PUNCTURELESS RUBBER-TIRED OX-CART FOR CENTRAL INDIA

An improved punctureless rubber-tyred ox-cart was developed as an alte rnative to the existing pneumatic tyred cart in order to overcome cert ain problems faced by pneumatic carts apart from high initial cost. Th e cart uses old truck tyres filled with coconut coirs and has an impro ved frame a braking system proper balance, a steel axle, quicker acces s for lubrication, a seating arrangement for passengers and provision for carrying loose or low density material The performance evaluation studies revealed that the carrying capacity of this cart was 1200 kg o n field terrain compared to 800 kg for the traditional cart. The draft and power requirement ranged 0.37-1.07 kN and 0.53-1.33 kW at full lo ad conditions for various terrains compared to 0.51-1.37 kN and 0.68-1 .47 kW for the traditional cart.