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Re: Just how efficient were steam-powered tractors?
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Posted by Bill from up north on April 25, 2002 at 22:01:33 from (216.55.194.231):
In Reply to: Just how efficient were steam-powered tractors? posted by Alberta Mike on April 25, 2002 at 08:35:50:
I have copies of the results from the Winnipeg Motor Contest which was the forerunner of the Nebraska Tractor tests. According to their results the steam engine ran about 7% thermal efficiency. The people that built them really never made any attempt to reclaim the water etc. and for good reason. The people that were running them were used to looking at the back end of a horse,so they kept them as simple as possible. The railroads made them far more compicated and more efficient with super heating tubes and compound engines. Most engines burned straw when threshing ,which is basically all the early engines did,which was free heat ,because most of the straw stacks were burned anyway ,just to get rid of all the straw. A lot of the later engines burned straw also at during harvest and then switched to wood or coal for ploughing. I would bet that if someone nowdays had to look after 20 horses,feed them harness them etc. and use them every day for a month in the field ploughing and then used a 20 horse steam engine to do the same amount of work- they wouldn't be long choosing the steam engine. A modern built steam engine could be just as efficient or more, than a diesel. On a larger scale steam and external combustion is far more efficient than internal combustion -ie. steam powered generating plants. Steam engines were a giant step forward for man into mechanization and well deserve their place in history. As for the wood and straw -its a renewable resource. The big question is - What will "Man" use for power once he has burned up all the Oil and Natural Gas??
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