Portable Tractor Speedometer

Portable Tractor Speedometer FARM HOME Cars 3-3-28 New from England is the RDS Speedmeter, an accurate, easy to callibrate tractor speedometer that you can use interchangeably on tractors and other self-propelled equipment. "It's easy to mount and calibrate when moving from one implement to the next," explains Bob Ellis, general manager of the Illinois-based U.S. importer of RDS Ltd. products from England. "Just wire it from the front wheels to the dashboard of whatever tractors or implements you plan to use it on, and then move the meter to such implement as you need it." An electrical transducing switch counts the revolutions of a magnet on the wheel. It relays the impulses to the meter, which gives a reading in either miles per hour or kilometers. In switching the meter from one machine to the next, all it needs to know is the circumference of the wheel to which the meter is wired. That information is plugged in with a dial inside the meter box. The meter actually reads speeds in both a high and low speed range, switching automatically from one to the other. In mph, the lower range runs from 0 to 10 mph and the higher from 8 to 40 mph. The two ranges allow the meter to be more accurate in the lower ranges, according to Ellis. Although the RDS Speedmeter will work on 4-wheel-drive tractors, it won't account for drive-wheel slippage and so might not be accurate under some conditions. Sells for $250. Wheel magnets, switches, and wiring for outfitting additional tractors or implements may cost as much as $100. according to Ellis. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, RDS America Box 140, Milford, Ill. 60953 (ph 815 889-5253).

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