I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 19 The Lifesaving Hand Tractor

The engine was shut down after 24 hours of break-in, and the entire engine was disassembled into parts once again.

After carefully inspecting the wear and tear of all moving parts, Chen Chang found that they basically met his expectations.

There was not much iron filings left in the centrifugal oil filter.

This indicates that the materials, assembly, and lubrication of the engine are now in excellent condition.

After cleaning the parts and changing the oil, Chen Changzai reassembled the engine.

This is a necessary process after the initial break-in period of a new engine.

However, this procedure only existed when the manufacturing process was not advanced.

Engines manufactured with mature production processes, like those of later generations, would not require secondary disassembly.

After three full days of break-in, the engine was finally installed on the already-made frame of the hand tractor.

The frame of the hand tractor is very simple, consisting of a double-handle fork chassis and a three-speed gearbox with two forward and one reverse gear.

The gearbox of a hand tractor is not that complicated. As long as the gear ratio is calculated correctly, there will be no problem with the gears not grinding.

The two drive wheels at the front of the tractor were not the large-toothed rubber tires of later generations.

Instead, it uses a steel-framed drive wheel with a large toothed surface.

You can imagine it as a bicycle wheel with only five pillars, except that the wheel surface has iron teeth instead of tires.

At that time, the whole country didn't have many decent paved roads.

Almost all of them were dirt roads.

Moreover, the working grounds for hand-held tractors are all soft soil.

These steel wheels are quite practical.

Under the driver's buttocks is a small rear balance wheel, which is made of hardwood.

In front of the tail wheel is a plowshare frame that can be adjusted in height and disassembled for replacement.

A single walking tractor can drive a maximum of two plowshares.

Or it could be a wide rake, about 1.5 meters wide.

After the engine was installed, a V-belt made of hemp rope, eucommia rubber, and phenolic resin was fitted between the engine and the transmission.

This simple hand-held tractor is now ready to be used on the road.

Although it was quite a bumpy ride, everyone who saw it running applauded continuously.

Hand-held tractors do not have a central differential. They steer by disengaging the brake on one side of the drive wheel, reducing the speed of one wheel while the other wheel rotates normally.

Therefore, mastering the steering of a hand-held tractor requires certain skills.

When Chen Changzai was experimenting with this hand-held tractor, he didn't dare to drive fast at first and could only slowly adapt and find his balance.

However, just like learning to ride a bicycle, once you find your balance, you can basically ride it quite smoothly.

"Hey hey hey, it's running, it's running, the tractor is running."

Everyone cheered when they saw the tractor go from slowly moving to actually running.

The leaders from headquarters saw the tractor that Chen Changzai was driving, circling back and forth on the land.

He laughed loudly and said, "Goodness, goodness! It's really running now."

Old He, this guy is really running now.

Hahaha, that's really fast!

Political Commissar He also said, "Yes, it really runs. This tractor is really powerful. When it goes into the fields, it will definitely be more powerful than an ox."

"Yes, yes, we should go into the field and try it out."

"Director Chen, Director Chen, could we go down into the fields and plow a couple of rows to take a look?"

The headquarters leader shouted loudly.

"Okay, no problem, we can try it out now."

"Xiao Liu, first attach the single-head plow to the tractor, then we'll go into the field."

Chen Chang said after stopping the tractor.

"Okay, teacher, I'll install it right away."

After Xiao Liu responded, he and a few others carried a single-headed heavy plow to the foot of the hand-held tractor. Working together, they quickly hooked the plowshare onto the tractor's frame.

After attaching the plowshare, Chen Changzai started the engine again and drove the tractor towards the field not far from them.

All the onlookers rushed towards the field.

It's already early April.

The ground has thawed, and it's time for spring plowing and planting.

After they rushed around, Chen Chang finally produced the first hand-held tractor at this moment.

Under everyone's gaze.

The hand tractor chugted into the field.

Chen Changzai lowered the plowshare he had raised, letting the plow tip touch the ground, then shifted into first gear and revved the engine.

With the roar of the diesel engine, the hand tractor began to move slowly forward.

As the tractor moved forward, the single-headed plow had already driven deep into the ground.

The engine's powerful performance was unleashed at this moment.

The land hadn't completely thawed yet, and it was very difficult to pull it with oxen; it also couldn't be plowed deeply.

But in front of the hand-held tractor, it was like a block of tofu, easily flipped over.

Where the hand tractor had passed, a deep furrow and clods of earth turned over to one side appeared before everyone's eyes.

The local farmers, the headquarters leaders who were originally farmers, and everyone watching were all shocked by the enormous power of the hand tractor.

"This guy is incredibly strong."

The headquarters leader came to the edge of the furrow that the hand tractor had overturned and put his hand into the furrow.

His large hands, honed from farming, reached into the ditch, and one hand still didn't reach the bottom.

Even an arm had to go in a section before reaching the bottom of the ditch.

How deep is it?

"Even if we used oxen to pull it, we definitely couldn't have dug it out this deep." The headquarters leader muttered to himself in disbelief.

"Sir, the maximum plowing depth of this heavy plow is forty centimeters. However, judging from this depth, Director Chen did not set it to the maximum."

"The depth should be about thirty centimeters," Political Commissar He said after reaching into the ditch to measure it.

"Incredible, truly incredible! Even with oxen plowing, you can only dig up half the depth of this ditch at most, and that would require oxen."

Even now, with the tractor pulling back, it can still turn this deep.

That's absolutely amazing.

This deeply plowed land, planted with crops, is sure to yield a good harvest.

With food, people won't go hungry.

The headquarters leaders' voices trembled as they spoke.

Having come from a farming background, he knew all too well the importance of such deeply plowed soil for crops.

This will significantly increase crop yields.

Even if it's just a 10% increase in grain production, that could feed so many people.

Thinking of this, the headquarters leaders were so moved that they almost shed tears.

At this point, the tractor that Director Chen was driving had already overturned to the very top of the plot of land.

Now it has turned back and flipped over.

With the engine revving, two deep furrows soon appeared before everyone's eyes.

An elderly local farmer, his head wrapped in a faded white towel, suddenly knelt down beside the deep furrow.

He scooped up the turned-up yellow soil with both hands and exclaimed, "God, God, this...this...this has saved a life! This Iron Ox has truly saved a life!"

As he shouted, tears streamed down the old farmer's face.

Only experienced farmers truly understand how difficult farming is. They know that this iron ox can genuinely help them grow more grain and can truly save lives.

(End of this chapter)