CA2117236A1 - Agricultural planters - Google Patents

Abstract

AGRICULTURAL PLANTERS
ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE
An agricultural planter producing a fertilizer trench and a laterally adjacent seed furrow in uncultivated soil covered with trash, such as residue from a previous crop, and growing vegetation, utilizes a forwardly mounted disc for cutting the trash and concurrently forming a fertilizer trench. A pair of rotary forks concurrently move the trash laterally away from the fertilizer trench and impact fragmentizes the soil adjacent each wall of the trench to fill the trench with soil particles immediately behind the deposition of fertilizer. A conventional seed furrow opening apparatus extending rearwardly from the planter forms a seed furrow laterally adjacent to the fertilizer trench into which seeds are sequentially deposited. A pair of rotary forks are mounted on the planter on opposite sides of the open seed furrow and at a location rearwardly of the seed depositing mechanism. Each said rotary fork has a hub portion for rotational mounting on the planter and a plurality of radially projecting rigid tines rigidly secured to the hub portion; said tines having an arcuate configuration in a radial plane, thereby producing a convex soil engaging surface which imparts an impacting action to the soil adjacent the sidewall of the fertilizer trench and the seed furrow to fragmentize both sidewalls of the seed furrow to cover the deposited seed with the fragmentized soil particles, while moving the loose trash out of the anticipated path of the seed furrow.

Description

il~ 211723`6 ~, 1 TITLE

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3 1 ¦ AGRICULTURAL PLANTER ¦

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. 10 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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i2 ~iel~ of ~në:~nvën.t~on - ; - -~ .-.
13 The invention relates to an improved agricultural planting 14 apparatus for effecting the formation of a narrow ~ertiliz~r 15 trench, the autting of vegetation and crop residue lying in the 16 path of the trench,the closing of such trench after depositing 17 fertilizer therein, the formation of a seed furrow laterally 18 adjacent the fertilizer trench, the sequential depositing of seed 9 in the seed ~urrow and the closing of the open seed furrow produced 20 by a tractor drawn planter, and particularly to an apparatus . ~:
21 capable of reliable planting of seed in soil which has not received 2~ any cultivation subsequent to the harvesting of the previous crop.

' ,',1 23 .
.~ 24 Summary of the Prior Art :~
.~ 25 one of man's earliest occupations was the planting of seeds in ~. 26 the soil. With the advent of horse drawn tools, the l9th century :-~
27 saw the development of horse pulled planting units which ~ ..

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1 incorporated a furrow opening device, a seed depositing mechanism 2 operated by ground engaging wheels ~o sequentially deposit seed in 3 the open furrow, and followed by an apparatus for moving soil into 4 the open furrow to cover the seed. See for example, U.S. Patent 5 No.s 22,676 to Seaman and 489,037 to Roadhouse.

7 In each of these very early patents, the filling of the open 8 top furrow with soil particles was accomplished by a pair of disc-i shaped wheels having a plurality of relatively short radial I 10 projections spaced around the peripheries of the disc-shaped i wheels. Such projections were pointed and entered the ground a ::l 12 . li~i~ed.~dis.~ancé 't'o''`r'ot~e t~ë''~heels. ~ t~e~ f'or~'ard mov`~ ent'of .! 13 the horse pulled planter, but also to throw dirt particles upwardly and rearwardly into the open furrow. For these prior art devices to 15 be successful, the soil bed had to be well prepared in advance of 16 planting. Leftover stubble and stalks from the previous crop, as 17 well as growing vegetation, would, when encountered by the disc-18 shaped wheels, raise such wheels a~d defeat the dirt throwing 9 action, thus leaving a portion of the furrow uncovered, or covered 20 by trash or weeds and preventing the germination of the seeds in 21 such portion.

~3 In the intervening years, many other furrow closing 2~i apparatuses have been tried, such as scrapers or curved discs :-.

r 2~ disposed on opposite sides of the open furrow and operating to 26 iaterally displace two bands or strips of soil and move same into ~, .
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1 ¦the seed furrow. (See Figures la and lb for a schematic showing of 2 such prior art furrow closing apparatus.) Again, these mechanisms 3 functioned well in well prepared soil beds, but if growing 4 vegetation, stubble or trash was on the field, or the soil 5 comprised a large percentage of clay, the furrow closing operation 6 was less than desirable. Trash or stubble would effect an 7 undesired elevation of the furrow closin~ apparatus. Portions of ~ the open furrow would be closed by trash or crop residue, rather 9 than by soil particles. When operating in clay soils, not only I 10 would the furrow wall be compacted by its ormation, but the two ! 11 clay strips cut by the discs would be compacted together to form an r~ ~pénet~a~e~~àrrie~ a~ove ~ë ge~m~na~in~Vsëed. ` ; ~ ~ :

14 When it became a co~mon practice to deposit fertilizer in a 15 shallow trench, laterally adjacent to the seed furrow, these 16 problems were multiplied unless a cultivated, well prepared seed 17 bed, with all trash and growing vegetation buried under six to ten 18 inches of soil, was formed prior to the planting operation.
19 ~
In recent years a new approach to farming in arid areas of the 21 country has been success~ully introduced. Instead of plowing the 22 field to bury new vegetation growth, stubble and trash from the 23 previous crop,the new approach is to plant the field without soil 24 preparation, hence with the new vegetation growth, and stubble and 25 trash from the previous crop on the surface. The presence of such 261¦materialS the soil surface substantially diminishes the Loss of ~ 1 28 , Il 2117236~

1 water from the soil during the winter or dormant period and, where 2 irrigation is employed, substantially reduces the amount and 3 frequency of water application. Undesired vegetation growth after 4 planting and germination of the planted seed would, of course, be 5 eliminated by spraying.

7 This new approach to planting is vividly illustrated in an 8 article appearing on pages 14-15 o~ the mid January, 1993 issue of 9 the Farm Journal. This article reported the tests made in the 0 spring of 1992 on three different designs of trash clearing 11 attachments for planters to effect planting in uncultivated fields f~ 1 ~ with résidue- rom thë prëv~ous cr~p Eac~ :of thë r a attachments employed a pair of rotary forks disposed in advance of 14 the fertilizer trench or seed furrow opener, which was one or a 15 pair of conventional discs disposed at a slight converging angle 16 relative to the direction of travel of the planter. Each such 17 rotary fork had a plurality of peripherally spaced radial tines 18 projecting from a hub. The radial tines were disposed in an 19 angular relation to each other approaching 9O degrees and the free -~

20 ends of the tines were intermeshedO The ground penetration of the 21 radial tines was not stated, but the primary purpose of the tines 22 was to clear a path through the crop residue to permit the 23 conventional fertilizer trench openers, seed furrow openers and 24 furrow closing apparatus to perform.

26 As is apparent from the article, not one o~ the three 21~723~
l apparatuses tested performed in an entirely satisfactory manner.
2 Depth control of the seed furrows was a problem, as ~as covering of 3 the seed slot with soil, not crop residue. This was particularly 4 noticeable in low lying, heavy clay loam soils. With the 5 deliberate intermeshing of the tines of the radial forks at a 6 subskantial angle, the trash would be caught between the radial 7 tines and thrown rearwardly to interfere with the closing of the ~ ~ seed furrow with soil. ~he radial fork tines easily penetrated the 7 9 soil surface, but did little to break the soil into mulched 3 lo particles most desirable ~or seed furrow coverage. Furthermore it ~ 11 was observed in subsequent tests of the radial tine forks, that an i'''"~"' "''`~'12 ë cess'~,~`'s'o~l'''was thrown'r`èa ~ard'iy ~w~i ~ i'n~er'ered".wi'th'"~he'' 13 covering of the subsequentially formed seed furrows.
',1 1~
The specific type of furrow closing mechanisms employed in the 16 aforestated tests is not revealed. on many planters, a pair of 17 coulters are rotatably mounted in depending relation from the 18 planter main frame and spring biased downwardly into respective l9 engagement with opposite sides of the seed trench or furrow. The 20 coulters are provided with notches in the sharpened periphery of 21 the discs and such notches are supposed to facilitate the cutting 22 of trash by the coulters. See U.S. Patent No. 2,924,189 to 23 Macleod. ' ~4 Despite the provision of notches in the cutting periphery 25 of the coulters, reliable furrow closing cannot be obtained in 26¦¦unau1tiva d soil. It has been observed that corn stubble will 28 _ ~ i jr~;~, 21172"~

1 still cause undesired elevation of the coulters, hence leaving open 2 spots in the seed furrow. Live vegetation and crop residue is 3 pushed into the seed furrow to compete with the germinating seeds 4 for nutrients and water. More importantly, when used in clay 5 soils, the coulters produce a compacting of the two strips cut 6 along the sidewalls of the furrow to form a solid barrier to plant 7 growth from the deposited seeds in the covered furrow.

9 In light soils, such coulters move too much soil, foAming a ! 10 ridge over the deposited seed.

~ '~ om `t~ë foregoing aïscus'si5n, ~ is~r~a`d ~ y apparent't~a~''a i3 improved planting apparatus for uncultivated field surfaces is 14 highly desired by farmers operating in arid regions.
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The present invention provides an economical, yet highly effective solution to the problem of achieving fertilizer band 6 deposition, seed furrow opening in laterally spaced relationship to 7 the deposited fertilizer band, seed deposition in the open sfeed 8 furrow and consistent closing of the seed furrow in ~ields that are 9 replanted without removal or burying of stubble and trash remaining 10 after the harvesting of the previous crop, and which may also ~e 11 coverfed with live grass or weeds.

13 Substantially all existing tractor drawn planters have a 14 transversely extending, articulated main frame that is supported by 15 laterally spaced, ground engaging wheels. Bins or containers for 16 fertilizer and seeds are conventionally mounted on such main frame, ~ -17 there being a fertilizer bin and a seed container for each row to 18 be planted.
19 A forwardly and fdownwardly projecting bracket is mounted on 20 the main frame for each row to be planted, and a trash clearing and 21 a fertilizer trench opening unit is mounted on each such bracket.
2a A support arm for ground engaging elements is medially pivoted to 23 the lower end of t~e bracket for movement in a vertical plane when 24 obstructions are encountered by the ground engaging units. A pair 25 of opposed compression springs are mounted between one end of the 27¦¦support a and a ~pring ~top secured to the bracket. The support ¦

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1` 2~723~3 ., arm is thus biased to a generally horizontal position by the 2 opposed springs, and upward movements of either the forward end of 3 the support arm or the rearward end of the support arm is 4 resiliently opposed~

r. 5 6 On one side of the forward end of the support arm, a bearing 7 mounting is provided for a planar circular disc having a sharpened 8 peripheral edge. If desired, the planar disc may have a notched periphery to assist in its cutting action. The planar disc is ~,10 mounted at a slight horizontal angle relative to the direction of 11 travel so that the disc not only severs any weeds , trash or crop ~-"~ .. rësidue ~n ltS pa~h ~ t c~n urrent1 ~o ms` a; na~row fe ~'ilizer o~

13 insecticide trench behind the planar disa of the desired depth and 14 width. Uncuttable obstructions encountered hy the planar disc 15 result in the disc riding upwardly over same by vertical pivotal 16 movement of the support arm opposed by one of the opposed 17 compression springsO Damaging of the planar disc is thus avoided.

9 On the other side of the forward end of the support arm, a soil mulching and trash diverting rotary fork is mounted for 21 rotation about a horlzontal axis having an angle ranging from ten 22 to fifteen degrees relative to the direction o~ travel. Such rotary 23 fork has a hub portion and a plurality of tines radially projecting 24 from such hub portion. All of the tines are of arcuate 25 configuration in a radial plane, having a radius of curvature of ~'! a7 about 2.5 to 4.0 inches, preferably 3.0 inches, for tines defining Il . ~
~-~ 21:l72~6 1 a thirteen inch diameter. The tines thus have a leading convex 2 surface which first engages the ground and a trailing concave 3 surface. The free ends or tips of the tines penetrate the ground to 4 about one inch less than the depth of the planar disc, but because 5 the convex surfaces of the tines engages the ground first and are B essentially flat, a downward impact force is exerted on the ground 7 adjacent the one side of the fertilizer trench, which effects a B fragmentizing of the soil into particles. which fall into the fertilizer trench. Concurrently, the tines engage and move any 10 vegetation, crop residue and trash in its path laterally and 11 rearwardly. Such movement is not violent but gentlæ, since the ~2 c~nvex'''~àc'è of"'thë ~'ines' ra'd'ual:~y sI'ip' ~ ~ '~ndei ~ ~ g~'gëd;
13 trash and soil particles as each tine exits from the ground.
~4 The free ends or tips of the arcuate tines pass closely 16 adjacent to the rear face of the planar disc, hence adjacent to the 17 sidewall of ~he trench formed by the planar disc~ The axis of 18 rotation of the tines is slightly rearward of the rotational axis 19 of the planar disc so that sufficient space is provided for the 20 bottom end of the fertilizer or insecticide delivery tube to 21 deposit a string of fertilizer or insecticide in the opened trench 22 before soil particles created by the rotary tines displace soil ~3 particles into the trench to close same.

A second rotary fork unit, identical to the aforedescribed 26¦¦rotary f i~ mounted for rotat on adjaaent, but ~lightly behind ~
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1 the front face of the planar disc. The axis o~ rotation of this 2 second rotary fork is angularly displaced from the direction of 3 travel of the planter by an angle of about ten to fifteen degrees~
~he tines of this second rotary fork penetrate the ground to the 5 same depth as the first mentioned rotary fork and effect the 6 fragmentation of the soil particles by the leading convex surfaces 7 of the arcuate tines and removal of the trash in the path of such rotary fork in a rearward and lateral direction on the opposite ,' g side of the fertilizer trench. The soil particles loosened by the 10 second rotary~ fork also fall into the fertilizer trench to assist 11 in filling same, but neither the soil nor the trash is violently , ~ . ~h~o~*'to the'rear'~uë t~ ~e a~cua~e c~nfig~ra ~ ~ of ~e:~ine~ of ~ 13 the rotary fork~.
'!3 14 On the rear end of the support arm and on the ~ame side 15 thereof as the first mentioned rotary fork, a third rotary ~ork, ~ 16 identical to the first and second mentioned rotary forks, is 3~ 17 rotatably mounted on an axis parallel to the axis of the first 8 rotary fork, but with the tips of the tines of the second rotary 9 fork slightly overlapping the tine tips of th~ first rotary fork.
20 The rotational axis of the second rotary fork is positioned so ~ 21 that the tine tips do not penetrate the soil to the ~ame exkent as ;d 22 the first rotary fork, but brush the surface of the ground to '~ 23 continue the lateral displacement movement of crop residue and 24 trash in its path, or moved into its path by the first rotary fork.
`l 25 26 Any conventional furrow opening device may be mounted on the i3i! 227 lo s.
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1 planter frame to open a seed furrow laterally adj~cent to the fertiliæer or i~secticide trench by about two to four inches. The 3 i oil surface at the location of the furrow opening mechanism is 4 substantiall~ free of trash, crop residue and live vegetation due 5 to the diisplacing action of the two rotary forks and generally 6 comprises fragmentized soil. Preferably the trench opening 7 mechanism comprises a pair of discs having an angle therebetween of 8 about zero to four degrees depending on the furrow width desired.
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~, 10 Such discs are ~ournalled on the bottom end of a subframe 11 depending from the main planter frame and are provided with spring 12 o poisë~, upw r~ motion mobiIity to ri~e over rigi~ o~s~r d ~ ons in' 13 their path without damage. The resulting ~eed furrow will have a 14 depth of from one to four inches, depending on the crop being 15 planted. Seeds are sequentially deposited in the seed furrow by a 16 conventional mechanism including a seed hopper and a seed 17 depositing tube.

~l 19 To effect the covering of the seed furrow with soil particles, 20 a vertically shiftable, rearwardly depending subframe is secured to 21 the planter behind each seed depositing tube and spring biased 22 downwardly, A pair of fourth rotary forks are pivotally mounted on 23 the sub~rame for rotation about two axes lying in the same vertical 24 plane, but oppositely inclined relative two each other. Each 25 fourth rotary fork has a central hub portion and a plurali~y of 26 peripherally spaced, radially pro~ecting, rigid ~ines, the free ,~
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2 1 1 7 2 3 ~

1 ends of which are engageable with the ground on each side of the seed furrow as the planter is pulled or carried thereover by a , 3 tractor due to the weight of ~he subframe and rotary forks and the ~ ~
i3 4 downward spring tension thereon. ~ ' ) ,1 6 The positions of the bearing hubs for the fourth rotary forks 7 is selected, so that the tines thereof respectively engage the 1, 8 ground adjacent each side of the open seed furrow or trench.
,3 9 '~ 10 The tines of each rotary fork lie in the same plane ~, 11 perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the bearing hubs. Such ~, r~ ~i2 rotary forks are~simi'iar but not identical to the first, se~ond-and 13 third rotary forks mentioned above. Each tine of the fourth rotary 'I 14 forks are arcuately curved in a radial direction to define a convex ','~ 15 surface which contacts and enters the ground surface as the planter 16 moves. The width of the convex surface of each tine is essentially ,~ 17 flat, so that the tine exerts a substantial compression force on ;~ 18 the soil as it engages and passes through the soil adjacent to the 19 side wall of the open seed furrow. ~his action results in a !;' 20 fragmentation of the side wall and the adjacent soil, and the soil i 21 particles fall into the open furrow to cover the seed deposited 22 therein without forming a compact wall over the seed if the soil ~' 23 contains a substantial amount of clay.
24 The pair of fourth forks preferably differ from the first ~ 25 three forks in that the radius of curvature of the arcuate tines is i~! 226 slightly less, ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 inch~s, but pre~erably 2.625 ~,~, ,.~

Il ~1172~

1 lnches. This increases the impacting action of the fork tines on 2 the soil. thus producing more soil particles to insure the filling 3 of the open seed furrow.

The aforedescribed rotary forks greatly improve the 6 reliability of the fertilizer trench and seed furrow coYering 7 operations. The angular separation and the convex configuration of 8 the free ends of the tines permits the tines to straddle or slide 9 downwardly along stubble, reducing the possibility of elevation of 10 the rotary forks by any such stubble in the path of the rotating 11 tines If loose trash is engaged by a tine and moved ~y it through ~ t~e so~l, thë tras~ wiil ~ dlacarded fr~m such tinë upon ro~ating 1 13 upwardly out of the soil due to the fact that the convex surface 14 engaging the trash will inherently slide from under the trash as ~ 15 the rotary fork moves forwardly.

17 Further advantages of this invention will be readily apparent 18 to those skilled in the art from the following detailed 19 description, taken in conjunction with the annexed sheets of 20 drawings, showing a preferred embodiment of this invention.

24 Figure lA is a schematic top view of a prior art seed furrow j~ covering apparatus.

j 26 `~ 22711 13 ..
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D 2l~23~ ~-1 Figure lB is a sectional vi~ taken on the plane lB-lB of ~ Figure lA.

Figure 2A is a schematic top view of the seed furrow covering apparatus embodying this inventionO
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7 Figure 2B is a s~ctional view taken on the plane 2B-2B of 8 Figure 2A~

0 Figure 3 is a schematic ~ide perspecti~e view of a ~ingle 11 row unit seed furrow covering apparatus em~odying this invention.
2 . . , ~ ...
i3 Figure 4 is a side elevational view of Figure 3 with a gauge 15 ¦¦wheel rel ved for ~larity of illustration.

17 Figure 5 is a rear elevational view of Figure 3.

18 Figure 6 is an enlarged scale, side elevational view of a 9 rotary fork embodying this invention.

21 Figure 7 is a rear view of a multi-row planter embodying a 23 modification of this invention.

24 Figure 8 is a top plan view of a combined single row ` 25 fertilizer trench opener and covering apparatus and a seed furrow 26¦¦opener an urrow closing apparatus constituting a mcdification of ¦

A
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1 ~ 2~72~t~ Q :

1 this invention, with hoppers and frame structures removed for 2 clarity of illustration.

4 Figure 9 is a schematic side elevational view of Figure 8 with 5 hoppers and frame structures shown.

7 Figure lO is an enlarged view of the front portion of Figure 8 8.
9 Figure ll is an enlarged schematic view, partly in sectionO
10 illustrating the application of an adjustable downward spring force 11 to the furrow closing rotary forks.

16 Referring to Figures lA and lB, and 2A and 2B, the difference 17 between Applicant's invention and a popular form of seed furrow 18 covering apparatus is schematically illustrated. In Figures lA and 19 lB, there is shown a pair of conventional discs or coulters C

20 mounted on a planter (not shown) for rotation about two axes that 21 lie in the same vertical plane, but are inclined relative to each 22 other to position the cutting edges of discs C adjacent the 23 sidewalls of an open seed furrow or trench SF in which seeds S are l 24 deposited at spaced intervals. When operating in soil having a 25 substantial clay content, the discs C slice two strips of soil 26 adjacent the sidewalls of the furrow SF and move said sidewalls 28 l5 ~,, .
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1 into firm contact with each other as illustrated in Figure lB. The resulting compaction of the clay soil forms an impenetrable soil 3 layer immediately above the seeds, preventing ~he germinating plant 4 from reaching the surface.

6 Referring now to Figures 2A and 2B, the same seed furrow or trench SF is shown with seeds S d~posited at spaced intervals.
However, the discs C are respectively replaced by rotary forks F
9 embodying this invention. As shown in Figures 3 - 6, each rotary 10 fork F comprises a hub lO on which are rigidly mounted a plurality 11 of angularly ~pa~ed, radially projecting, rigid tines 12. Each 12 tine i~ radially curved to provide a convex surface 12a which 13 initially impacts the soil surface and leads the tine through the 14 soil, thu~ providing an impacting action on the soil. The rotary 15 forks 5 are respectively positioned on each side of the seed furrow 16 SF and thus produce a fragmentation of the sidewalls and adjacent 17 soil, producing soil particles which naturally move into the seed 18 furrow or trench SF to cover the deposited seed.

Referring now to Figures 3 - 6, the mounting of the rotary 21 forks F on a conventional planter P is schematically illustrated.
ill a2 Planter P has a transversely disposed main frame 1 on which is t1l 23 conventionally mounted in depending relation, for each row to be -~

24 planted, a pair of conventional furrow opening discs 2, gauge 25 wheels 3 on each side of the furrow opening discs 2, and a seed ¦ 26 depositing tube 5. In operation, the main frame is supported by a -~1 , ~ 27 16 i l 7 2 ~ S

pair of transversely spaced, rubber tired wheels la and lb. A
2 conventional seed metering mechanism (not shown), driven by the 3 ground engaging wheels la and lb, is provided on frame 1 for each 4 row for dropping seeds at spaced intervals into a seed depositing tube 5 for deposit into the open seed furrow SF produced by furrow 6 opening discs 2.

8 A subframe 4 is horizontally pivoted to a depending bracket lc 9 movements in a vertical plane. A tension spring 5 exerts an 0 adjustable downward force on the subframe 4 to control the depth of 11 penetration of the tines 12 of the two rotary forks F.
12 T ~ amo~nt.o~sp~lng ~r~e.is~adju~ted by an'a~u's~abLe nu~ 6a` .., 13 cooperating with a threaded spring anchor 6b.

A pair of shafts 14 are mounted on the trailing end portion of 16 the subframe 4 and respectively provide a bearing mounting of the 17 rotary forks F. The hub 10 of each rotary fork F has a central bore 18 lOa (Figure 7) in which suitable bearings lOb are conventionally 9 mounted to permit free rotation of the two rotary forks F about 20 axes which lie in the same vertical plane but are slightly inclined 21 relative to each other, at an included angle of from 45 to 75 22 degrees, but preferably 60 degrees as shown in Figures 2A and 5.
23 The position of subframe frame 4 is adjusted by nut 6a to 2~ position the tines 12 of th~ rotary forks F to engage the soil 25 immediately adjacent to the sidewalls of the seed furrow SF to a 26 depth approaching the depth of the seed furrow SF. As previously ~' ,~:

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1 mentioned, each of the radially projecting rigid tines 12 is curved 2 in the radial plane to provide a convex leading surface 12a, 3 substantially ~lat across its width, which impacts and moves 4 through the soil to fragmentize such soil to fill the seed furrow SF with soil particles. The adjustment of spring 6 to provide the ~ 6 desired depth of penetration of the tines 12, is, of course, 3 7 determined by the nature of ~he 50il in which the planter is to be 8 operated. Light sandy soils require less spring force than heavy ~ clay soils.
'~ 10 11 In the pre~erred construction of the rotary foxks~ F embodying 12 ~fi~s invent~on', ~e diamëter of ~e ro~ary ~o~s is a ~ roX~a~e~y~
13 13 inches and the number of tines is 13. the radius o curvature f the convex surfaces of the rotary fork tines is in the range of `1 15 1.5 to 3.00 inches and preferably, 2,625 inches. The width '~ 16 dimension of the tines in the range of 0.60 -0.90 inches and is 17 preferably 0.75 inches.

~¦ 18 The advantages of the seed furrow closing apparatus of this i 19 invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, !`~'3 20 particularly when it is desired to plant a field which has not been 21 plowed or disced in advance of planting and is filled with stubble 22 and trash remaining from harvesting the previous crop. When corn ~3i 23 stubble is encountered by the tines 1~, the tines can readily ~;~ 24 straddle the particular stubble or slide downwardly adjacent such ~; 25 stubble. Thus, the rotary forks F will generally not be elevated by 226 stubble in the field to produce incomplete seed coverage. If trash, '~,'` .
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such as a stalk, is engaged by the convex face 12a of any tine 12, 2 it will be discarded by such tine as the convex surface rises from 3 the ground. The effectiveness of this invention in clay soils has ~ 4 already been discussed, but the invention is equally effective in ~ 5 loose sandy soils. Thus, if a particular field contains both types 6 of soil, it is generally not necessary to change the depth of the 7 seed trench covering apparatus. In all soils, the soil in the furrow is left in an aerated condition, and is not thrown any ~i g significant distance to the rear.
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11 Further testing of the seed furrow closing apparatus embodying ~i's '~'vën'~io~i ~as~`re~v~ealë~'~'t'~t s'evéraI''impro~e~e~'s' ~ ul~ ~.e' .

13 desirable in order to more effectively use the furrow closing apparatus heretofore described, particularly if fertilizer is to be 15 concurrently deposited in a trench laterally adjacent to the seed 16 furrow and the planting was attempted on ~ields having a large 17 residue of the previous crop covering the field, such as that 1~ produced ~y the harvesting of a corn crop yielding over 100 bushels .

9 to the acre, or in southern climes, when the field was covered with 20 a mass of growing vegetation, such as weeds or grasses. To 21 effectively and uniformly plant a new seed crop in such fields 22 without prior cultivation, the embodiment o~ this invention shown in Figures 7-9 is particularly proficient.

As shown in Figure 7, the seed planter 20 is transversely 26 mounted on a tractor lift mechanism 50a conventionally provided on ;.',~
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the rear end of a tractor 50. For each seed row to be planted, a 2 seed container 22 and a fertilizer (or ins~cticide~ container 24 3 are provided on the planter frame Zl. Dispensing tubes 22a and 24a are respectively provided for dispensing granular fertilizer (or insecticide~ into the fertilizer or insecticide trench (not shown) , ~ and seeds into the seed furrow (also not shown), which are ~J 7 conventionally formed in the trash covered soil after the trash is 8 laterally displaced ~rom the paths of both the fertilizer trench ~l g and seed furrow by the apparatus embodying this invention.

11 To open and close the fertilizer trench, this invention 12 prbvides à downwardly and forwardly projecting subframe 26a on the 13 planter frame 26 for each seed row to be planted. Subframe 26a is 14 preferably of rectangular open construction,as best shown in Figure 15 lO. A support arm 26b is medially pivoted to the bottom end of 16 each subframe 26a. A pair of compression springs 27a and 27b 17 surround a link 26c, which is pivotally connected to the forward 1~ portion of support arm 26b. Springs 27a and 27b respectively abut 9 opposite sides of a transverse bracket 26d formed on subframe 26a.

The lower spring 27b abuts a collar 27d axially adjustably 21 mounted on link 26c, while the upper spring 27a abuts a collar 27e 22 axially adjustably positioned on the upper end of link 26c. Thus 23 the support arm 26b may be resiliently biased to a horizontal 24 position or, preferably to a position where the rear end of support 25 arm 26b is elevated about an inch relative to the forward end, for 226 a purpose to be described.

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:'.',"'j~,', r, 211723~ 1 1 A planar disc 28 having a sharpened peripheral edge is 2 conventionally rotatably mounted on one side of the forward end of 3 support arm 26b at the lateral location desired for forming a 4 fertilizer trench. Thus the disc 28 is mounted for rotation about 5 a horizontal axis which is positioned from two to six degrees, and ~ preferably four degrees, from a perpendicular relation to the path 1 7 of travel. The planter frame 26 is lowered so that the entire 8 planter is supported by two laterally spaced end wheels la and lb i 9 (See Figure 7), and appropriate conventional adjustments made to 10 the gauge wheels 3 so that each disc 28 penetrates the soil to the l 11 desired depth of the fertilizer or insecticide trench produced by ;j~. . . .. thë~for'ar~ m~d.~émënt~'of su'c -d'isc,'gene'ra~'iy.- rO~ on~ :~o ~ reë' .-.
13 inches.
14 The fertilizer or insecticide is deposited in the trench by 15 the dispensing tube 24a very close to the region of its initial ~ 16 formation by planar disc 28, in other words, close to the rear face ;~ of disc 28. Those skilled in the art will recognize that liquid .

j 18 fertilizer could be applied to the trench, in which case the . 19 container 24 would be pressurized and could be mounted on the :~ .20 tractor. In either case, the mechanism for regulating the amount 21 of fertilizer or'insecticide dispensed is conventional, hence not 22 shown.
23 It should be noted that the planar disc 28 performs a second 2~ important function, in that its sharpened periphery cuts through 2~ any and all trash or vegetation lying .in its path. A scalloped 26 periphery may be provided on planar disc 28 to improve its ~`
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~l ~ 21~23~' . 1 vegetation cutting action.
~I 2 On the opposite side of the support arm 26b, a rotary fork 30 .~ 3 is conventionally mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis ~,'! 4 disposed at an angle of about 75 t0 80 degrees relative to the path 5 of movement of the planar disc 28. The rotary fork 30 has the 6 configuration of the rotary forks F previously described but with .I 7 a tine diameter preferably less than that of planar disc 28 so that ~' the soil penetration of the tines 30a of the rotary fork 30 is about an inch shallower ~han the penetration of the planar disc 28.
10 . '. , 11 The plane of rotation of the tines of rotary fork 30 is thus 12 'a~o~ en~ eën~dé~r'e'~s~'i'nc~ne~ el'a~ v~;'t'o''~hè''p~h~'o~
13 movement of the planar disc 28. The lateral position of the 14 arcuate tines 30a of the rotary fork 30 is aligned with the edge ofi 15 the fertilizer trenoh produced by the planar disc 28, but slightly 16 behind and closely adjacent to the rear side of the periphery of 17 planar disc 28.

18 As discussed above, the tines 30a of rotary fork 30 have an 9 arcuate configuration in a radial plane, and the convex face 30b of 20 the tines 30a is laterally flat and leads the tine into an impact 21 contact with the soil. Thus the soil adjacent the one edge of the 22 fertilizer trench is fragmented and readily falls into the trench 23 to cover the deposited fertilizer or insecticide. Concurrently, 24 the severed trash and vegetation is moved laterally, but not 25 thrown, by the convex surfaces 30b of tines 30a as the tines exit 26 from the ground.
~7 22 , 11~ 21~723~3 l 1 It is generally desirable to have the seed furrow laterally 2 displaced from the fertilizer trench by a distance of from two to 3 four inches. To further clear the soil surface laterally adjacent 1 4 to the fertilizer trench, it may be desirable to utilize a second 1 5 rotary fork 31, identical to rotary fork 30, which is mounted on 6 the rear end portion of support arm 26b, on the same side of ~, 7 support arm 26b as rotary fork 30, and rotating about an axis ~ parallel to that of rotary fork 30. This rotational axis is defined ¦ 9 by a laterally projecting bearing support bracket 26f mounted on ¦. 10 the side o~ arm 26b in perpendicular relationship and having an ~ 11 inclined bearing 26m which journals a bearing hub 31c of the radial '!~1... ~ ~o~ .'~it~ 't~e"dë's~-r~'a'~g~ o~'"incl~n'a~n',' a~ 'pre~io~s~
13 described in connection with rotary fork 30.
14 ~he tips of tines 31a of rotary fork 31 pass closely adjacent 15 to the tine tips of rotary fork 30, and perform two functions:

16 first, accumulations of clay and trash on the tines 30a of the 17 first rotary fork 30 are loosened, and secondly, the tines 31a of 18 second fork 31 continue the lateral movement of the severed trash and vegetation away from the fertilizer or insecticide~trench, thus ;~ ~0 clearing the path of the seed furrow. The same degree of soil 21 penetration of the tines 31a of rotary fork 31 is not required, and 22 this is accomplished by the above described upward tilting of the a3 rear end of support arm 26b by springs 27a and 27b. ~he preferred . 24 penetration is not more than one inch.
On the opposite side of support arm 26b, i.e., the same 27 side that planar disc 28 is mounted on, a third rotary fork 32 is . 28 "~, .

~ .',1 .

~ 7 2 3 ~

f 1 mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis which is inclined from 2 75 tO 80 degrees relative to the path of travel of the planter. As ~,best shown in Fig. 8, this axis is/inclined to a greater degre~
14 than the axis of rotation of the planar disc 28. As in the case of 5 rotary fork 31, this axis of in~lination is provided by a 16 perpendicularly projecting bearing support 26g mounted on the side "!7 of support arm 26a and having an inclined bearing mounting 26h on 'its end for journalling the hub portion 32c of rotary fork 32. The ii9 configuration of rotary fork 32 is identical to that of rotary 0 ~orks 30 and 31, including arcuate tines 32a having a leading 11 ground engaging convex surface 32c that is substantïally flat.
12 T~e osition ~ :t~ird rotary ~or~ 32 is latëra~ y ~jacent e 13 other side of the fertilizer trench formed by planar disc 28. The 1~ tips of tines 32a are positioned closely adjacent to the periphery 15 of the forward side of planar disc 28, thus removing any adhering 16 clay and trash. The impact contact of the convex surfaces 32c of 17 tines 32a with the soil preferably lies in the path of the seed 18 furrow opener (to be described), thus producing a clearing o~ trash 9 from such path and fragmentation of the soil. The selected f20 penetration of the tines 32a is about 1 to 2 inches.
21 The three rotary forks 30, 31 and 32 incorporated in the 22 forward fertilizer or insecticide trench opening and closing ~3 apparatus heretofore described, are preferably identical and have 24 diameters of about 13 inches and 13 arcuate tines having an average 25 radius on the order of from 2.5 inches to 4 inches, with 3.0 inches 26 being preferred. The term "average radius" is utilized to indicate 27 2~
'i~
~. . .
~j ~ ` 211723~ ~
that the radially innermost portions of the tines may have a 2 greater radius than the outermost portions, but when combined, 3 produce an average radius of curvature in the stated range. The 4 convex surfaces of all the tines are essentially flat across their 3 $ width, thus assisting in the exertion of an impact forcë on the 6 soil contacted, rather than a conventional penetrating action. The 7 width of the tines is in the range of .6 to .9 inches, depending on 8 the soil characteristics, with a preferred width of .75 inches.
9 Heavy clay soils can advantageously utilize smaller width tines.
~ 10 As previously mentioned, the rotary forks F utilized for '~ 11 closing the seed furrow are of the same configuration, but ; general ~ arë not ~imensionaily i~ntic~ the rotary ~oxks 3 13 31, and 32. If deeper penetration of the forks 30, 31 and 32 is 14 desired for heavy clay soils, the diameters of forks 30,31 and 32 15 may be increased to 14 inches and the average radius of curvature 16 of the arcuate portions of the tines of such rotary forks can be 17 increased by about 0.5 inches to obtain optimum results.

18 The seed furrow opening and closing apparatus is supported in t' 19 depending relation to the frame 26 and lies behind the fertilizer i 20 trench opening and closing apparatus just described. A pair of ; 21 conventional furrow opening discs 2 are conventionally mounted on 22 frame 26 for spring opposed vertical movements to produ~e a seed ~i 23 furrow of from one to three inches in width displaced latsrally ~ 24 from the fertilizer trench by about two to four inches. The seed ,~ 25 depositing tube 22a is located immediately behind the seed furrow 26 opening discs 2.

.

~ ,....................................................................... .

- ~1 -3 1723~
1 The seed furrow is closed by a pair of rotary forks F
2 identical to those previously described, but mounted to frame 26 in 3 a different manner. Thus a hollow rectangular subframe 35 is 4 connected to a depending frame bracket 26k by two pairs of parallel 5 links 35a. Subframe 35 is urged downwardly by an adjustable spring 6 36.
7 Bearing brackets 35b depend from each side of subframe 35 to 8 provide bearing support for the two rotary forks F in the same positions relative to the seed furrow as already described in 0 conneckion with Figures 2 - 6. The advantage of the parallelogram 11 mounting is the maintenance of the same angular relationship of the ~2 ~urrow c~oaln~ ro~'ary fo~s'~:. rëia~è ~o' ~hë grouna in àny ~ 13 vertical position to which they may be adjusted or moved to by the j 14 gauge wheels 2.

16 As best shown in Figure ll, the vertical penetration of the 17 rotary forks F may be conveniently varied by adjustment of an 18 upstanding handle 50 to vary the amount of downward spring force 19 imparted to subframe 35 by a torsion spring 52. The lower end of 20 handle 50 has a boss 50a which raceives a bolt 35 which 21 horizontally traverses the subframe 35. The extreme lower end 50b a2 of handle 50 is secured to one end of tension spring 52. The othar '~3 end of spring 52 is connected to a tab 26n, which is riveted to the 24 bottom of frame bracket 26k.

26 The lever 50 is secured in a selected position by traversing ~8 26 . .~

~f~ll 2117~36 .; / a slot 3Sf provided in a top plate 35g secured to the subframe 35.
2 Lateral notches are provided in spaced relation along slot 35f and . 3 the notches are positioned to selectively rec~ive the medial .
~ ~ portion of handle 50. Thus the tension on spring 52 may be "~ conveniently varied to produce the desired depth of penetration of ~' 6 the tines of the rotary forks F~ . . .
~ 7 The important features of a planter embodying the :~ 8 aforedescribed fertilizer (or insecticide) trench and seed furrow opening and clcsing apparatus, are the ability to produce ~, lO fragmentation o~ the soil into particles for covering the :~ 11 fertilizer (or insecticide) trench and the seed furrow/ while at i th~?sam~ ~ime-rëmov~n~ ~rash a~d v~ge~a~on ~bm ~é ah~ ipa~d 13 paths of the f'ertilizer (or insecticide) trench and seed furrow 14 without throwing such materials into an adja~ent row. In ~iew of 15 the current tendency to plant seed crops in rows as narrow as ~.~ 16 eighteen inches, this is a very important feature of the above :ji 17 described invention.
18 In soils where clay is a minimal constituent, it is desirable 9 to lightly compress the soil particle.s filling the seed furrow to 20 prevent washout of the particles by a heavy rain. For this reason, :. 21 it may be desirable to add a soil compressing wheel 40 to the 22 planter which is disposed behind the two rotary forks F which move 23 the soil particles into the open seed furrow. Compressing wheel 40 .~ 2~ is conventionally mounted between, and at the rear end of a pair of 25 support arms 42 which in turn are pivotally secured to the subframe 26 35 by bolt 35c. A vertical bolt 46 is threadably engaged with a . ' ... ~ . ':

; 5~3 ~ : ' ` . , . : ' 2 1 ~ 7 2 i?J ~ ~:
1 rearwardly projecting bracket 35d and its bottom end engages a 2 transverse bar 42a secured to arms 42. Thus the vertical position ' 3 of compacting wheel 40 relative to the ground may be conveniently 4 adjusted. ,,~
As shown in Fig. 7, each wheel 40 has a solid tire 44 which 6 has a central projecting annular rib 44a. Rib 44a forms a small 7 trench in the compacted soil particles and assists the rain water 8 to penetrate the soil particles.
9 Those skilled in the art will recognize that if all of 0 the fertilizer,trench opening discs are mounted on the planter at 11 the same angle relative to the path of travel, the planar discs 12 wiil devel'op a lateral thrust ~ t e planter whic wou~d ca se' 13 deviation from the desired path. For this reason, one hal~ of the 14 planar discs are mounted on the planter at an angle pointing to the 15 right of the path of travel, while the remaining half of the planar 16 discs are mounted on the planter at an angle pointing to the left 17 of the path of travel. Such arrangement balances out all lateral 18 forces inherently developed by the planar disc fertilizer trench 19 openers and there is no lateral deviation of the planter from the 20 path of travel of the tractor pulling the planter. The positions 21 of rotary forks 30, 31 and 32 are similarly reversed with respect 22 to the support arm 26a so that they are in the same positions 23 relative to the planar disc 28 and function in the same manner as 24 previously described to close the fertilizer trench and remove 225 trash from the path of the seed furrow openers 2.

227 ' 28 ~' ,,~ . .

211723~ ~
1 Modifications of the apparatus disclosed herein will be 2 obvious to those skilled in the art of agricultural planters, and it is intended that all such modifications be included within the 1 4 scope of the appended claims. In the claims, the term "fertilizer"
J 5 is used generically to indicate a trench for solid or liquid 6 ¦¦fertili r or insecticide.

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Claims (22)

1. In a seed planter having a tractor pulled frame a seed furrow opener depending from said frame and engageable with the soil to produce a seed furrow having laterally spaced side walls, and means for dropping seed into said open seed furrow at spaced intervals, the improvement comprising:
a subframe extending rearwardly from said frame;
a pair of laterally spaced bearing means on the portions of said subframe spaced rearward of said seed dropping means;
said bearing means having axes respectively lying in a common vertical plane, but oppositely angularly disposed relative to the horizontal;
a pair of rotary forks respectively rotatably mounted by said bearing means and disposed on opposite sides of said open seed furrow;
each of said rotary forks having a hub portion operatively engaged with a respective bearing means and a plurality of radially projecting, peripherally spaced, rigid tines;
said tines being constructed and arranged to sequentially impact and penetrate the soil on each side of said open seed furrow by the forward movement of the tractor pulled frame to fragmentize both side walls of the open seed furrow into soil particles and laterally move said soil particles into the open seed furrow to cover the seeds deposited therein.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each said rotary fork tine is curved in a radial plane to provide a convex soil contacting surface, whereby trash encountered by each tine is discharged from the convex surface of the tine as said tine rotates upwardly out of the soil.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the average radius of curvature of each said rotary fork tine is in the range of 1.5 to 3.0 inches.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the diameter of each said rotary fork is approximately thirteen inches and each said rotary fork has thirteen of said tines.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said convex surface of each said rotary fork tine has a width in the range of 0.6 to .9 inches and is essentially flat across said width, thereby producing an impacting action on the soil contacted by said convex surface.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said convex surface of each said rotary fork tine has a width of .75 inches.

7. A rotary fork for use on an agricultural seed planter to close an open trench or furrow into which seed or fertilizer has been deposited, comprising:
a hub portion defining a cylindrical bore for rotatably mounting said rotary fork on a planter;
a plurality of ground engaging rigid tines rigidly secured to said hub portion in angularly spaced, radially projecting relation;
said tines being disposed in a plane of rotation perpendicular to the axis of said cylindrical bore;
said tines each having an arcuate radial configuration in a radial plane defining a convex ground engaging surface, whereby rotation of said tines by imparting a pulling movement to said hub portion will produce sequential impacts of said convex surfaces of said tines with the ground.

8. The rotary fork of claim 7 wherein the radius of curvature of each said rotary fork tine is in the range of 2.5 to 3.0 inches

9. The rotary fork of claim 7 wherein the rotary fork tines define an outer diameter of thirteen inches; and said rotary fork having thirteen of said tines.

10. The rotary fork of claim 7 wherein said convex surface of each said tine has a width in the range of 0.6 to .9 inches and is essentially flat across said width, thereby producing. an impacting, fragmentizing action on the soil contacted by rotation of said rotary fork in a direction whereby said convex surface makes initial contact with the ground.

11. A tractor pulled agricultural planter for depositing fertilizer and seed in a non-cultivated field having grass, weeds and previous crop residue on the soil surface, comprising:
a tractor pulled main frame;
a pair of laterally spaced ground engaging wheels supporting said main frame for travel over the field;
a fertilizer trench opening subframe mounted on said main frame in forwardly depending relation;
a planar circular disc rotatably mounted on said subframe with the plane of said disc being angularly offset relative to the forward movement of said main frame by an angle in the range of 3 to 6 degrees;
said disc having a sharp periphery;
means for adjusting the height of said disc to achieve ground penetration on the order of 1 to 3 inches, thereby producing a narrow trench having a depth of 1 to 3 inches and cutting all vegetation and crop residue disposed in the path of said disc;
means on said frame for depositing fertilizer in said trench;
a rotary fork having a central hub portion and a plurality of arcuate tines projecting from said hub portion;
said arcuate tines having a convex face and a concave face;
means for rotatably mounting said hub portion on said subframe behind said planar disc for rotation about an axis at an angle of from 25 to 30°offset relative to the rotational axis of said planar disc with said tines disposed closely adjacent the forward periphery of the rear side of said disc and with the convex face of said arcuate tines engaging the soil adjacent one side wall of said trench to apply an impact compressive force thereto to fragmentize the soil and move said particles into said trench; and said arcuate tines concurrently engaging the cut and loose vegetation and crop residue to move same laterally relative to said trench.

12. The apparatus of Claim 11 further comprising a second rotary fork having a second hub portion and a second plurality of arcuate tines radially projecting from said hub portion;
said second plurality of arcuate tines each having a convex face and a concave face;
means for mounting said hub portion of said second rotary fork on said subframe on an axis parallel to said disc axis but spaced rearwardly of said disc so that the free ends of said tines of said second fork overlap the rear periphery of the forward face of the disc by about 1 to 2 inches;
the convex faces of said tines of said second fork engaging the soil adjacent the other side wall of said trench to apply an impact force thereto to fragmentize the soil and move soil particles into said trench and concurrently move the cut and loose vegetation laterally relative to said trench in the opposite direction than said first mentioned rotary fork.

13. The apparatus defined in Claim 12 further comprising seed furrow producing means depending from said main frame behind said planar circular disc to produce a seed furrow laterally spaced from said trench by about 1 to 3 inches;
means for depositing seeds in said furrow;
a seed furrow covering subframe extending rearwardly and downwardly from said main frame;
a pair of laterally spaced bearing means on the portions of subframe spaced rearward of said seed depositing means;
said bearing means having axes respectively lying in a common vertical plane, but oppositely angularly disposed relative to the horizontal;
a pair of third rotary forks respectively rotatably mounted on laid bearing means and disposed on opposite sides of said open seed furrow;
each of said third rotary forks having a hub portion operatively engaged with a respective bearing means and a plurality of radially projecting, peripherally spaced, rigid arcuate tines;
each said arcuate tine having a leading ground engaging convex face and a trailing concave face;
said tines being constructed and arranged to sequentially penetrate the soil on each side of said open seed furrow by rotation of said convex surfaces by the forward movement of the tractor pulled frame to impact fragmentize both said walls of the open seed furrow into soil particles and laterally move soil particles into the open seed furrow to cover the seeds deposited therein.

14. The apparatus of Claim 13 wherein said convex surface of each said rotary fork tine has a width in the range of 0.6 to 0,9 inches and being essentially flat across said width, thereby producing said fragmentizing action on the soil contacted by said convex surface.

15. The apparatus of Claim 13 wherein the radius of curvature of arcuate tines of said first and second rotary forks is in the range of 2.5 to 4.0 inches; and the average range of curvature of said third rotary forks is in the range of 1.5 to 3.0 inches.

16. The apparatus of Claim 15 wherein said convex surface of each said rotary fork tine has a width of about .75 inches.

17. The apparatus of Claim 13 further comprising a third rotary fork having a hub portion and a plurality of arcuate tines projecting radially from said hub portion;
each said arcuate tine having a leading ground engaging convex face and a trailing concave face; and means for rotatably mounting said hub portion of said third tine on said subframe behind said first mentioned rotary fork for rotation about an axis parallel to said axis of said first mentioned rotary disc with the free ends of said tines of said third rotary fork disposed laterally adjacent the free ends of said tines of said first mentioned rotary fork and lightly contacting the ground, thereby further moving cut and loose vegetation and crop residue away from said trench to provide a cleared space for production of said seed furrow.

18. The apparatus of Claim 12 wherein said first mentioned and said second rotary forks are identical.

19. The apparatus of Claim 18 wherein said third rotary fork is substantially identical to said first and second mentioned rotary forks.

20. The apparatus defined in Claim 17 further comprising a seed furrow producing means depending from said main frame rearwardly of said planar disc to produce a seed furrow laterally spaced from said trench by about 1 to 3 inches;
seed depositing means extending rearwardly and downwardly from said main frame to sequentially deposit seeds in said furrow;
a pair of laterally spaced bearing means on the portions of subframe spaced rearward of said seed depositing means;
said bearing means having axes respectively lying in a common vertical plane, but oppositely angularly disposed relative to the horizontal;
a pair of fourth rotary forks respectively rotatably mounted by said bearing means and disposed on opposite sides of said open seed furrows;
each of said fourth rotary forks having a hub portion operatively engaged with a respective bearing means and a plurality of radially projecting, peripherally spaced, rigid arcuate tines;

each of said arcuate tines having a convex face and a concave face;
each of said tines being constructed and arranged to sequentially impact and penetrate the soil by said convex face on each side of said open seed furrow by the forward movement of the tractor pulled frame to fragmentize both said walls of the open seed furrow into soil particles and laterally move said soil particles into the open seed furrow to cover the seeds deposited therein.

21. The apparatus of Claim 19 wherein said tines of said fourth rotary forks have arcuate tines having an average radius of curvature about 0.5 inches less than said arcuate tines of said first, second and third mentioned rotary forks.

22. The method of forming and covering a shallow trench in uncultivated soil covered by a residue of trash from the previous crop, comprising the steps of:
1. forming the shallow trench by at least one disc; and 2. repeatedly impacting and fragmentizing the soil adjacent the walls of said shallow trench by a pair of rotary forks, each having a plurality of rigid arcuate tines disposed in a radial plane with their convex surfaces leading the contact with the soil, whereby soil particles are deposited in the shallow trench and loose trash is moved laterally relative to the path of the open trench.