AU598497B2 - Mulching harrow - Google Patents

Description

-i 121~1 598497 66352-/9

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NEVILLE GREGORY MORTON PH 03794 FILING DATE: 10 DEC '4 FORM *it r *4 a, COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA The Patents Act 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INVENTION ENTITLED: MULCHING HARROW The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: e, kaignature f ueciaramn) (IMPORTANT-Cross out inapplicable words in the above Form.) 14692/78-L C.J. THOMPSON, Commonweallh Govenment Printer This invention relates to agricultural implements, more particularly to mulching harrows for breaking up stubble left after harvesting fodder or grain crops or the like and any dry vegetation growth (hereinafter called stubble) to allcw the natural process of mulching to take place faster.

Past cultivation practices have required the burning or destruction of stubble to enable cultivation of the soil to take place. This is because the cultivating machinery is dragged through the soil and large pieces of vegetation cling to the implement tynes, causing blockages which need to be cleared frequently.

The stubble is of environmental importance to the soil, but unless the stubble is smashed, the natural process of mulching does not take place quickly enough to allow for yearly cultivation and crops.

All previous successful attempts to break down and smash stubble have involved expensive, power driven, rotary flail machinery, which is costly to operate in fuel, maintenance and time.

The mulching harrow has achieved significant savings on the purchase cost, fuel and maintenance costs and operating time.

This invention is designed to trail along behind an agricultural implement, usually a harrow bar, where it occupies the space of and replaces two or three conventional harrow sections.

Varying types of harrow sections have long been used for cultivating the soil, weed control, breaking down clods, levelling soil surface, spreading manure and pest destruction by burying. All these rely on harrow sections digging into soil and displacing soil -2- 3 in varying degrees.

This invention differs from all previous harrow sections in that it travels along the ground surface without the need to disturb the soil, its purpose and function are different to previous harrows and its design is also different.

The invention's purpose and function is to encounter stubble, to break it off, and with repeated bombardment break it into small pieces, split open the 1 protective outer layer and lay it in a horizontal position within the vicinity of its original standing position, ready for the natural processes of sun, rain and earth micro-organisms to break it down into soil, adding nutriment and friability to the soil structure.

The smaller pieces also allows cultivating equipment to be used in the soil without blockage. The broken down material is evenly distributed on the ground surface to preserve moisture in soil, to curb soil erosion by wind and water, to protect new pasture growth and to hasten the breakdown of plant to soil.

This invention comprises a stubble mulch harrow of the type having steel grids of generally planar and rigid arrangement including bars aligned perpendicular to the towing direction and being spaced so that the material being traversed is contacted and fractured and allowed to flow through the grids, the said grids being of sufficient weight to remain in contact with the i 3a ground in use.

The stubble mulch harrow may have the steel grids hingedly connected together about an axis at a pair of adjacent edges, one of said grids having means along a free edge parallel to said hingedly connected edges, by which said harrow may be towed, with one of the said grids being a leading grid and the other a trailing grid, whereby said grids can move rotationally about said axis.

1 The aforesaid stubble mulch harrow may be used with an hydraulic harrow bar which will fold upon itself and then fold up with the bar for transport and storage.

Preferably the grids are constructed of steel bars welded together'in a rectangular pattern.

A better understanding of the invention may be obtained from a consideration of the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 I 9 4 shows a plan view of the harrow of the invention and Figure 2 shows a side elevation thereof.

Figures 3 and 4 respectively being the sections A and B of Figure 1.

In Figures 1 and 2, the harrow comprises a grid 1 and a grid 2, hingedly connected together as at points 4. Towing chains 3 are provided to attach harrow to towing means. Lifting Chains 5 are provided for attachment to lifting means.

In Figure 1, the working bars are all bars being towed across the direction of travel and are underneath the pulling bars which are parallel to the direction of travel. All bars may be made from medium to heavy steel bar, and may be welded together in a fixed plane.

The device of the invention is used by being towed behind a harrow bar in place of the standard stump jump harrows and pulled around at 10-15km/hr to lay the stubble down in one direction. Then the operator travels back over the stubble in °o the opposite direction. Each straw is hit and tumbled and struck several times against the bars of the grid thereby smashing and fracturing the stubble into small pieces.

For preference the operation should be done when the stubble is in its most brittle state.

For preference the harrow should be attached to a conventional hydraulic harrow bar by attaching towing chains 3 to towing anchor point on the harrow bar and allowing harrows to trail behind during operation. The complete unit (harrow bar and harrows) will need 4to be drawn by some means of transport, usually a tractor or prime mover, to enable the mulching harrows to perform their function. Lifting and folding of harrows (when folding harrow bar for transport or storage or for raising harrows off the ground to clear blockages) is achieved by attaching lifting chains 5 to lifting anchor points on harrow bar and operating the hydraulic lift on the harrow bar, usually by means of the hydraulic system on the towing tractor which activates the hydraulic rams set up on the harrow bar.

r !During the folding operation the trailing side of grid 1 is raised until grid 1 is in a vertical position with grid 2 vertically hanging behind grid 1. With all v harrows now lifted off the ground and hanging vertically the wings of the harrow bar can be folded I inwards to the frame of the bar, thereby substantially reducing the width of the machine and increasing manouvreability.

The grid pieces 1 and 2 preferably are rectangular S2 in outline and the forward grid 1 may be the same grade as grid 2. The conventional mesh constructions used in concrete reinforcement work are too light for the present purposes. A prefered dimensional exemplification is as follows:- Total length (grids 1 and 2) 3350mm Width 2600mm Apertures 415mm x 380mm 6- Grid 1 formed of 20mm diameter round steel bar.

Grid 2 formed of 20mm diameter round steel bar.

It is emphasised that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described.

125 ~ac?

Claims (3)

1. 3. A stubble mulch harrow as defined in claims 1 or 2 rr when used with an hydraulic harrow bar which will fold upon itself and then fold up with the bar for transport and storage.
2. 4. A stubble mulch harrow as defined in claims 1 or 2 wherein said grids are constructed of steel bars welded together in rectangular patterns.
3. 5. A stubble mulch harrow as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to Figures i, 2, 3 and 4 of the 0-~ accompanying drawings. NEVILLE GREGORY MORTON DATED: 12. JUL 89 I-k I -k I I 14 14 4 4 444 44 4 4 4 1 44 411111 I I