Author Topic: Big steam plough  (Read 6018 times)

Offline Roger B

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Big steam plough
« on: October 02, 2013, 08:50:17 AM »
Jo has now admitted her guilty secret, although when in operation a ploughing engine could be considered as a stationary steam winch.

Here are some pictures and film clips of what claims to be the largest steam plough in the world. It was used for cutting peat in north western Germany. According to the german text the 1914 Fowler ploughing engines were rebuilt in 1954 with new boilers and engines to double the power to 480 HP.

http://www.moormuseum.de/freigelaende/mammut-und-lokomobile.html

Best regards

Roger

Offline Jasonb

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2013, 01:31:59 PM »
I had always understood them to be rebuilt Kemma engines not Fowlers.

Also they were not cutting peat but mixing the overlaying peat with the sandy soil beneath to get better drainage for cultivation.

This is a summary of the film

Steam Plough - Agricultural Deep Ploughing of High Moorland. The film shows the steam plough „Oldenburgn of Messrs. Ottomeyer, Pyrmont, during deep ploughing of high moorland. With a maximum furrow depth of 1.80 m bog and Sand layers are tiled (German high-moorland cultivation) in order to transform low yield moorland into fertile fields. Shown in addition to Single ploughing actions for changing furrows, the forward movement of the engine and stoking with coal and water.
The film was made from 20th September to 22nd September 1966 in Scharrel, in the district of Cloppenburg, where within the scope of the "Emslandplan" structural improvements were carried out.

Weight of the plough with hydraulic adjustment: 28t
Required power to pull the plough: 500 hp
Daily consumption of water: 1000 litre
Of brown coal briquettes: 1 ¾ t.
Rope length: 400 meters.
Daily turned area: 2 hectares (equivalent to 5000 men with spades, as this was a disciplinarian measure during the Nazi regime)

Vast areas of Lower Saxony are nowadays recognised as being the soil with the highest yield in Germany and this shall be based on the ground preparation by these huge steam ploughs.

J

Offline Roger B

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2013, 03:10:06 PM »
I visited the museum in the mid 80s when I was working in the area. Most of the exhibits were just standing outside at this time. Although my interest was much more in the narrow gauge railways (also still operational in the area serving the peat and shale oil industries) I thought that the plough was pretty impressive.

Also around this time on the UK rally circuit was a ploughing engine that had been converted (presumably due to boiler problems) with a large (I think) Mclaren Benz diesel engine mounted on top of the boiler and a right angle drive in place of the original crankshaft. That was also an impressive sight.
Best regards

Roger

Offline Jasonb

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2013, 03:21:56 PM »
Yes quite a few ploughing engines had large diesel engines grafted onto them when the boiler or firebox had reached the end of its useful life.

This is another video of the big plough, gives a better impression of teh depth of fuirrow it could produce. There is also another video but the link I had is now broken.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFC_q5gVv88" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFC_q5gVv88</a>

Offline Roger B

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2016, 02:15:13 PM »
I took this picture in the mid 80s when it was still out in the open.
Best regards

Roger

Offline Johnb

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2016, 02:21:37 PM »
Jason, Roger,

From a conversation I've been having on another site, it appears that the film Jason posted on 2/10/13 may show something other than the big plough and engines in Saxony in 1966. According to my correspondent (who claims to be able to understand the commentary) this film was shot in 1933. The work being done was the installation of the first drainage ditches at a depth of 2 metres after construction of the first polder by reclamation from the sea of the Zuydezee. The traction engines - four of them, but we only see two at one end of the polder in the film - were brand new, having been built by Wilhelm Ottmeyer in Germany in 1933.

Now may correspondent may well be wrong (he has been before ;) ) but I thought you might be interested.
John Browning. Member of Ickenham and District SME

Offline Xldevil

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2016, 02:51:39 PM »
The plough Mammut was build by Ottomeyer,the lokomobiles had their origin at Fowler
but were overhauled and upgraded by Ottomeyer and the boilers by Henschel.
More to read in German
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Ottomeyer#Wilhelm_Ottomeyer

https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emsland_Moormuseum
« Last Edit: January 04, 2016, 04:05:31 PM by Xldevil »

Offline Jasonb

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2016, 04:55:58 PM »
John, Roger's opening post had some video of the deep ploughing in the link he posted, that text I posted was a summary of that film. The links to that film are now broken

The film I posted on 2/10/13 was as I said "another film" of them in action so more than likely a different place and time to the 1966 Saxony video.

I think this is the later film hence colour and the cat.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk-ktzVIK9Y" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk-ktzVIK9Y</a>

Or This

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4GZHHYNzh8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4GZHHYNzh8</a>

J
« Last Edit: January 04, 2016, 05:04:19 PM by Jasonb »

Offline Johnb

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Re: Big steam plough
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2016, 06:40:04 PM »
Thank Jason. I've just spent a happy half hour looking at videos :)
John Browning. Member of Ickenham and District SME

 

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