Farm Tractors: The Case Guide to Tractor Selection, Operation, Economics and Servicing PDF
Preview Farm Tractors: The Case Guide to Tractor Selection, Operation, Economics and Servicing
Farm Tractors Farm Tractors The Case Guide to Tractor Selection) Operation) Economics and Servicing Bill Butterworth LONDON E. & F. N. Spon First published 1984 by E. & F. N. Spon Ltd 11 New Fetter Lone, London EC4P 4EE © 1984 Case Tractors Meltham, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK Typeset in Great Britain by Keyset Composition, Colchester ISBN-13: 978-0-4191-3240-0 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-6486-3 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-6486-3 This title is available in both hardbound and paperback editions. The paperback edition is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. All rights reserved. No part oft his book may be reprinted, or reproduced or utilized in anyform or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writingfrom the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Butterworth, Bill Farm tractors. I. Farm tractors I. Title II. Case Tractors 629.2'25 TL233 ISBN-13: 978-0-4191-3240-0 Contents Preface VB Abbreviations Vlll 1 The UK tractor population Types of tractor. Tractor-mounted loaders. Diversification. Conventional tractors. Technical variations. 2 The fanning scene: The statistics of how tractors fit in 9 The land. Cropping. Labour. Tractor numbers. The EEC. The individualfarm. 3 Matching the tractor to the individual fann 23 Size up the farm. The individualfarm - the individual circumstances. Ground work. What really happens on the farm. Your production - your enterprise. The crops on the land. Livestock. Machinery. Work in the field. Work on the roads. Farm layout. Work in the buildings. Gather the facts. Your costs. Detailed conclusions. Labour. Weather. Night light. Individual enterprises. Arable work. Grassland work. Transport. Building up a specification. Type oft ractor. Size. 4 The choice: What makes a good tractor? 47 The engine. Transmission. Overlap of gears. Competitive price for a full specification. A comfortable and functional cab. Comprehensive hydraulics. Single-lever hydraulics. Lower link sensing. Good brakes. Versatile PTO. Steering. Rigidframe design. Selective steering. 5 Tractor numbers and sizes 59 Purchase of a new tractor. Production. Profit motive. Tractor SIze. Weather. Available work days for cultivation. Power Farm Tractors VI required. Tractor power. Financial considerations. Financial performance. Acres per hour per £1 invested. Work output per horse power. 6 Ownership, replacement policy and contractors 80 Securing ownership. Sources off inance. Outright purchase. Bank loan. Leasing. Other finance. Replacement policy. Contractor servIces. 7 Operation 91 Knowledge of the machine. Practical details of tractor operation. The controls. Seat belts. Starting and stopping procedures. Use of throttles. Brakes. Independent PTO clutch. Clutch. Two-speed PTO. Differential lock. Transmissions. Synchromesh transmission. Gear selection. Four-wheel drive. Power-shift transmission. Four-speed mechanical gear selection. Hydraulics. The Selectamatic ~stem. Trailed implements. Operating with draft control. Operating with position control. Lower link sensmg. Operating the linkage. Operating draft implements. Operating non-draft implements. External services. Check list - hydraulics operation. 8 Maintenance and care 116 Routine maintenance. Consumables - Fuel. Cold weather. Flash point. Grease. Oil. Additives. Key component - the PTO shaft. Check lists Periodic inspections. Adjustments and replacements. Service. Special conditions. Replacement Before Failure. Repairs after failure. Service facilities. Layout and choice rif equipment. 9 Professionalism 136 Hidden costs. Knowledge. The Health and Safety Regulations. List of Agricultural safety leaflets. Further advice. Further information. Ability. The Agricultural Training Board (ATB). Training. Staff management skills training. Adult worker training. Apprenticeship and craft training scheme. Usiful addresses. I nsurance. The tractor poliq. Index 147 Preface Despite the fact that the farmer spends more on machinery than anything else except the land and despite the fact that he spends more on tractors than on any other machine, there are few books on the choice and operation of tractors to fit modern farming conditions. Most of this book is about farming and how to fit tractors to the individual situation. Those sections are completely unbiased and Case are happy to sponsor such a book in the wider interests of sensible, more productive and safer use of tractors and machinery. Where the Company's views are expressed it is clearly stated as such. This is mainly in the area of design detail and then only for the sake of being concise and brief. The first part of the book is concerned with relating the needs of the individual farm to specific details of tractor performance. Later chapters deal with policy on size, numbers and replacement. This section is a major development specifically about tractors. It is developed from the author's work Farm Mechanisationfor Prl!fitwhich deals with machinery in the wider sense. Later chapters of this book are related to profes sionalism in operation, maintenance and care. Case Tractors was formerly known as David Brown Tractors Ltd and advice in this book referring to Case products can be taken to refer to David Brown models. Abbreviations ADAS Agricultural Development and Advisory Service ATB Agricultural Training Board BAGMA British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association FLT Fork-lift truck MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food MHT Materials-handling tractor MMB Milk Marketing Board NFU National Farmers Union NIAE National Institute of Agricultural Engineering PTO Power take-off RBF Replacement before failure UAA Utilized agricultural area , The UK tractor population As Table 1.1 (a) shows, the UK tractor population is basically two-wheel drive and under 75 kW (100 hp) but it is on the change. Table l.l(b) shows the Agricultural Engineers Association figures for tractor sales in the UK for the years 1979, 1980 and 1981. It is quite clear from these figures that demand for greater tractor power is increasing and the use of four-wheel drive becoming more popular. In 1979, in the 35-75 kW (5(}-100 hp) tractor category, four-wheel drive tractors accounted for 11.6% ofs ales. In 1980 the figure was 16.7% and by 1981 it had increased to 21.5%. (The figure for total tractor sales in 1981 was approximately 26%.) Every indication for 1982 and onwards showed a likely considerable further increase in this figure particularly now that every major tractor manufacturer offers a range of four-wheel drive tractors. We should rapidly approach the level of four-wheel drive tractor sales in other parts of Europe. In France, for instance, in 1981 four-wheel drive tractors accounted for approximately 47% of the total tractor market, while in Italy the figure was over 65%. On the Continent tractor sales have shifted very much towards four wheel drive mainly of the unequal size wheels - smaller wheels at the front. The current situation in Europe for four-wheel drive sales is: UK 26%, France 47%, Germany 61 %, Italy 67%. Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture 1981 census showed very much the same trend. Comparing two- and four-wheel drive tractors, it shows that 41 800 units in the 60 kW (80 hp) and 80 kW (107 hp) sector were in use in December 1981 compared with 38 000 in December 1980. In the same period, the number of tractors in the 80 kW (107 hp) plus sector 2 Farm Tractors Plate 1 Farming is a way of life. That way depends on labour, depends on mechanization in general and revolves almost completely round the tractor in particular. increased by 1500 units to 9900. The number of tractors in the 25 kW (34 hp) and under 40 kW (54 hp) group fell from 124300 units to 121 399. This, after taking into account low-horsepower models, suggests that the national tractor population amounts to 358 900 machines. The census shows that the number of tracklayers in use in England fell from 12600 to 10 200 between December 1980 and December 1981. But Ministry analysts say that changes in the wording in some of the questions mean that certain national figures should be treated with caution. TYPES OF TRACTOR There is a population of about 350 000-400 000 tractors in the UK. Around 95% are of the same basic pattern - the Ferguson system with a three-point linkage behind a transmission and engine laid out on very similar lines giving the potential of weight transfer onto the two back wheels.
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