Farm Mechanics Part 6

WINDMILLS

Wind power is the cheapest power we have. A windmill properly proportioned to its work is a great help, especially when it is attached to a good pump for the purpose of lifting water into an elevated tank from which it is piped under pressure for domestic purposes and for watering live-stock.

You can have considerable patience with a windmill if you only depend upon it for pumping water, provided you have a tank that will hold a week's supply to be drawn during a dry, hot time when every animal on the farm demands a double allowance of water. That is the time when a farmer hates to attach himself to the pump handle for the purpose of working up a hickory breeze. That also is the time when the wind neglects a fellow.

A good windmill is useful up to about one-third of its rated capacity, which is the strongest argument for buying a mill larger than at first seems necessary. Some men have suffered at some time in their lives with the delusion that they could tinker with a poorly constructed windmill and make it earn its oil. They have never waked up to a full realization of their early delusion. It is a positive fact that all windmills are not lazy, deceitful nor wholly unreliable. When properly constructed, rightly mounted and kept in good repair, they are not p.r.o.ne to work in a crazy fas.h.i.+on when the tank is full and loaf when it is empty. There are thousands of windmills that have faithfully staid on the job continuously twenty-four hours per day for five or ten years at a stretch, all the time working for nothing year after year without grumbling, except when compelled to run without oil. At such times the protest is loud and nerve racking.

A good windmill with suitable derrick, pump and piping may cost $150.

The yearly expense figures something like this:

Interest on investment at 6% per annum $ 9.00 Depreciation 10% 15.00 Oil 1.00 Repairs 3.00

making a total of $28, which is less than $2.50 per month for the work of elevating a constant supply of water for the house, stable and barnyard.

ONE-MULE PUMP

A home-made device that is much used on live-stock ranches in California is shown in the ill.u.s.tration. This simple mechanism is a practical means for converting circular mule motion into vertical reciprocating pump action. A solid post is set rather deep in the ground about twelve feet from the well. This post is the fulcrum support of the walking-beam. One end of the walking-beam reaches to the center line of the well, where it connects with the pump shaft. The other end of the walking-beam is operated by a pitman shaft connecting with a crank wrist pin near the ground. A round iron shaft similar to a horsepower tumbling rod about ten or twelve feet in length and one and a half inches in diameter is used to convey power and motion to the pitman shaft.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 108.--Mule Pump. A practical home-made power to pump water for live-stock. It is used where the water-table is within 20 feet of the surface of the ground. The drawing shows a post in the center which supports the walking-beam and acts as a fulcrum. A mowing-machine wheel is keyed to one end of a round iron shaft. The other end of this shaft turns in a boxing which is swiveled to a short post as shown at _B_. See also detail "_B_.". The two plunger shafts are shown at _A_ _A_. The mule is. .h.i.tched to the round iron shaft near the traveling wheel by means of a round hook. As the mule walks around in a circle the shaft revolves and operates the crank _B_. There are side guys not shown in the drawing to keep the walking-beam in position.]

A mowing-machine wheel is keyed to the outer end of the tumbling rod. At the crank end is a babbitted boxing with a bolt attachment reaching down into the top of a short post set solidly into the ground, directly under the inner end of the walking-beam. This bolt permits the boxing to revolve with a swivel motion. Another swivel connects the upper end of the pitman shaft with the walking-beam. The whiffletree is attached to the tumbling rod by an iron hook. This hook is held in place by two iron collars fastened to the tumbling rod by means of keys or set-screws.

The mowing-machine drive wheel travels around in a circle behind the mule turning the shaft which works the walking-beam and operates the pump. It would be difficult to design another horse or mule power so cheap and simple and effective. The mule grows wise after a while, so it is necessary to use a blindfold, or he will soldier on the job. With a little encouragement from a whip occasionally a mule will walk around and around for hours pulling the mowing-machine wheel after him.

HORSEPOWER

One horsepower is a force sufficient to lift 33,000 pounds one foot high in one minute.

The term "horsepower" in popular use years ago meant a collection of gear-wheels and long levers with eight or ten horses solemnly marching around in a circle with a man perched on a platform in the center in the capacity of umpire.

This was the old thres.h.i.+ng-machine horsepower. It was the first real success in pooling many different farm power units to concentrate the combined effort upon one important operation.

Not many horses are capable of raising 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute every minute for an hour or a day. Some horses are natural-born slackers with sufficient ac.u.men to beat the umpire at his own game. Some horses walk faster than others, also horses vary in size and capacity for work. But during a busy time each horse was counted as one horsepower, and they were only eight or ten in number. And it so developed that the thres.h.i.+ng horsepower had limitations which the separator outgrew.

The old thres.h.i.+ng horsepower has been superseded by steam engines and gasoline and kerosene power, but horses are more important than ever.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 109.--Horse Power, showing the manner of attaching the braced lever to the bull wheel.]

Farm horses are larger and more powerful; they are better kept, better trained, and hitched to better machinery, because it pays. One man drives three 1,600-pound draft horses as fast as he used to drive two 1,000-pound general-purpose horses. The three drafters make play of a heavy load, while the two light horses worry themselves poor and accomplish little. Modern farm machinery is heavier, it cuts wider and digs deeper and does more thorough work. Modern farm requirements go scientifically into the proper cultivation and preparation of soil to increase fertility. Old methods used up fertility until the land refused to produce profitably.

Although the old familiar horsepower has been greatly outcla.s.sed, it has not been discarded. There are many small horsepowers in use for elevating grain, baling hay, cutting straw for feed and bedding, grinding feed and other light work where engine power is not available.

WATER-POWER

Water-power is the most satisfactory of all kinds of stationary farm power, when a steady stream of water may be harnessed to a good water-wheel. It is not a difficult engineering feat to throw a dam across a small stream and take the water out into a penstock to supply water to a turbine water-wheel. In the first place it is necessary to measure the flow of water to determine the size of water-wheel which may be used to advantage. In connection with the flow of water it is also important to know the fall. Water is measured by what is termed a "weir." It is easily made by cutting an oblong notch in a plank placed across the stream, as a temporary dam which raises the water a few inches to get a steady, even flow of water through the notch so that calculations may be made in miner's inches. The term "miner's inch" is not accurate, but it comes near enough for practical purposes. Measuring the volume of water should be done during a dry time in summer.

The fall of the stream is easily measured by means of a carpenter's level and a stake. The stake is driven into the ground at a point downstream where water may be delivered to the wheel and a tailrace established to the best advantage. Sighting over the level to a mark on the stake will show the amount of fall. When a manufacturer of water-wheels has the amount of water and the fall, he can estimate the size and character of wheel to supply. The penstock may be vertical or placed on a slant. A galvanized pipe sufficient to carry the necessary amount of water may be laid along the bank, but it should be thoroughly well supported because a pipe full of water is heavy, and settling is likely to break a joint.

Galvanized piping for a farm penstock is not necessarily expensive. It may be made at any tin shop and put together on the ground in sections.

The only difficult part about it is soldering the under side of the joints, but generally it may be rolled a little to one side until the bottom of the seam is reached.

The most satisfactory way to carry power from the water-wheel to the farm buildings is by means of electricity. The dynamo may be coupled to the water-wheel and wires carried any required distance.

The work of installing electric power machinery is more a question of detail than mechanics or electrical engineering. The different appliances are bought from the manufacturer and placed where they are needed. It is princ.i.p.ally a question of expense and quant.i.ty of electricity needed or developed. If the current is used for power, then a motor is connected with the dynamo and current from the dynamo drives the motor. A dynamo may be connected with the water-wheel shaft at the source of power and the motor may be placed in the power-house or any of the other buildings.

The cost of farm waterworks depends princ.i.p.ally on the amount of power developed. Small machinery may be had for a few hundred dollars, but large, powerful machinery is expensive. If the stream is large and considerable power is going to waste it might pay to put in a larger plant and sell current to the neighbors for electric lighting and for power purposes. Standard machinery is manufactured for just such plants.

The question of harnessing a stream on your own land when you control both banks is a simple business proposition. If anyone else can set up a plausible plea of riparian rights, flood damage, interstate complications or interference with navigation, it then becomes a question of litigation to be decided by some succeeding generation.

STEAM BOILER AND ENGINE

Farm engines usually are of two different types, steam engines and gasoline or oil engines. Steam stationary engines are used on dairy farms because steam is the best known means of keeping a dairy clean and sanitary. The boiler that furnishes power to run the engine also supplies steam to heat water and steam for sterilizing bottles, cans and other utensils.

For some unaccountable reason steam engines are more reliable than gasoline engines. At the same time they require more attention, that is, the boilers do. Steam engines have been known to perform their tasks year after year without balking and without repairs or attention of any kind except to feed steam and oil into the necessary parts, and occasionally repack the stuffing boxes.

On the other hand, boilers require superintendence to feed them with both fuel and water. The amount of time varies greatly. If the boiler is very much larger than the engine, that is, if the boiler is big enough to furnish steam for two such engines, it will furnish steam for one engine and only half try. This means that the fireman can raise 40 or 60 pounds of steam and attend to his other work around the dairy or barn.

Where steam boilers are required for heating water and furnis.h.i.+ng steam to scald cans and wash bottles, the boiler should be several horsepower larger than the engine requirements. There is no objection to this except that a large boiler costs more than a smaller one, and that more steam is generated than is actually required to run the engine. The kind of work required of a boiler and engine must determine the size and general character of the installation.

Portable boilers and engines are not quite so satisfactory as stationary, but there are a great many portable outfits that give good satisfaction, and there is the advantage of moving them to the different parts of the farm when power is required for certain purposes.

SMALL GASOLINE ENGINES

A gasoline engine of 2-1/2 horsepower is the most useful size for a general purpose farm engine. It is convenient to run the pump, was.h.i.+ng-machine, fanning-mill, cream-separator, grindstone, and other similar farm ch.o.r.es that have heretofore always been done by human muscle. A small engine may be placed on a low-down truck and moved from one building to another by hand. One drive belt 20 or 30 feet long, making a double belt reach of 12 or 15 feet, will answer for each setting.

The engine once lined up to hitch onto the pulley of any stationary machine is all that is necessary. When the truck is once placed in proper position the wheels may be blocked by a casting of concrete molded into a depression in the ground in front and behind each wheel.

These blocks are permanent so that the truck may be pulled to the same spot each time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 110.--Kerosene Farm Engine. This is a very compact type of engine with heavy flywheels. A longer base might sit steadier on a wagon, but for stationary use on a solid concrete pier it gives good service.]

A gasoline engine for farm use is expected to run by the hour without attention. For this reason it should have a good, reliable hit and miss governor to regulate the speed, as this type is the most economical in fuel. It should have a magneto in addition to a six-cell dry battery. It should be equipped with an impulse starter, a device that eliminates all starting troubles. The engine should be perfectly balanced so as to insure smooth running, which adds materially to the life of the engine.

With a good, solid pump jack, a 2-1/2 horsepower engine will pump water until the tank is full, whether it requires one hour or half a day.

It is easily moved to the dairy house to run the separator. As the cream-separator ch.o.r.e comes along regularly every night and every morning, the engine and truck would naturally remain inside of the dairy house more than any other place. If the dairy house is too small to let the engine in, then an addition is necessary, for the engine must be kept under cover. The engine house should have some artistic pretensions and a coat of paint.

KEROSENE PORTABLE ENGINES

The kerosene engine is necessarily of the throttle governor type in order to maintain approximately uniform high temperature at all times, so essential to the proper combustion of kerosene fuel. Therefore, a kerosene engine of the hit-and-miss type should be avoided. However, there are certain cla.s.ses of work where a throttle governor engine is at a decided disadvantage, such as sawing wood, because a throttle governor engine will not go from light load to full load as quickly as will a hit-and-miss type, and consequently chokes down much easier, causing considerable loss of time.

A general purpose portable kerosene engine is admirably suited to all work requiring considerable horsepower and long hours of service with a fairly steady load, such as tractor work, thres.h.i.+ng, custom feed grinding, irrigating and silo filling. There will be a considerable saving in fuel bill over a gasoline engine if the engine will really run with kerosene, or other low-priced fuel, without being mixed with gasoline.

In choosing a kerosene engine, particular attention should be paid to whether or not the engine can be run on all loads without smoking.

Unless this can be done, liquid fuel is entering the cylinder which will cause excessive wear on the piston and rings. A good kerosene engine should show as clean an exhaust as when operating on gasoline and should develop approximately as much horsepower. Another feature is harmonizing the fuel oil and the lubricating oil so that one will not counteract the effects of the other.