Abstract: A beach cleaner for recovering waste while moving in a towed state by a traction vehicle. A grating-like portion scoops up waste present in front of the beach cleaner as the beach cleaner is moved and a reticulate portion that is formed behind the grating-like portion to hold waste. As the beach cleaner is moved, waste present in front of the beach cleaner is scooped up onto the grating-like portion and is held with the reticulate portion formed behind the grating-like portion. Sand that is scooped up together with the waste is allowed to drop through the gaps in the grating-like portion.

Abstract: A mechanical harvester for harvesting, topping and sacking bulb crops, such as onions. The harvester extracts the onions from the ground and transports them rearward to a cutting assembly by conveyor systems that drop out small onions, dirt, rocks and debris. The cutting assembly comprises a set of elongated cutting blades positioned to cooperatively accept and sever the leaves and roots from the bulb. The offal drops away from the harvester to the ground by manner of gravity. After cutting, the onions are transported through an inspection assembly for inspection, sorting, grading and further distribution. The onions are then transported rearward to a sacking assembly for placing the onions into sacks, to a chute device returning the onions to the ground or to a conveyor system transferring the onions to an adjacent vehicle. Platforms on the sides and ends of the harvester facilitate the above operations.

Abstract: A wagon pulled along a plant bed for retrieving buried drip tape includes a cultivator disc for loosening the soil to free the drip tape which is then drawn upward and onto the wagon through the use of a rotating drum that rotates at such a speed that its surface moves at the ground speed of the wagon. A wringer wheel that bears against the drum extracts water and air from the drip tape, which is then wound onto a reel under the control of an operator for subsequent storage and reuse. This mode of retrieval is considerably faster than manual retrieval thereby reducing labor cost, and the reuse of the drip tape saves disposal costs as well as material costs and results in conservation resources of the resources used in manufacturing the drip tape.

Abstract: A vegetable digger is provided for furrowing vegetables from the earth and for removing the vegetables from the earth and thereafter depositing them above the ground. The digger includes a frame having a front, opposed first and second sides, a rear and a plurality of wheels. One furrowing disk is provided which will loosen the dirt in the furrowed sections of the ground when the digger moves in a predetermined forward direction. At least one earth moving disk is provided for moving the loosened dirt away from the vegetables, and at least one unearthing disk for raising the vegetable bulbs towards the top of the ground. At least one transfer disk is provided for conducting the bulbs from the dirt and into the conveyor. A method is also provided for using the apparatus to remove bulbs which are buried in the ground and then deposit them back onto the ground so that they can be picked up by a trailing harvesting machine which will separate them into market-grade and process-grade vegetable bulbs.

Abstract: A multirow sugar-beet harvester has a chassis displaceable along the ground above several rows of sugar beets and is provided with a plurality of pairs of extractor plows which dig up the sugar beets in several rows simultaneously. A grillwork wheel is provided tangent to one of the plows of each pair and is rotated to pick up sugar beets from the plows and displace them backwardly into the transversely extending and elongated inlet mouth of the horizontal stretch of a conveyor. A vertical stretch of this conveyor then transports the sugar beets upwardly and drops them into a bin on the chassis.

Abstract: An elevating scraper adapted to be towed by a tractor to perform earth-grading operations and the like including a vehicle frame, towing means on the frame, and a forwardly open scraper bowl located on the frame and terminating in a lower, forwardly extending scraper edge. An upwardly and rearwardly extending elevating conveyor assembly is mounted on the frame forwardly of the scraper bowl and spaced from the scraper edge, and a support surface is situated closely adjacent the conveyor assembly and cooperates therewith so that material may be elevated by the conveyor assembly and supported during such elevation by the support surface and moved into the scraper bowl. The support surface is perforate so that material of large size will be directed to the scraper bowl while smaller sized material will pass through the support surface to the underlying terrain.