow. — It does not seem
inappropriate, even in a semi-technical work, this
hasty glimpse at the ethical side of life, when we
consider that it is a legitimate feature of all life of
which the farmer no longer has occasion to be de-
prived. The yesterdays of agriculture were days of
toil and patient effort ; those of to-morrow, we who
have faith in her believe, will be days of achievement.
One of the most coldly practical problems of to-day,
then, is best answered by a brief study of the path
directly ahead. Along what industrial lines may w^e
best advance ; what use shall we make of this new
mechanical force — power?

597. Summary of the Complete Farm Home. —
Somewhere, looking into the future, we can see, in-
stead of the overworked, heat-tortured horses of the
past, a vision of unwearying engines drawing behind
them the most efficient weapons of conquest in the
world's battle for bread which the world's best brains
can produce, the speed, the depth of culture ; the best
mechanical aids to plant growth that can be produced,
without regard to capacity limits, and only consider-
ing highest efficiency. Season conditions will count
for little, because, with the forces in hand, the man
work of weeks may be done in a day, perhaps in an
hour. No form of mechanical efficiency, whether it
be deeper cutting, more complete ])ulverization, or a

493

494 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

more thorough mixing of air with every grain of earth,
will be lacking. The factory of yesterday and of to-
day, so perfectly equipped to the finest details in
quickly, cheaply, and effectively carrying out every
constructive process that requires to be done in the
conversion of raw material into the finished loaf or
fabric, will just as effectively to-morrow perform
every needed operation in converting the elements of
the earth and air into her useful products. The one
constructive word of the future will be efiiciency, in-
stead of capacity, on the farm as elsewhere. Greater
and better crops will be raised, and raised more
cheaply, because the soil will be, not once, but always
put in the best possible condition for feeding plant
growth. The climatic and weather accidents of agri-
culture will exert no more important influence upon
the output of the farm than of the factory. A com-
plete system of drainage will remove the terrors of
excess rainfall. Irrigation will guard against danger-
ous droughts. Frosts will be controlled, insect pests
conquered, fungus diseases overcome, most of them,
perhaps, through the pumping systems of to-day — and
of to-morrow — all made possible only through this
general application of limitless power.

The harvests will also be under the most complete
control ; the reaping, the gathering in, under the best
of mechanical conditions ; the separating of the grain
from the chaff ; the conversion of each to its own most
efficient use ; the conservation of it all with chemical
exactness. Because of available power the seed bins
that are filled with grain that is faultless will be the
rule. Because of the better developed and better used
cleaning machinery the crops of the field will supply
very little that is weeds or waste. The balanced ra-
tion will be the rule instead of the exception ; it

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 495

will insure a richer production of milk and of butter
fat which engine driven mechanism will work up to
the last degree of food efficiency.

In the house, as in the fields and barns, this glimpse
into the future shows equal changes. Work is not
eliminated — who would wish it — but it is made to
produce a higher degree of efficiency, and without
sacrifice of the intellectual and the ethical side of life.
The tasks of the day will be of a nature that w^ill ex-
pand, broaden. Life will be uplifted by them to a
higher plane instead of feeling that constant tugging
downward to a level with animal life. Effort will
mean achievement and duty growth ; growth not alone
of the biceps or the pocketbook, but mind growth,
soul growth, greater wealth of independent thought,
a working out along those lines of inspiration that, in
the fetters of yesterday's drudgery, were merely air-
castles ; that in the atmosphere of this new inspira-
tion become the true ideals of hope for us to work out.

598. How the Gasoline Engine Makes It Possible.
— How does the gasoline engine make this possible?
By intelligent work; by releasing us from the fetters
of muscular limits. With the constant grind of get-
ting the most pressing tasks done as well as the cir-
cumstances will permit removed, there comes in its
place a new pride in reaching out toward the very
best results that can by any possibility be attained.
The soul-killing contest with hard necessity will be-
come a spirited rivalry with progress, a desire to test
her every possibility. Animal life considers only the
ways and means of getting a living. Intellectual lives
are constantly concerned in getting the best possible
values out of life, the values weighed by constantly
broadening standards and the best moral ideals.

599. When Dreams Come True. — It is the old

496 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

story of the man with the hoe against the man with
the automobile. The ideals of the one are controlled
by the limiting capacities of his owui physical endur-
ance ; those of the other are expressed in terms of
the world's possibilities which are stretched before
him, and the world constantly widens out to him as he
advances. To the man in the ditch the sunset tells
only a story of supper-time and another completed
day of toil. To the man who directs him it brings
glimpses of eternal beauty — lifts him into a new life
of ethical enjoyment — out of his own.

CHAPTER XXX.
TABLES AND FORMULAS.

600. Electrical Terms Defined. — Water is readily
compared in much of its behavior with air, steam,
and other invisible vapors and gases. For purposes
of explanation it may be considered in connection with
another kind of invisible fluid, electricity ; at least the
exact meaning of some of the arbitrary terms used in
electrical measurements may be more easil}^ under-
stood by a comparison with the better known quali-
ties and measurements of water.

The Volt. — The tendency of water to rush out from
the end of a pipe which conducts it from an elevated
tank to some lower level depends upon the pressure
of the column of water behind it and we speak of it
as so many pounds pressure. The tendency of the
electric fluid to rush from a higher to a lower potential
— that is, to equalize the two — we measure and speak
of as so many volts pressure, meaning much the same
thing that we mean by pounds pressure in the other
case. The volt is the electrical term denoting meas-
urement of pressure or intensity.

The Ampere. — If the end of the pipe were left open
the water would not all be able to escape at once, but
would have a rate of flow which would depend upon
the size — that is, the carrying capacity — of the pipe
and the pressure back of it. The electrical fluid also
has its rate of flow through an electrical conducting
medium, say a wire, to the measuring unit of which

497

498 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

we apply the term, not of gallons but of amperes.
The ampere is the electrical term denoting the unit
for measuring the rate of flow in the electrical current.

The Ohm. — No more than a certain quantity of
water per minute wall pass through a pipe of given
size so long as the pressure is the same, but by in-
creasing the elevation of the tank or by closing its
top and forcing air or steam into it or by increasing
the pressure in any way, we can force a greater
amount of water through by increasing the rate of
flow. This proves that there has been a certain
amount of resistance to the. flow wdiich the greater
pressure in some measure overcomes. That resist-
ance is most of it friction. There is also a resistance
to the flow of the electric current through the wire
which we measure and speak of as so many ohms
resistance. The ohm is the unit with which we meas-
ure the resistance or friction of the electrical current.
The resistance to the water depends upon the size and
the shape of the pipe. The pressure behind it de-
termines how rapidly it will be overcome. The resist-
ance to the electric current depends upon the size and
the nature of the w^ire, some kinds of material present-
ing more electrical resistance or friction than others.
How that resistance is overcome depends also upon
the pressure behind the current. The size and length
of the pipe and of the wire influence the amount of
resistance in both cases. The ohm then is the elec-
trical measurement unit of resistance.

The Watt. — When the water flows from the pipe
against a wheel its force enables it to turn the wheel
or do work. The amount of this force depends upon
the quantity of water being discharged and the rate
at which it is flowing. We often speak of this energy
in terms of horse-power. Wlien electricity is con-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 499

ducted against some mechanical device which it
moves we measure this working energy in terms of
the watt. It depends upon the quantity and rate of
electrical flow, as in the case of water. The watt is
the unit of electrical energy and is the product of the
volt and the ampere.

601. — Mutual Relation of These Measurements. —
These units of electrical measurement have certain
fixed relations with each other as well as with non-
electrical measurement units. The volt is the force
required to send one ampere of current through one
ohm of resistance. The ampere is the current which
one volt can send through one ohm of resistance. The
ohm is the resistance which one ampere meets when
impelled by one volt of force.

One electrical horse-power is equal to 746 watts.
One thousand watts make one kilowatt, which is equal
to about I 1-3 horse-power. This is the standard unit
of measure applied to the dynamo.

From the above units it is possible to make most
of the calculations needed either in gasoline engine
ignition or in the electrical equipments which have
been described as direct outgrowths of engine con-
veniences. The volts multiplied by the amperes give
the number of watts, which in turn can be reduced to
terms of horse-power or of kilowatts, always remem-
bering that, owing to friction, resistance of wires, etc.,
it requires more than a i 1-3-horse-power engine in
practice to drive a kilowatt dynamo.

The ordinary i6-candle-power carbon filament lamp
requires about 50 watts. The 15-watt (low voltage)
tungsten lamp gives about 12 candle-power and the
25-watt lamp 20 candle. Most small residence light-
ing plants are run at 30 volts. Fifty 12-candle-power
tungsten lamps can be operated with a 2-horse-power

500 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

engine at a cost of little more than 5 cents per hour
for fuel. If not charged with more than its rated
voltage a lamp should be good for from 600 to 1,000
hours.

602. The Fire Hazard. — Fire insurance companies
were inclined at the first to be unreasonably exacting
in relation to all things using gasoline, in part per-
haps because the nature of the fluid is so generally
not understood. They have had to relent in regard to
the use of stoves. They are relenting toward gaso-
line engines, because the general pressure is so great
that they must either come with the popular move-
ment or be left behind. Some general rules of instal-
lation have, however, very properly been adopted by
the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which every
gasoline engine owner ought to read and observe. A
copy can be obtained of any fire insurance agent.
The substance of the more important rulings is here
given.

Location of Engine should, if possible, be on ground
floor; if a wooden floor, 24 inches outside of engine
must be protected by metal. In shops containing
dust and inflammable material the engine must be
enclosed in fire-proof compartment, opening to outer
air at floor and ceiling.

Supply Tank underground, if possible ; at least be-
low level of lowest feed pipe and 30 feet or more from
building; or tank may be in fire-proof ventilated vault
or building with tank below level of lowest
pipe.

Piping shall be as direct as possible, with tested
pipe only, and both feed and overflow pipe sloping so
gasoline will all drain back into tank. Pipes must
not be in trench occupied by other piping and open-
ings through walls for their admission shall be se-

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 501

curely sealed, water and oil tight. Vent and fill pipes
jacketed to prevent freezing.

Muffler on a firm foundation at least one foot from
all combustible material.

Exhaust Pipe must extend outside building and 6
inches or more from combustible material. If car-
ried through floor or partition, surround with metal
thimble at least 6 inches bigger, the vertical section
through floor covered with fire-proof covering. It
must not discharge into chimney.

Care and Attention. — Cylinder, valves and exhaust
pipe to be cleaned as often as fuel renders necessary.

Electric Wiring Rules. — A set of rules regarding the
construction of gasoline engines is also issued and a
list of all those engines approved by the Association
of Underwriters also has quite an extended code of
rules relating to the electric wiring of buildings, only
a small part of which are digested here. When ob-
served, they render electric lighting much safer than
ordinary lamps.

Nothing smaller than No. 14 wire allowed except
for fixtures and pendent lamps. Joints must be me-
chanically perfect and then soldered. Wire must not
be laid in plaster or cement. Side wall wire must be
protected by boxing or iron conduit 5 feet above floor ;
floor wires must have similar protection, an inch air
space all around wire in boxing being required. The
maximum current allowed a rubber insulated No. 14
wire is 12 amperes, or 16 with other insulation; No.
12 wire permits 17 and 2^, respectively, and No. 10,
24 and 32 amperes. All wires must be insulated ac-
cording to approved specifications. Where passing
through walls, partitions, floors or timbers, they must
be carried in porcelain or glass bushings which reach
entirely through. No wire shall be permitted nearer

502 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

than one inch to metallic or other electrical conductor
without being threaded through porcelain or glass or
with some non-conducting or non-absorbing material
between. Many special rules in relation to "con-
cealed" wires, etc., and applying to all conceivable
cases make it advisable for those who have much
electric wiring to do to obtain a copy of the rules in
full. In motor wiring underwriters have a general
rule requiring all motor leads to have a carrying cur-
rent capacity of 25 per cent, more than the full load
rating of the motor, even though the full load is sel-
dom given.

603. Fire Fragments. — In case of a gasoline fire
don't use water. Use sand, sawdust, earth or flour.

In case of a kerosene fire don't use water. Use the
same as for gasoline.

In case of an alcohol fire USE water freely. It
unites with the alcohol at once.

If the clothing should catch, do not, under any cir-
cumstances, run downstairs or out of doors. The
first will bring the flames about the head, and the sec-
ond will fan them into greater life. Lie down ; wrap
closely in heavy rugs, blankets, or carpets. Keep the
head down constantly, as all flames tend to shoot up-
ward, and the most immediate danger is from inhaling
them.

If the engine room or building gets on fire keep
cool ; keep doors and windows shut. If caught inside,
keep near the floor and get to a window at once. At
all events, keep as far away from the gasoline supply
as possible.

604. Heat Values. — A British thermal heat unit
(B. T. U.) is the quantity of heat required to raise
one pound of pure water one degree Fahrenheit at or
about 39 degrees. Like all other standards of weight

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 503

and measure it is a purely arbitrary term used for the
unit with which we compare and measure heat.

I B. T. U. equals 778 foot-pounds.

I H. P. equals 33,000 foot-pounds per minute.

Therefore i H. P. equals 42.42 B. T. U. per minute;
that is, 33,000 divided by 778.

Of the more common engine fuels gasoline contains
from 18,000 to 22,000 B. T. U. per pound, gasoline
vapor the same, petroleum from 18,000 to 20,000.

605. Thermal Efficiency.

Heat converted into work 25 per cent.

Heat lost through walls and cooling sys-
tem 50 "

Heat lost through exhaust 15 *'

Heat lost through friction 10 "

100

The average thermal efficiency of gas, gasoline and
oil engines is around 20 per cent., and the reasonable
range from 10 to 2J or 28. The real efficiency of use-
fulness can be somewhat increased by utilizing the
waste heat for other purposes, but seemingly not at
present in the engine.

The thermal efficiency of the ordinary steam engine
is seldom more than 12 per cent., excepting as use
can be made of the exhaust steam. Triple-expansion
steam engines using steam pressure of 200 pounds per
square inch or more sometimes reach nearly or quite
25 per cent, of thermal efficiency.

606. Horse-power Formulae. — To compare four-
cycle engines. — Square the diameter of the piston in
inches, multiply by the number of cylinders, the
length of stroke in inches, the revolutions per minute,,
and divide by 16,000.

504 . The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

Rule of the Royal Auto Club. — Add the diameter to
the length of stroke, square the sum, multiply by
number of cylinders and divide by 9.92.

Another rule. — Multiply the radius (half the di-
ameter) of the cylinder by the stroke, then by 3.1416
or 3 1-7. This gives the total cubic inches. Divide
by 10 for horse-power.

Another. — Square the diameter, multiply by stroke,
then by number of cylinders ; then divide by 12.

By working out these different formulae it will be
seen that there is quite a wide discrepancy in results.
The only really trustworthy test is the brake test, and
even that is only relatively accurate.

607. The Brake Test. — A home-prepared brake
test may be rather easily applied by fastening twine
or rope to the crank shaft of the engine in such a
manner that it can be wound up like a windlass. This
may be done by rigging an extension of the shaft
beyond the fly wheel. The twine should be free from
knots and should be lowered out of an upper window
of the barn or some high place in which a pulley can
be fastened for the string to run in. At the lower end
a weight is attached that will just cause the motion of
the engine to slack down but still continue to run.
Note the exact position of weight and accurately note
the time in which this weight is wound up to the
point from which it is suspended, then measure the
distance it is raised. Multiply the weight by the dis-
tance it has been raised (the work done by the motor)
and then divide by the number of minutes or the frac-
tion of a minute it has been in doing it. The result
will be the number of foot-pounds lifted by the engine
in one minute. By dividing this by 33,000 the num-
ber of horse-power can be determined.

608. The Prony Brake Test.— The prony brake is

The Gasoline Engine on the Farm 505

the standard popular means of determining the real
power of an engine at the belt wheel, two forms of
which are illustrated in chapter XIV of this work.
A is a timber (Fig. 82) cut to fit over the belt pulley
of an engine. To the lower side is attached a wide
leather or heavy canvas band by means of two springs,
the belt being passed around the wheel and secured
at the other end to a bolt, C, which may be shortened
slowly by turning down the nut. Just three feet from
the vertical line which passes from the timber down-
ward through the center of the engine shaft, the other
end of the timber is supported to a spring balance —
one with a capacity of 25 pounds is sufficient for a
small engine. In case the spring balance is not at
hand a pail, working over a pulley and into which
weights may be dropped, will do as well.

The engine is started with belt band loose so as not
to interfere ; then nut at C is taken up until band
tightens so that the engine begins to slow down.
Note the reading on the balance, which is the down-
ward pull the engine is exerting on the band ; then
with a speed indicator take the number of revolutions
per minute the engine is making. If no indicator is
handy tie a bit of string to one of the slow-moving
shafts which is geared to the crank shaft, and count
the number of revolutions per minute that it makes.
After stopping the engine turn the wheel over by
hand and count the revolutions necessary for it to
make while the string and shaft are revolving once.
The number of revolutions the small wheel makes in
one minute multiplied by the number of times the
fly wheel revolves to each revolution of the small one
will give the number of revolutions of the belt or fly
wheel per minute when the test was being taken.

The pull on the balance (or the weight in the pail)

5o6 The Gasoline Engine on the Farm

which the engine exerted represents the energy with
which it tried to swing the weight around in a circle,
the radius of which is the distance from the center of
energy or the center of the belt wheel to the point
where weight or balance was attached, in this case
three feet. Twice this distance or six feet would be
the diameter of the circle, and this multiplied by
3.1416 gives the circumference of revolution or the
distance through which the engine was exerting its
pulling energy each revolution. If we multiply this
result by the number of revolutions made per minute
we would get the total distance through which the
weight was lifted in one minute and multiplying this
by the number of pounds in the weight would give
the total foot-pounds lifted per minute. Dividing by
33,000 gives us the required horse-power which the
engine will deliver at the belt under full load.

INDEX

Accessories of Feed Room,
361.

Action of Differential Gear,
296.

Action of Dry Battery, 114.

Adaptability of Gasoline En-
gines, 257.

Adjustment Changes Governor
Action, 134.

Adjustment of Carburetor, 108.

Adjustment of Carburetor
Float Valve, 109.

Adulterants of Lubricants,
211.

Advantages of Deep Plowing,
280.

Advantages of Dry Cells, 117.

Advantages of Gasoline En-
gine, 36.

Advantages of Heavy Gasoline
Engines, 255.

Advantages of Kerosene, 194.

Advantages of Light Gasoline
Engines, 255.

Advantages of Magneto, 173.

Advantages of Simple En-
gines, 256.

Advice for Use of Shafting,
315-

Aerating Milk Before Bot-
tling, 434.

A Good Feeding Plan, 358.

Air and Gasoline Mixtures,
103.

Air Cooled Gasoline Engine,
142.

Alcohol, Advantages of, 198.

Alcohol as Engine Fuel, 198.

Alcohol, Peculiarities of, 199.

Alcohol, Weaknesses of, 198.

Animal and Vegetable Oils,
208..

Animal Power, Method of
Using, 34.

Anti-Freezing Cooling Mix-
tures, 146.

Automatic Carburetors, 103.

Automatic Drag Saw Rig, 384.

Asbestos Mill Board Pack-
ings, 69.

Automatic Troughs, Home-
made, 363.

Average Life of Horse, 281.

Babbitt Bearings, Casting, -^^y.
Babbitt Metal Bearings, 324.
Babbitt Metal, Nature of, 324.
Babbitting a Split Box, 328.
Backfiring, Causes of, 241.
Backfiring in Carburetor, 106.
Bad Air, Effects of, 88.
Balancing Pulleys, 316.

507

5o8

Index

Ball Bearings for Shafting,

324-
Batteries, Method of Testing,

229.
Battery of Dry Cells, 116.
Bearing Lubricants, 207.
Bearings, Babbitting of Split

Box. 328.
Bearings, Ball, 324.
Bearings for Gas Engine

Crank Shafts, 150.
Bearings for Shafting, 323.
Bearings for Shafting, Babbitt

Metal, 324.
Bearings, Linings and Bushes,

156.
Bearings, Roller for Shafting,

323-
Bearings, Why They Heat,

157.
Belt Capacity, Rule for Fig-
uring, 334.
Belt Hints, 338.
Belt Lacing, 340.
Belt Lacing, Hook, 343.
Belt Lacing, Wire, 343.
Belts and Belting, 330.
Belts, Canvas, 331.
Belts, Dressings for, 333-
Belts, Faults of, 330.
Belts, Leather, 331.
Belts, Length of, 335.
Belts, Method of Cementing,

343-
Belts, Requirements of, 331.
Belts, Rubber, 331.
Belts, Sizes Required, 333.
Belts, Speed of, 335.
Belts, Slipping of, 336.
Belts, Splicing Gandy, 344.
Belts, Useful Kink, 339.
Best Material for Piston, 73.

Best Size of Gasoline Engine,

247.
Bevel and Miter Gearing, 348.
Boring the Cylinder, 53.
Brake Horsepower, 252.
Bushings for Connecting

Rods, 80.

Call of the Farm, 34.

Canvas Belts, 331.

Carbon Deposits, Cause of
Preignition, 64.

Carbon Deposits, Softening
with Kerosene, 70.

Carbon Deposits, Symptoms
of, 66.

Carbon in Lubricants, 205.

Carbonizing, Cause and Ef-
fects, 63.

Carburetor, Adjusting Float,
109.

Carburetor Defects, Back-
firing, 106.

Carburetor Defects, Flooding,
106.

Carburetor, How It Vaporizes
Gasoline, 102.

Carburetor Troubles, Elimi-
nating, 105.

Carburetors, Automatic, 103.

Carburetors, IMethod of Ad-
justment, 108.

Carburetors, Method of Prim-
ing, 107.

Carburetors, Miscellaneous

Hints, 109.

Carburetors, Size of, 107.

Care and Repair of Piston
jMembers, 82.

Care of Dry Cells, 117.

Care of Gears, 355.

Index

509

Care of Governor, 139.

Care of Leather Gear Wheels,

351-

Care of Magneto, 127.

Care of Water Cooling Sys-
tems, 145.

Casting Babbitt Bearings, 327.

Causes of Carbonizing, 63.

Causes of Bearing Heating,
157.

Causes of Defective Compres-
sion, 59.

Causes of Faulty Valve Seat-
ing, 88.

Cementing Belts, 343.

Centrifugal Governor, 137.

Centrifugal Pump for Irriga-
tion, 406.

Centrifugal Pumps, Limita-
tions of, 407.

Centrifugal Pumps, Suction
Lift, 408.

Centrifugal Pumps, Types of^
407.

Changing Governor Action by
Adjustment, 134.

Churning by Power, 434.

Circle Saw Outfit, Portable,
378.

Circulating System of Water
Cooling, 143.

Cleaning Cylinder Without
Removing Head, 70.

Cleaning Piston and Rings,
17-

Cleaning the Cylinder, 66.

Clearance of Cylinder, 59.

Clutch, Function of, in Tract-
ors, 294.

Cold Test of Lubricants, 204.

Comparing Steam and Gas
Tractor, 292.

Comparing Two-Cycle and
Four-C3'cle Engine, 146.

Compensating or Differential
Gearing, 296.

Complete Electric Lighting
System, Z144.

Compressing Gas, Value of, 56.

Compression, Effect on Effi-
ciency, 58.

Compression, Effects of

Faulty, 59.

Compression, Effect on Fuel
Consumption, 58.

Compression, How Obtahied,
56. _

Compression, Limits of, 57.

Compression, Locating Leaks,
60.

Compression, Method of Test-
ing, 60.

Compression, Reason for, 55.

Concentric Piston Rings, 75.

Cone and Stepped Pulleys,
322.

Connecting Battery to En-
gine, 118.

Connecting Rod Bushings, 80.

Connecting Rod Design, 80.

Connecting Rod Lubrication,
81.

Connecting Rods, Materials
for, 80.

Connecting Rod Types, 80.

Connections for Gasoline
Tanks, 186.

Construction of Drag Saw,
381.

Construction of Dry Battery,

115-
Construction of Piston, 72.
Construction of Piston Rings,

75-

510

Index

Construction of Spark Plug,

120.

Continuous Water Supply, by
Open Troughs. 362.

Continuous Water Supply,
Objections to, 361.

Controlling Engine Tempera-
ture. 140.

Controlling Gasoline Engines,

133-
Convenient Rule for Belt Size,

334-

Cooling Hot Engine, 238.

Copper-Asbestos Packings, 69.

Cost of Irrigation, 404.

Cost of Tractor Farming, 288.

Covering Iron Pulleys, 319.

Crank Shaft Lubrication, 81.

Crank Shaft of Gasoline En-
gines, 151.

Crank Shafts, Counterbal-
anced, 152.

Crank, Use in Starting En-
gine, 275.

Cream Separator, Power Op-
erated. 431.

Cultivating bv ]\Iotor Cvcle,
464.

Cure for Slipping Belts, 2>2>7-

Current Production, by ]Mag-
neto, 123.

Cycle of Operations in Gaso-
line Engine, 44.

Cylinder, Best ^Material for.

Cylinder, Boring the, 53.

Cylinder Clearance, 59.

Cylinder Clearance, Decreas-
ing, 61.

Cylinder, Defects in, 54.

Cylinder Demands Best Foun-
dry Work, 52.

Cylinder,

53-
Cylinder.
Cylinder

Packing
Cylinder,

Design,
Cylinder,
Cylinder.
Cylinder.

'66.
Cylinder,

Finish by Grinding,

Functions of, 51.
Head, Method of
, 69.

Influence on Engine
51-

Lubricating, 62,.
Lubricant for, 206.
^lethod of Cleaning,

Removal of, 67.

Dangers of Gasoline, 187.
Dangers of Projecting Set

Screws, 320.
Decreasing Clearance, 61.
Decreasing Clearance, Effect

on Power. 62.
Deep Plowing. Advantages of,

280.
Defective Compression. Causes

of. 59.
Defects in Cylinder Bore, 54.
Defects of Dry Cells, 117.
Defects of Piston, '/6.
Defects of Piston Rings, ^6.
Dehnition of Horsepower, 251.
Deflnitions of Electrical

Terms, 497.
Depth of Engine Foundations,

161.
Design of Connecting Rods,

80.
Design of Fly Wheels, 154.
Design of Piston Rings, y^.
Differential Gear, Action Ex-
plained, 297.
Differential Gear, Action of,

296.

Index

511

Differential Gear, Function of,
296.

Dimensions of Gear Wheels,
352.

Disadvantages of Horse as
Power Plant. 2SJ1,.

Dish Washing by Engine Pow-
er, 425.

Disposal of ]\Ianiire on Fields,
366.

Distillate as Engine Fuel, 198.

Distributing the Water for Ir-
rigation, 412.

Ditch Digging by Gasoline En-
gine, 484.

Double Ignition System, 128.

Drag Saw, Construction of,
381.

Drag Saw Rig, Automatic,

384.

Dressings for Belts, 333.

Dry Battery Action, 114.

Dry Battery Construction, 115.

Dry Cell Battery, Connecting
to Engine, 118.

Dry Cells, Advantages of, 117.

Dry Cells, Care of, 117.

Dry Cells, Connecting Into
Batter}', 116.

Dry Cells, Defects of, 117.

Dry Cells, Good Arrange-
ment of, 118.

Dry Cells, Life of, 117.

Eccentric Type Piston Rings,

75-
Effects of Bad Air, 88.
Effects of Carbonizing, 63.
Electric Current, Producing,

114.

Electric Lighting by Gas Pow-
er, 441.

Electric Lighting, Storage
Battery for, 442.

Electric Lighting System,
Complete, 444.

Electrical Conveniences^ 447.

Electrical Ignition, 174.

Electrical Ignition System,
Testing for Faults, 228.

Electrical Processes, 114.

Electrical Terms Defined, 497.

Electrical Terms, Relation of,

499-
Electrical Terms, the Ampere,

497-
Electrical Terms, the Ohm,

498.
Electrical Terms, the Volt,

497-

Electrical Terms, the Watt,
498.

Electrical Wiring, Rules for,
501.

Eliminating Carburetor Trou-
bles, 105.

Engine Accessories, 159.

Engine for Gas Tractors,

293-
Engine for Workshop, 368.
Engine Installation, Rules for,

500.
Engine Operated Vacuum

Cleaner, 426.
Engine Power for Ironing,

422.
Engine Room Abominations,

179.
Engine Room Cautions, 179.
Engine Room Fittings, 174.
Engine Room, Floor for, 176.
Engine Room, Line Shaft, 177.

512

Index

Engine Room, Mission of
Paint, 178.

Engine Room, Painting Muf-
fler, 178.

Engine Room, Provisions for
Storing Oil, i75-

Engine Room, the Work
Bench, 176.

Engine Room Ventilation, 176.

Engine Speed Control, 133.

Engine Temperature, Method
of Controlling, 140.

Engine Troubles, a Bit of
Parting Advice, 243.

Engine Troubles, a Few Igni-
tion Facts, 232.

Engine Troubles, a Suspected
Timer, 234.

Engine Troubles, a Few Sim-
ple Questions, 226.

Engine Troubles, Back-firing,
241.

Engine Troubles, Cause of
Shocks, 232.

Engine Troubles, Common,
242.

Engine Troubles, Faulty
Transmission, 223.

Engine Troubles, First Thing
to Do, 226.

Engine Troubles, Irregular,
224.

Engine Troubles, Knocking,
242.

Engine Troubles, Lack of En-
ergy, 223.

Engine Troubles, Lack of
Power, 235.

Engine Troubles, Misfiring,
241.

Engine Troubles, Operating,
223.

Engine Troubles, Origin of,
224.

Engine Troubles, Outside
Knocking, 242.

Engine Troubles, Overheat-
ing, 237.

Engine Troubles, Pounding,
242.

Engine Troubles, Pre-ignition,
240.

Engine Troubles, Speed Vari-
ations, 239.

Engine Troubles, Starting, 22^.

Engine Troubles, Testing Bat-
teries, 229.

Engine Troubles, Testing Coil,
230.

Engine Troubles, Testing
Electrical System, 228.

Engine Troubles, Testing
Magneto, 231.

Engine Troubles, Test with
System, 226.

Equipment of Work Shop,
368.

Exhaust Port, Size of, 90.

Exhaust Valve, Setting, 93.

Explaining Dififerential Gear
Action, 297.

Extinguishing Gasoline Fires,
193-

Face of Gears for Tractor
Transmissions, 295.

Farm Dairy, Churning by
Power, 434.

Farm Dairy, Gasoline Engine
in, 428.

Farm Dairy, ]\Iilking Ma-
chines for, 428.

Index

513

Farm Dairy, Power Operated
Separator, 431.

Farm Water Supply Systems,
422.

Faulty Compression, Effects
of, 59-

Faulty Valve Seating, 88.

Feed Grinding by Power, 356.

Feed Grinding, When Conve-
nient, 356.

Feed Room Accessories, 361.

Fighting Weeds by Gasoline
Engine, 482.

Filling Foundation Pit, 165.

Filtering Lubricants 218.

Finish of Gears, 346.

Finding Size of Pulleys, 316.

Fire Extinguishing, Rules for,
502.

Fires, Gasoline, How to Ex-
tinguish, 193.

Firing Charge by Compres-
sion, 113.

First Accomplishment of Trac-
tion Engine, 277.

First Gasoline Engine, 42.

Fittings for Engine Room, .
174-

Flash Point of Lubricants,
204.

Flash Test of Lubricants, 211.

Float Valve Adjustment, 109.

Flooding Carburetors, 106.

Floor for Engine Room, 176.

Fluidity of Lubricants, 204.

Flushing Out Gutters, 366.

Fly Wheel Design and Con-
struction, 154.

Fly Wheels, Why Needed, 153.

Foolish Economy in Lubrica-
tion, 220.

Force Feed Lubrication, 216.

Forms of Farm Power, 34.

Formulae for Horsepower, 503.

Foundation Blue Print, Use
of, 162.

Foundations, Filling the Pit,
165.

Foundations for Engines, 161.

Foundations for Engines^
Depth of, 161.

Foundations for Gasoline
Tanks, 185.

Foundations, Lining Engine
on, 167.

Foundations, Leveling En-
gines on, 169.

Foundations, Locking Bolts in
Place, 167.

Foundations, Making a

Frame, 165.

Foundations, Making a Tem-
plate, 165.

Foundations, Material Need-
ed, 164.

Foundations, Placing Engine
on, 167.

Foundations, Portable Engine,
171.

Foundations, Preparing Mate-
rial, 164.

Foundations, the Final Set-
ting, 167.

Foundations, Vacuum Type,
171.

Foundations, Various Types
of, 170.

Four-Cycle Engine Operation,
44.

Four-Cycle Engine, Why Pre-
ferred, 47.

Frame for Foundation, 165.

Frame of Gasoline Engine,
149-

514

Index

Fuel and Air Proportions, loi.
Fuel Feed Pipe, Guarding, i86.
Fuel Feed Pipe Joints, i86.
Fuel for Engines, Alcohol, 198.
Fuel for Engines, Distillate,

198.
Fuel for Engines, Gasoline,

181.
Fuel for Engines, Kerosene,

194.
Fuel for Engines, Notes on,

199.
Fuel Regulating Governor,

135-
Functions of Cylinder, 51.
Function of Differential Gear,

296.
Function of Intake Port, 85.
Functions of Piston, ^2.

Gasoline, Changing from, 197.
Gasoline, Common Risks with,

191.
Gasoline, Dangers of, 187.
Garden and Small Farm Irri-
gation, 408.
Gasoline Engine, Air Cooled,

142.
Gasoline Engine, as Fruit

Gatherer, 466.
Gasoline Engine, as Post Hole

Digger, 456.
Gasoline Engine, as Utility

Man, 38.
Gasoline Engine, as Well Drill

Power, 457.
Gasoline Engine, Convertible,

43-
Gasoline Engine, Cycle of Op-
erations, 44.

Gasoline Engine, Ditching

with, 484.
Gasoline Engine, Effect on

Farm Boy, 39.
Gasoline Engine, First,

42.
Gasoline Engine, for Barn

Hoist, 458.
Gasoline Engine, for Churn-
ing, 434-
Gasoline Engine, for Farm

Power, 36.
Gasoline Engine, for Fighting

Weeds, 482.
Gasoline Engine, for Grain

Tender, 460.
Gasoline Engine, for Low

Power Trucking, 454.
Gasoline Engine, for Spray-
ing, 387.
Gasoline Engine, for Tractor

Mower, 463.
Gasoline Engine, for Wood

Sawing, :i,T7.
Gasoline Engine Foundations,

Filling the Pit, 165.
Gasoline Engine, Governor

for, 137.
Gasoline Engine, Harvesting

Corn Crop, 478.
Gasoline Engine, Helping the

Binder, 470.
Gasoline Engine, Hints for

Starting, 265.
Gasoline Engine, Household

Uses for, 437.
Gasoline Engine, Ice ^Making

by, 435-
Gasoline Engine, in Ideal

Farm Home, 493.
Gasoline Engine, in the Field,

Z7-

Index

515

Gasoline Engine, in the Hay
Field, 472.

Gasoline Engine, in the
Kitchen, 38.

Gasoline Engine, in the Poul-
try Yard, 486.

Gasoline Engine, in Road
]\Iaking^ 481.

Gasoline Engine, Making
Spreader Work, 473.

Gasoline Engine, Necessary
Components of, 48.

Gasoline Engine, Oiling New,
264.

Gasoline Engine, Operating
Cream Separator, 431.

Gasoline Engine, Otto, 43.

Gasoline Engine, Plea for
Small, 247.

Gasoline Engine, Power Re-
quired for Various Tasks,
249.

Gasoline Engines, Price of,

257.
Gasoline Engines, Second

Hand, 263.
Gasoline Engines, Selecting,

245-
Gasoline Engines, Setting,

161.
Gasoline Engines, Shelter for,

173.

Gasoline Engines, Shutting
Down, 270.

Gasoline Engines, Six and
Eight Cycle, 47.

Gasoline Engines, the Crank
Shaft, 151.

Gasoline Engines, the Person-
al Hazard, 274.

Gasoline Engines, Troubles
Classified, 223.

Gasoline Engines, Testing,

259-
Gasoline Engines, Things to

Think About, 271.
Gasoline Engines, Tying to

Foundation, 164.
Gasoline Engines, Types of,

50.
Gasoline Engines, Type Re-
quired for Irrigation, 404.
Gasoline Engines, Vacuum

Cleaner Power, 426.
Gasoline Engines, What to

Let Alone, 269.
Gasoline Fires, How to Ex-
tinguish, 193.
Gasoline, Grades of, 182.
Gasoline, How Carburetor

Vaporizes, 102.
Gasoline, How Obtained, 182.
Gasoline, Nature of, 181.
Gasoline, Rules for Safety,

190.
Gasoline, Storage System for,

183.
Gasoline, Tank for, 184.
Gasoline Tanks, Connections

for, 186.
Gasoline Tanks, Foundations

for, 185.
Gasoline Tanks, Joints for

Pipes, 186.
Gasoline, Tests of, 182.
Gasoline Tractor Compared

with Steam, 292.
Gasoline Tractor, Starting, 303.
Gasoline Tractor, What It Is

Doing, 279.
Gasoline Tractors, Power of,

298.
Gasoline Vapor, Mixing with

Air, 103.

5i6

Index

Gear Wheels, Bevel and Mi-
ter, 348.
• Gear Wheels, Cams, 349.

Gear Wheels, Care of Leath-
er, 351-

Gear Wheels, Dimensions of,
352.

Gasoline Engine, Principle of,
42.

Gasoline Engine, Relation to
Hired ]\Ian, 39.

Gasoline Engine, Sheep Shear-
ing with, 485.

Gasoline Engine, Shortens
Road to ^Market, 486.

Gasoline Engine, Source of
Power in, 43.

Gasoline Engine, Style Re-
quired, 246.

Gasoline Engine, S3'stem in
Starting, 264.

Gasoline Engine, Tempera-
ture in Cylinder, 44.

Gasoline Engine, the Best
Size, 247.

Gasoline Engine, Thermal Ef-
ficiency of, 503.

Gasoline Engine, Turning on
the Load, 261.

Gasoline Engine, Use at
Threshing Time, 475.

Gasoline Engine, Vital Parts
of, 47.

Gasoline Engine, Watching
New, 262.

Gasoline Engine, Water
Cooled, 142.

Gasoline Engine, What Five
Horsepower Will Do,
249.

Gasoline Engine, What Outfit
Includes, 262.

Gasoline Engine, What to Do

with New, 261.
Gasoline Engine, What Two

Horsepower Will Do, 249.
Gasoline Engine, Why Cooled,

140.
Gasoline Engines, Adaptability

of, 257.
Gasoline Engines, Advantages

of Heavy, 255
Gasoline Engines, Advantages

of Light, 255.
Gasoline Engines, Advantages

of Simplicity, 256.
Gasoline Engines, Arrange-
ment of Main Bearings, 150.
Gasoline Engines, Attention

Required, 268.
Gasoline Engines, Controlling,

133-

Gasoline Engines, Cooling
Hot, 238.

Gasoline Engines, Cylinder
Oil for, 206.

Gasoline Engines, Dish Wash-
ing by, 425,

Gasoline Engines, Electrical
Knowledge for, 114.

Gasoline Engines, for Electric
Lighting, 441.

Gasoline Engines, for Farm
Women, 416.

Gasoline Engines, for Ice Cut-
ter, 435.

Gasoline Engines, for the
Housewife, 447.

Gasoline Engines, Foundations
for, 161.

Gasoline Engines, Frames of,
149.

Gasoline Engines, Fuel for,
181.

Index

517

Gasoline Engines, Function of
Fly Wheel, 153.

Gasoline Engines, Getting Up
Power, 267.

Gasoline Engines, Heart of,
99.

Gasoline Engines, Mounted,
172.

Gasoline Engines, Main Bear-
ings of, 155.

Gasoline Engines, Overhaul-
ing, 272.

Gasoline Engines, Placing on
Foundation, 167.

Gear Wheels, External Spur,
348.

Gear Wheels, Finish of, 346.

Gear Wheels, for Power
Transmission, 246.

Gear Wheels,, General Rules
for Care of, 355.

Gear Wheels, Ideal Order for,
354-

Gear Wheels, Intermittent, 349,

Gear Wheels, Internal Spur,
348.

Gear Wheels, Alaterials for,
346.

Gear Wheels, Rawhide, 351.

Gear Wheels, Spur Type, 348.

Gear Wheels, Strength of, 353.

Gear Wheels, Worm and Spi-
ral Types, 349.

General Care of Tractors, 311.

General Construction of Tract-
ors, 291.

General Types of Gasoline En-
gines, 50.

Good Arrangement of Dry
Cells, 118.

Governing by Hit or Miss Sys-
tem, 136.

Governing by Regulating Fuel,
135-

Governing, Methods of, 135.

Governor Action, Rules Con-
cerning, 134.

Governor, Care of, 139.

Governor, Centrifugal Type,
137-

Governor, Ignition, 140.

Governor, Pick Blade Type,
138.

Governor Pulley for Separator
Drive, 432.

Governor Pulley, How It
Works, 433.

Governor, Throttling, 137.

Governors, Fuel Regulating,

135-
Governors, Hit or Miss, 136.
Graphite as a Lubricant, 220.
Gravity Oiling System, 214.
Grease as a Lubricant, 220.
Grinding, Advantages of, 53.
Grinding Cob Meal, 360.
Grinding Cylinder Bore, 53.
Grinding Family Grists, 360.
Gudgeon Pin, Material for, 79.
Gums and Acids in Lubricants,

205.

Hands, Protection of, 227.
Harrowing with Tractor, 280.
Hauling with Tractors, 310.
Heat Measurement Units, 502.
Hints for Care of Piston and

Auxiliaries, 83.
Hints for Starting Gasoline

Engine, 265.
Hit or Miss Governor, 136.
H o m e-m ade Automatic

Troughs, 363.

5i8

Index

H o m e-m a d e Conveniences,

Horseless Buggy, 454.
Horn e-m a d e Conveniences,

Light Power Tractors, 453.
H o m e-m a d e Conveniences,

Post Hole Digger, 456.
H o m e-m a d e Conveniences,

Power Saw, 468.
H o m e-m a d e Conveniences,

Self-Moving Engines, 452.
H o m e-m a d e Conveniences,

Well Drill, 457-
Home-made Pulleys, 322.
Home-made Tractors, 301.
Hooks for Joining Belts, 343.
Horse as Power Plant, Disad'

vantages of, 283.
Horse, Life of Average, 281.
Horse, Work of While

Plowing, 281.
Horsepower, Brake, 252.
Horsepower, Formulae, 503.
Horsepower, Lidicated, 252.
Horsepower, Nominal, 252.
Horsepower, Purchasing, 253.
Horsepower, Tractive, 253.
Horsepower, What It Means,

251-

Hose for Spraying, 396.

Hot Tube Ignition, 112.

Household Conveniences Oper-
ated by Electricity, 447.

Household Uses of Gasoline
Engine, 437.

How Charge Is Compressed, 56.

How Governor Pulley Works,

433-
How Lubricants Work, 202.

Ice Cutter, Gasoline Engine
Operated, 435.

Ice Making by Power, 435.

Ideal Farm Home, 493.

Ideal Farm Power, 36.

Ideal Gear Wheel Order, 354.

Ideal Work Shop Arrange-
ment, 369.

Ignition, by Compression, 113.

Ignition, by Double System,
128.

Ignition, by Electricity, 114.

Ignition, by Hot Tube, 112.

Ignition, by Jump Spark, 121.

Ignition, by Open Flame, 112.

Ignition, Function of Spark
Coil, 119.

Ignition Governor, 140.

Ignition, How Spark Fires
Charge, 121.

Ignition, j\Iake and Break, 121.

Ignition. Problem of, iii.

Ignition Systems, a Few Facts,

22>2.

Ignition, the Wiring System,
130.

Ignition, Timing, 131.

Importance of Lubrication,
201.

Increasing Power by Decreas-
ing Clearance, 62.

Indicated Horsepower, 252.

Induction Coils, Faults of, 230.

Influence of Cylinder on De-
sign, SI.

Inlet Valve, Setting, 92.

Inlet Valve, Testing, 92.

Inspecting Valve System, 91.

Intake Port, Size of, 86.

Intermittent Gears, 349.

Ironing by Engine Power, 422.

Iron Pulleys, Covering, 319.

Irrigation, Centrifugal Pump
for, 406.

Index

519

Irrigation, Cost of, 404.
Irrigation, Distributing the

Water, 412.
Irrigation, Engine Required

for, 404.
Irrigation from Deep Wells^

409.
Irrigation, Garden and Small

Farm, 408.
Irrigation, Kinks and Cau-
tions, 415.
Irrigation Plants, What They

Contain, 402.
Irrigation, Quantity of Water

for, 402.
Irrigation, When Necessary,

400.
Irrigation, Where Necessary,

399-
Irrigation, Why Needed, 399.

Joints for Gasoline Pipes, 186.
Jump Spark Ignition, 121.

Kerosene, Advantages of, 194.
Kerosene as Engine Fuel, 194.
Kerosene for Cutting Carbon,

70.
Kerosene, Objections to, 194.

Lace Leathers, 341.

Lacing Belts, 340.

Lacing Belts, Methods of, 342.

Laundry for Farm, Ironing by
Power, 422.

Laundry for Farm, Power Op-
erated, 417.

Laundry for Farm, Washing
jMachines for, 419.

Leaks, Method of Locating, 89.

Learning to Guide the Tractor,
306.

Leather Belts, 331.

Leather for Belt Lacing, 341.

Length of Belts, 335.

Leveling Engines on Founda-
tions, 169.

Life of Dry Cells, 117.

Life of Horse, Average, 281,

Limitations of Centrifugal
Pumps, 407.

Limits of Compression, 57.

Line Shaft of Engine Room,
177.

Lining Engines on Founda-
tions, 167.

Linings and Bushes for En-
gine Bearings, 156.

Locating Leaks, 60.

Locating Machines in Work
Shop, 371.

Locking Foundation Bolts, 167.

Loose Pulley Troubles, 321.

Loose Ring Lubrication, 216.

Low Tension Magneto, 126.

Lubricants, Amount of Carbon
in, 213.

Lubricants, Animal and Vege-
table, 208.

Lubricants, Carbon in, 205.

Lubricants, Cold Test of, 204.

Lubricants, Filtering, 218.

Lubricants, Flash Point of,
204.

Lubricants, Flash Test of, 21 r.

Lubricants, Fluidity of, 204.

Lubricants, for Bearings, 207.

Lubricants, for Engine Cylin-
ders, 206.

520

Index

LubricantSj Graphite, 220.

Lubricants, Grease, 220.

Lubricants, Gums and Acids
in, 205.

Lubricants, How They Work,
202.

Lubricants, Mineral Oils,
209.

Lubricants, Quantity of, 213.

Lubricants, Testing for Acid,
210.

Lubricants, Testing for Adul-
terants, 211.

Lubricants, Testing for Gum,
211.

Lubricants, Testing for Vis-
cosity, 210,

Lubricants, Variety Needed,
205.

Lubricants, Viscosity of, 203.

Lubricants, Waste of, 213.

Lubricants, What They Are,
203.

Lubricating Systems, Gravity,
214.

Lubricating the Cylinder, 63.

Lubrication, Foolish Economy
in, 220.

Lubrication, Force Feed, 216.

Lubrication, Importance of,
201.

Lubrication, Loose Ring Sys-
tem, 216.

Lubrication of Connecting
Rods, 81.

Lubrication, Pressure System,
216.

Lubrication, Purpose of, 201.

Lubrication Systems, Splash,

215-

Lubrication, Ten Command-
ments of, 221.

Lubrication, Through Carbu-
retor, 217.

Machine Designers' Problem,
34.

Machinery, What It Has Done
for Farm Women, 416.

Magneto Action, 123.

Magneto Advantages, 123.

Magneto, Care of, 127.

Magneto, Method of Testing,
231.

Magneto, How It Generates
Current, 125.

Magnetos, Low Tension, 126.

Main Bearings of Gasoline
Engines, 155.

Make and Break Ignition, 121.

Making Piston Rings, 75.

Material, Best for Cylinder, 52.

Material for Gudgeon Pin, 79.

Material for Piston Rings, 75.

Material for Packings, 69.

Materials for Connecting
Rods, 80.

Materials for Gears, 346.

Materials Needed for Engine
Foundations, 164.

Message of Traction Engine,
277.

Method of Locating Leaks, 89.

Method of Priming Carburet-
or, 107.

Method of Proportioning In-
take Port, 86.

Method of Valve Grinding, 95.

Methods of Governing, 135.

Methods of Lacing, 342.

Methods of Power Transmis-
sion, 313.

Index

521

Milking by Power, Vacuum
Process, 428.

Milking Cows by Gasoline
Power, 428.

Milking Machines, Power Op-
erated, 428.

Mineral or Hydrocarbon Lu-
bricants, 209.

Misfiring, Causes of, 241.

Mixing Air and Gasoline Va-
por, 103.

Motorcycle Used for Cultivat-
ing, 464.

Mounted Gasoline Engines,
172.

Muffler, Use and Abuse, 97.

Nature of Babbitt Metal, 325,
Nature of Gasoline, 181.
Necessary Components of Gas-
oline Engine, 48.
Nominal Horsepower, 252,
Notes on Engine Fuels, 199.
Nozzles for Spraying, 394.

Objections to Kerosene, 194.

Object of Valve Timing, 91.

Oiling New Engine, 264.

Open Flame Ignition, 112.

Open Jacket Water Cooling
System, 142.

Operating Cream Separator by
Power, 431.

Operation of Four-Cycle En-
gine, 44.

Otto Gasoline Engine, 43.

Outfits for Spraying, 398.

Overhauling Gasoline Engine,
272.

Overheating, Causes of, 237.

Packing the Cylinder Head,

69.
Packing, Treatment of, 70.
Packings, Asbestos Mill Board,

69.
Packings, Copper-Asbestos, 69.
Packings, Material for, 69.
Paint, for Muffler, 178.
Paint, Its Mission in Engine

Room, 178.
Peculiarities of Alcohol, 199.
Personal Hazard with Gasoline

Engines, 274.
Pick Blade Governor, 138.
Piston and Auxiliaries, Care

of, 83.
Piston and Rings, Cleaning,

77-

Piston, Best Material for, 73.

Piston, Construction of, 72,

Piston Defects, 76.

Piston, Design and Workman-
ship, 73.

Piston, Functions of, 72.

Piston or Gudgeon Pin, 79.

Piston Pin, Method of Propor-
tioning, 79.

Piston Pin, Pressure on, 79.

Piston Ring Joints, 75.

Piston Rings, Concentric Type,
75-

Piston Rings, Construction of,

75-

Piston Rings, Defects of, 76.

Piston Rings, Design of, 73.

Piston Rings, Eccentric Type,

75.
Piston Rings, Making, 75.
Piston Rings, Material for, 75.
Piston Rings, Purpose of, 73.

522

Index

Piston Rings, Replacing, 78.
Piston Rings, Removing, y2:.
Piston Rings, Truing, 76.
Plea for the Small Engine,

247.
Plowing with Tractor, 280.
Plowing, Cost for Ten Hours

with Tractor, 289.
Plowing, Power Needed for,

300.
Portable Circular Saw Outfit,

378.
Portable Engine Foundations,

171.
Port and Valve System, 85.
Power for the Farm, Forms

of, 34-
Power for the Farm, Gasoline

Engine, 36.
Power for the Farm, Ideal,

Power Laundry for Farm, 417.

Power Needed for Plowing,
300.

Power of Gasoline Tractors,
298.

Power of Gear Wheels, 353.

Power Operated Wood Split-
ter, 386.

Power Required for Sawing,

379-

Power Required for Various
Farm Tasks, 249.

Power Saw, Home-made, 468.

Power Transmission by Belts,
330.

Power Transmission by Gear
Wheels, 346.

Power Transmission by Ropes,
345-

Power Transmission by Shaft-
ing, 313.

Power Transmission Methods,

313-
Preignition Caused by Carbon,

64.

Preignition, Causes of, 240.

Preparing Boxes for Bab-
bitting, 324.

Preparing ]\Iaterial for Engine
Foundations, 164.

Preparing to Start Tractor,
303.

Pressure on Piston Pin, 79.

Pressure Sj'stem for Water
Supply, 423.

Pressure System of Lubrica-
tion, 216.

Price of Gasoline Engines, 257.

Primary Circuit, What It In-
cludes, 129.

Principle of Gasoline Engine,
42.

Problem, Great Farm, t,^.

Problem, Machine Designers,
34-

Problem of Ignition, iii.

Producing Electric Current,
114.

Prony Brake Test, How
Made, 505.

Proportioning Piston Pin, 79.

Proportions of Fuel and Air,

lOI.

Protecting the Hands, 227.
Pulleys, Balance of, 316.
Pulleys, Cone and Stepped,

322.
Pulleys, Covering, 319.
Pulleys, Finding Size of, 316.
Pulleys, Home-made, 322.
Pulleys, Securing to Shaft,

319-
Pulleys, Split Wood, 317.

Index

523

Pulleys, Straight and Crown -
Face, 318.

Pulleys, Tight and Loose, 321.

Pulleys, Type of, 317.

Pulleys, Use of, 318.

Pumping Outfit for Spraying,
392.

Pumps for Deep Well Pump-
ing, 409.

Purchasing Horsepower, 253.

Pure Gasoline Vapor, Not In-
flammable, 181.

Purpose of Farm Work Shop,

Purpose of Lubrication, 201.
Purpose of Piston Rings, 72>-

Ratings, How Overload Af-
fects, 254.
Rawhide Gear Wheels, 351.
Reassembling Engine, 67.
Reason for Compressing

Charge, 55.
Removing Piston Rings, 78.
Removing the Cylinder, 67.
Replacing Cylinder, 67.
Replacing Piston Rings, 78.
Requirements of Belts, 331.
Requirements of Small Farm

Tractors, 285.
Road iMaking by Gas Power,

481.
Road IMaking by Gas Power,

Cost of, 481.
Roller Bearings for Shafting,

2,23.
Rope Transmission, 345.
Rubber Belting, 331.
Rules Concerning Governor

Action, 134.

Rules for Electric Wiring, 501.

Rules for Engine Installation,
500.

Rule for Figuring Beit Capac-
ity, 334.

Rules for Figuring Gear
Wheels, 352.

Rules for Fire Extinguishing,
502.

Rules for Safety When Using
Gasoline, 190.

Rule for Size of Exhaust Port,
90.

Rule for Size of Inlet Port, 86.

Rule, General, for Valve Tim-
ing, 94.

Secondary Circuit, What It
Includes, 129.

Second Hand Gasoline En-
gines, 263.

Securing Pulleys to Shaft, 319.

Selecting a Gas Engine, 245,

Separator Drive by Governor
Pulley, 432.

Set Screw Dangers, 320.

Setting Exhaust Valve, 93.

Setting Gasoline Engines, 161.

Setting Intake Valve, 92.

Setting Up Wood Sawing Out-
fit, 379-

Shafting, Advice for Use, 315.

Shafting Bearings, z^^-

Shafting for Power Transmis-
sion, 313.

Shafts, Speed of, 316.

Sheep Shearing with Gasoline
Engine, 485.

Shelter for Gasoline Engines,
173.

;24

Index

Shims, Use in Boxes, 328.
Shutting Down Gasoline En-
gines, 270.
Simple Home Brake Test,

504.
Six and Eight Cycle Engines,

47.

Size of Carburetors, 107.

Size of Intake Port, 86.

Size of Belts Required, 333.

Slipping Belts, 336.

Slipping Belts, Cure for, 337.

Small Farm Tractors, 283.

Small Farm Tractors, Re-
quirements of, 285.

Source of Power in Gasoline
Engine, 43.

Spark Coil Functions, 119.

Spark Follies, 132.

Spark, How Formed, 120.

Spark Plug Action, 120.

Spark Plug Construction, 120.

Speed Allowable with Tractor,
310.

Speed Controller, Mission of,

133-
Speed of Belts, 335.
Speed of Shafts, 316.
Speed Variations Caused by

Governor, 239.
Speed Variations in Engines,

239-
Splash System of Lubrication,

215-

Splicing Gandy or Canvas
Belt, 344-

Spraying, Effect on Yield, 398.

Spraying, Good and Cheap
Outfits, 398.

Spraying, Good Pumping Out-
fit, 392.

Spraying, Hose for, 396.

Spraving, Nature's ]\Iethod,

388.
Spraying, Nozzles for, 394.
Spraying, Real Purpose of,

388.
Spraying, Successful Method,

391.
Spraying, Value of, 387.
Spraying, Vermorel Nozzles

for, 396.
Spraying with Gasoline En-
gine, 387.
Spur Gearing, 348.
Starting Engine with Crank,

275-
Storage Battery, Capacity of,

442.
Storage Battery for Electric

Lighting, 442.
Storage System for Water

Supply, 422.
Storing Oil in Engine Room,

175-

Straight and Crown Face Pul-
leys, 318.

Style of Gasoline Engine Re-
quired, 246.

Suction Lift of Centrifugal
Pumps, 408.

Summary of Complete Farm
Home, 493.

Symptoms of Carbon Deposit,
66.

System in Starting Gasoline
Engine, 264.

Temperature in Gas Engine
Cylinder, 44.

Template for Foundation, 165.

Ten Lubricating Command-
ments, 221.

Index

525

Testing Batteries, 229.

Testing Compression, 60.

Testing Electrical Ignition
S}-stem, 228.

Testing for Acid in Oil, 210.

Testing Gasoline Engines, 259.

Testing Ignition System,
Cause of Shocks, 232.

Testing Ignition Timer, 234.

Testing Induction Coils, 230.

Testing Lubricants for Adul-
terants, 211.

Testing Lubricants for Gums,
211.

Testing Magneto, 231.

Testing Oil for Viscosity, 210.

The Balanced Ration, 358.

The Dirt Menace, 'j'j.

The Farm Wood Pile, 375.

The Intake Port, Function of,
85.

Thermal Efficiency, 503.

Threshing by Gas Power, 475.

Throttling Governor, Action
of, 137-

Tight and Loose Pulleys,
321.

Timing Valves, Object of, 91.

Timing Ignition, 131.

Traction Engine, Its First Ac-
complishment, 2^^.

Traction Engine, Its Message,

Tractive Horsepower, 253.

Tractor Advantages That Ap-
peal to Farmer, 280.

Tractor Farming, Cost of, 288.

Tractor, Harrowing with, 280.

Tractor, Learning to Guide,
306.

Tractor Operation, in Mud-
holes, 308.

Tractor Operation, in Sand,
308.

Tractor Operation, on Bridges,
309.

Tractor Operation, on Hills,
309-

Tractor Operation, Speed Al-
lowable, 310.

Tractor Operation, When
Turning, 307.

Tractor, Plowing with, 280.

Tractor, Preparing to Start,
303.

Tractor, Use as Cultivator,
287.

Tractors, Best Engine for,
293-

Tractors, Forms of Trans-
mission, 291.

Tractors for Small Farms, 283.

Tractors, Gasoline, Power of,
298.

Tractors, General Care of, 311,

Tractors, General Construc-
tion of, 291.

Tractors, Getting Out of Mud-
holes, 307.

Tractors, Hauling with, 310.

Tractors, Home-made, 301.

Tractors, Steam and Gasoline,
Compared, 292.

Tractors, Use of Clutch, 294.

Tractors, Wheels for, 296.

Transmission Gears, Face of,

295-
Transmission of Tractors, 291.
Treatment of Packing, 70.
Troubles, Gasoline Engine,

Classified, 223.
Troubles of Loose Pulleys,

321.
Truing Piston Rings, 'jd.

526

Index

Two Boys and Motorcycle,
464.

Two-Cycle and Four-Cycle En-
gines Compared, 46.

Types of Centrifugal Pumps,
407.

Type of Pulleys, 317.

Tying Engine to Foundation,
164.

Unique Fruit Gatherer, 466.
Units of Heat Measurement,

502.
Utilizing Animal Power, 34.
Utilizing Waste Heat, 147.
Use and Abuse of Aluffler, 97.
Use of Foundation Blue Print,

162.
Use of Pulleys, 318.
Useful Belt Kink, 339.

Vacuum Cleaner, Engine Op-
erated, 426.

Vacuum Process of Milking
Cows, 428.

Vacuum Type Engine Founda-
tion, 171.

Value of Gas Compression, 56.

Value of Thorough Spraying,
387.

Valve Grinding, Method, 95.

Valve Grinding; When and
How, 94.

Valve System, Inspecting, 91.

Valve Timing, 91.

Valve Timing, General Rule
for, 94.

Valve Vagaries, 98.

Variety of Lubricants Needed,
205.

Ventilation of Engine Room,
176.

Vermorel Nozzles for Spray-
ing, 396.

Viscosity of Lubricants, 203.

Vital Parts of Gasoline En-
gine, 47.

Washing Machines for Farm
Laundry, 419.

Waste Heat, Utilizing, 147.

Water Cooled Gasoline En-
gine, 142.

Water Cooling, Amount of
Water Needed; 145.

Water Cooling, Anti-Freezing
Mixtures, 146.

Water Cooling, Open Jacket
]\lethod, 142.

Water Cooling Systems, Care
of, 145-

Water Cooling, the Circulat-
ing System, 143.

Water Needed for Cooling,

145-

Water, Quantity Needed for
Irrigation, 402.

Water Supply, Automatic
Troughs, 363.

Water Supply by Pressure
System, 423.

Water Supply by Storage Sys-
tem, 422.

Water Systems for Farms,
422.

What Five Horsepower En-
gine Will Do, 249.

What Gasoline Engine Outfit
Includes, 262.

Index

527

What Internal Combustion In-
cludes, 4,3.

What Lubricants Are, 203.

What Old Farm Wagon Can
Do, 455-

What Primary Circuit In-
cludes, 129.

What Secondary Circuit In-
cludes, 129.

What the Gasoline Tractor Is
Doing, 279.

What Two Horsepower En-
gine Will Do, 249.

Wheels for Tractors, 296.

When to Irrigate, 400.

Where to Irrigate, 399.

Why Irrigation Is Needed,
399-

Why Four-Cycle Engine Is
Preferred, 47.

Wire Belt Lacing, 343.

U'iring of Ignition System,
130.

Wood Sawing Outfit, Setting

Up, 379.

Wood Sawing, Power Re-
quired, 379.

Work Bench for Engine
Room, 176.

Work of Horse While Plow-
ing, 281.

Wood Sawing, Drag Saw for,
380.

Wood Splitting by Power, 386.

Work Shop Engine, Connect-
ing to Work, 370.

Work Shop, Engine for,
368.

Work Shop Engine, Placing,
368.

Work Shop Equipment, 368.

Work Shop, Ideal Arrange-
ment, 369.

Work Shop, Its Purpose on
Farm, 367.

Work Shop, Locating Ma-
chines, 371.

Work Shop, Moral Benefits of,
372.

Worm Gears, 349.

^^^s^

PRACTICAL SCIENTIFIC
TECHNICAL

EACH BOOK IN THIS CATALOGUE IS WRITTEN BY

AN EXPERT AND IS WRITTEN SO YOU

CAN UNDERSTAND IT

THE NORiN I Wmi PUBUSmNIl COIPANy

Publishers of Scientific and Practical Books
132 Nassau Street New York, U. S. A.

Any book in this Catalogue sent prepaid on receipt of price.

SUBJECT INDEX

PAGE

Accidents 18

Air Brakes 17, 19

Arithmetics 20

Automobiles 3

Balloons 3

Bevel Gears 14

Boilers 22

Brazing 3

Cams 15

Car Charts 4

Change Gear 14

Charts 3, 4, 22

Chemistry 23

Coal Mining 23

Coke 4

Compressed Air ^ 5

Concrete 5

Cyclopedia 4, 20

Dictionaries 7

Dies 7

Drawing 8, 24

Drop Forging 7

DjTiamo 9, 10. 11

Electricity 9, 10, 11, 12

Engines and Boilers 22

Factory [Management 12

Flying Machines 3

Fuel 13

Gas Manufacturing , 14

Gas Engines 13, 14

Gears 14

Heating, Electric 9

Hot Water Heating 27

Horse-Power Chart 4

Hydraulics 15

Ice Making 15

India Rubber 25

Interchangeable Manufacturing 20

Inventions 15

Knots 15

Lathe Work 16

Lighting (Electric) 9

Link Motion 17

Liquid Air 16

Locomotive Boilers 18

Locomotive Engineering 17, 18, 19

Machinist's Books 20, 21, 22

PAGE

Manual Training 22

Marine Engines 22

Marine Steam Turbines 29

Mechanical Movements 20, 21

IMetal Turning 16

Milling Machines 21

Mining 22, 23

Oil Engines 13

Patents 15

Pattern Making 23

Perfumery .- 23

Pipes 28

Plumbing 24

Producer Gas 13

Punches 7

Railroad Accidents 18

Receipt Book 23, 25

Refrigeration 15

Rope Work 15

Rubber Stamps 25

Saws 26

Sheet IMetal Working 7

Shop Tools 21

Shop Construction 20

Shop Management 20

Sketching Paper 8

Smoke Prevention 13

Soldering 3

Splices 15

Steam Engineering 26, 27

Steam Heating 27

Steam Pipes 28

Steel 28

Superheated Steam 17

Switchboards 9, 11

Tapers 16

Telephone 12

Threads 22

Tools 20, 22

Turbines 29

Ventilation 27

Valve Gear 19

Valve Setting 17

Walschaert Valve Gear 19

Watchmaking 29

Wiring 9, 11, 12

Wireless Telephones and Telegraphy .... 12

1^*=- ANY OF THESE BOOKS PROMPTLY SENT PREPAID TO ANY ADDRESS IN
THE WORLD ON RECEIPT OF PRICE.

^^^='How to Remit.— By Postal Money Order, Express Money Order, Bank Draft

or Registered Letter.

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

AUTOMOBILE

THE MODERN GASOLINE AUTOMOBILE— ITS DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION,
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR. By Victor W. Page, M. E.

The latest and most complete treatise on the Gasoline Automobile ever issued. Written
in simple language by a recognized authority, familiar with every branch of the automobile
industry. Free from technical terms. Everything is explained so simply that anyone of
average intelligence may gain a comprehensive knowledge of the gasoline automobile.
The information is up-to-date and includes, in addition to an exposition of principles of
construction and description of all types of automobiles and their components, valuable
money-saving hints on the care and operation of motor cars propelled by internal combus-
tion engines. Among some of the subjects treated might be mentioned: Torpedo and other
symmetrical body forms designed to reduce air resistance; sleeve valve, rotary valve and
other types of silent motors; increasing tendency to favor worm-gear power-transmission;
imiversal application of magneto ignition; development of automobile electric-lighting
sj^stems; block motors; imderslung chassis; application of practical self-starters; long stroke
and offset cylinder motors; latest automatic lubrication systems; silent chains for valve
operation and change-speed gearing; the use of front wheel brakes and many other detail
refinements.

By a careful study of the pages of this book one can gain practical knowledge of automobile
construction that will save time, money and worry. The book tells you just what to do, how
and when to do it. Notliing has been omitted, no detail has been slighted. Every part of
the automobile, its equipment, accessories, tools, supplies, spare parts necessary, etc., have
been discussed comprehensively. If you are or intend to become a motorist, or are in
any way interested in the modern Gasoline Automobile, this is a book you cannot afford to
be without. Nearly 600 6x9 pages — and more than 500 new and specially made detail il-
lustrations, as well as many full; page and double page plates, showing all parts of the
automobile. Including nine large folding plates. Price $S.50

BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINES

MODEL BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINES. WITH A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
THE PROGRESS OF AVIATION. By J. H. Alexander.

This book has been written with a view to assist those who desire to construct a model airship
or flying machine. It contains five folding plates of working drawings, each sheet containing
a different sized machine. Much instruction and amusement can be obtained from the making
and flying of these models.

A short account of the progress of aviation is included, which will render the book of greater
interest. Several illustrations of full sized airship and flying machines of the latest types are
scattered throughout the text. This practical work gives data, working drawings, and details
which will assist materially those interested in the problems of flight. 127 pages, 45 illustra-
tions, 5 folding plates. Price $1.50

BRAZING AND SOLDERING

BRAZING AND SOLDERING. By James F. Hobart.

The only book that shows you just how to handle any job of brazing or soldering that comes
{Jong; tells you what mixture to use, how to make a furnace if you need one. Full of
valuable kinks. The fifth edition of this book has just been published, and to it much
new matter and a large number of tested formulas for all kinds of solders and fluxes have
been added. Illustrated 25 cents

CHARTS

MODERN SUBMARINE CHART— WITH 200 PARTS NUMBERED AND NAMED.

A cross-section view, showing clearly and distinctly all the ix^terior of a Submarine of the
latest type. You get more information from this chart, about the construction and opera-
tion of a Submarine, than in any other way. No details omitted — everything is accurate
and to scale. It is absolutely correct in every detail, having been approved by Naval
Engineers. All the machinery and devices fitted in a modern Submarine Boat are shown, and
to make the engraving more readily understood all the features are shown in operative form,
with OflBcers and Men in the act of performing the duties assigned to them in service con-
ditions. This CHART IS REALLY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF A SUBMARINE. It
is educational and worth many times its cost. Mailed in a Tube for 25 cents

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

BOX CAR CHART.

A chart showing the anatomy of a box car, having every part of the car numbered and its
proper name given in a reference list 20 cents

GONDOLA CAR CHART.

A chart showing the anatomy of a gondola car, having every part of the car numbered and
its proper reference name given in a reference list 20 cents

PASSENGER CAR CHART.

A chart showing the anatomy of a passenger car, having every part of the car numbered and
its proper name given in a reference list 20 cents

WESTINGHOUSE AIR-BRAKE CHARTS.

Chart I. — Shows (in colors) the most modern Westinghouse High Speed and Signal Equip-
ment used on Passenger Engines, Passenger Engine Tenders, and Passenger Cars. Chart
II. — Shows (in colors) the Standard Westinghouse Equipment for Freight and Switch En-
gines, Freight and Switch Engine Tenders, and Freight Cars. Price for the set . 50 cents

TRACTIVE POWER CHART.

A chart whereby you can find the tractive power or drawbar pull of any locomotive, without
making a figure. Shows what cylinders are equal, how driving wheels and steam pressure
affect the power. What sized engine you need to exert a given drawbar pull or anything
you desire in this line 50 cents

HORSE POWER CHART.

Shows the horse power of any stationary engine without calculation. No matter what the
cylinder diameter of stroke; the steam pressure or cut-off; the revolutions, or whether con-
densing or non-condensing, it's all there. Easy to use, accurate, and saves time and calcu-
lations. Especially useful to engineers and designers ... 50 cents

BOILER ROOM CHART. By Geo. L. Fowler.

A Chart — size 14 x 28 inches — showing in isometric perspective the mechanisms belonging
in a modern boiler room. Water tube boilers, ordinary grates and mechanical stokers, feed
water heaters and pumps comprise the equipment. The various parts are shown broken or
removed, so that the internal construction is fully illustrated. Each part is given a reference
number, and these, with the corresponding name, are given in a glossary printed at the sides.
This chart is really a dictionary of the boiler room — the names of more than 200 parts being
given. It is educational — worth many times its cost 25 cents

CIVIL ENGINEERING

HENLEY'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL ENGINEERING AND ALLIED

TRADES. Edited by Joseph G. Horner, A. M. I. E. M.

This set of five volumes contains about 2,500 pages with thousands of illustrations, including
diagrammatic and sectional drawings with full explanatory details. This work covers the
entire practice of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. The best known experts in all branches
of engineering have contributed to these volumes. The Cyclopedia is admirably well adapted
to the needs of the beginner and the self-taught practical man, as well as the mechanical en-
gineer, designer, draftsman, shop superintendent, foreman, and machinist. The work will be
found a means of advancement to any progressive man. It is encyclopedic in scope, thorough
and practical in its treatment of technical subjects, simple and clear in its descriptive matter,
and without unnecessary technicalities or formulae. The articles are as brief as may be and
yet give a reasonably clear and explicit statement of the subject, and are written by men who
have had ample practical experience in the matters of which they write. It tells you all you
want to know about engineering and tells it so simply, so clearly, so concisely, that one cannot
help but understand. As a work of reference it is without a peer. $6.00 per single volume.
For complete set of five volumes, price $25.00

COKE

COKE— MODERN COKING PRACTICE; INCLUDING THE ANALYSIS OF
MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS. By T. H. Byrom and J. E. Christopher.

A handbook for those engaged in Coke manufacture and the recovery of By-products. Fully
illustrated with folding plates. It has been the aim of the authors, in preparing this book,
to produce one which shall be of use and benefit to those who are associated with, or inter-
ested in, the modern developments of the industry. Contents: I. Introductory. II. Gen-

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

eral Classification of Fuels. III. Coal Washing. IV. The Sampling and Valuation of Coal,
Coke, etc. V. The Calorific Power of Coal and Coke. VI. Coke Ovens. VII. Coke Ovens,
continued. VIII. Coke Ovens, continued. IX. Charging and Discharging of Coke Ovens,
X. Cooling and Condensing Plant. XI. Gas Exhausters. XII. Composition and Analysis
of Ammoniacal Liquor. XIII. Working-up of Ammoniacal Liquor. XIV. Treatment of
Waste Gases from Sulphate Plants. XV. Valuation of Ammonium Sulphate. XVI. Direct
Recovery of Ammonia from Coke Oven Gases. XVII. Surplus Gas from Coke Oven. Use-
ful Tables. Very fully illustrated. Price . . « $3. 50 net

COMPRESSED AIR

COMPRESSED AIR IN ALL ITS APPLICATIONS. By Gardner D. Hiscox.

This is the most complete book on the subject of Air that has ever been issued, and its thirty-
five chapters include about every phase of the subject one can think of. It may be called an
encyclopedia of compressed air. It is written by an expert, who, in its 665 pages, has dealt
with the subject in a comprehensive manner, no phase of it being omitted. Includes the
physical properties of air from a vacuum to its highest pressure, its thermodynamics, com-
pression, transmission and uses as a motive power; in the Operation of Stationary and Port-
able Machinery, in Mining, Air Tools, Air Lifts, Pumping of Water, Acids, and Oils; the
Air Blast for Cleaning and Painting, the Sand Blast and its Work, and the Numerous Appli-
ances in which Compressed Air is a Most Convenient and Economical Transmitter of Power
for Mechanical Work, Railway Propulsion, Refrigeration, and the Various Uses to which
Compressed Air has been applied. Includes forty-four tables of the physical properties of
air, its compression, expansion, and volumes required for various kinds of work, and a list of
patents on compressed air from 1875 to date. Over 500 illustrations, 5th Edition, revised and
enlarged. Cloth bound, $5.00. Half Morocco, price $6.60

CONCRETE

ORNAMENTAL CONCRETE WITHOUT MOLDS. By A. A. Houghton.

The process for making ornamental concrete without molds has long been held as a secret, and
now, for the first time, this process is given to the public. The book reveals the secret and is
the only book published which explains a simple, practical method whereby the concrete worker
is enabled, by employing wood and metal templates of different designs, to mold or model in
concrete any Cornice, Archivolt, Column, Pedestal, Base Cap, Urn or Pier in a monolithic
form — right upon the job. These may be molded in units or blocks, and then built up to suit the
specifications demanded. This work is fully illustrated, with detailed engravings. Price $2.00

CONCRETE FROM SAND MOLDS. By A. A. Houghton.

A Practical Work treating on a process which has heretofore been held as a trade secret by
the few who possessed it, and which will successfully mold every and any class of ornamental
concrete work. The process of molding concrete with sand molds is of the utmost practical
value, possessing the manifold advantages of a low cost of molds, the ease and rapidity of
operation, perfect details to all ornamental designs, density, and increased strength of the
concrete, perfect curing of the work without attention and the easy removal of the molds re-
gardless of any undercutting the design may have. 192 pages. Fully illustrated. Price $2.00

CONCRETE WALL FORMS. By A. A. Houghton.

A new automatic wall clamp is illustrated with working drawings. Other types of wall
forms, clamps, separators, etc., are also illustrated and explained 50 cents

CONCRETE FLOORS AND SIDEWAf^KS. By A. A. Houghton.

The molds for molding squares, hexagonal and many other styles of mosaic floor and side-
walk blocks are fully illustrated and explained 50 cents

PRACTICAL CONCRETE SILO CONSTRUCTION. By A. A. Houghton.
Complete working drawings and specifications are given for several styles of concrete silos,
with illustrations of molds for monolithic and block silos. The tables, data and information
presented in this book are of the utmost value in planning and constructing all forms of concrete
silos 50 cents

MOLDING CONCRETE CHIMNEYS, SLATE AND ROOF TILES. By
A. A. Houghton.

The manufacture of all types of concrete slate and roof tile is fully treated. Valuable data
on all forms of reinforced concrete roofs are contained within its pages. The construction of
concrete chimneys by block and monolithic systems is fully illustrated and described. A
number of ornamental designs of chimney construction with molds are shown in this valu-
able treatise - . . .... 50 cents

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

MOLDING AND CURING ORNAMENTAL CONCRETE ^.v A A. Houghton.

The proper proportions of cement and aggregates for various linishes, also t'le methods of
thoroughly mixing and placing in the molds, are fully treated. An exhaustive treatKe on this
subject that every concrete worker will find of daily use and value 50 cents

CONCRETE MONUMENTS, MAUSOLEUMS AND BURIAL VAULTS. By A. A.

Houghton,

The molding of concrete monuments to imitate the most expensive cut stone is explained in
this treatise, with working drawings ot easily built molds. Cutting inscriptions and designs
is also fully treated .50 cents

MOLDING CONCRETE BATH TUBS, AQUARIUMS AND NATATORIUMS.

By A, A, Houghton.

Simple molds and instruction are given for molding many styles of concrete bath tubs,
swimming pools, etc. These molds are easily built and permit rapid and successful
work 50 cents

CONCRETE BRIDGES, CULVERTS AND SEWERS. By A. A. Houghton.

A number of ornamental concrete bridges with illustrations of molds are given. A collapsible
center or core for bridges, culverts and sewers is fully illustrated with detailed instructions for
building 50 cents

CONSTRUCTING CONCRETE PORCHES. By A. A. Houghton.

A number of designs v/ith working drawings of molds are fully explained so any one can easily
construct different styles of ornamental concrete porches without the purchase of expensive
molds 50 cents

MOLDING CONCRETE FLOWER POTS, BOXES, JARDINIERES, ETC. By
A. A. Houghton.

The molds for producing many original designs of flower pots, urns, flower boxes, jardinieres,
etc., are fully illustrated and explained, so the worker can easily construct and operate
same 50 cents

MOLDING CONCRETE FOUNTAINS AND LAWN ORNAMENTS. By

A. A. Houghton.

The molding of a number of designs of lawn seats, curbing, hitching posts, pergolas, sun dials
and other forms of ornamental concrete for the ornamentation of lawns and gardens, is
fully illustrated and described 50 cents

CONCRETE FOR THE FARM AND SHOP. By A. A. Houghton.

The molding of drain tile, tanks, cisterns, fence posts, stable floors, hog and poultry houses
and all the purposes for which concrete is an invaluable aid to the farmer are numbered
among the contents of this handy volume 60 cents

POPULAR HANDBOOK FOR CEMENT AND CONCRETE USERS. By Myron
H. Lswis,

This is a concise treatise of the principles and methods employed in the manufacture and use
of cement in all classes of modern works. The author has brought together in this work all
the salient matter of interest to the user of concrete and its many diversified products. The
matter is presented in logical and systematic order, clearly written, fully illustrated and free
from involved mathematics. Everything of value to the concrete user is given including kinds
of cement employed in construction, concrete architecture, inspection and testing, water-
proofing, coloring and painting, rules, tables, working, and cost data. The book comprises
thirty-three chapters, as follows:

Introductory. Kinds of Cements and How Thev are IMade. Properties, Testing and
Requirements of Hydraulic Cement. Concrete and its Properties. Sand, Broken Stone and
Gravel for Concrete. How to Proportion the INIaterials. How to Mix and Place Concrete.
Forms for Concrete Construction. The Architectural and Artistic Possibilities of Concrete.
Concrete Residences. Alortars, Plasters and Stucco and How to Use Them. The Artistic
Treatment of Concrete Surfaces. Concrete Building Blocks. The Making of Ornamental
Concrete. Concrete Pipes, Fences, Posts. Etc. Essential Features and Advantages of Reen-
forced Concrete. How to Design Reenforced Concrete Beams. Slabs and Columns. Ex-
planations of the Methods and Principles in Designing Reenforced Concrete Beams and
Slabs. Systems of Reenforcement Employed. Reenforced Concrete in Factory and General

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

Building Construction. Concrete in Foundation Worlf. Concrete Retaining Walls, Abut-
ments, and Bulkheads. Concrete Arches and Arch Bridges. Concrete Beam and Girder
Bridges. Concrete in Sewerage and Drainage Works. Concrete Tanks, Dams and Reser-
voirs. Concrete Sidewalks, Curbs and Pavements. Concrete in Railroad Constructions.
The Utility of Concrete on the Farm. The Waterproofing of Concrete Structure. Grout
or Liquid Concrete and Its Use. Inspection of Concrete Work. Cost of Concrete Work.
Some of the special features of the book are: 1. The Attention Paid to the Artistic and
Architectural Side of Concrete Work. 2. The Authoritative Treatment of the Problem
of Waterproofing Concrete. 3. An Excellent Summary of the Rules to be Followed in
Concrete Construction. 4. The Valuable Cost Data and Useful Tables given. A valuable
Addition to the Library of Every Cement and Concrete User. Price $2.50

WATERPROOFING CONCRETE. By Myron H. Lewis.

Modern Methods of Waterproofing Concrete and Other Structures. A condensed statement
of the Principles, Rules, and Precautions to be Observed in Waterproofing and Damp-
proofing Structures and Structural Materials. Paper binding. Illustrated. Price. .50 cents

DICTIONARIES

STANDARD ELECTRICAL DICTIONARY. By T. O'Conor Sloane.

DIES— METAL WORK

DIES: THEIR CONSTRUCTION AND USE FOR THE MODERN WORKING OF
SHEET METALS. By J. V. Woodworth.

A most useful book, and one which should be in the hands of all engaged in the press working
of metals; treating on the Designing, Constructing, and Use of Tools, Fixtures and Devices,
together with the manner in which they should be used in the Power Press, for the cheap and
rapid production of the great variety of sheet metal articles now in use. It is designed as a
guide to the production of sheet metal parts at the minimum of cost with the maximum of
output. The hardening and tempering of Press tools and the classes of work which may be
produced to the best advantage by the use of dies in the power press are fully treated. Its
505 illustrations show dies, press fixtures and sheet metal working devices, the descriptions
of which are so clear and practical that all metal-working mechanics will be able to understand
how to design, construct and use them. Many of the dies and press fixtures treated were
either constructed by the author or under his supervision. Others were built by skilful
raechanics and are in use in large sheet metal establishments and machine shops. Price $3.00

PUNCHES, DIES AND TOOLS FOR MANUFACTURING IN PRESSES. By J. V.

Woodworth.

This work is a companion volume to the author's elementary work entitled "Dies, Their
Construction and Use." It does not go into the details of die making to the extent of the
author's previous book, but gives a comprehensive review of the field of operations carried on
by presses. A large part of the information given has been drawn from the author's personal
experience. It might well be termed an Encyclopedia of Die Making, Punch Making, Die
Sinking, Sheet Metal Working, and Making of Special Tools, Sub-presses, Devices and Mechani-
cal Combinations for Punching, Cutting, Bending, Forming, Piercing, Drawing, Compressing
and Assembling Sheet Metal Parts, and also Articles of other Materials in Machine Tools.
2d Edition. Price $4.00

DROP FORGING, DIE SINKING AND MACHINE FORMING OF STEEL. By J. V.

Woodworth.

This is a practical treatise on Modern Shop Practice, Processes. Methods, ISIachines. Tools,
and Details, treating on the Hot and Cold Machine-Forming of Steel and Iron into Finished
shapes; Together with Tools, Dies, and Machinery involved in the manufacture of Duplicate

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

Forgings and Interchangeable Hot and Cold Pressed Parts from Bar and Sheet Metal.
This book fills a demand of long standing for information regarding drop forging, die-sinking
and machine forming of steel and the shop practice involved, as it actually exists in the
modem drop forging shop. The processes of die-sinking and force-making, which are thor-
oughly described and illustrated in this admirable work, are rarely to be foimd explained in
such a clear and concise manner as is here set forth. The process of die-sinking relates to
the engraving or sinking of the female or lower dies, such as are used for drop forgings, hot
and cold machine forging, swedging and the press working of metals. The process of force-
making relates to the engraving or raising of the male or upper dies used in producing the
lower dies for the press-forming and machine-forging of duphcate parts of metal.

In addition to the arts above mentioned the book contains explicit information regarding
the drop forging and hardening plants, designs, conditions, equipment, drop hammers,
forging machines, etc., machine forging, hydraulic forging, autogenous welding and shop
practice. The book contains eleven chapters, and the information contained in these chapters
is just what will prove most valuable to the forged metal worker. All operations described
in the work are thoroughly illustrated by means of perspective half-tones and outline sketches
of the machinery employed. 300 detailed illustrations. Price $2.50

DRAWING— SKETCHING PAPER

LINEAR PERSPECTIVE SELF-TAUGHT. By Herman T. C. Kraus.
This work gives the theory and practice of linear perspective, as used in architectural, engi-
neering, and mechanical drawings. Persons taking up the study of the subject by themselves
win be able by the use of the instruction given to readily grasp the subject, and by reason-
able practice become good perspective draftsmen. The arrangement of the book is good ;
the plate is on the left-hand, while the descriptive text follows on the opposite page, so as to
be readily referred to. The drawings are on sufficiently large scale to show the work clearly
and are plainly figured. The whole work makes a very complete course on perspective draw-
ing, and will be found of great value to architects, civil and mechanical engineers, patent
attorneys, art designers, engravers, and draftsmen $2.50

PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE. By Richards and Colvin.

Shows just how to make all kinds of mechanical drawings in the only practical perspective
isometric. Makes everything plain so that any mechanic can understand a sketch or drawing
in this way. Saves time in the drawing room, and mistakes in the shops. Contains practical
examples of various classes of work. 3rd Edition 50 cents

SELF-TAUGHT MECHANICAL DRAWING AND ELEMENTARY MACHINE

DESIGN. By F- L. Sylvester, M.E., Draftsman., with additions by Erik Oberq,

associate editor of "Machinery."

This is a practical treatise on Mechanical Drawing and Machine Design, comprising the
first principles of geometric and mechanical drawing, workshop mathematics, mechanics,
strength of materials and the calculations and design of machine details. The author's
aim has been to adapt this treatise to the requirements of the practical mechanic and young
draftsman and to present the matter in as clear and concise a manner as possible. To
meet the demands of this class of students, practically all the important elements of machine
design have been dealt with, and in addition algebraic formulas have been explained, and
the elements of trigonometry treated in the manner best suited to the needs of the prac-
tical man. The book is divided into 20 chapters, and in arranging the material, mechan-
ical drawing, pure and simple, has been taken up first, as a thorough xmderstanding of the
principles of representing objects facilitates the further study of mechanical subjects. This
is followed by the mathematics necessary for the solution of the problems in machine de-
sign which are presented later, and a practical introduction to theoretical mechanics and
the strength of materials. The various elements entering into machine design, such as cams,
gears, sprocket wheels, cone pulleys, bolts, screws, couphngs, clutches, shafting and fly-
wheels have been treated in such a way as to make possible the use of the work as a text-
book for a continuous course of study. It is easily comprehended and assimilated even by
students of limited previous training. 330 pages, 215 engravmgs. Price. . . . $2.00

A NEW SKETCHING PAPER.

A new specially ruled paper to enable you to make sketches or drawings in isometric perspective
without any figuring or fussing. It is being used for shop details as well as for assembly
drawings, as it makes one sketch do the work of three, and no workman can help seeing just
what is wanted. Pads of 40 sheets, 6x9 inches, 25 cents. Pads of 40 sheets, 9 x 12 inches.
50 cents; 40 sheets, 12x18, Price $1.00

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS
ELECTRICITY

ARITHMETIC OF ELECTRICITY. By Prof. T. O'Conor Sloane.

A practical treatise on electrical calculations of all kinds reduced to a series of rules, all of the
simplest forms, and involving only ordinary arithmetic; each rule illustrated by one or more
practical problems, with detailed solution of each one. This book is classed among the most
useful works published on the science of electricity covering as it does the mathematics of
electricity in a manner that will attract the attention of those who are not familiar with alge-
braical formulas. 20th Edition. 160 pages. Price $1.00

COMMUTATOR CONSTRUCTION. By Wm. Baxter, Jr.

The business end of any dynamo or motor of the direct current type is the commutator. This
book goes into the designing, building, and maintenance of commutators, shows how to locate
troubles and how to remedy them; everyone who fusses with dynamos needs this. S5 cents

DYNAMO BUILDING FOR AMATEURS, OR HOW TO CONSTRUCT A FIFTY- WATT
DYNAMO. By Arthur J. Weed, Member of N. Y. Electrical Society.

A practical treatise showing In detail the construction of a small dynamo or motor, the entire
machine work of which can be done on a small foot lathe. Dimensioned working drawings
are given for each piece of machme work and each operation is clearly described. This
machine, when used as a dynamo, has an output of fifty watts; when used as a motor it will
drive a small drill press or lathe. It can be used to drive a sewing machine on any and all
ordinary work. The book is illustrated with more than sixty original engravings showing
the actual construction of the different parts. Among the contents are chapters on 1. Fifty
Watt Dynamo. 2. Side Bearing Rods. 3. Field Punchings. 4. Bearings. 5. Commu-
tator. 6. Pulley. 7. Brush Holders. 8. Connection Board. 9. Armature Shaft. 10.
Armature. 11. Armatiire Winding. 12. Field. Winding, 13. Connecting and Starting.
Price, paper, 50 cents. Cloth $1.00

ELECTRIC FURNACES AND THEIR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. By J. Wright

This is a book which will prove of interest to many classes of people; the manufacturer who
desires to know what product can be manufactured successfully in the electric furnace, the
chemist who wishes to post himself on the electro-chemistry, and the student of science who
merely looks into the subject from curiosity. The book is not so scientific as to be of use
only to the technologist, nor so unscientific as to suit only the tyro in electro-chemistry; it
is a practical treatise of what has been done, and of what is being done, both experimentally
and commercially with the electric furnace.

In important processes not only are the chemical equations given, but complete thermal data
are set forth and both the efficiency of the furnace and the cost of the product are worked
out, thus giving the work a solid commercial value aside from its efficacy as a work of reference.
The practical features of furnace building are given the space that the subject deserves. The
forms and refractory materials used in the linings, the arrangement of the connections to the
electrodes, and other important details are explained. 288 pages. New Revised Edition.
Fully illustrated. Price $3.00

ELECTRIC LIGHTING AND HEATING POCKET BOOK. By Sydney F. Walker.

This book puts in convenient form useful information regarding the apparatus which is likely
to be attached to the mains of an electrical company. Tables of units and equivalents are
included and useful electrical laws and formulas are stated.

One section is devoted to dynamos, motors, transformers and accessory apparatus; another
to accumulators, another to switchboards and related equipment, a fourth to a description
of various systems of distribution, a fifth section to a discussion of instruments, both for
portable use and switchboards; another section deals with electric lamps of various types
and accessory appliances, and the concluding section is given up to electric heating apparatus.
In each section a large number of commercial types are described, frequent tables of dimen-
sions being included. A great deal of detail information of each line of apparatus is given
and the illustrations shown give a good idea of the general appearance of the apparatus under
discussion. The book also contains much valuable information for the central station engi-
neer. 438 pages. 300 engravings. Bound in leather pocket book form. Price . $3.00

ELECTRIC WIRING, DIAGRAMS AND SWITCHBOARDS. By Newton Harrison.

i thorouglily practical treatise covering the subject of Electric Wiring in all its branches,
including explanations and diagrams which are thoroughly explicit and greatly simplify
the subject. Practical e very-day problems in wiring are presented and the method of
obtaining intelligent results clearly shown. Only arithmetic is used. Ohm's law is given

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

a simple explanation with reference to wiring for direct and alternating currents. The funda-
mental principle of drop of potential in circuits is shown with its various applications. The
simple circuit is developed with the position of mains, feeders and branches; their treat-
ment as a part of a wiring plan and their employment in house- wiring clearly illustrated.
Some simple facts about testing are included in connection with the wiring. Molding
and conduit work are given careful consideration; and switchboards are systematically
treated, built up and illustrated, showing the purpose they serve, for connection with the
circmts, and to shunt and compoimd wound machines. The simple principles of switchboard
construction, the development of the switchboard, the connections of the various instru-
ments including the lightning arrester, are also plainly set forth.

Alternating current wiring is treated, with explanations of the power factor, conditions
calUng for various sizes of wire and a simple way of obtaining the sizes for single-phase, two-
phase and three-phase circuits. This is the only complete work issued showing and telling
you what you should know about direct and alternating current wiring. It is a ready refer-
ence. The work is free from advanced technicalities and 'mathematics, arithmetic being used
throughout. It is in every respect a handy, well-written, instructive, comprehensive
volume on wiring for the wireman, foreman, contractor, or electrician. 272 pages; 1051 illus-
trations. Price $1.50

ELECTRIC TOY MAKING, DYNAMO BUILDING, AND ELECTRIC MOTOR CON-
STRUCTION. By Prof. T. O'Conor Sloane.

This work treats of the making at home of electrical toys, electrical apparatus, motors, dynamos
and instruments in general, and is designed to bring within the reach of ydurig and old the
manufacture of genuine and useful electrical appliances. The work is especially designed for
amateurs and young folks.

Thousands of our young people are daily experimenting, and busily engaged in making electrical
toys and apparatus of various kinds. The present work is just what is wanted to give the
much needed information in a plain, practical manner, with illustrations to make easy the
carrying out of the work. 19th Edition. Price $1.00

ELECTRICIAN'S HANDY BOOK. By Prof. T. O 'Conor Sloane.

This work of 768 pages is intended for the practical electrician who has to make things go.
The entire field of electricity is covered within its pages. Among some of the subjects treated
are: The Theory of the Electric Current and Circuit, Electro-Chemistry, Primary Batteries,
Storage Batteries, Generation and Utilization of Electric Powers, Alternating Current, Arma-
ture Winding, Dynamos and Motors, Motor Generators, Operation of the Central Station
Switchboards, Safety Appliances, Distribution 'of Electric Light and Power, Street Mains,
Transformers, Arc and Incandescent Lighting, Electric Measurements, Photometry, Electric
Railways, Telephony, Bell-Wiring, Electro-Platmg, Electric Heating, Wireless Telegraphy, etc.
It contains no useless theory; everything is to the point. It teaches you just what you want
to know about electricity. It is the standard work published on the subject. Forty-one
chapters, 610 engravings, handsomely bound in red leather with title and edges in gold. Price:

$3.50

ELECTRICITY IN FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS, ITS COST AND CONVENIENCE.

By Arthur P. Haslam.

A practical book for power producers and power users showing what a convenience the electric
motor, in its various forms, has become to the modern manufacturer. It also deals with the
conditions which determine the cost of electric driving, and compares this with other methods
of producing and utilizing power.

Among the chapters contained in the book are: The Direct Current Motor; The Alternating
Current Motor: The Starting and Speed Regulation of Electric Motors; The Rating and
Efficiency of Electric Motors; The Cost of Energy as Affected by Conditions of Working, The
Question for the Small Power User; Independent Generating Plants; Oil and Gas Engine
Plants; Steam Plants; Power Station Tariff s ; The Use of Electric Power in Textile Factories;
Electric Power in Printing Works; The Use of Electric Power in Engineering Workshops
Miscellaneous Application of Electric Power; The Installation of Electric Motors; The Lighting
of Industrial Establishments. 312 pages. Very fully illustrated. Price .... $2.50

ELECTRICITY SIMPLIFIED. By Prof. T. O'Conor Sloane.

The object of "Electricity Simplified" is to make the subject as plain as possible and to show
what the modern conception of electricity is; to show how two plates of different metals
immersed in acid can send a message around the globe; to explain how a bundle of copper wire
rotated by a steam engine can be the agent in lighting our streets, to tell what the volt, ohm
and ampere are. and what high and low tension mean; and to answer the questions that
perpetually arise in the mind in this age of electricity. 172 pages. lUustratSf". Price $ 1.00

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

HOUSE WIRING. By Thomas W. Poppe.

This work describes and illustrates the actual installation of Electric Light Wiring, the manner
in which the work should be done, and the method of doing it. The book can be conveniently
carried in the pocket. It is intended for the Electrician, Helper and Apprentice. It
solves ah Wiring Problems, and contains nothing that conflicts with the rulings of the Nation-
al Board of Fire Underwriters. It gives just the information essential to the Successful
Wiring of a Building. Among the svibjects treated are: Locating the Meter. Panel Boards.
Switches. Plug Receptacles. Brackets. Ceihng Fixtures. The Meter Connections. The
Feed Wires. The Steel Armored Cable System. The Flexible Steel Conduit System. The
Ridig Conduit System. A digest of the National Board of Fire Underwriters' rules relating
to metallic wiring systems. Various switching arrangements explained and diagrammed.
The easiest method of testing the Three and Four-way circuits explained. The grounding
of all metallic wiring systems and the reason for doing so shown and explained. The in-
sulation of the metal parts of lamp flxtm-es and the reason for the same described and
illustrated. 125 pages. Fully illustrated. Flexible cloth. Price 60 cents

HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL ELECTRICIAN. By Prof. T. O'Conor Sloane.

Every young man who wishes to become a successful electrician should read this book. It tells
in simple language the surest and easiest way to become a successful electrician. The studies
to be followed, methods of work, field of operation and the requirements of the successful
electrician are pointed out and fully explained. Every young engineer will find this an ex-
cellent stepping-stone to more advanced works on electricity which he must master before
success can be attained. Many young men become discouraged at the very outstart bv
attempting to read and study books that are far beyond their comprehension. This book
serves as the connecting link between the rudiments taught in the public schools and the real
study of electricity. It is interesting from cover to cover. Fifteenth edition. 202 pages.
Illustrated. Price $1.00

MANAGEMENT OF DYNAMOS. By Lummis-Paterson.

A handbook of theory and practice. This work is arranged in three parts. The first part
covers the elementary theory of the dynamo. The second part, the construction and action
of the different classes of dynamos in common use are described; while the third part relates
to such matters as affect the practical management and working of dynamos and motors.
The following chapters are contained in the book: Electrical Units; Magnetic Principles;
Theory of the Dynamo; Armature; Armature in Practice; Field Magnets; Field Magnets in
Practice; Regulating Dynamos; Coupling Dynamos; Installation, Running, and Maintenance
of Dynamos; Faults in Dynamos; Faults in Armatures; Motors. 292 pages. 117 illustra-
tions. Price $1.50

STANDARD ELECTRICAL DICTIONARY. By T. O'Conor Sloane.

An indispensable work to all interested in electrical science. Suitable alike for the student
and professional. A practical hand-book of reference containing definitions of about 5,000
distinct words, terms and phrases. The definitions are terse and concise and include every
term used in electrical science. Recently issued. An entirely new edition. Should be in the
possession of all who desire to keep abreast with the progesss of this branch of science. In
its arrangement and typography the book is very convenient. The word or term defined is
printed in black-faced type which readily catches the eye, while the body of the page is In
smaller but distinct type. The definitions are well worded, and so as to be understood by
the non-technical reader. The general plan seems to be to give an exact, concise definition,
and then amphfy and explain in a more popular way. Synonyms are also given, and refer-
ences to other words and plu-ases are made. A very complete and accurate index of fifty
pages is at the end of the volume; and as tliis index contains all synonyms, and as all phrases
are indexed in every reasonable combination of words, reference to the proper place in the
body of the book is readily made. It is difficult to decide how far a book of this character
is to keep the dictionary form, and to what extent it may assume the encyclopedia form.
For some pm-poses. concise, exactly worded definitions are needed; for other purposes, more
extended descriptions are required. This book seeks to satisfy both demands, and does it
with considerable success. Complete, concise, and convenient. 682 pages. 393 illustra-
tions. Twelfth edition. Price $3.00

SWITCHBOARDS. By William Baxter, Jr.

This book appeals to every engineer and electrician who wants to know the practical side of
things. It takes up all sorts and conditions of dynamos, connections and circuits and shows
by diagram and illustration just how the switchboard should be connected. Includes direct
and alternating current boards, also those for arc lighting, incandescent, and power circuits.
Special treatment on high voltage boards for power transmission. 2d Edition. 190 pages.
Illustrated. Price $1.50

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

TELEPHONE CONSTRUCTION, INSTALLATION, WIRING, OPERATION AND

MAINTENANCE. By W. H. Radcliffe and H. C. Gushing.

This book gives the principles of construction gnd operation of both the Bell and Independent
instruments; approved methods of installing and wiring them; the means of protecting them
from lightning and abnormal currents; their connection together for operation as series or
bridging stations; and rules for their inspection and maintenance. Line wiring and the wir-
ing and operation of special telephone systems are also treated.

Intricate mathematics are avoided, and all apparatus, circuits and systems are thoroughly
described. The appendix contains definitions of vmits and terms used in the text. Selected
wiring tables, which are very helpful, are also included. Among the subjects treated are
Construction, Operation, and installation of Telephone Instruments, Inspection and Main-
tenance of Telephone Instruments; Telephone Line Wiring; Testing Telephone Line Wires
and Cables; Wiring and Operation of Special Telephone Systems, etc. 100 pages, 125 illus-
trations $1.00

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY AND TELEPHONY SIMPLY EXPLAINED.

By Alfred P. Morgan.

This is undoubtedly one of the most complete and comprehensible treatises on the subject
ever published, and a close study of its pages will enable one to master all the details of the
wireless transmission of messages. The author has fiUed a long felt want and has succeeded
in furnishing a lucid, comprehensible explanation in simple language of the theory and
practice of wireless telegraphy and telephony.

Among the contents are: Introductory; Wireless Transmission and Receptior? — The
Aerial System, Earth Connections — The Transmitting Apparatus, Spark Coils and Trans-
formers, Condensers, Helixes, Spark Gaps, Anchor Gaps, Aerial Switches — The Receiving
Apparatus, Detectors, etc. — Tuning and Coupling, Tuning Coils, Loose Couplers, Variable
Condensers, Directive Wave Systems — Miscellaneous Apparatus, Telephone Receivers.
Range of Stations, Static, Interference — Wireless Telephones,. Sound and Sound Waves, The
Yocal Cords and Ear — Wireless Telephones, How Soimds are changed into Electric Waves —
Wireless Telephones. The Apparatus — Summary. 200 pages. 150 engravings. Price $1.00

WIRELESS TELEPHONES AND HOW THEY WORK. By James Erskine-Murray.

This work is free from elaborate details and aims at giving a clear survey of the way in which
Wireless Telephones work. It is intended for amateur workers and for those whose knowledge
of electricity is slight. Chapters contained: How We Hear; Historical; The Conversion of
Sound into Electric Waves; Wireless Transmission; The Production of Alternating Currents
of High Frequency; How the Electric Waves are Radiated and Received; The Receiving
Instruments; Detectors; Achievements and Expectations; Glossary of Technical Words,
Cloth. Price $1.00

WIRING A HOUSE. By Herbert Pratt.

Shows a house already built; tells just how to start about wiring it; where to begin; what
wire to use; how to run it according to Insurance Rules; in fact just the information you need.
Directions apply equally to a shop. Fourth edition 25 cents

FACTORY MANAGEMENT, ETC.

MODERN MACHINE SHOP CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT AND MANAGEMENT.

By O. E. Perrigo, M.E.

The only work published that describes the modern machine shop or manufacturing plant from
the time the grass is growing on the site intended for it until the finished product is shipped.
By a careful study of its thirty-two chapters the practical man may economically build,
efficiently equip, and successfully manage the modern machine shop or manufacturing estab-
ishment. Just the book needed by those contemplating the erection of modern shop buildings,
the re-building and re-organization of old ones, or the introduction of modern shop methods,
time and cost system. It is a book written and illustrated by a practical shop man for practical
shop men who are too busy to read theories and want facts. It is the most complete all around
book of its kind ever published. It is a practical book for practical men, from the apprentice
in the shop to the president in the office. It minutely describes and illustrates the most simole
and yet the most efficient time and cost system yet devised. Price $5.00

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

FUEL

COMBUSTION OF COAL AND THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE. By Wm. M. Barr.

This book has been prepared with special reference to the generation of heat by the combus-
tion of the common fuels foimd in the United States, and deals particularly with the condi-
tions necessary to the economic and smokeless combustion of bituminous coals in Stationary
and Locomotive Steam Boilers.

The presentation of this important subject is systematic and progressive. The arrangement
of the book is in a series of practical questions to which are appended accurate answers,
which describe in language, free from technicalities, the several processes involved in the
furnace combustion of American fuels; it clearly states the essential requisites for perfect
combustion, and points out the best methods for furnace construction for obtaining the great-
est quantity of heat from any given quality of coal. Nearly 350 pages, fully illustrated.
Price y! $ 1 .00

SMOKE PREVENTION AND FUEL ECONOMY. By Booth and Kershaw.

A complete treatise for all interested in smoke prevention and combustion, being based on
the German work of Ernst SchmatoUa, but it is more than a mere translation of the German
treatise, much being added. The authors show as briefly as possible the principles of fuel
combustion, the methods which have been and are at present in use, as well as the proper
scientific methods for obtaining all the energy in the coal and burning it witliout smoke.
Considerable space is also given to the examination of the waste gases, and several of the
representative English and American mechanical stoker and similar appliances are described.
The losses carried away in the waste gases are thoroughly analyzed and discussed in the Ap-

gendix, and abstracts are also here given of various patents on combustion apparatus. The
ook is complete and contains much of value to all who have charge of large plants. 194
pages. Illustrated. Price $2.60

GAS ENGINES AND GAS

GASOLINE ENGINES : THEIR OPERATION, USE AND CARE. By A. Hyatt

Verrill.

The Simplest, Latest and IVIost Comprehensive popular work published on Gasoline Engines
describing what the GasoUne engine is; its construction and operation; how to install it;
how to select it; how to use it and how to remedy troubles encountered. Intended for owners.
Operators and Users of GasoUne Motors of all kinds. This work fully describes and illus-
trates the various types of Gasoline engines used in Motor Boats, Motor Vehicles and
Stationary Work. The parts, accessories and Appliances are described, with chapters on
ignition, fuel, lubrication, operation and engine troubles. Special attention is given to the
care, operation and repair of motors with useful hints and suggestions on emergency re-
pairs and make-shifts. A complete glossary of technical terms and an alphabetically ar-
ranged table of troubles and their symptoms form most valuable and unique features of this
manual. Nearly every illustration in the book is original, having been made by the author.
Every page is full of interest and value. A book which you cannot afford to be without. 320
Nearly 150 specially made engravings. Price $1.50

GAS, GASOLINE, AND OIL ENGINES. By Gardner D. Hiscox.

Just issued, 20th revised and enlarged edition. Every user of a gas engine needs this book.
Simple, instructive, and right up-to-date. The only complete work on the subject. Tells
all about the running and management of gas, gasoline and oil engines, as designed and manu-
factured in the United States. Explosive motors for stationary, marine and vehicle power are
fully treated, together with illustrations of their parts and tabulated sizes, also their care and
running are included. Electric ignition by induction coil and jump spark are fully explained
and illustrated, including valuable information on the testing for economy and power and the
erection of power plants.

The rules and regulations of the Board of Fire Underwriters in regard to the installation ani
management of gasoline motors is given in full, suggesting the .safe installation of explosive
motor power. A list of United States Patents issued on gas, gasoline, and oil engines and their
adjuncts from 1875 to date is included. 484 pages. 410 engravings Price . . . $2.50

MODERN GAS ENGINES AND PRODUCER GAS PLANTS. By R. E. Mathot, M.E.

A guide for the gas engine designer, user, and engineer in the construction, selection, purchase
installation, operation, and maintenance of gas engines. More than one book on gas engines
has been written, but not one has thus far even encroached on the field covered by this book.
Above all Mr. Mathot's work is a practical guide. Recognizing the need of a volume that

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

would assist the gas engine user in understanding thoroughly the motor upon which he depends
for power, the author has discussed his subject without the help of any mathematics and
without elaborate theoretical explanations. Every part of the gas engine is described in detail,
tersely, clearly, with a thorough understanding of the requirements of the mechanic. Helpful
suggestions as to the purchase of an engine, its installation, care, and operation form a most
\aluable feature of the work. 320 pages. 175 detailed illustrations. Price . . . $2.50

GAS ENGINE CONSTRUCTION, OR HOW TO BUILD A HALF-HORSE-POWER

GAS ENGINE. By Parsell and Weed.

A practical treatise of 300 pages describing the theory and principles of the action of Gas
Engines of various types and the design and construction of a half-horse power Gas Engine, with
illustrations of the work in actual progress, together with the dimensioned working drawings
giving clearly the sizes of the various details; for the student, the scientific investigator and the
amateur mechanic.

Tnis book treats of the subject more from the standpoint of practice than that of theory. The
principles of operation of Gas Engines are clearly and simply described and then the actual
construction of a half-horse power engine is taken up, step by step, showing in detail the making
of the Gas Engine. 3d Edition. 300 pages. Price $2.50

THE GASOLINE ENGINE ON THE FARM: ITS OPERATION, REPAIR

AND USES. By Xeno W. Putnam.

This is a practical treatise on the Gasoline and Kerosene engine intended for the man who
wants to know just how to manage his engine and how to apply it to all kinds of farm work
to the best advantage.

The book includes selecting the most suitable engine for farm work, its most convenient and
efficient installation, with chapters on troubles, their remedies and how to avoid them.
The care and management of the farm tractor in plowing, harrowing, harvesting and road
grading are fully covered; also plain directions are given for handling the tractor on the road.
Special attention is given to relieving farm life of its drudgery by applying power to the
disagreeable small tasks which must otherwise be done by hand. Many homemade con-
trivances for cutting wood, supplying kitchen, garden and barn with water, loading, hauling
and unloading hay, delivering grain to the bins or the feed trough are included; also full
directions for making the engine milk the cows, churn, wash, sweep the house and clean the
windows, etc. Very fully illustrated with drawings of working parts and cuts showing
Stationary. Portable and Tractor Engines doing all kinds of farm work. 300 pages. Nearly
150 engravings. 12mo. Price $1.50

CHEMISTRY OF GAS MANUFACTURE. By H. M. Royles.

This book covers points likely to arise in the ordinary course of the duties of the engineer or
manager of a gas works not large enough to necessitate the employment of a separate chemical
staff. It treats of the testing of the raw materials employed in the manufacture of illuminat-
ing coal gas, and of the gas produced. The preparation of standard solutions is given as well
as the chemical and physical examination of gas coal including among its contents — Prepa-
rations of Standard Solutions, Coal, Furnaces, Testing and P^egulation. Products of Car-
bonization. Analysis of Crude Coal Gas. Analysis of Lime. Ammonia. Analysis of Oxide
of Iron. Naphthalene. Analysis of Fire-Bricks and Fire-Clay. Weldom and Spent Oxide.
Photometry and Gas Testing. Carburetted Water Gas. Metropolis Gas. Miscellaneous
Extracts. Useful Tables $4.50

GEARING AND CAMS

BEVEL GEAR TABLES. By D. Ag. Engstrom.

A book that will at once commend itself to mechanics and draftsmen. Does away with all
the trigonometry and fancy figuring on bevel gears and makes it easy for anyone to lay them
out or make them just right. There are 36 full-page tables that show every necessary dimen-
sion for all sizes or combinations you're apt to need. No puzzling figuring or guessing.
Gives placing distance, all the angles (including cutting angles), and the correct cutter to use.
A copy of this prepares you for anything in the bevel gear line. 66 pages. . $1.00

CHANGE GEAR DEVICES. By Oscar E. Perrigo.

A practical book for every designer, draftsman, and mechanic interested in the invention and
development of the devices for feed changes on the different machines requiring such mechan-
ism. All the necessary information on this subject is taken up, analyzed, classified, sifted,
and concentrated for the use of busy men who have not the time to go through the masses
of irrelevant matter with which such a subject is usually encumbered and select such infor-
mation as will be. useful to them.

It shows just what has been done, how it has been done, when it was done, and who did it.
It saves time in hunting up patent records and re-inventing old ideas. 88 pages. $1.00

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

DRAFTING OF CAMS. By Louis Rouillion.

problem unless you
any kind of cam yc

HYDRAULICS

The laying out of cams is a serious problem unless you know how to go at it right. This puts
you on the right road for practically any kind of cam you are likely to run up against. 25 cents

HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING. By Gardner D. Hiscox.

A treatise on the properties, power, and resources of water for all purposes. Including the
measurement of streams, the flow of water in pipes or conduits; the horse-power of falling
water; turbine and impact water-wheels, wave motors, centrifugal, reciprocating, and air-
lift pumps. With 300 figures and diagrams and 36 practical tables.

All who are interested in water- works development will find this book a useful one, because
it is an entirely practical treatise upon a subject of present importance, and cannot fail in
having a far-reaching influence, and for tills reason should have a place in the working library
of every engineer. Among the subjects treated are: Historical — Hydraulics, Properties of
Water; Measurement of the flow of Streams; Flow from Subsurface orifices and nozzles;
Flow of water in Pipes; Siphons of various kinds; Dams and Great Storage Reservoirs;
City and Town Water Supply; Wells and their reenforcement ; Air lift methods of raising
water ; artesian wells ; Iri'igation of Arid districts ; Water Power, Water Wheels ; Pumps and
Pumping Machinery; Reciprocating Pumps; Hydraulic Power Transmission; Hydraulic
Mining; Canals; Ditches; Conduits and Pipe Lines; Marine Hydraulics; Tidal and Sea
Wave power, etc. 320 pages. Price $4.00

ICE AND REFRIGERATION

POCKET BOOK OF REFRIGERATION AND ICE MAKING. By A. J. Wallis-
Taylor.

This is one of the latest and most comprehensive reference books published on the subject of
refrigeration and cold storage. It explains the properties and refrigerating effect of the different
fluids in use, the management of refrigerating machinery and the construction and insulation
of cold rooms with their required pipe surface for different degrees of cold; freezing mixtures
and non-freezing brines, temperatures of cold rooms for all kinds of provisions, cold storage
charges for all classes of goods, ice making and storage of ice, data and memoranda for constant
reference by refrigerating engineers, with nearly one hundred tables containing valuable
references to every fact and condition required in the installment and operation of a refrigerat-
ing plant. Illustrated. (5th Edition, revised.) Price $1.50

INVENTIONS— PATENTS

This is a book designed as a guide to inventors in perfecting their inventions, taking out their
patents and disposing of them. It is not in any sense a Patent Solicitor's Circular, nor a
Patent Broker's Advertisement. No advertisements of any description appear in the work.
It is a book containing a quarter of a century's experience of a successful inventor, together
with notes based upon the experience of many other inventors.

Among the subjects treated in this work are: How to Invent. How to Secure a Good
Patent. Value of Good Invention. How to exhibit an Invention. How to Interest
Capital. How to Estimate the Value of a Patent. Value of Design Patents. Value of
Foreign Patents. Value of Small Inventions. Advice on SelUng Patents. Advice on the
Formation of Stock Companies. Advice on the Formation of Limited Liability Companies.
Advice on Disposing of Old Patents. Advice as to Patent Attorneys. Advice as to SeUing
Agents. Forms of Assignments. License and Contracts. State Laws Concerning Patent
Rights. 1900 Census of the United States by counties of over 10,000 population. Revised
edition. 120 pages. Price $1.00

KNOTS

KNOTS, SPLICES AND ROPE WORK. By A. Hyatt Verrill.

This is a practical book giving complete and simple directions for making all the most use-
ful and ornamental knots in common use. with chapters on Splicing, Pointing, Seizing,

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

Serving, etc. This book is fully illustrated with one hundred and fifty original engravings,
which show how each kxiot, tie or spUce is formed and its appearance when finished. The
book wUl be found of the greatest value to Campers, Yachtsmen, Travelers, Boy Scouts,
in fact to anyone having occasion to use or handle rope or knots for any purpose. The book
is thoroughly reliable and practical and is not only a guide but a teacher. It is the standard
work on the subject. Among the contents are: 1. Cordage, Kinds of Rope. Construction
of Rope, Parts of Rope Cable and Bolt Rope. Strength of Rope, Weight of Rope. 2. Sim-
ple knots and Bends. Terms used in Handhng Rope. Seizing Rope. 3. Ties and Hitches.
4. Noose, Loops and IMooring Knots. 5. Shortenings, Grommets and Selvages. 6. Lash-
ings. Seizings and SpUces. 7. Fancy Knots and Rope Work. 128 pages. 150 original
engravings. Price 60 cents

LATHE WORK

MODERN AMERICAN LATHE PRACTICE. By Oscak E. Perrigo.

This is a new book from cover to cover, and the only complete American work on the subject
written by a man who knows not only how work ought to be done, but who also knows
how to do it, and how to convey this knowledge to others. It is strictly up-to-date in its
descriptions and illustrations, which represent the very latest practice in lathe and boring
mill operations as well as the construction of and latest developments in the manufactiire
of these important classes of machine tools.

Lathe history and the relations of the Lathe to manufacturing are given ; also a description
of the various devices for Feeds and Thread Cutting mechanisms from early efforts in this
direction to the present time. Lathe design is thoroughly discussed, including Back Gearing,
Driving Cones, Thread Cutting Gears, and all the essential elements of the modern Lathe.
The classification of Lathes is taken up, giving the essential differences of the several types
of Lathes, including, as is usually imderstood, Engine Lathes, Bench Lathes, Speed Lathes,
Forge Lathes, Gap Lathes, Pulley Lathes, Forming Lathes, Multiple Spindle Lathes, Rapid
Reduction Lathes, Precision Lathes, Turret Lathes, Special Lathes, Electrically Driven
Lathes, etc. 424 pages. 314 illustrations. Price $2.50

PRACTICAL METAL TURNING. By Joseph G. Horner.

This important and practical subject is treated in a full and exhaustive manner and nothing
of importance is omitted. The principles and practice and all the different branches of Turn-
ing are considered and well illustrated. All the different kinds of Chucks of usual forms, as
well as some unusual kinds, are shown. A feature of the book is the important section de-
voted to modern Turret practice; Boring is another subject which is treated fully; and the
chapter on Tool Holders illustrates a large number of representative types. Thread Cutting
is treated at reasonable length; and the last chapter contains a good deal of information
relating to the High-Speed Steels and their work. The numerous tools used by machinists
are illustrated, and also the adjuncts of the lathe. In fact, the entire subject is treated in
such a thorough manner as to make this book the standard one on the subject. It is indis-
pensable to the manager, engineer, and machinist as well as to the student, amateur, and
experimental man who desires to keep up-to-date. 400 pages, fully illustrated. Price $3.50

TURNING AND BORING TAPERS. By Fred H. Colvin.

There are two ways to turn tapers; the right way and one other. This treatise has to do with
the right way; it tells you how to start the work properly, how to set the lathe, what tools to
use and how to use them, and forty and one other little things that you should know. Fourth
edition 25 cents

LIQUID AIR

LIQUID AIR AND THE LIQUEFACTION OF GASES. By T. O'Conor Sloane.

This book gives the historv of the theory, discovery, and manufacture of Liquid Air, and

contains an illustrated description of all the experiments that have excited the wonder of

audiences all over the country. It shows how liquid air, like water, is carried hundreds of

miles and is handled in open buckets. It tells what may be expected from it in the near

future.

A book that renders simple one of the most perplexing chemical problems of the century.

Startling developments illustrated by actual experiments.'

It is not only a work of scientific interest and authority, but is intended for the general reader,

being written in a popular style — easily understood by every one. Second edition. 365

pages. Price $2.00

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACl ICAL BOOKS
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERING

AIR-BRAKE CATECHISM. By Robert H. Blackall.

This book is a standard text book. It covers the Westinghouse Air-Brake Equipment, in-
cluding the No. 5 and the No. 6 E. T Locomotive Brake Equipment; the K (Quick-Service)
Triple Valve for Freight Service; and the Cross-Compound Pump. The operation of all parts
of the apparatus is explained in detail, and a practical way of finding their peculiarities and
defects, with a proper remedy, is given. It contains 2,000 questions with their answers,
which will enable any railroad man to pass any examination on the subject of Air Brakes.
Endorsed and used by air-brake instructors and examiners on nearly every railroad in the
United States, 25th Edition. 350 pages, fully illustrated with folding plates and dia-
grams $2.00

AMERICAN COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES. By Fred. H. Colvin.

The only book on compounds for the engineman or shopman that shows in a plain, practical
way the various features of compound locomotives in use. Shows how they are made, what
to do when they break down or balk. Contains sections as follows: — A Bit of History. The-
ory of Compounding Steam Cylinders. Baldwin Two-Cylinder Compound. Pittsburg Two-
Cylinder Compound. Rhode Island Compound. Richmond Compound. Rogers Compound.
Schenectady Two-Cylinder Compound. Vauclain Compound. Tandem Compounds. Bald-
win Tandem. The Colvin- Wight man Tandem. Schenectady Tandem. Balanced Loco-
motives. Baldwin Balanced Compound. Plans for Balancing. Locating Blows. Break-
downs. Reducing Valves. Drifting, Valve Motion. Disconnecting, Power of Compound
Locomotives. Practical Notes.

Fully illustrated '^and containing ten special "Duotone" inserts on heavy Plate Paper, show-
ing different types of Compounds. 142 pages. Price $1.00

APPLICATION OF HIGHLY SUPERHEATED STEAM TO LOCOMOTIVES. By

Robert Garbe.

A practical book. Contains special chapters on Generation of Highly Superheated Steam;
Superheated Steam and the Two-Cylinder Simple Engine; Compounding and Superheating;
Designs ofj Locomotive Superheaters; Constructive Details of Locomotives using Highly
Superheated Steam; Experimental and Working Results. Illustrated with folding plates
and tables. Price . , $3.60

COMBUSTION OF COAL AND THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE.
By Wm. M. Barr,

This book has been prepared with special reference to the generation of heat by the combus-
tion of the common fuels found in the United States, and deals particularly with the condi-
tions necessary to the economic and smokeless combustion of bituminous coal in Stationary
and Locomotive Steam Boilers.

The presentation of this important subject is systematic and progressive. The arrangement
of the book is in a series of practical questions to which are appended accurate answers,
which describe in language, free from technicalities, the several processes involved in the
furnace combustion of American fuels; it clearly states the essential requisites for perfect
combustion, and points out the best methods of furnace construction for obtaining the
greatest quantity of heat from any given quality of coal. Nearly 350 pages, fully illustrated
Price $1.00

DIARY OF A ROUND HOUSE FOREMAN. By T. S. Reilly .

This is the greatest book of railroad experiences ever published. Containing a fund of infor-
mation and suggestions along the line of handling men, organizing, etc., that one cannot afford
to miss. 176 pages. Price $1.00

LINK MOTIONS, VALVES AND VALVE SETTING. By Fred H. Colvin, Associate
Editor of "American Machinist."

A handy book for the engineer or machinist that clears up the mysteries of valve setting.
Shows the different valve gears in use, how they work, and why. Piston and slide valves
of different types are illustrated and explained. A book that every railroad man in the mo-
tive power department ought to have. Contains chapters on Locomotive Link Motion,
Valve Movements, Setting Slide Valves, Analysis by Diagrams, Modern Practice, Slip of
Block, Slide Valves, Piston Valves, Setting Piston Valves, Joy-Allen Valve Gear, Walschaert
Valve Gear, Gooch Valve Gear, Alfree-Hubbell Valve Gear, etc., etc. Fully illustrated.
Pnee , 50 cents

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

LOCOMOTIVE BOILER CONSTRUCTION. By Frank A. Kleinhans.

The construction of boilers in general Is treated, and following this, the locomotive boiler
is taken up in the order in which its various parts go through the shop. Shows all types of
boilers used; gives details of construction; practical facts, such as life of riveting, punches
and dies; work done per day, allowance for bending and flanging sheets, and other data.
Locomotive boilers present more difficulty in laying out and building than any other type,
and for this reason the author uses them as examples. Anyone who can handle them can
tackle anything.

Contains chapters on Laying Out Work; Flanging and Forging; Punching; Shearing; Plate
Planing; General Tables; Finishing Parts; Bending; Machinery Parts; Riveting; Boiler
Details; Smoke Box Details; Assembling and Calking; Boiler Shop Machinery, etc., etc.
There isn't a man who has anything to do with boiler work, either new or repair work, who
doesn't need this book. The manufacturer, superintendent, foreman, and boiler worker —
all need it. No matter what the type of boiler, you'll find a mint of information that you-
wouldn't be without. Over 400 pages, five large folding plates. Price 53.00

LOCOMOTIVE BREAKDOWNS AND THEIR REMEDIES. By Geo. L. Fowlee.
Revised by Wm. W. Wood, Air-Brake Instructor. Just issued. Revised pocket
edition.

It is out of the question to try and tell you about every subject that is covered in this pocket
edition of Locomotive Breakdowns. Just imagine all the common troubles that an engineer
may expect to happen some time, and then add all of the unexpected ones, troubles that could
occur, but that you had never thought about, and you will find that they are all treated with
the very best methods of repair. Walschaert Locomotive Valve Gear Troubles, Electric
Headlight Troubles, as well as Questions and Answers on the Air Brake are all included. 294
pages. 7th Revised Edition. Fully illustrated $1.00

LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. By Robert Grimshaw.

The revised edition of "Locomotive Catechism," by Robert Grimshaw, is a New Book from
Cover to Cover. It contains twice as many pages and double the number of illustrations
of previous editions. Includes the greatest amount of practical information ever published
on the construction and management of modern locomotives. Specially Prepared Chapters
on the Walschaert Locomotive Valve Gear, the Air Brake Equipment and the Electric Head
Light are given.

It commends itself at once to every Engineer and Fireman, and to all who are going in for
examination or promotion. In plain language, with full complete answers, not only all the
questions asked by the examining engineer are given, but those which the young and less
experienced would ask the veteran, and which old hands ask as "stickers." It is a veritable
Encyclopedia of the Locomotive, is entirely free from mathematics, easily understood and
thoroughly up-to-date. Contains over 4,000 Examination Questions with their Answers.
825 pages, 437 illustrations and three folding plates. 28th Revised Edition. . . $2.50

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTOR AND REFERENCE BOOK FOR LOCOMOTIVE
FIREMEN AND ENGINEERS. By Chas. F. Lockhart.

An entirely new book on the Locomotive. It appeals to every railroad man, as it tells him
how things are done and the right way to do them. Written by a man who has had years
of practical experience in locomotive shops and on the road firing and running. The infor-
mation given in this book cannot be found in any other similar treatise. Eight hundred and
fifty-one questions with their answers are included, which will prove specially helpful to
those preparing for examination. Practical information on: The Construction and Opera-
tion of Locomotives. Breakdowns and their Remedies; Air Brakes and Valve Gears.
Rules and Signals are handled in a thorough manner. As a book of reference it cannot be
excelled. The book is divided into six parts, as follows: 1. The Fireman's Duties. 2.
General description of the Locomotive. 3. Breakdowns and their Remedies. 4. Air Brakes.
5. Extracts from Standard Rules. 6. Questions for examination. The 851 questions have
been carefully selected and arranged. These cover the examinations required by the different
railroads. 368 pages. 88 illustrations. Price $1.50

PREVENTION OF RAILROAD ACCIDENTS, OR SAFETY IN RAILROADING.

By George Bradshaw.

This book is a heart-to-heart talk with Railroad Employees, dealing with facts, not theories,
and showing the men in the ranks, from every-day experience, how accidents occur and how
they may be avoided. The book is illustrated with seventy original photographs and draw-
ings showing the safe and \ansafe methods of work. No visionary schemes, no ideal pictures.
Just plain facts and Practical Suggestions are given. Every railroad employee who reads the

CATALOGUE OV GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

book is a better and safer man to have in railroad service. It gives just the information
which will be the means of preventing many injmues and deaths. All railroad employees
should procure a copy, read it, and do your part in preventing accidents. 169 pages. Pocket
Size. Fully illustrated. Price 50 cents

TRAIN RULE EXAMINATIONS MADE EASY. By G. E. Collingwood.
This is the only practical work on train-rules in print. Every detail is covered, and puzzling
points are explained in simple, comprehensive language, making it a practical treatise for
the Train Dispatcher, Engineman, Trainman, and all others who ha- e to do with the move-
ments of trains. Contains complete and rehable information of the Standard Code of Train
Rules for single track. Shows Signals in Colors, as used on the difterent roads. Explains
fully the practical application of train orders, giving a clear and definite understanding of all
orders which may be used. The meaning and necessity for certain rules are explained in
such a manner that the student may know beyond a doubt the rights conferred under any
orders he may receive or the action required by certain rules.

As nearly all roads require trainmen to pass regular examinations, a complete set of examina-
tion questions, with their answers, are included. These will enable the student to pass the
required examinations with credit to himself and the road for which he works. 256 pages;.
Fully illustrated with Train Signals in colors. Price $1.26

TRAIN RULES AND DESPATCHING. By H. A. Dalby.

Every railroad man, no matter what department he's in, needs a copy of this book. It givej>
the standard rules for both single and double track, shows all the signals, with colors wher-
ever necessary, and has a list of towns where time changes, with a map showing the whole
country. The rules are explained wherever there is any doubt about their meaning or where
they are modified by different railroads. It's the only practical book on train rules in print.
Over 220 pages. Leather cover. Price $1.50

THE WALSCHAERT AND OTHER MODERN RADIAL VALVE GEARS FOR
LOCOMOTIVES. By Wm. W. Wood.

If you would thoroughly understand the Walschaert Valve Gear you should possess a copy
of this book, as the author takes the plainest form of a steam engine — a stationary engine in
the rough, that will only turn its crank in one direction — and from it builds up — with the
reader's help — a modern locomotive equipped with the Walschaert Valve Gear, complete.
The points discussed are clearly illustrated : two large folding plates that show the positions
of the valves of both inside or outside admission type, as well as the links and other parts of
the gear when the crank is at nine different points in its revolution, are especially valuable
in making the movement clear. These employ sliding cardboard models which are contained
in a pocket in the cover.

The book is divided into five general divisions, as follows: I. Analysis of the gear. II. De-
signing and erecting the gear. III. Advantages of the gear. IV. Questions and answers
relating to the Walschaert Valve Gear. V. Setting valves with the Walschaert Valve Gear;
the three primary types of locomotive valve motion ; modern radial valve gears other than
the Walschaert; the Hobart All-free valve and valve gear, with questions and answers on
breakdowns; the Baker-Pilliod valve gear; the Improved Baker-Pilliod Valve Gear, with
questions and answers on breakdowns.

The questions with full answers given will be especially valuable to firemen and engineers
in preparing for an examination for promotion. 245 pages. Third Revised Edition.
Price $1.60

WESTINGHOUSE E— T AIR-BRAKE INSTRUCTION POCKET BOOK. By Wm.

W, Wood, Air-Brake Instructor.

Here is a book for the railroad man, and the man who aims to be one. It is without doubt
the only complete work published on the Westinghouse E-T Locomotive Brake Equipment.
Written by an Air Brake Instructor who knows just what is needed. It covers the subject
thoroughly. Everything about the New Westinghouse Engine and Tender Brake Equip-
ment, including the Standard No. 5 and the Perfected No. 6 Style of brake, is treated in de-
tail. Written in plain English and profusely illustrated with Colored Plates, which enable
one to trace the flow of pressures throughout the entire equipment. The best book ever
published on the Air Brake. Equally good for the beginner and the advanced engineer.
Will pass any one through any examination. It informs and enlightens you on every point.
Indispensable to every engineman and trainman.

Contains examination questions and answers on the E-T equipment. Covering what the
E-T Brake is. How it should be operated. What to do when defective. Not a question can
be asked of the engineman up for promotion on either the No. 5 or the No. 6 E-T equipment
that is not asked and answered in the book. If you want to thoroughly understand the E-T
equipment get a copy of this book. It covers every detail. Makes Air Brake troubles and
examinations easy. Price $1.60

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

MACHINE SHOP PRACTICE

AMERICAN TOOL MAKING AND INTERCHANGEABLE MANUFACTURING. By

J. V. WOODWORTH.

A "shoppy" book, containing no theorizing, no problematical or experimental devices, there
are no badly proportioned and impossible diagrams, no catalogue cuts, but a valuable collec-
tion of drawings and descriptions of devices, the rich fruits of the author's own experience.
In its 500-odd pages the one subject only. Tool Making, and whatever relates thereto, is
dealt with. The work stands without a rival. It is a complete practical treatise on the
art of American Tool Making and system of interchangeable manufacturing as carried on
to-day in the United States. In it are described and illustrated all of the different types
and classes of small tools, fixtures, devices, and special appliances which are in general use
in all machine manufacturing and metal working establishments where economy, capacity,
and interchangeabilitv in the production of machined metal parts are imperative. The
science of jig making is exhaustively discussed, and particular attention is paid to drill jigs,
boring, profiUng and milling fixtures and other devices in which the parts to be machined
are located and fastened within the contrivances. All of the tools, fixtures, and devices
illustrated and described have been or are used for the actual production of work, such as
parts of drill presses, lathes, patented machinery, typewriters, electrical apparatus, mechan-
ical appliances, brass goods, composition parts, mould products, sheet metal articles, di-op
forgings, jewelry, watches, medals, coins, etc. 531 pages. Price $4.00

HENLEY'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL ENGINEERING AND ALLIED

TRADES. Edited by Joseph G. Horner, A.M.L, M.E.

This set of five volumes contains about 2,500 pages with thousands of illustrations, including
diagrammatic and sectional drawings with full explanatory details. This work covers the
entire practice of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. The best known expert in all branches
of engineering have contributed to these volumes. The Cyclopedia is admirably well adapted
to the needs of the beginner and the self-taught practical man, as well as the mechanical en-
gineer designer, draftsman, shop superintendent, foreman, and machinist. The work will be
found a means of advancement to any progressive man. It is encyclopedic in scope, thorough
and practical in its treatment of technical subjects, simple and clear in its descriptive matter,
and without unnecessary technicalities or formulae. The articles are as brief as may be and
yet give a reasonably clear and explicit statement of the subject, and are written by men who
have had ample practical experience in the matters of which they, write. It tells you all you
want to know about engineering and tells it so simply, so clearly, so concisely, that one cannot
help but understand. As a work of reference it is without a peer. $6.00 per volume. For
complete set of five volumes, price $25.00

MACHINE SHOP ARITHMETIC. By Colvin-Cheney.

This is an arithmetic of the things you have to do with daily. It tells you plainly about: how
to find areas of figures; how to find surface or volume of balls or spheres; handy ways for
calculating; about compound gearing; cutting screw threads on any lathe; drillmg for taps;
speeds of drills taps, emerv wheels, grindstones, milling cutters, etc.; all about the Metric
system with conversion tables; properties of metals; strength of bolts and nuts; decimal
equivalent of an inch. All sorts of machine shop figuring and 1,001 other things, any one of
v'hich ought to be worth more than the price of this book to you, and it saves you the trouble
of bothering the boss. 6th Edition. 131 pages. Price 50 cents

MODERN MACHINE SHOP CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT AND MANAGEMENT.
By Oscar E. Perrigo.

The only work published that describes the Modern Machine Shop or Manufacturing Plant from
the time the grass is growing on the site intended for it until the finished product is shipped.
Just the book needed bv those contemplating the erection of modern shop buildings the re-
building and reorganization of old ones, or the introduction of Modern Shop Methods, time and
cost systems. It is a book written and illustrated by a practical shop man for practical shop
men who are too busy to read theories and want facts. It is the most complete all-around
book of its kind ever published. 400 large quarto pages. 225 original and specially-made
illustrations. Price !1>5.UU

MECHANICAL APPLIANCES, MECHANICAL MOVEMENTS AND NOVELTIES
OF CONSTRUCTION. By Gardner D. Hiscox.

This is a supplementarv volume to the one apon mechanical movements. Unlike the first
v'olume, which is more elementary in character, this volume contains illustrations and descrip-
tions of many combinations of motions and of mechanical devices and appliances round in
different lines of machinery. Each device being shown bv a line drawing with a descnption

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

showing its working parts and the method of operation. From the multitude of devices de-
scribed, and illustrated, might be mentioned, in passing, such items as conveyors and elevators,
Prony brakes, thermometers.i various types of boilers, solar engines, oil-fuel burners, condensers,
evaporators, Corliss and other valve gears, governors, gas engines, water motors of various
descriptions, air ships, motors and dynamos, automobile and motor bicycles, railway block
signals, car couplers, link and gear motions, ball bearings, breech block mechanism for heavy
guns, and a large accumulation of others of equal importance. 1,000 specially made engrav-
ings. 396 octavo pages. Price $2.50

MECHANICAL MOVEMENTS, POWERS, AND DEVICES. By Gardner D. Hiscox.

This is a collection of 1,890 engravings of different mechanical motions and appliances, accom-
panied by appropriate text, making it a book of great value to the inventor, the draftsman,
and to all readers with mechanical tastes. The book is divided into eighteen sections or
chapters in which the subject matter is classified under the following heads: Mechanical Powers;
Transmission of Power; Measurement of Power, Steam Power; Air Power Appliances; Electric
Power and Construction, Navigation and Roads; Gearing; Motion and Devices; Controlling
Motion; Horological; Mining; Mill and Factory Appliances; Construction and Devices;
Drafting Devices: Miscellaneous Devices, etc. 12th edition. 400 octavo pages. Price $2.50

MACHINE SHOP TOOLS AND SHOP PRACTICE. By W. H. Vandervoort.

A work of 555 pages and 673 illustrations, describing in every detail the construction, operation,
and manipulation of both hand and machine tools. Includes chapters on fiUng, fitting, and
scraping surfaces; on drills, reamers, taps, and dies; the lathe and its tools; planers, shapers,
and their tools; milling machines and cutters; gear cutters and gear cutting; drilling machines
and drill work; grinding machines and their work; hardening and tempering; gearing, belting
and transmission machinery: useful data and tables. 6th edition. Price . . . , $3.00

THE MODERN MACHINIST. By John T. Usher.

This is a book showing, by plain description and by profuse engravings, made expressly for
the work, all that is best, most advanced, and of the highest efficiency in modern machine
shop practice, tools, and implements, showing the way by which and through which, as Mr.
Maxim says, "American machinists have become and are the finest mechanics in the world."
Indicating as it does, in every line, the familiarity of the author with every detail of daily
experience in the shop, it cannot fail to be of service to any man practically -connected with
the shaping or finishing of metals.

There is nothing experimental or visionary about the book, all devices being in actual use
and giving good results. It might be called a compendium of shop methods, showing a vari-
ety of special tools and appliances which will give new ideas to many mechanics, from the
superintendent down to the man at the bench. It will be found a valuable addition to any
machinist's library, and should be consulted whenever a new or difficult job is to be done,
whether it is boring , milling, turning, or planing, as they are all treated in a practical manner.
Fifth Edition. 320 pages. 250 illustrations. Price ... $2.50

MODERN MILLING MACHINES: THEIR DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND OPERA-
TION. By Joseph G. Horner.

This book describes and illustrates the Milling Machine and its work in such a plain, clear,
and forceful manner, and illustrates the subject so clearly and completely, that the up-to-date
machinist, student, or mechanical engineer cannot afford to do without the valuable infor-
mation which it contains. It describes not only the early machines of this class, but notes
their gradual development into the splendid machines of the present day, giving the design
and construction of the various types, forms, and special features produced bj' prominent
manufacturers, American and foreign.

Milling cutters in all their development and modernized forms are illustrated and described,
and the operations they are capable of producing upon different classes of work are carefully
described in detail, and the speeds and feeds necessary are discussed, and valuable and useful
data given for de^rmining these usually perplexing problems. The book is the most compre-
hensive work published on the subject. 304 pages. 300 illustrations. Price . . $4.00

" SHOP KINKS." By Robert Grimshaw.

A book of 400 pages and 222 illustrations, being entirely different fron^ any other book on
machine shop practice. Departing from conventional style, the author avoids universal or
common shop usage and limits his work to showing special ways of doing things better, more
cheaply and more rapidly than iisual. As a result the advanced methods of representative
establishments of the world are placed at the disposal of the reader. This book shows the
proprietor where large savings are possible, and how products may be improved. To the
employee it holds out suggestions that, properly applied, will hasten his advancement. No
shoD can afford to be without it. It bristles with valuable wrinkles and helpful suggestions.
It will benefit all, from apprentice to proprietor. Every machinist, at any age, should study
?ts pages. Fifth Edition. Price » $2.50

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

THREADS AND THREAD CUTTING. By Colvin and Stabel.
This clears up many of the mysteries of thread-cutting, such as double and triple threads,
internal threads, catching threads, use of hobs, etc. Contains a lot of useful hints and several
tables. 3rd Edition. Price 25 cents

TOOLS FOR MACHINISTS AND WOOD WORKERS, INCLUDING INSTRUMENTS
OF MEASUREMENT. By Joseph G. Horner.

The principles upon which cutting tools for wood, metal, and other substances are made are
identical, whether used by the machinist, the carpenter, or by any other skilled mechanic in
their daily work, and the object of this book is to give a correct and practical description of
these tools as they are commonly designed, constructed, and used. 340 pages, fully illustrated.
Price $3.50

MANUAL TRAINING

ECONOMICS OF MANUAL TRAINING. By Louis Rouillion.

The only book published that gives just the information needed by all interested in Manual
Training, regarding Buildings, Equipment, and Supplies. Shows exactly what is needed for
all grades of the work from the Kindergarten to the High and Normal School. Gives item-
ized lists of everything used in Manual Training Work and tells just what it ought to cost.
Also shows where to buy supplies, etc. Contains 174 pages, and is fully illustrated.
2nd Edition. Price $1.50

MARINE ENGINEERING

MARINE ENGINES AND BOILERS, THEIR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. By

Dr. G. Bauer, Leslie S. Robertson, and S. Bryan Donkin.

In the words of Dr. Bauer, the present work owes its origin to an oft felt want of a Condensed
Treatise, embodying the Theoretical and Practical Rules used in Designing Marine Engines
and Boilers. The need for such a work has been felt by most engineers engaged in the con-
struction and working of Marine Engines, not only by the younger men, but also by those of
greater experience. The fact that the original German work was written by the chief engineer
of the famous Vulcan Works, Stettin, is in itself a guarantee that this book is in all respects
thoroughly up-to-date, and that it embodies all the information which is necessary for the
design and construction of the highest types of marine engines and boilers. It may be said,
that the motive power which Dr. Bauer has placed in the fast German liners that have been
turned out of late years from the Stettin Works, represent the very best practice in marine
engineering of the present day.

-This work is clearly written, thoroughly systematic, theoretically sound; while the character
of its plans, drawings, tables, and statistics is without reproach. The illustrations are care-
ful reproductions from actual working drawings, with some well-executed photographic views
of completed engines and boilers. 744 pages. 550 illustrations and numerous tables.

$9.00 net
MODERN SUBMARINE CHART.

A cross-section view, showing clearly and distinctly all the interior of a Submarine of the
latest type. You get more information from this chart, about the construction and operation
of a Submarine, than in any other way. No Details omitted — everything is accurate and to
scale. It is absolutely correct in every detail, having been approved by Naval Engineers.
AU the machinery and devices fitted in a modern Submarine Boat are shown and to make the
engraving more readily understood all the features are shown in operative form with Ofiflcers
and Men in the act of performing the duties assigned to them in service conditions. This
CHART IS REALLY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF A SUBMARINE. It is educational
and worth many times its cost. Mailed in a Tube for 25 cents

MINING

ORE DEPOSITS, WITH A CHAPTER ON HINTS TO PROSPECTORS. By J. P.

Johnson

This book gives a condensed account of the ore-deposits at present known in South Africa.
It is also intended as a guide to the prospector. Only an elementary knowledge of geology
and some mining experience are necessary in order to understand this work. With these
qualifications, it wiU materially assist one in his search for metalliferous niineral occurrences

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

and, so far as simple- ores are concerned, should enable one to form some idea of the possi-
bilities of any he may find.

Among the chapters given are: Titaniferous and Chromiferous Iron Oxides — Nickel — Cop-
per— Cobalt — Tin — Molybdenum — Tungsten — Lead — Mercury — Antimony — Iron — Hints to
Prospectors. $2.00

PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF MINING. By T. H. Byrom.

A practical work for the use of all preparing for examinations in mining or qualifying for
colliery managers' certificates. The aim of the author in this excellent book is to place clearly
before the reader useful and authoritative data which will render him valuable assistance in
his studies. The only work of its kind published. The information incorporated in it will
prove of the greatest practical utility to students, mining engineers, colliery managers, and
all others who are specially interested in the present-day treatment of mining problems.
Among its contents are chapters on: The Atmosphere; Laws Relating to the Behavior of
Gases; The Diffusion of Gases; Composition of the Atmosphere: Sundry Constituents of the
Atmosphere; Water; Carbon; Fire-Damp; Combustion; Coal Dust and Its Action; Ex-
plosives; Composition of Various Coals and Fuels; Methods of Analysis of Coal; Strata Ad-
joining the Coal Measures; Magnetism and Electricity; Appendix; Useful Tables, etc ;
Miscellaneous Questions. 160 pages. Illustrated $2.00

PRACTICAL COAL MINING. By T. H. Cockin.

An important work, containing 428 pages and 213 illustrations, complete with practical de-
tails, which will Intuitively impart to the reader, not only a general knowledge of the princi-
ples of coal mining, but also considerable insight into allied subjects. This treatise is posi-
tively up to date in every instance, and should be in the hands of every colliery engineer,
geologist, mine operator, superintendent, foreman, and all others who are interested in or
connected with the industry. 2nd Edition $2.50

PATTERN MAKING

PRACTICAL PATTERN MAKING. By F. W. Barrows.

This is a very complete and entirely practical treatise on the subject of pattern making, illus-
trating pattern work in wood and metal. From its pages you are taught just what you should
know about pattern making. It contains a detailed description of the materials used by
pattern makers, also the tools, both those for hand use, and the more interesting machine
tools; having complete chapters on the band saw, The Buzz Saw, and the Lathe. Individual
patterns of manj^ different kinds are fully illustrated and described, and the mounting of
metal patterns on plates for molding machines is included.

Rules, Formulas and Tables are included, containing simple and original methods for finding
the weight of castings, both from the pattern itself and from the drawings. This section
contains some new and practical formulas, which will be found very useful in estimating
weights, with the accuracy required for quotations to prospective customers. All of these
rules are simple, and can be put to practical use by the ordinary, every-day man, and they
have been proved by years of actual use.

Plain rules for keeping down the cost of patterns, with a complete system for checking the
cost of and marking the patterns, and a card record showing what the pattern is, material
used, where> located in safe, with its cost and date of production, is included. The book closes
with an original and practical method for the inventory and valuation of patterns. Con-
taining 326 pages and 150 detailed illustrations. Price $2.00

PERFUMERY

HENLEY'S TWENTIETH CENTURY BOOK OF RECEIPTS, FORMULAS AND PRO-
CESSES. Edited by G. D. Hiscox.

The most valuable Techno-chemical Receipt Book published. Contains over 10,000 practical
receipts, many of which will prove of special value to the perfumer, a mine of information, up-
to-date in every respect. Price, Cloth, $3.00; half morocco $4.00

PERFUMES AND THEIR PREPARATION. By G. W. Askinson, Perfumer.
A comprehensive treatise, in which there has been nothing omitted that could be of value
to the Perfumer. Complete directions for making handkerchief perfumes, smelling-salts,
sachets, fumigating pastilles: preparations for the care of the skin, the mouth, the hair, cos-
metics, hair dyes and other toilet articles are given, also a detailed description of aromatic
substances: their nature, tests of purity, and wholesale manufacture. A book of general,
as well as professional interest, meeting the wants not only of the druggist and perfume man-
ufacturer, but also of the general public. Third edition. 312 pages. Illustrated. . $3.00

2-?

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS
PLUMBING

MECHANICAL DRAWING FOR PLUMBERS. By R. M. Starbuck.
A concise, comprehensive and practical treatise on the subject of mechanical drawing in its
various modern applications to the work of all who are in any way connected with the
plumbing trade. Nothing will so help the plumber in estimating and in explaining work to
customers and workmen as a knowledge of drawing, and to the workman it is of inestimable
value if he is to rise above his position to positions of greater responsibiUty. Among the
chapters contained are: 1. Value to plumber of knowledge of drawing; tools required
and their use; common views needed in mechanical drawing. 2. Perspective versus mechan-
ical drawing in showing plumbing construction. 3. Correct and incorrect methods in
plumbing drawing; plan and elevcction explained. 3. Floor and cellar plans and elevation;
scale drawings; use of triangles. 5. Use of triangles; drawing of fittings, traps, etc. 6.
Drawing plumbing elevations and fittings. 7. Instructions in drawing plumbing elevations.
8. The drawing of plumbing fixtures; scale drawings. 9. Drawing of fixtures and fittings.
10. Inking of drawings. 11. Shading of drawings. 12. Shading of drawings. 13. Sec-
tional drawings; drawing of threads. 14. Plumbing elevations from architect's plan.
15. Elevations of separate parts of the plumbing system. 16. Elevations from architect's
plans. 17. Drawing of detail plumbing connections, 18. Architect's plans and plumbint?
elevations of residence. 19. Plumbing elevations of residence (continued); plumbing plans
for cottage. 20. Plimibing elevations; roof connections. 21. Plans and plumbing eleva-
tions for six-flat building. 22. Drawing of various parts of the plumbing system; use of
scales. 23. Use of architect's scales. 24. Special features in the illustrations of country
plumbing. 25. Drawing of wrought iron piping, valves, radiators, coils, etc. 26. Drawing
of piping to illustrate heating systems. 150 iUustrations. Price $1.50

MODERN PLUMBING ILLUSTRATED. By R. M, Starbuck,

This book represents the highest standard of plumbing work. It has been adopted and used
as a reference book by the United States Government, in its sanitary work in Cuba, Porto
Hico, and the Philippines, and by the principal Boards of Health of the United States and
Canada.

It gives connections, sizes and working data for all fixtures and groups of fixtures. It is
helpful to the master plumber in demonstrating to his customers and in figm-ing work. It
gives the mechanic and student quick and easj- access to the best modern plumbing practice.
Suggestions for estimating phimbing construction are contained in its pages. This book
represents, in a word, the latest and best up-to-date practice, and should be in the hands of
every architect, sanitary engineer and plumber who wishes to keep himself up to the minute
on this important feature of construction. Contains following chapters, each illustrated
with a full-page plate: Kitchen sink, laimdry tubs, vegetable wash sink; lavatories,
pantry sinks, contents of marble slabs; bath tub, foot and sitz bath, shower bath; water
closets, venting of water closets ; low-down water closets, water closets operated by flush
valves, water closet range; slop sink, urinals, the bidet; hotel and restaurant sink, grease
trap; refrigerators, safe wastes, laimdry waste; lines of refrigerators, bar sinks, soda foun-
tain sinks; horse stall, frost-proof water closets; connections for S traps, venting; con-
nections for drum traps; soil pipe connections; supporting of soil pipe; main trap and
fresh air inlet; floor drains and cellar drains, subsoil drainage; water closets and floor
connections; local venting: connections for bath rooms; connections for bath rooms, con-
tinued; connections for bath rooms, continued; connections for bath rooms, continued;
examples of poor practice; roughing- work ready for test; testing of plumbing system;
method of continvious venting ; continuous venting for two-floor work ; continuous venting
for two lines of fixtures on three or more floors ; continuous venting of water closets ; plumb-
ing for cottage house; construction for ceUar piping: plumbing for residence, use of special
fittings; plumbing for two-flat house; plumbing for apartment building; plumbing for
double apartment building; plumbing for oflSce building; plumbing for public toUet rooms;
plumbing for pubhc toilet rooms, continued; plumbing for bath establishment; plmnbing
for engine house, factory plimibing ; automatic flushing for schools, factories, etc. ; use of
flushing valves; urinals for pubhc toilet rooms; the Durham system, the destruction of
pipes by electrolysis; construction of work without use of lead; Automatic sewage Uft,
automatic sump tank ; country plumbing ; construction of cesspools : septic tank and auto-
matic sewage siphon: country plumbing; water supply for country house; thawing of
water mains and ser\ice by electricity; double boilers: hot water supply of large build-
ings; automatic control of hot water tank; suggestions for estimating plumbing construc-
tion. 400 octavo pages, fully illustrated by 55 full-page engravings. Price . $4.00

STANDARD PRACTICAL PLUMBING. By R. M. Starbuck.

A complete practical treatise of 450 pages covering the subject of Modern Plumbing
in all its branches, a large amount of space being devoted to a very complete and practical
treatment of the subject of Hot Water Supply and Circulation and Range Boiler Work.
Its thirty chapters include about every phase of the subject one can think of, making it

24.

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

an indispensable work to the master plumber, the journeyman plumber, and the apprentice
plumber, containing chapters on: the plumber's tools; wiping solder, composition and use;
joint wiping; lead work; traps; siphonage of traps; venting; continuous venting; house
sewer and sewer connections; house drain; soil piping, rougliing; main trap and fresh air
inlet; floor, yard, cellar drains, rain leaders, etc. ; fixture wastes: water closets; ventilation;
improved plumbing connections; residence plumbing; plumbing for hotels, schools, fac-
tories, stables, etc.; modern country plumbing; filtration of sewage and water supply;
hot and cold supply; range boilers; circulation; circulating pipes; range boiler problems;
hot water for large buildings; water lift and its use; multiple connections for hot water
boilers; heating of radiation by supply system; theory for the plumber; drawing for the
plumber. Fully illustrated by 347 engravings. Price $3.00

RECEIPT BOOK

HENLEY'S TWENTIETH CENTURY BOOK OF RECEIPTS, FORMULAS AND PRO-
CESSES. Edited by Gardner D. Hiscox.

The most valuable Techno-chemical Receipt Book published, including over 10,000 selected
scientific, chemical, technological, and practical receipts and processes.

This is the most complete Book of Receipts ever published, giving thousands of receipts for
the manufacturer of valuable articles for everyday use. Hints, Helps, Practical Ideas, and
Secret Processes are revealed within its pages. It covers every branch of the useful arts and
tells thousands of ways of making money and is just the book everyone should have at his
command.

Modern in its treatment of every subject that properly falls within its scope, the book may
truthfully be said to present the very latest formulas to be found in the arts and industries
and to retain those processes wliich long experience has proven worthy of a permanent record
To present here even a limited number of the subjects which find a place in this valuable
work would be difficult. Suffice to say that in its pages will be found matter of intense in-
terest and immeasurable practical value to the scientific amateur and to him who wishes to
obtain a knowledge of the many processes used in the arts, trades and manufactures, a
knowledge which will render his pursuits moro instructive and remunerative. Serving as a
reference book to the small and large manufacturer and suppplying intelligent seekers with
the information necessary to conduct a process, the work will be found of inestimable worth
to the Metallurgist, the Photographer, the Perfumer, the Painter, the Manufacturer of
Glues, Pastes, Cements, and Mucilages, the Compounder of Alloys, the Cook, the Physician,
the Druggist, the Electrician, the Brewer, the Engineer, the Foundryman, the jMachinist,
the Potter, the Tanner, the Confectioner, the Chiropodist, the Manicure, the Manufacturer
of Chemical Novelties and Toilet Preparations, the Dyer, the Electroplater, the Enameler,
the Engraver, the Provisioner, the Glass Vorker, the Goldbeater, the Watchmaker, the Jew-
eler, the Hat Maker, the Ink Manufacturer, the Optician, the Farmer, the Dairyman, the
Paper Maker, the Wood and Metal Worker, the Chandler and Soap ]Maker, the Veterinary
Surgeon, and the Technologist in general.

A mine of information, and up-to-date in every respect. A book which will prove of value
to EVERYONE, as it covers every branch of the Useful Arts. 800 pages. Price $3.00

WHAT IS SAID OF THIS BOOK:

"Your Twentieth Century Book of Receipts, Formulas and Processes duly received. I am
glad to have a copy of it, and if I could not replace it money couldn't buy it. It is the best
thing of the sort I ever saw." (Signed) M. E. Trux,

Sparta, Wis.
" There are few persons who would not be able to find in the book some single formula that
would repay several times the cost of the book. " — Merchant's Record and Show Window.

RUBBER

RUBBER HAND STAMPS AND THE MANIPULATION OF INDIA RUBBER. By

T. O'CoNOR Sloane.

This book gives full details on all points, treating in a concise and siini)l(> manner the elements
of nearly everything it is necessary to understand for a coniniencenicnt in anv branch of the
India Rubber Manufacture. The making of all kinds of Rubber Hand Stamps, Small Articles
of India Rubber, J. S. Government Composition, Dating Hand Stamps, tlie Manipulation
of Sheet Rubber, Toy Balloons. India Rubber Solutions, Cements, Blackings, Renovating

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

Varnish, and Treatment for India Rubber Shoes, etc.; the Hektograph Stamp Inks, and
Miscellaneous Notes, with a Short Account of the Discovery, Collection, and Manufacture of
India Rubber are set forth in a manner designed to be readily understood, the explanations
being plain and simple. Including a chapter on Rubber Tire Making and Vulcanizing ; also a
chapter on the uses of rubber in Surgery and Dentistry. Third revised and enlarged edition.
175 pages. Illustrated $1.00

SAWS

SAW FILINGS AND MANAGEMENT OF SAWS. By Robert Grimshaw.

A practical hand book on filing, gumming, swaging, hammering, and the brazing of band saws,
the speed, work, and power to run circular saws, etc. A handy book for those who have charge
of saws, or for those mechanics who do their own filing, as it deals with the proper shape and
pitches of saw teeth of all kinds and gives many useful hints and rules for gumming, setting,
and filing, and is a practical aid to those who use saws for any purpose. New edition, revised
and enlarged. Illustrated. Price $1.00

STEAM ENGINEERING

AMERICAN STATIONARY ENGINEERING. By W. E. Crane.

This book begins at the boiler room and takes in the whole power plant. A plain talk on
every-day work about engines, boilers, and their accessories. It is not intended to be scien-
tific or mathematical. All formulas are in simple form so that any one understanding plain
arithmetic can readily understand any of them. The author has made this the most prac-
tical book in print; has given the results of his years of experience, and has included about
aU that has to do with an engine room or a power plant. You are not left to guess at a single
ooint. You are shown clearly what to expect under the various conditions ; how to secure
the best results; ways of preventing "shut do^Tis" and repairs: in short, all that goes to
make up the requirements of a good engineer, capable of taking charge of a plant. It's plain
enough for practical men and yet of value to those high in the profession.
A. partial list of contents is: The boiler room, cleaning boilers, firing, feeding: pumps;
jispection and repair; chimneys, sizes and cost; piping: mason Avork: foimdations; testing
cement; pile driving; engines, slow and high speed; valves: valve setting: Corliss engines,
setting valves, single and double eccentric: air pumps and condensers: different types of
condensers: water needed: lining up; poixnds: pins not square in crosshead or crank;
engineers' tools: pistons and piston rings; bearing metal: hardened copper ; drip pipes from
cylinder jackets; belts, how made, care of; oils; greases: testing lubricants: rules and
tables, including steam tables; areas of segments; squares and square root: cubes and cube
root; areas and circumferences of circles. Notes on: Brick work; explosions; pumps;
pump valves: heaters, economizers; safety valves ; lap, lead, and clearance. Has a complete
examination for a license, etc., etc. Second edition. 285 pages. Illustrated. Price . $2.00

EMINENT ENGINEERS. By Dwight Goddard.

Everyone who appreciates the effect of such great inventions as the Steam Engine, Steamboat,
Locomotive, Sewing Machine, Steel Working, and other fundamental discoveries, is interested
in knowing a little about the men who made them and their achievements.
Mr. Goddard has selected thirty-two of the world's engineers who have contributed most
largely to the advancement of our civilization by mechanical means, giving only such facts as
are of general interest and in a way which appeals to all, whether mechanics or not. 280
pages. 35 illustrations. Price $1.50

ENGINE RUNNER'S CATECHISM. By Robert Grimshaw.

A practical treatise for the stationary engineer, telling how to erect, adjust and run the prin-
cipal steam engines in use in the United States. Describing the principal features of various
special and well-known makes of engines: Temper Cut-off. Shipping and Receiving Founda-
tions, Erecting and Starting, Valve Setting, Care and Use, Emergencies, Erecting and Ad-
justing Special Engines.

The questions asked throughout the catechism are plain and to the point,'"and the answers
are given in such simple language as to be readily understood by anyone. All the instructions
given are complete and up-to-date; and they are written in a popular style, without any
technicalities or mathematical formulae. The work is of a handy size for the pocket, clearly
and well printed, nicely bound, and profusely illustrated. To young engineers this catechism

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

will be of great value ^ especially to those who may be preparing to go forward to be examined
for certificates of competency; and to engineers generally it will be of no little service, as they
will find in this volume more really practical and useful information than is to be found any-
where else within a like compass. 387 pages. Seventh edition. Price .... $2.00

ENGINE TESTS AND BOILER EFFICIENCIES. By J. Buchetti.

This work fully describes and illustrates the method of testing the power of steam engines,
turbines and explosive motors. The properties of steam and the evaporative power of fuels.
Combustion of fuel and chimney draft; with formulas explained or practically computed
255 pages, 179 illustrations $3.00

HORSEPOWER CHART.

Shows the horsepower of any stationary engine without calculation. No matter what the
cylinder diameter of stroke; the steam pressure or cut off; the revolutions, or whether con-
densing or non-condensing, it's all there. Easy to use, accurate, and saves time and calcu-
lations. Especially useful to engineers and designers 50 cents

MODERN STEAM ENGINEERING IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. By Gardner
D. Hiscox.

This is a complete and practical work issued for Stationary Engineers and firemen dealing
with the care and management of boilers, engines, pumps, superheated steam, refrigerating
machinery, dynamos, motors, elevators, air compressors, and all other branches with which
the modern engineer must be familiar. Nearly 200 questions with their answers on steam
and electrical engineering, likely to be asked by the Examining Board, are included.
Among the chapters are: Historical; steam and its properties; appliances for the genera-
tion of steam; types of boilers; chimney and its work; heat economy of the feed water;
steam piunps and their work; incrustation and its work; steam above atmospheric pressure;
flow of steam from nozzles; superheated steam and its work; adiabatic expansion of steam;
indicator and its work; steam engine proportions; slide valve engines and valve motion;
Corliss engine and its valve gear; compound engine and its theory; triple and multiple
expansion engine, steam turbine; refrigeration; elevators and their management; cost
of power; steam engine troubles; electric power and electric plants. 487 pages. 405 en-
gravings. Price $3.00

STEAM ENGINE CATECHISM. By Robert Grimshaw.

This unique volume of 413 pages is not only a catechism on the question and answer princi-
ple; but it contains formulas and worked-out answers for all thje Steam problems that apper-
tain to the operation and management of the Steam Engine. Illustrations of various valves
and valve gear with their principles of operation are given. Thirty-four Tables that are
indispensable to every engineer and fireman that wishes to be progressive and is ambitious to
become master of his calling are within its pages. It is a most valuable instructor in the
service of Steam Engineering. Leading engineers have recommended it as a valuable educa-
tor for the beginner as well as a reference book for the engineer. It is thoroughly indexed
for every detail. Every essential question on the Steam Engine with its answer is contained
in this valuable work. Sixteenth edition. Price $2.00

STEAM ENGINEER'S ARITHMETIC. By Colvin-Cheney.

A practical pocket book for the steam engineer. Shows how to work the problems of the
engine room and shows "why." Tells how to figure horse-power of engines and boilers; area
of boilers ; has tables of areas and circumferences ; steam tables ; has a dictionarv of engineering
terms. Puts you on to all all of the little kinks in figuring whatever there is to figure around
a power plant. Tells you about the heat unit; absolute zero; adiabatic expansion; duty of
engines; factor of safety; and 1,001 other things; and everything is plain and simple — not
the hardest way to figure, but the easiest. 2nd Edition 50 cents

STEAM HEATING AND VENTILATION

PRACTICAL STEAM, HOT- WATER HEATING AND VENTILATION. By A. G.

King.

This book is the standard and latest work published on the subject and has been prepared for
the use of all engaged in the business of steam, hot water heating, and ventilation. It is an
original and exhaustive work. Tells how to get heating contracts, how to install heating and
ventilating apparatus, the best business methods to be used, with "Tricks of the Trade" for

CATALOGUE OF GOOD, PRACTICAL BOOKS

shoo use. Rules and data for estimating radiation and cost and such tables and information
as make it an indispensable work for everyone interested in steam, hot water heating, and venti-
lation. It describes all the principal systems of steam, hot water, vacuum, vapor, and vacuum-
vapor heating, together with the new accelerated systems of hot water circulation, including
chapters on up-to-date methods of ventilation and the fan or blower system of heating and
ventilation. Containing chapters on: I. Introduction. II. Heat. III. Evolution of
artificial heating apparatus. IV. Boiler surface and settings. V. The chimney flue. VI.
Pipe and fittings. VII. Valves, various kinds. VIII. Forms of radiating surfaces. IX.
Locating of radiating surfaces. X. Estimating radiation. XI. Steam-heating apparatus.
XII. Exhaust-steam heating. XIII. Hot-water heating. XIV. Pressure systems of hot-
water work. XV. Hot-water appliances. XVI. Greenhouse heating. XVII. Vacuum
vapor and vacuum exhaust heating. XVIII. jMiscellaneous heating. XIX. Radiator and

pipe connections. XX. Ventilation. XXI. IMechanical ventilation and hot-blast heating.
XXII. Steam appliances. XXIII. District heating. XXIV. Pipe and boiler covering.
XXV. Temperature regulation and heat control. XXVI. Business methods. XXVII.

JMiscellaneous. XXVIII. Rules, tables and useful information. 367 pages. 300 detailed
engravings. Price $3.00

STEAM PIPES

STEAM PIPES: THEIR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. By Wm. H. Booth.

The work is well illustrated in regard to pipe joints, expansion offsets, flexible joints, and
self-contained sliding joints for taking up the expansion of long pipes. In fact, the chapters
on the flow of steam and expansion of pipes are most valuable to all steam fitters and users.
The pressure strength of pipes and method of hanging them are well treated and illustrated.
Valves and by-passes are fully illustrated and described, as are also flange joints and their
proper proportions, exhaust heads and separators. One of the most valuable chapters is that
on superheated steam and the saving of steam by insulation with the various kinds of felt-
ing and other materials with comparison tables of the loss of heat in thermal units from naked
and felted steam pipes. Contains 187 pages. Price $S.OO

STEEL

AMERICAN STEEL WORKER. By E. R. Markham.

This book tells how to select, and how to work, temper, harden, and anneal steel for everything
on earth. It doesn't tell how to temper one class of tools and then leave the treatment of
another kind of tool to your imagination and judgment, but it gives careful instructions for
every detafl of every tool, whether it be a tap, a reamer or just a screw-driver. It tells about
the tempering of srnall watch springs, the hardening of cutlery, and the annealing of dies. In
fact there isn't a thing that a steel worker would want to know that isn't included. It is the
standard book on selecting, hardening, and tempering all grades of steel. Among the
chapter headings might be mentioned the following subjects: Introduction; the workman;
steel; methods of heating; heating tool steel; forging; anrealing; hardening baths; baths
for hardening; hardening steel; drawing the temper after hardening; examples of hard-
ening; pack hardening; case hardening; spring tempering; making tools of machine steel;
special steels; steel for various tools; causes of trouble; high speed steels, etc. 366 pages.
Very fully iUustrated. 3rd Edition. Price $2.50

HARDENING, TEMPERING, ANNEALING, AND FORGING OF STEEL. By J. V.

WOODWORTH.

A new work treating in a clear, concise manner all modern processes for the heating, annealing
forging, welding, hardening, and tempering of steel, making it a book of great practical value
to the metal-working mechanic in general, with special directions for the successful hardening
and tempering of all steel tools used in the arts, including milling cutters, taps, thread dies,
reamers, both solid and shell, hollow mills, pimches and dies, and all kinds of sheet metal
working tools, shear blades, saws, fine cutlery, and metal cutting tools of all description, as
weU as for all implements of steel both large and small. In this work the simplest and most
satisfactory hardening and tempering processes are given.

The uses to which the leading brands of steel may be adapted are concisely presented, and their
treatment for working under different conditions explained, also the special methods for the
hardening and tempering of special brands.

A chapter devoted to the different processes for Case-hardening is also included, and special
reference made to the adoption of machinery steel for tools of various kinds. 4th Edition. 288
pages. 201 Illustrations. Price $2.50

CATALOGUE OF GOOD. PRACTICAL BOOKS

TURBINES

MARINE STEAM TURBINES. By Dr. G. Bauer and O. Lasche. Assisted by
E. Ludwig and H. Vogel. Translated from the German and edited by M. G. S.
Swallow.

This work forms a supplementary volume to the book entitled " Marine Engines and Boilers."
The authors of this book, Dr. G. Bauer and O. Lasche, may be regarded as the leading
authorities on turbine construction.

The book is essentially practical and discusses turbines in which the full expansion of steam
passes through a number of separate turbines arranged for driving two or more shafts, as
in the Parsons system, and turbines in wliich the complete expansion of steam from inlet
to exhaust pressure occurs in a turbine on one shaft, as in the case of the Curtis machines.
It will enable a designer to carry out all the ordinary calculations necessary for the con-
struction of steam turbines, hence it fills a want which is hardly met by larger and more
theoretical works.

Numerous tables, curves and diagrams will be found, which explain with remarkable lucidity
the reason why turbine blades are designed as they are, the course which steam takes through
turbines of various types, the thermodynamics of steam tiu-bine calculation, the influence
of vacuum on steam consumption of steam tiu-bines, etc. In a word, the very information
which a designer and builder of steam turbines most requires. The book is divided into
parts as follows: 1. Introduction. 2. General remarks on the design of a turbine installa-
tion. 3. The calculation of steam turbines. 4. Turbine design. 5. Shafting and pro-
pellers. 6. Condensing plant. 7. Arrangement of turbines. 8. General remarks on the
arrangement of steam turbines in steamers. 9. Turbine-driven auxiliaries. 10. Tables.
Large octavo. 214 pages. Fully illustrated and containing 18 tables. Including an entropy
chart. Price, net $3.60

WATCH MAKING

WATCHMAKER'S HANDBOOK. By Claudius Saunier.

This famous work has now reached its seventh edition and there is no work issued that can
compare to it for clearness and completeness. It contains 498 pages and is intended as a
workshop companion for those engaged in Watch-making and allied Mechanical Arts. Nearly
250 engravings and fourteen plates are included. Price ... .... $3.00

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Full text of "The gasoline engine on the farm; a practical, comprehensive treatise on the construction, repair, management and use of this great farm power as applied to all farm machinery and farmer's work indoors and out .."

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