monday, cpril 5, 1970
daily ncbrcskcn
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Fhe electric form tractor
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By Jim WEIhrns
A front-porch discussion on the gloomy prognosis of
the automobile as we know it recently turned to possible
rescue solutions. One interesting one was the electric car.
A few of these were on display at E-Week, mostly bas
tardized gasoline buggies with the engine replaced by sn
electric motor and batteries stuffed into every orifice.
Electricity is one of the more flexible fdrms of energy,
and if we ever learn the trick of generating it from the sun
or from hydrogen fusion, well have all we want for al
most nothing, almost forever.
As a car, though, the electric lags behind the gasoline
versions. It's slow, heavy, and if you're planning a trip in
one you'd best plan to stop every hundred miles or so for
a recharge. , '
Farmers first
The subject changed to a suggestion that if fuel became
really scarce, the last of it probably would go to farmers,
since food is more important than almost anything else.
That was the missing puzzle piece.
Consider, please, the electric farm tractor. It's never
used for long trips and at night it comes back to the
charger in the barn. Unlike diesel engines, which produce
maximum power at several thousand revolutions a minute
and therefore need complex transmissions, the electric
develops maximum torque when stalled-it pulls right up
from zero. ' . '.
I can see a big machine rolling on four tractor tires, an
electric motor at each wheel. An electronic circuit adjusts
the power to each wheel for constant traction and maybe
for steering. No unwieldy power take-off shafts or belts
mowers, threshers, and other motorized implements; just
plug right inAnd if the batteries go dry out in the south
In Concert
Lincoln
Improvisation
EnsemWe
Tues.April6
7:30 p.m.
Union Ballroom
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A part of the Symposium of the
W isdom of the West
7J f 'hi MM f -sa"n" I
It is exaspersSng to
persistanSy when tfss
last thing tre wsnt to
& is to get up end 9
but God ejects to
keep on haurfiing Eke
some hcijf &osX.
"T? Crest tgar" -From
YOU! JONAH!
by Thorns John CarEsSs
Wm.REwtfnensPub.Co.
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. . . A corarnungy cf CsSsofc priesSs and
brewers rincterrg to CosTs psa&s in
Asa. Africa end LeSn America. Are YOU
wg to is t$s Ca Caod flaws of
asfc-sSon w2h ftesa pscpSa? Ssnd tor free
brochure?
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t' ".-li'-ii-'S-a.aT D tiiartseJ
, c:mja:t tiara
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40, a small portable generator can top them, up on the
spot. . .
Another holdback to electric cars has been cost, but
farm equipment already is stupefying expensive; the
electric tractor might not seem such a blow. Here's a case
where the alternative seems more attractive than what we
have now. But I don't know much about tractors-can any
of you farm kids see a flaw in this idea?
DHascatdnsnlts -
A little article in a car magazine showed a General
Motors invention for preventing drunk driving. A screen
displayed Ave random integers, which had to be punched
into a keyboard before the car would start. Cost: about
$100. .
It's not perfect-a sober friend could be coerced to do
the number. Trying to unlock my bicycle in a hurry
recently suggested hat a good combination lock might
be nearly as effective for about five bucks.
It's not as good as a mandatory one-year suspension,
but while our representatives don't mind using auto en
thusiasts as a doormat, the boozers are too big a group to
antagonize. Maybe the real solution is to have the drunk
detectors in voting booths.
First place-nothing less
Those watching the U.S. Grand Prix West coverage saw
angry James Hunt denounce Patrick DepaHlier. Hunt's
stream of frustrated invective as his crumpled racer was
hauled off the track didn't quite fit the Little League code
of good sportsmanship-not that DepaillieT's flagrant bash
ing of Hunt's car did, either.
These gentlemen's problem is that in a society increas
ingly insistent on tolerance, passivity and cool,", they
were unwilling to settle for anything less than first place.
This is not an attractive quality in a friend or a lover, but
it's one we can't afford to eliminate entirely.
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TERFOn!A?CE AUTO PARTS"
IS YOUR CAR GOlilO TO BE
SAFE TOTJiGHT ?
V73 hsvs rsGARD WHEEL LOCKS
to pretest ycur vvhec!
Reg. $105
VYhcn you brinf) this cc'jpcn in thsy cro
OHLYC3X5
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