Abstract: A low till agricultural implement has a frame with a hitch for attachment to a tractor. An shallow-angled blade gang composed of an array of parallel ultra-shallow inclined disk blades is mounted to the front of the frame, and is followed by at least one wheel, spiral reel, and spike tooth harrow. The ultra-shallow inclined disk blades are mounted perpendicular to rotating shafts, and slice through field residue and soil with minimal lateral movement of material. The blades of the following reel then make cuts nearly perpendicular to those made by the circular blades. A trailing rolling basket or other finishing implement follows the spiral reel. The implement aids in drying the soil surface layer. Also, by cutting up residue and evenly spreading debris and topsoil, the implement helps to warm up the soil.

Abstract: A one-pass primary tillage machine provides a combination of shallow and deep tillage, residue cutting and mixing, and clod size reduction and leveling of the field to prepare the field for the next planting season. A front group of flat coulters slice through the residue to reduce its size, followed by deep shanks that improve the tilth of the soil to a point below the intended planting depth. Following the shanks, a group of concavo-convex conditioning discs mix the residue with the soil, reduce clod size, and level the field.

Abstract: A disc gang is provided that is suitable for use as part of a multifunctional seedbed preparation implement or in a standalone disc harrow. The disc gang is configured to permit a gang angle of the disc gang to be adjusted to accommodate differing soil conditions and/or to obtain different tillage characteristics. The disc gang may include a frame mounted on a mainframe of a primary tillage implement such as a cultivator. The frame includes a main beam mounted on the implement's mainframe and a disc support beam connected to the main beam and supporting a plurality of rotating discs. The gang angle can be infinitely adjusted through a designated range by pivoting one end of the disc gang about a vertical pivot axis while permitting another end portion of the disc gang to slide along a support surface for that end.

Abstract: A motor grader can be adapted for laying down a layer of granular material such as base rock or cold mix asphalt by mounting a dispensing hopper attachment onto the front of the motor grader and a spreading and leveling screed onto the moldboard. As the motor grader advances, it pushes a dump truck that continuously loads materials into the hopper. Those materials are in turn continuously discharged at a metered rate of flow through the bottom of the hopper and onto the roadbed. The resulting swath of materials passes between the front wheels of the grader as the grader continues to advance, whereupon the screed engages the swath and spreads the materials in opposite lateral directions while leveling them to the desired depth.

Abstract: A primary tillage apparatus includes a plurality of primary tillage tools and a coulter assembly for each primary tillage tool including first and second coulters positioned directly forward of the primary tillage tool, the coulters being mounted to diverge in a v-shape relative to the direction of travel such that the separation between the edges of the coulters increases in a rearward direction, and concave working surfaces of the coulters face outwardly away from one another, the weight of the implement frame and the action of the primary tillage tools causing the coulters to penetrate the soil ahead of the tillage tool and to press into any residue encountered, the cutting edges of the coulters gripping the residue and drawing the residue outwardly in opposite directions, tearing the residue in two and clearing the residue to the sides and out of the path of the primary tillage tool located rearwardly of the coulter assembly.

Abstract: A tillage system includes forward and rear sets of widely spaced discs and a set of plow points. The discs in the forward set are mounted at spaced intervals so as to leave alternate strips of worked and unworked soil of substantially equal width. Each disc of the rear set is mounted in a strip of soil left unworked by the forward set to complete the working of the top soil. The plow points are located in the furrows of one of the sets of discs (preferably the rear set) to permit some deep plowing. The working depths of the points and discs are independently adjustable. The system is designed for operation at high speed to provide complete coverage of the soil with minimal double working by the discs. It permits deeper penetration by the discs and a controlled amount of deeper plowing by the points while leaving a finished contour which is substantially free of ridges and furrows.

Abstract: A ripping apparatus includes a housing having a bearing assembly therein which is connected to a support member of a vehicle, a ripper mechanism having a shaft member pivotally mounted in the bearing assembly, a lever arm connected to the shaft member, a material ripping element connected to the bottom of the shaft member, and a fluid operated linear actuator connected to the support member and to the lever arm for rotating the ripping element between a retracted position and a transversely disposed working position. The ripping apparatus is particularly adapted to shatter a compacted railroad bed underneath the rail and supporting ties.

Abstract: A stubble eradicating implement adapted for earth traversing movement along a ridge having stubble and other debris thereon and having furrows on opposite sides of the ridge, the implement having a frame, guide wheels mounted on the frame; a pair of concavo-convex disk blades mounted on the frame in fore and aft spaced relation rearwardly of the guide wheels for free rotation about individual axes lying in vertical planes oppositely forwardly convergent with the ridge and oppositely forwardly inclined in their respective planes so that the concave faces of the disks are forwardly and upwardly disposed with the disk blades overlapping in earth engagement centrally of the ridge to discharge stubble and debris from the ridge into adjacent furrows, a first furrowing shovel mounted on the frame rearwardly of the disk blades in alignment with the ridge to discharge soil onto stubble and debris in the furrows, a compacting roller mounted on the frame rearwardly of each of the first shovels in alignment with their re

Abstract: A row-crop cultivator for tilling the soil between adjacent rows of crops is connected to a prime mover. The cultivator includes a drawbar connected to the prime mover and a plurality of laterally adjacent cultivating gang assemblies for tilling the soil between adjacent crop rows, each is connected to the drawbar so that it travels on the ground under its own weight and moves independently in a vertical direction relative to an adjacent gang assembly.

Abstract: A root and stalk shredder having a frame, a pair of longitudinally extending, parallel, power driven lifting rollers rotatably mounted on the frame and extending longitudinally parallel to a path of travel of the shredder, guide means mounted on the frame forward of the rollers in the direction of movement of the shredder for guiding stalks between the rollers, a blade assembly mounted on the frame over the rollers and operatively associated with the rollers for cutting roots and stalks lifted by the rollers, and a plow assembly mounted on the frame and provided with a fin assembly for facilitating use of the shredder to re-shape a bed being cleared. A bed re-shaping assembly is mounted at the rear end of the shredder frame for covering over shredded crop residue deflected down into the bed by a deflector shield also arranged at the rear of the shredder frame.

Abstract: A cultivator apparatus attached to a draw bar hitched to a tractor and having a tool bar attached to the draw bar and movable therewith. A cultivating mechanism is attached to the tool bar and is movable between positions of engagement and disengagement with the ground when the tool bar is moved. A plurality of cultivating units comprise the cultivating mechanism and are independently movable about the tool bar. A lateral support mechanism is comprised of gauge wheels mounted intermediate the ends of each of the cultivating units. Each gauge wheel is laterally offset with respect to the cultivating unit to which it is attached.