Oilers Predominate at
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The Paris Tractor Exhibition
Few Petrol-engined Appliances Shown at the Salon de la Machine Agricole — Pneumatic Tyres for Tractors Rapidly Becoming Established
THE tractor section of the annual Salon de In Machine Agricole, in Paris, which has just closed, was rather smaller than usual this year, although the exhibition itself was larger than ever. If fewer in number, however, the tractors shown were none the less interesting, and the Salon had certain features distinguishing it from previous shows and indicating clearly the trend of ideas in Continental mechanized agriculture.
Oil fuel reigned supreme this year, the great majority of tractors having compression-ignition engines. Fordson, Allis-Chalmers and one or two other American makes still retain the petrol engine, but, even so, practically all their exhibits were equipped with oil vaporizers of some kind. Quite a number of new proprietary makes of vaporizer was exhibited.
The old, slow-running, hot-bulb, horizontal engine, so popular a few years ago, had practically disappeared. Nearly all the tractors seen employed engines which were adaptations of the vehicle type. Another point noted was the rapidly increasing use of giant pneumatics for field work, as well as for road traction.
Fordson machines staged by the French Ford Co. showed no change in design, but a distinctly interesting Fordson was to be seen on the Diesel Vendeuvre stand. This concern, which, hitherto, has specialized in stationary oil engines, was exhibiting for the first time, and it showed a Fordson tractor with a four-cylindered engine.of 92-mm. bore and 140-mm. stroke, specially designed for the purpose. It is a four-stroke cycle unit with the ante-chamber type of combustion head and push-rod-operated valves.
A useful Italian tractor shown this year was the Bubba. Curiously enough, although a newcomer to the Salon, it was the sole remaining example of the horizontal type of engine to be seen. The engine, a single-cylinclered twostroke-cycle unit, runs on paraffin or even mazout.
Latil had one of its large K.L.-type tractors equipped with a new French gas producer, the Gohin-Paulenc. This appliance is stated to work equally well on charcoal fuel: coke or anthracite. Another Latil exhibit was the largest type of tractor for forestry work. The German IIanomag concern had a big range of oil-engined machines. one of which, arranged either for field work or road haulage, had solid-rubber tyres with a novel system of folding spuds. The 10 spuds on each wheel are brought into position by means of three levers, these being thereafter locked in place by three small hand wheels., The remarkable little Alinaco tractor with its • universally moving axles, shown again by Cletrac, has an engineoperated hoist for lifting close-coupled ploughs or other implements. It is essentially a machine for working under difficult conditions, and one of the few tractors which can turn in less than their own length.
Citroen displayed a 2i-ton lorry for farm work, with a modified form of the well known Kegresse Hinstin flexible-track arrangement, in which an unusually large forward driving wheel was enipluyed. Two Citroen tractors shown had the Kegresse drive in its. normal form. The new lorry has a standard Citroen six-cylindered engine of 75-mm. bore and 100-mm. stroke, and .four speeds: it appears to be a useful vehicle for duty on difficult land. '
The French Austin Co. had its usual fine. display, all the seven exhibits being equipped with the Austin oil engine. • The Caterpillar Tractor Co. also showed only oil-engined macl-ines, its most striking exhibit being one of the huge 75 models. These big oilers have auxiliary petrol engines for starting purposes. Although dwarfed by the huge bulk of the compression-ignition engine, these little starter units are powerful enough to drive a small car. The 75-model tractor is intended for hauling hareters and for extremely heavy ploughing operations.
Renault showed a range of 14 tractors, all but two being oil-engined. One of the petrol tractors is a small and handy machine with an adaptation of the maker's 8 h.p. four-cylindered engine.
Small cultivating machines for every variety of special work were again the chief exhibit of the S.O.M.T.J.A. concern, several of those for vineyard cultivation being particularly ingenious in design. Neat little four-cylindered air-cooled power units were shown by the Societe Polymoteur Dubois. These engines are readily fitted to hand controlled ploughs. hay cutters and other types of, cultivating implement.
They are well produced and have positive air cooling by turbine fan and jackets. Push-rod-operated or overhead valves are employed, and great care is taken to protect all moving parts from dust.