Allis Chalmers and International Harvester take it on the chin in this week’s installment. You probably didn’t know there was so much to say about engine lubrication and bypass starting. As I said last week, don’t take it all too seriously.
Breaking down these five requisites of a good tractor construction still further, we’ll talk about dependability.
I told you earlier in my talk that the customers will volunteer the fact that Deere tractors certainly are dependable. But what makes them that way? It’s no accident. Yes, I told you there are fewer parts, huskier parts, that are in part responsible, but it takes more than that. We were talking about one-piece construction of the crankcase and transmission case. If you have ever been in our plant, you have seen these cases milled on mammoth milling machines. I think the beds on these machines are in some cases better than 80 feet long and they cost about $1,000 a foot. When a case goes through such a machine, it comes out with three sides in perfect relation to each other the right, the left and the top – and if you stop to consider it, all moving parts in the heart of this tractor are located from those three surfaces.
If you really looked closely at one of these milling machines, you will have noticed that it was made to do but one job and that is to mill a given size John Deere case. It’s not a job shop machine where you turn a crank and move the cutting heads over or angle them. You can’t physically change the relationship between the cutter spindles which assures us that machine operators can’t upset the correct relationship of the sides of the case to each other. This means that when we bore the holes in the side of the case that eventually we will end up with correctly aligned parts. When we bore holes in the case, for instance the counter shaft, the sliding gear shaft, the crank shaft, the cam shaft, they are bored simultaneously in a machine that can do no other job than to bore those holes in one size John Deere case. There is no chance in changing the relationship between any of those holes in the machine. They remain constant. In manufacturing, that is important, gentlemen.
Checking for size is simple. If you want to check the size of a shaft, you use what is called a snap gauge. If it goes on, you know the shaft is small enough. If you force it all the way past a second set of anvils, then you know the shaft is too small. You may check hundreds of shafts an hour. You may check size easily in production. But checking location is altogether a different problem. Isn’t it logical the bearings are going to ride free, no chance for a gear to become cocked. I would like to have you notice this on some of the other designs. Notice that their transmission of power is through a series of bolted together flanged housing where the accumulated misalignment of a few thousandths of an inch in each may result in a large power consuming total misalignment.
John Deere dependability is further insured by the design of the crankcase ventilating system. Now each internal combustion engine should have a crankcase ventilator on it. Why? Because each time you have a fire, gentlemen, as a result of combustion, whether it’s in the cigarette you are smoking or a bonfire, gasoline engine or whatever, you produce water. When carbon and hydrogen united with oxygen and what happens, you produce as a natural byproduct of combustion, not just light and heat, you produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water vapor. It’s this water vapor that comes by the rings in the cylinder wall during the operation of our engine that raises so much trouble down in the crankcase and the rest of the engine. It’s this water vapor that sludges up your oil and when it condenses in the crankcase, what does that do? Gives you improper lubrication. It’s this same water that combines with the sulphur that’s inherent in fuel that forms sulphuric acid in your crankcase that etches your soft metal bearings, your main bearing surfaces, your crankpin bearings. It is for this reason we have a positive crankcase ventilation system on our tractor. It brings fresh air into the engine and blows out these vapors that come by the rings in the cylinder wall before they get a chance to con dense in our crankcase. The dry air that we force into the crankcase will exhaust harmful vapors to the atmosphere through the vent pipe.
Well, maybe we have to do it, some people say that in a John Deere engine you have an improper fit between the cylinder and the walls and pistons and of course you have all heard the story how the cylinder wears uneven in a two cylinder engine because they are lying horizontal and I think you know just about how true it is. If people tell us that we have to have this system on our tractor because we have more wear in our ring and our piston area. I would like to ask you what this little cap filled with steel wool off the AC D-17 is for. I would like to ask them what the little pipe coming from the tappet lever housing on the International tractor and going down to the ground is for. I would like to ask what a similar little cup on the Case tractor, and all the rest, is for. These are not crankcase ventilating systems, that’s what the repair manuals will say. They are pressure reliefs. They are not ventilating the crankcase with them, they are relieving the pressure. There are the same products of combustion coming by their rings and their cylinder walls, getting into the crankcase and if they don’t relieve that pressure, what happens? Plug one of these pressure reliefs up and you’ll find the oil coming out the main bearing or drawn into the combustion chamber past the intake valve stem. What is the logical way to do the job properly to give you the degree of dependability that you want in an engine, a way of positively getting the moisture out or at least the maximum amount or relieving the pressure and not taking the moisture out? True crankcase ventilation certainly is something that promotes the fine quality of dependability that we know in John Deere tractors.
The lubrication system itself is unique in design, gentlemen, and it is a good one. As a matter of fact, it’s so good that Allis Chalmers has copied some features of it in the D-17 diesel. First, we have a full flow filtering system where we filter all of the oil flowing out to the important parts of our engine. This is opposed to the bypass pump system that filters only the contaminated oil from the crankcase through the system and filters the excess dumping back into the crankcase. Now isn’t it logical that the full flow filtering system is the type to have for all out dependability in an engine. Full pressure system – and when I say full pressure system, I am going to explain ours as opposed to your competitors. Most all oiling systems today in your competitive machines are a pressure system. I think it is only Oliver that relies on dropping a spurt of oil down to the crank pins. If you think I’m cockeyed, look in Oliver advertising brochures, you’ll see the pictures. They are talking about spurt lubrication. Now we supply oil to our main bearings under pressure as most everyone else. We pioneered the drilling of the crankshaft to carry oil under pressure up to the crank pin and most of our competitors do likewise today.
But here’s where we go one step further and you know it every time you look at a John Deere connecting rod. We drill that rod. Why? Because that rod wiggles up at the top end inside the piston just as much as it wiggles down at the other end and anything that wiggles needs oiling. What is the function of oil in an engine? It has four functions, gentlemen – the first is to lubricate and we all realize that. The second function in an engine is to clean, to rid the engine of these byproducts of combustion, of acid, of the dirt and dust and gets in. Lubricates and cleans. It also cools the engine, is responsible for internal heat control in any engine. That’s why we can get the proper degree of piston to cylinder wall fit under operating temperatures in our engine that we do to promote proper engine operation and more dependability. Because we carry oil positively up to that wrist pin, not only just to lubricate the wrist pin, but to control the temperature of the piston and to do anything and this is not to just lubricate the walls of the cylinder, as you must do or you will have excessive wear, but the oil itself acts as a gas seal. It acts actually as a gasket between the ring, piston and cylinder wall. Isn’t it logical then by drilling those rods and positively getting oil up in the piston area that we have merit or value that is not duplicated in other machines? The Allis Chalmers D-17 diesel is the only competitive machine that I know with this feature. It is extra value that you are giving to the farmer when you ask him to buy a John Deere tractor. He ought to know about it.
Another quality assuring dependability is bypass cooling. This assures constant engine temperature control even under varying load conditions, plus some circulation of coolant at all times. Constant circulation is necessary to prevent combustion chamber hot spots from developing causing pre-ignition and even deterioration. Not only do we have bypass cooling, but we have another bypass system that certainly spells dependability. Depend ability, particularly in cold weather operating conditions and this is bypass ignition. Now we are not entirely alone in bypass ignition today. I have a strong suspicion, just looking momentarily at that 450 over there, that they have bypass ignition on the starting side of the tractor and it’s a good thing. God bless them. They learned from the people that know.
Why is bypass ignition desirable? Remember in cold weather starting conditions, to begin with, your battery only has about half the capacity at zero temperature that it does at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Well, it’s at these temperatures we are trying to get started. It’s at these temperatures that the oil is cold and is throwing a greater strain on the battery than it does in warm conditions. Also, you have actually a higher compression pressure in the combustion chamber at this time and it is harder for a spark to cross the plug gap. So, in order to have a good hot spark the moment you step down on the starter pedal of one of our tractors, you are feeding 12 volts of current into a six-volt coil, which gives you double the starting spark that you normally have in a tractor not incorporating the bypass system.
Why do we use a six-volt coil under operating conditions? Six volts is adequate to supply spark under operating conditions once the engine is turning over and the starter motor is not draining all of the available current from the battery. Higher voltage will only shorten point life. So it is for this reason we put the bypass switch in operation with the starter pedal and use 12 volts during the starting cycle. Isn’t it logical this is the proper way to assure the most depend ability when starting?
Automatic fuel shutoff. That’s another little feature that promotes dependability and assures you of not getting up in the morning to find a crankcase necessary to drain. How many of your competitors supply this little extra on their tractors? Does International Harvester do it? They are great stuff in the implement business. They don’t have it. Instead they print in their operator’s manual – and they were doing this right at the time you fellows had a little trouble with some diluted crankcases – they print in their operator’s manual to be sure and shut off the fuel each time you leave the tractor. Another thing that’s in their manual and when we were talking about crankcase ventilating systems, I forgot to bring it up – a little explanation why on their tractors they have two petcocks on the crankcase. Now they’ll have salesmen telling you that because their cylinders are going up and down in the air, they have less cylinder wear and less get by the rings than on a John Deere. Well, we haven’t found it necessary to still have two petcocks on the crankcase. What is the purpose of two petcocks? Some of you older fellows remember that when we were in the all-fuel tractor business, we used to talk about them. It’s when your crankcase gets diluted so much by what gets into it from the combustion chamber, you can open the top petcock and find out how high that level is and then you can open the lower petcock, then drain the material out so it will stop dripping from the top petcock, at which time you know your level is somewhere in between. Well, I guess that dispels some of their sales propaganda.
All weather manifold that we have on the current line of Waterloo tractors is certainly a desirable feature. It’s standard equipment. If you are operating under moist conditions in the winter time, like running in and out of the moist dairy barn with manure handling equipment on, it is very desirable to have some means provided on your tractor for preheating of the intake manifold. Whenever you vaporize gasoline, you take heat from somewhere. In the wintertime, when moisture laden air is coming down the throat of that manifold, you are going to start an icing condition unless you have extra manifold heat and this heat is certainly not desirable in summer operations. This can be controlled very adequately with the all-weather type manifold and again it’s a little John Deere extra. A little something spelling the difference, making a Cadillac out of a tractor. Talking about Cadillacs, incidentally, let’s get back and remember something about this bypass ignition system. You can go through the automotive trade and where do you find it? What car is normally recognized as the acme of automotive production in the United States today? Cadillac.
Here’s another interesting little fact. We talked a minute ago about our superior oil system. Let’s refer to the automotive trade, gentlemen. They are great guns. Let’s take advantage while we can of the advertising they do for us. What car is it in the General Motors organization – now remember one thing – General Motors owns the A-C Corporation, making oil filters and they also own six automotive plants, but out of those six automotive lines they manufacture, which one uses the Purolator filter? Their least expensive job, the one having a little less quality than some other? Cadillac uses the Purolator.
Let’s talk a minute about dependability in diesel engines, as far as starting is concerned and the observations I have made on these tractors we have around here. Some of your competitors have preached about how long it takes to start a John Deere tractor with a starting engine on. Have any of you tried to start an International diesel tractor in cold weather? Incidentally, I’ll clear up something right now International is just as much a full diesel as our tractor or anybody else’s but it starts in this manner. You see a big lever on the left of the hood. You have to move that lever during your starting cycle and when you do, it shuts off the injection equipment and it puts a carburetor in series with the intake manifold and through this carburetor, they feed gasoline. The gasoline is taken in the intake valve the same as it is in any four-cycle engine, but when they move that lever, they’ve also done something else. They have opened a little valve up in each cylinder.
I don’t mean the intake in the exhaust valve, but they have opened the valve up that separates their diesel combustion chamber from this auxiliary chamber. It is in the area of this auxiliary chamber they open up that they locate their spark plugs. Now when they open this auxiliary chamber up, of course, their compression ratio falls down to that of a gasoline engine. One of their biggest difficulties is getting those valves that are subject to both engine conditions to go when they want them to. They have a tremendous amount of trouble with stick in those valves and when that hap pens, you never do a very good job of getting that diesel engine started because she’s running on anywhere from two cylinders on up. There is only one tractor that runs on two cylinders worth a darn; there is only one tractor you can run on one cylinder at all. Of course, we have had some experience with that, haven’t we?
So, they say, “Why the starting engine?” Well, I’ll tell you why – so you get dependable starts. Isn’t it logical that it is much easier to start an engine when you’ve got 12horsepower pulling it over than you do a battery system? Isn’t it much more logical to think that if that starting engine can preheat the block and the head of the diesel engine, bringing the oil in that engine up to operating temperature, bringing the oil in the system up to pressure so that you’ve got lubrication on those main bearings when you touch them off. Isn’t that the logical way to assure dependable starts? That is important, getting that diesel engine turning over so that you do have the main bearings oiled before you apply the shock of this diesel combustion stroke to them. Only in this manner can you get real dependability. Isn’t it logical to think that with the preheating of the intake manifold on the diesel engine by the use of the exhaust system on the starting engine that you are going to have a better chance of bringing that air up to operating temperature by the compression of the diesel engine? Certainly it is.
Allis-Chalmers are a great little outfit for the money and I’ll not deny that. They will do a swell job on average or less conditions and that’s the type of market they are trying to infiltrate. They are certainly out of the quality market. They’ve got a fancy gadget and you can see it over there on the other side. There is a can and a toolbox that looks like a pint can and when you start that tractor in the winter time, you monkey around, get a screwdriver and you open up this can of stuff, you pour it into that cadmium plated capsule over there, push the plunger down and this is simplicity, mind you, of electric starting on a diesel engine.
They have another little lever here that you go back and forth like this while you start grinding the starter motor. Is that any easier than trying to start it with a starting engine when you know you are going to get it started? That’s what they are asking their buyers to do.
Monday, we had a meeting in here very similar to this one and one dealer who had some experience with Cummins diesel engines said, “Really, the way to do this job of starting a diesel engine by the help of ether is to get yourself a piece of burlap or muslin or something, soak it with ether, then wrap that muslin around the intake air stack.” (Now I am telling you this, you may have to start a tractor like this someday.) He said, “When you do that, the air coming through the muslin will do a job of vaporizing that ether that isn’t done down in the manifold.” He said, “Then you will have much better luck in the starting.” Well, isn’t that nice? I wonder how many rags these fellows furnish for that tractor to pour the ether on, which is logical, you’ve got the thing to sell.
We will have part 3 next week.
