A 9-hp Case steam traction engine:
It speaks to the inefficiency of those machines that such a monster generated 9 horsepower. But in the 1880s, there wasn't another option.
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"...only 9 hp" Watching this, I was thinking what a useful source of power that could used in myriad ways on a farm or homestead.
They had the advantage of being easier to manage than teams
of horses. Steam (and electric) had the advantage of nearly
100% starting torque from startup/stalled. That and able
to provide rotary motion useful for other machines
(saws, mill work).
Efficient, maybe lower than IC but mostly due to waste heat
up the stack compared to out the tail pipe.
They are fun to watch operate. Most work on many
sources of BTUs (oils, coal, Wood, peat, dung).
Eck!
Yes. Yes, there were options: ten (10) horses ... ;)
Instant torque, and gobs of it!
It takes wild amounts of ICE horsepower to pull the loads these machines pulled without effort.
Look up Steam Tractor at Pickneyville on Utube to see one at full power
The reason it's only nine horsepower is because it operates at very low rpm, maybe 200 rpm. Horsepower is basically torque times RPM, so if you have low RPM, it's going to have low horsepower. So: H = T x rpm/5252,
H * 5252 = T * rpm
so at 200 RPM, 9 * 5252 / 200 = 236 ft/lbs of torque.
That's a lot of grunt, even if it isn't a lot of power.
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