OCR Text |
Show PLAN TO MAKE A ROAD DRAG Illustration Shows an Implement Which Is Simple and Inexpensive Tough Wood Best. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) The accompanying illustration shows a typical design for a road drag, which is very simple and inexpensive. The design contemplates the use of an ordinary ordi-nary log of timber, such as may be readily obtained in almost every locality. local-ity. The log should be about 7 or 8 iuches in diameter and from 6 to 8 feet long, and should preferably be of hard, tough wood which will not decay very rapidly when exposed to the weather. White oak, burr oak, chestnut, cedar, hickory, walnut, or any similar wood may be satisfactorily used, provided that it is well seasoned before the drag Is put into use. Railroad ties have been frequently used for this purpose and possess the advantage that they are already cut to about the right length. In selecting the tie, however, care should be exercised to see that it is of sound wood and of the proper size. The drag is made by splitting or sawing the log into two equal semi-cylinders, semi-cylinders, which are then framed together to-gether in the manner shown in the illustration. The better of the two pieces should form the front runner of the drag, because it is the one subjected sub-jected to the greater wear. Moreover, while the front runner should always be placed with the face forward, it is claimed by many that better results may be obtained by having the round part of the back runner go forward in order to increase the smearing action of the drag. The two runners are usually spaced from about 30 inches to 36 inches apart, and are connected in ladder fashion by means of crose stakes or rungs. The ends of the rungs are ordinarily fitted into 2-inch auger holes, bored in the runners, and are securely held in place by means of end wedges. The auger holes are so arranged that the runners, when framed together, will be displaced in a longitudinal direction direc-tion with respect to each other. The object of this displacement, or offset as it is usually termed, is to make the ends of the front -and back runners follow approximately the same line on the road while the drag is in operation. oper-ation. The amount of displacement, therefore, should depend on the amount of skew necessary to make the drag empty itself. But since this skew varies va-ries with the condition of the road surface, the proper offset to be given to runners cannot be definitely fixed. Under ordinary conditions an offset of from about 12 inches to about 16 inches will prove satisfactory. In order to make it easy for a man to stand upon the drag and to shift his weight properly when dragging over a hard surface, the drag should be provided with two 1-inch boards parallel paral-lel to the runners and nailed down to Typical Design of Split-Log Drag. the rungs. These boards should be about 8 inchw wide and their length should be sightly less than that of the runners of the drag. The chain y means of which the drag is drawn should be about 8 feet long and Its links should be made of three-elghths-inch steel. On light drags two trace chains may be tused for this purpose. Many road drags constructed as above described, without, metal-cutting edges or other modifications, have been very satisfactorily used where the conditions con-ditions were favorable. It is evident, however, that such drags are effective only on comparatively soft: road surfaces, sur-faces, and to diminish this limitation and also to increase the life of the drag it It very desirable to provide a metal-cutting edge for the front runner. run-ner. An Excellent edge of this kind may be made from a strip of Jron or steel about one-fourth Inch thick and about four inches wide, and even old wagon tires or wornout grader blades have been very satisfactory. |