Abstract: The present invention is a walk behind segmented interchangeable lawn mower with spreader device having a main housing with rear wheels, a handle and a motor and having interchangeable second and third housings for attaching a spreader attachment, wherein the spreader attachment is capable of spreading material over an area, and attaching a mower cutting blade attachment. In one embodiment the present invention includes a second housing having a rotatable cutting blade for cutting grass and the like. In another embodiment, the present invention includes a third housing which preferably includes a hopper which extends upwardly from the housing. The hopper includes an open top and an open bottom, sidewalls and, preferably, an indented area which includes a plurality of apertures for permitting the flow of material therethrough. A flow rate adjusting handle member is also included. The hopper also includes a vertically disposed rod member having a vertical rotation axis.

Abstract: A method of harvesting grain involves placing a cutting and harvesting head on the front of a prime mover, moving the prime mover and the head through a field of mature grain plants with grain thereon. The grain bearing plants are then cut with the head, and then moved to a grain separating station on the head. The grain is then separated from the plants within the head, captured, and then moved to a grain reservoir on the prime mover. The severed plants are then deposited into the field after the grain is separated therefrom. A combine or prime mover has a grain harvesting head on the forward end thereof. A cutter bar or the like is on the head to cut grain bearing field plants. A conveyor moves the cut plants to threshing elements on the head for separating grain from the severed plants. A grain conveyor on the head moves the grain to a grain reservoir on the combine. An exit port is on the head for depositing all of the plants in the head on the field from which the plants were cut.

Abstract: A mower includes a linking structure designed to link the mower to a motor vehicle; a cutting mechanism with driven cutting elements that include cutting tools; and a windrowing device designed to move laterally, toward a median plane of the cutting mechanism, the product that has been cut by the cutting elements before it is dropped to the ground. The windrowing device has at least one guiding element for the cut product, located in the vicinity of one of the lateral ends of the cutting mechanism, and considering the direction of work, behind the front of the cut of the cutting mechanism. The guiding element has at least two rotors arranged crosswise to the direction of work and to the rotation axis directed upward during work. The rotors are hung to a carrying structure linked to the cutting mechanism and/or to the linking structure, and the rotors are driven in rotation by way of a driving mechanism.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a corn head auger crop divider located in the auger trough of a corn head. The divider is positioned between the center row divider and center of the feeder house opening. The divider does not contact the transverse auger and transverse auger flighting. The divider consists of a rear divider partially nested within the front divider. The front divider has a triangularly shaped top region. This orients a pair of side embankments so as to smoothly alter the flow of corn crop. In operation, the corn ears are pushed into the auger trough by the gathering chains within the row divider. The transverse auger pushes the corn crop to the center of the corn head where it contacts the side embankment of the front divider. The side embankment changes the direction of the corn crops flow so that it is directed into the feeder house opening.

Abstract: A self-propelled windrower is provided with a platform including a reel which sweeps crop to be cut over a sickle cutterbar and into the nip of a pair of counter-rotating center-feed augers that, in turn, deliver the crop to the nip of a pair of counter-rotating conditioner rolls; and these driven components may be reversed to disgorge slugs of crop. The reversible drive includes a hydraulic pump carried by the traction unit and coupled to a motor carried by the platform. The hydraulic motor on the platform is coupled to power a main gear box which distributes power to the driven components of the platform. Operation of the pump is electro-hydraulically controlled with a single switch being operable to effect forward operation of the platform drive train, and with a second switch being designed to be moved and held in place to effect and maintain the drive train in reverse.

Abstract: A plurality of heavy chains in lateral contact with adjacent chains is secured to a structural member such as an angle which, in turn, is removably secured to the rear of the frame of a lawn mower, behind the grass cutting mechanism, the chains being heavy enough and long enough to drag along a grass lawn, whereby the grass lawn can simultaneously be cut and striped.

Abstract: A universal spreader attachment consisting of an inverted triangular hopper hung from the cross-brace support of the handlebars of a lawnmower, with holes drilled in the bottom of the hopper to allow the substance being spread to disperse onto the lawn. The holes are opened and closed by moving a sliding member, which has corresponding holes drilled into it.

Abstract: A spreader is attachable to a conventional lawn mower to spread granular material over the area cut by the mower. The spreader has a hopper, at least one adjustable orifice at the bottom of the hopper, and a rotating regulator for dispensing granular material behind the lawn mower. In one embodiment, a first sprocket attached to the wheel of the lawn mower, and a second sprocket attached to the spreader receive a chain for driving the rotating regulator of the spreader. In a second embodiment, the spreader is driven by a pair of bevel gears, one of which is mounted on the rear axle of the mower. A novel drive does not convey rotational movement to the impeller of the spreader when the mower is moved a short distance backwards. Also, the lever operating the clutch to engage power to the Pear wheels simultaneously operates a stop to block the flow of particulate matter out of the hopper of the fertilizer spreader.

Abstract: Grain tanks of harvesting machines frequently have an irregularly shaped interior which is difficult to fill completely and to unload. A conveyor system is proposed facilitating loading and unloading of the grain tank. The conveyor system comprises a conveyor arrangement which contains conveyor elements that can be driven and that can be moved vertically depending on the height of the crop deposit. The conveyor arrangement is mounted to the interior wall of the grain tank by a four bar linkage. During the filling process, the conveyor elements act as distributors filling in unused areas of the grain tanks. During the unloading process, they act as conveyors directing grain to the unloading auger.

Abstract: Removable paddles are disclosed for use on a grain auger to assist material flow when changing direction of flow from parallel to the auger's longitudinal axis to a flow path at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the auger. The device provides a mounting attachment at the base of the paddle unit using bolts through the auger tubing. The base of the paddle unit extends nearly perpendicular to the paddle-shaped member oriented lengthwise with the auger's longitudinal axis. Auger rotation thereby positively ejects transported material on contact with each revolution of the auger. Each paddle exhibits an "L" shaped cross section and the area, shape and angular orientation of the paddle blade is determined by the material requirements upon the auger tubing. Methods of paddle unit manufacture are also disclosed.

Abstract: In a rotary brush cutter with a rotating shaft, a plurality of cutting blades extending substantially radially from the shaft and a drive for rotating the shaft, herbicide is fed adjacent a cutting portion of the blades while the blades are rotated whereby the herbicide is applied to brush being cut.

Abstract: Apparatus for dispensing a preservative or other substance, in solid or liquid form, onto a crop material being baled, the substance being dispensed onto the crop material before it is baled at a rate which is dependent on the moisture content of the crop material and the bulk rate of flow of crop material through the baler. The apparatus, which may be mounted on a square baler or a round baler, includes a first sensor for sensing the moisture content of the crop material and producing a first signal, a second sensor for producing an output signal indicative of the bulk rate of corp flow through the baler, and a control circuit responsive to the first signal and the second signal for producing a pulse width modulated signal for controlling the speed of a motor. The motor controls the rate at which the substance is dispensed from a container onto the crop material.

Abstract: A hay pre-conditioner mounted on a hay-baler so as to be disposed in front thereof and raisable thereto, wherein the hay pre-conditioner is comprised of an elongated, box-like structure having a plurality of transversely mounted steam outlet nozzles for conditioning a windrow of hay in front of the baler.

Abstract: A round hay baler includes a forward pick-up assembly and hold down tines for gathering and introducing a layer of material into the baler. The hold down assembly includes fluid discharge tines extending from a hollow manifold connected to a reservoir that contains preservatives, nutrients or biological inhibitors, for example, which are added to the inside of the layer forming the round hay bale.

Abstract: Apparatus is presented for slicing a large round bale into two or more parts prior to discharge from the baler. Slicing is accomplished by inserting a knife blade into the bale-forming chamber during or subsequent to the tying-off event while the bale rotates. The cutting means is inserted into the sidewalls of the baler and into the baling chamber. As the bale is rotated, the cutting means cuts the bale. Typically, a ring and core are formed. The preferred configurations of the core are cylinders or conical structures.

Abstract: A universal spreader comprising a hopper; a cable by which the speading of fertilizer/chemical/seed/pesticide/etc., in the hopper may be inititated or terminated; a rotatable, driven agitator which distributes and controls the amount of the fertilizer; an adjustable width drive for the agitator; a series of moveable fertilizer delivery tubes or "fingers" for delivering the fertiziler from the hopper to the ground which allows spreader to be fit on lawnmowers of most sizes with handles of different and varied configurations; and a guide securing device which also assists in spreading the fertilizer from the "fingers" while also serving to provide a base for anchoring and adjusting the width of the "fingers" to coincide with the swath of the lawn cut by the blades of the mower.

Abstract: A high ground clearance tractor during one pass through rows of a standing crop, such as corn, opens a small furrow for a second crop, such as beans, plants the second crop, sprays suitable chemicals on the new crop, and trims the tops of the existing or standing crop. A large energy savings is realized compared to using separate machines for the required operations. The machine is particularly useful in regions having a long growing season. Two rows of a second crop can be planted between each adjacent pair of rows of the existing crop.

Abstract: An attachment for a conventional level-land grain combine which allows the combine to be operated and the grain to be harvested on the slopes of hillsides without excessive buildup of the grain on the low side of the machine. The attachment includes movable doors which vary the size of the opening between the gathering and cutting unit and the feeding and separating unit. By partially closing off the opening on the low side of the machine, more of the grain is fed to the high side thus providing for more even distribution of the grain into the threshing and separating units. Movement of the doors is remotely controlled by the operator according to the slope of the hillside on which the machine is operating.

Abstract: A universal spreader comprising a hopper; a cable by which the speading of fertilizer/chemical/seed/pesticide/etc., in the hopper may be initiated or terminated; a rotatable, driven agitator which distributes and controls the amount of the fertilizer; an adjustable width drive for the agitator; a series of moveable fertilizer delivery tubes or "fingers" for delivering the fertilizer from the hopper to the ground which allows spreader to be fit on lawnmowers of most sizes with handles of different and varied configurations; and a guide securing device which also assists in spreading the fertilizer from the "fingers" while also serving to provide a base for anchoring and adjusting the width of the "fingers" to coincide with the swath of the lawn cut by the blades of the mower.