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Show LOW WAGONS AND WIDE TIRES. About twelve years ago when the low wheel, wide tired Handy Wagons first began to attract serious attention, the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Experi-ment Station, at Columbia, Mo., be- m came interested in wide tires and 1 made some experiments with the fol- 1 lowing results: I '-'Numerous tests of the draft of 1 wide and narrow tired wagons have been made at this station during the past two years, on macadam, gravel and dirt roads in all conditions, and , on meadows , pastures and plowed , fields, both wet and dry.) The. draft Llms boon determined ,by means of self-recording dynamometer. The net load was in every trial the same, - vvf 2,000 pounds. Contrary to public pub-lic expectation, in a large majority rbf teases the draft was materially less ' 1icn tires six inches in width were 'iifscd than when the tests were made vilh tires of standard width ij4 in- cites. A summary of results follows: ft "T. On macadam streets, as an av-' av-' Vragc of the two trials made, a load 6f 2,518 pounds could have been haul-d haul-d dn the broad tires with the same "llrlift' that a load of 2,000 pounds r&iuircd on the narrow tires. ' "IT. Gravel roads. In all conditions condi-tions of the gravel road, except wet "and sloppy on top, the draft of the broad-tired wagon was very much r less than that of the narrow-tired ' wagon. Averaging the six f rials, a load of 2,482 pounds could be hauled t fc on the broad tires with the same draft required for a load of 2,000 pounds on the narrow tires. "III. Dirt roads. When dry, hard 1 and free from ruts and dust, 2,530 noting cpuld have been hauled on the " ljmod tires with the same draft rc-1 rc-1 quired for 2,000 pounds on the nar- i'qw tires. On clay road, with mud I (loop and drying oa xop and spongy J underneath, a large number of tests showed uniformly favorable to the Urpad tire. The difference amounted to from 52 to Cr percent, or about , 5i200 pounds could have been hauled r ' on the broad tires with the same lraft required to draw 2,000 pounds on the narrow tires. In this condi-tipn condi-tipn of road the broad tires show to ! their greatest advantage. As the road dries and becomes firmer, the J "difference between the draft of the f i broad and narrow tires 'gradually di- 5 t minisljpg until it reaches about 25 to ' 30 percent on dry, hard; smooth dirt, I gravel or -macadam road, in favor of I the broad tire. ' "Cloy 'road, surface dry, with decj) ifc l ruts cut by the narrow tires in the W'f s ordinary use of the road. In every trial the first run of the broad tire ! over the narrow tire ruts has shown a materially inoronscd draft when fOmpared with that of the narrow tire jjun in its own rut, The second run v of the broad tires in the same tract A i .... -whcrcthc rut ,is notrdccp completely Eliminated this disadvantage and jowgd a lighter draft for the broad tires than the narrow showed in the first run. Where the ruts were eight inches deep with rigid walls, three runs of the broad tire in its own track Over the ruts were required to eliminate elimi-nate the disadvantage. Three runs -of the bioad tire over this track have . in all cases been sufficient, however, to so improve the road surface that both the broad and the narrow-tired wagons passed over this road with loss draft than the nirc tires did in the original ruts. In addition to the saving of the draft the road was made very much more comfortably and pleasant for the users of light vehicles and pleasure carriages by the few runs of the 6-inch tire "A large number of tests on meadows, mead-ows, pastures, stubble land, corn (Continued on page 11.) WIDE WAGON TIRES. (Continued from page 7.) i ground, and- plowed ground in every condition, from dry, hard and firm to a very wet and soft, show without "ji single exception, a large difference Sin draft in favor of the broad tires. This difference ranged from 17 to ."20 percent. "These statistics throw a strong light upon the question of draft and make distinctly in favor of the cm- ' ployment of the wide tires. There is little reason to doubt that the opinion of practical teamsters would support the .same proposition. Perhaps it would be better to provide for a , gradual adoption of wide tores, but that they arc certain to come cannot well be doubted." An editor in one of the farm papers pa-pers at that time declared that when these wagons once came into general aisc that they would save several million mil-lion dollars a year to the farmers , and today it is generally admitted that they have made good and arc saving several million dollars annually annual-ly to the farmers of the United spates. Tt is no longer a question, of whe- ' jlicr a farmer should have a handy wagon, but simply what kindtb get and the best way to get it. There is scarcely a community in the United States or Canada at present, without several of them in daily use. The farmer can now take his choice of several ways to get a low down handy wagon. He can purchase a set of steel wheels of any size, with any width of tire to fit his farm wagon wag-on and by changing his wcels can have a low down handy wagon or a high wagon as he pleases. These wheels sell for from $10.00 to $15.00 per set, according to size and width " of tire. The most popular sizes arc wheels 26 in. in diameter in front and 32 in. in diameter ,in the rear, with tires 4 in. wide M in. thick. These wheels sell for about $12.00 per set of four. The tires arc furnished furn-ished plain or grooved -at the same . price. Any of the manufacturers of 1 these wheels will send a diagram and I full explanations for measuring your I skeins. |