Figure 107.—Bull Tread Power. Treadmills have gone out of fashion. Too much friction was the cause, but a mill like this is valuable to exercise a pure bred bull. Some dairymen make him pump water.
The simplest governor is made on the two-ball governor principle with weights on opposite levers. The governor is attached to two opposite spokes in the flywheel. As the speed increases the weights move outward because of their centrifugal force. This motion operates a brake lever to retard or stop the flywheel. When the machine stops an opposite weight rests against the flywheel until it starts in motion again, so the apron cannot be moved until the brake is released. This is necessary to get the animal on or off of the platform while it is at rest to avoid accidents. The usual incline is a rise of two feet in eight when power is wanted. This pitch compels the bull to lift one-quarter of his own weight and it may be too severe for a heavy animal. The endless apron is an endless hill climb to the bull. Treadmills are not economical of power because there are so many bearings to generate friction.
WINDMILLS
Wind power is the cheapest power we have. A windmill properly proportioned to its work is a great help, especially when it is attached to a good pump for the purpose of lifting water into an elevated tank from which it is piped under pressure for domestic purposes and for watering live-stock.
You can have considerable patience with a windmill if you only depend upon it for pumping water, provided you have a tank that will hold a week’s supply to be drawn during a dry, hot time when every animal on the farm demands a double allowance of water. That is the time when a farmer hates to attach himself to the pump handle for the purpose of working up a hickory breeze. That also is the time when the wind neglects a fellow.
A good windmill is useful up to about one-third of its rated capacity, which is the strongest argument for buying a mill larger than at first seems necessary. Some men have suffered at some time in their lives with the delusion that they could tinker with a poorly constructed windmill and make it earn its oil. They have never waked up to a full realization of their early delusion. It is a positive fact that all windmills are not lazy, deceitful nor wholly unreliable. When properly constructed, rightly mounted and kept in good repair, they are not prone to work in a crazy fashion when the tank is full and loaf when it is empty. There are thousands of windmills that have faithfully staid on the job continuously twenty-four hours per day for five or ten years at a stretch, all the time working for nothing year after year without grumbling, except when compelled to run without oil. At such times the protest is loud and nerve racking.
A good windmill with suitable derrick, pump and piping may cost $150. The yearly expense figures something like this:
| Interest on investment at 6% per annum | $ | 9.00 |
| Depreciation 10% | 15.00 | |
| Oil | 1.00 | |
| Repairs | 3.00 | |
making a total of $28, which is less than $2.50 per month for the work of elevating a constant supply of water for the house, stable and barnyard.