Abstract: To couple a drive shaft to a rotatable member for rotation therewith and the method of doing so includes providing a rotatable member having at least one end with a bore therein, a drive shaft, and an expandable and compressible coupler having a first segmented sleeve and a second segmented sleeve. The coupler is positioned within the bore of the rotatable member and the drive shaft is extended within a bore of the coupler and is coaxially disposed relative to the rotatable member. Without having to bolt or weld the drive shaft to the rotatable member, the user securely couples drive shaft to the rotatable member and substantially prevents removal of the drive shaft from the rotatable member by the user simply threading the first segmented sleeve into the second segmented sleeve thus simultaneously effecting engagement of the coupler within the bore of the rotatable member and substantially clamping or compressing of the coupler about the drive shaft.

Abstract: A rear scrub dual drive for a sugar beet harvester includes functionally-independent first and second variable speed actuators connected to respective first and second drive shafts of a rear scrub and further includes a fluid supply member, pump, and flow control members for energizing the actuators and controlling the speeds at which they can operate to effectively vary the relative speeds of first and second conveyors which are driven by the respective first and second actuators and which are used to scrub and move the harvested sugar beets. The ability to quickly and conveniently change the speeds of the conveyors on the go without replacing and remounting any parts on the rear scrub on the go allows the user to better match the conditions the user may be presented with while harvesting sugar beets.

Abstract: A soil sampler for taking soil samples at multiple locations around a vehicle is disclosed. The soil sampler has a probe for withdrawing soil samples from the ground. The probe is suspended on a support structure or boom assembly which can move the probe to multiple withdrawal locations around a vehicle. The soil sampler has a percussion-type vibrator to aid in inserting the probe into the ground. The vibrator assembly operates automatically off of a hydraulic line used to lower the boom assembly, such that the vibrator normally operates only when the probe is encountering significant resistance to being pressed into the ground. The support structure is raisable to allow an operator within the vehicle to collect multiple soil samples without leaving the vehicle.