Abstract: The transplant head of the transplanter has an upper plate with four pinholes spaced at the corners of a square of a determined width. A lower plate is adjustably spaced beneath the upper plate and has four pinholes located at the corners of a square of a lesser width than the upper plate pinhole spacing. Four transplant pins extend between the upper and lower holes such that when the upper plate is brought closer to the lower plate by a pneumatically activated mechanical linkage, the pins converge within a seedling plug. Additional pins and pinholes provide for transplanting of an array of seedlings. A pneumatic actuator is connected to the lower plate and is adapted to elevate the transplant head with engaged plug. A carriage is driven by a pneumatic actuator to position a growth pot beneath the engaged plug. A computer controller causes the plug to be lowered into the soil of the growth pot after which the mechanical linkage may be activated to space the plates to disengage the pins from the plug.

Abstract: A bucket for digging a ditch by moving the bucket longitudinally of the proposed ditch, rather than in the usual transverse direction, includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a rear wall and a pair of side walls diverging forwardly from the rear wall to an open front end of the bucket, one of the side walls being planar and defining a sharp corner with the bottom wall, the other side wall having a curved bottom end whereby a round bottom ditch can be formed by dragging the sharp corner through the soil longitudinally of the proposed ditch in a first pass, and then making a second pass through the soil using the curved end of the bucket.

Abstract: A characteristic feature of the present invention is that a damping unit is rovided between the casing, impact tool and elements of a pneumatic hammer. The damping unit may have a different design.

Abstract: A gardening utility machine having a counter-rotation twin shaft system can perform multiple types of work required for gardening (tilling, soil removal, weeding, raking and shredding of leaves), snow/ice removal and for power de-thatching and mowing of lawn grass. This can be done by exchanging attachments on the counter-rotating twin shafts: if tines are installed on the twin shafts, soil tilling, weeding can be done; if auger blades with or without digging bits are in place instead, the machine can simultaneously till and remove soil or can remove ice/snow, or rake and shred leaves; if the front shaft is installed with a spiked roller and the rear shaft, a shearing reel, then the machine can power de-thatch and mow grass at the same time, and additional grass clipping mulching ability can be performed if a fan blower equipped with a mulching fan blade and a retractable bedknife is in place.

Abstract: An attachment for a roto-tiller adapted to aerate and fertilize ground in preparation for seeding and planting which comprises a pair of rotatable cylinders adapted to replace the conventional tiller tines and to attach to the rotatable shaft driven by the roto-tiller unit; a plurality of spaced aerating spike members distributed uniformly around each of the cylinders; a plurality of ports or openings in each of the cylinders, the openings likewise being uniformly distributed about the external periphery of the cylinders; spring-loaded dispenser plugs positioned in the openings to be activated by each contact with the ground as the unit moves and the cylinders rotate; and dispensing valves located within the ports of the cylinders to dispense liquid fertilizer from inside the cylinders.

Abstract: A weed cutter structure having a handle shaft with a rotary head containing at least one flexible cutter filament thereon, includes a guide assembly mounted to the handle shaft in adjacency to the cutter head, wherein the guide assembly includes a mounting bracket arranged for securement to the handle shaft, and a support bracket fixedly secured to the mounting bracket, with the support bracket having a wheel member. The guide assembly projects from a first side of the handle shaft relative to a second side of the handle shaft mounting a shield housing projection.

Abstract: A grass planting apparatus which is adapted for connection to a tractor or other motor vehicle and which is well suited for no till operation in the planting of warm season and other Grasses is disclosed. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a frame having mounted thereon a forward set of cutting coulters, a rear set of planting coulters and a set of furrowers positioned at the mid-portion of the frame. The planting coulters are employed in conjunction with a set of agitator feeders which may be in the form of elongated kicker tines. A feeder trough for the grasses to be planted has openings therein to receive the planting coulters and for passage of the grass materials through the bottom of the trough.

Abstract: The snow discharge spout pipe from a snowblower is conventionally extended by spout extensions commanded by control rod linkages. The present ball and socket joints are used to interconnect each pair of successive link arms to one another, and some link arms to the snowblower casing. These joints are of the universal joint type, including a ball rotatable into a spherical socket. Each end of a link arm has such a joint. Each socket is composed of two ring members in mutual contact at their flat inner radial faces. These faces are precisely machined to obtain the desired clearance between the spherical surfaces of the ball and ring members. Each ball includes an axial bore, rotatably receiving a shoulder bolt. The bolt and ball have lubricating passages opening at the relatively movable bearing surfaces of the bolt, ball and ring members.

Abstract: An implement for cleaning spaces between adjacent slabs of paving materials, the implement including a pilot member proportioned to fit into the spaces between the adjacent slabs of paving materials, a pair of flange members forming a V-shape having an apex, the pilot member and the pair of flange members being joined such that the pilot member extends away from the exterior of the apex of the V-shape, a handle that extends away from the interior of the apex of the V-shape, and a pivot apparatus for providing a pivoting movement between the pair of flange members and the pilot member and the handle.

Abstract: A composting machine is used with an elongated reactor with flails mounted in a frame that moves longitudinally from a finishing end to a starting end during a processing pass. The flails move the organic material in the reactor along the reactor toward the finishing end. The flails are radially mounted on a shaft and the shaft rotates during the processing pass causing the flails to rotate as well. During a return pass, the flails can be made to occupy a horizontal plane so that the frame can return to the finishing end without raising the shaft vertically. Further, a skirt can be mounted adjacent to the flails to limit the distance that the material is moved by the flails. The distance of the skirt from a leading edge of the flails can be increased during the processing pass from the finishing end to the starting end. This allows the machine to be much more efficient as the level of the organic material can be maintained nearly constant from the starting end to the finishing end.

Abstract: A hydraulic rockshaft control circuit which includes a three-way valve that normally operates the rockshaft is connected to the lift cylinder on a trailing implement. A hitch lock valve connected to the rockshaft control valve maintains the rockshaft in a preselected position regardless of changes in pressure at the valve output. The extend side of the lift cylinder is connected to the control valve output so that the tractor hitch control is used to operate the trailing implement cylinder. To overcome the inability of the three-way valve to positively retract the trailing implement cylinder, a reducing/relieving valve is connected to the retract side of the cylinder and is adjusted to provide just enough pressure to retract the cylinder and raise the implement wheels from ground contact when the extend side is connected to return pressure.A position feedback system on the implement is connected to the hitch control unit (HCU) on the tractor.

Abstract: A dragline bucket having a back wall, opposite side walls, a bottom, an open front, and a removable pipe arch assembly for connecting the front upper corners of the side walls of the bucket together, the removable pipe arch assembly including a saddle bracket on the inside upper front corner of each of the side walls of the bucket, the saddle bracket having a semi-annular channel providing a pocket on the inside face of each saddle bracket, a pipe arch extending between the saddle brackets, the opposite ends of the pipe arch being removably engaged in the saddle bracket on each of the side walls, a collar on each end portion of the pipe arch resting in the pocket in each of the saddle brackets, and a locking plate connected with each of the saddle brackets over the pipe for removably locking the pipe end portions in the saddle brackets.

Abstract: An agricultural implement, such as a row crop planter, has a main carrier frame drawn by a tractor and including support wheels. Individual row units are mounted on a lift frame. The carrier frame includes a cornered lift post which is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis. A cornered sleeve or collar in the form of a tube is mounted to the lift frame for vertical sliding motion on the lift post. A lift hydraulic cylinder couples the lift frame to the carrier frame for setting the lift frame in (i) a use position wherein the row units are lowered to engage the soil; (ii) an intermediate, raised position wherein the row units are disengaged, for negotiating end turns; or (iii) a fully raised position wherein the lift frame and row units may be rotated from a transverse position to a longitudinal position, to narrow the implement for road travel.

Abstract: An inventive three-point hitch assembly that attaches to the front end of a truck or pickup and supports at three points a plurality of implements or tools. It has a belt-driven power take-off for rotary tools that is controlled by an electric clutch and driven by a pulley attached below the truck engine pulley. A hydraulic lift cylinder raises and lowers the hitch and implement or tool, which by the hitch parallelogram form maintains the implements in a vertical orientation. The lift cylinder hydraulic pressure is supplied by connections to the truck power steering system via electrically controlled solenoid valves.

Abstract: An agricultural implement designed for distributing anhydrous ammonia by laterally spaced applicator knives includes an elongated wagon hitch frame which has a forward end pivotally mounted to a forward section of the implement frame and a rear end which carries a drawbar and hitch clevis for a trailing wagon carrying a tank of anhydrous ammonia. As the implement is raised, the rear end of the wagon hitch frame drops away from the implement frame so that the height of the wagon hitch above the ground remains substantially constant and the implement hitch section and wagon tongue remain in line. The break-away coupler for the main hose from the anhydrous tank to the implement is provided with a swing arm to facilitate disconnection of the main hose even when the anhydrous wagon is sharply angled. In the case of a larger implement, having right and left pivoting wings, the frames of the wing sections are strengthened with efficient use of upper and lower laterally spaced channel stiffeners.

Abstract: A planter includes a pair of toothed wheels which sweep mulch away from the path followed by furrow opening discs. The sweeper wheels are carried on the trailing end of a parallel bar linkage attached to a tool bar by which the planter is pulled. As a result of the parallel bar linkage, the sweeper wheels may float upwardly and downwardly independently of the planter frame in order to conform to uneven ground and achieve more effective removal of the mulch without significantly disturbing the soil. The forward location of the sweeper wheels enables a coulter to be mounted on the planter frame and slice vertically into the ground ahead of the furrow opening discs.

Abstract: A feedback mechanism for providing an implement position signal includes a rotary potentiometer mounted on the implement frame adjacent the rockshaft with the axis of the potentiometer shaft extending parallel to the rockshaft. A linkage structure includes a potentiometer arm connected to a rockshaft arm by a link such that the angle the potentiometer arm forms with the link is acute when the implement is in the transport position and obtuse when the implement is in the lowered field-working range. At the lowermost position of the implement, the link and potentiometer arm approach an overcenter position. The linkage structure provides amplified rotation of the potentiometer shaft relative to the rockshaft when the implement is in the field-working range of positions, while rotation of the shaft is reduced relative to rockshaft rotation when the implement is raised above the field-working position. In the preferred embodiment, rotation of the rockshaft 10.degree.

Abstract: An earth moving machine attachment is disclosed comprising a plurality of disk units mounted to a disk unit mounting beam which is fixed to a beam pushing frame for pivotally coupling to a dozer or tractor C frame. The beam pushing frame is angled obtusely in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction from the direction of push by a pair of reciprocal operating hydraulic cylinders to grade the earth materials to one side or the other of the C frame. The disk unit mounting beam and attached disk units are hingedly connected to a parallel offset shaft of the beam pushing frame for tilting the disk blades to provide restricted floatation on the earth materials. A sliding feature of the hinged connection between the disk unit mounting beam and the beam pushing frame accommodates hydraulic power means of shifting the load relative to the pushing axis of the earth moving machine.

Abstract: A shank assembly for mounting on a tool bar of a farm implement includes an upper shank section having a lower portion with a generally transverse slot near a distal end thereof and a lower section having an upper portion. The lower portion of the upper section includes a slot adapted to receive the upper portion of the lower section. A ground working tool is fixedly attached to a lower extremity of the lower section. The slot has end walls formed into at least one cam surface which urges the ground working tool into simultaneous contact with both endwalls of the slot thereby locking the lower portion and the upper portion together against lateral motion in the slot.

Abstract: Reversible protectors are normally utilized to protect the leading edge of a work member from high wear during use. It is also advantageous to have a reversible protector that can be secured to a work member even though the work member may be composed of several components which are welded together thus adversely affecting the tolerances between the various components. In this subject arrangement, a reversible protector is provided and adapted to be mounted on and secured to a work member. The reversible protector has recesses located in the lower end thereof which, when assembled, are in mating engagement with protuberances on the work member. This mating engagement secures the lower end of the reversible protector to the work member. A pair of aligned openings are provided near the other end thereof which aligns with a transverse hole in the work member for receiving a retaining mechanism therethrough.