It consists of a steel frame or platform upon which is mounted a four-cylinder petrol engine with a reservoir above to carry the supply of fuel and with a radiator in front to cool the water which keeps the engine from becoming too hot. Towards the back of the vehicle is what is called by engineers a worm-gear, the function of which is to reduce the one thousand revolutions per minute of the engine to somewhere near the slow speed required of the wheels of the tractor.
This worm-gear is simply a wheel with suitable teeth on its edge in conjunction with a screw so made that its thread can engage comfortably with the teeth. This latter, because of the wriggling appearance which it presents when it is revolving is called a worm, which name it gives to the whole apparatus. Both wheel and worm are mounted in bearings which form part of a case enclosing the whole so that dirt is excluded while, the case being filled with oil, ample lubrication is assured. The
shafts of both wheel and worm emerge through holes in the case.
It will easily be seen that each single turn of the worm will propel the wheel one tooth, so that if the wheel have fifty teeth, for example, the worm will turn fifty times to the wheel's once. Thus a great reduction in speed is attainable with this device and what is equally valuable, a great increase of power also results. Thus a small engine, working at a high speed, is able by means such as this to pull very heavy loads at a slow speed.
It is evident, however, that the reduction necessary in this case cannot be attained even by a worm-gear, for there are other wheels visible which show that ordinary tooth gearing is also employed to reduce the speed even further before it is applied to driving the tractor along. Practically all the other gear which we see in the picture, above the platform, consists of the controlling apparatus.
The object with a screw-like appearance just behind the engine is not really a screw but is a flexible coupling joining the engine to the worm-gear, its "flexibility" enabling the two to work sweetly together even though by chance they may get just a little out of line with each other.
But by far the most interesting part of the machine is that which is underneath the frame. At one end we see a pair of ordinary-looking wheels and between them the gear for swinging them to right or left for steering purposes, but even they are somewhat unusual, since they will be seen to have flanges or rims round the edge for the purpose of biting into
the earth, so that they may be able to guide the machine the better in soft ground.
The back wheels, however, are quite peculiar, for there is a pair on each side and round each pair is a chain somewhat after the fashion of a huge bicycle chain. The links of this chain are made of tough steel and they are two feet wide, so that each chain forms a broad track upon which the machine moves. The links of this track-chain will be seen to be tooth-shaped so that they grip or bite deeply into the yielding ground. The teeth, moreover, are shaped like those of a saw and they are so placed as best to help the tractor forward.
Between the two chain-wheels will be noticed a row of smaller wheels and it is these which largely support the weight of the machine, the chains forming tracks upon which they run.