NZ272238A - Rotary hay rake and tedder; dual purpose machine coupled to a tractor, details regarding conversion of the machine from raking to tedding mode and vice versa - Google Patents

Description

272238 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No: 272238 Date: 29 May 1995 | N.Z. PATENT OFFICE ! 2 9 MAY 1998 RECEIVED COMPLETE SPECIFICATION IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DUAL PURPOSE ROTARY HAY RAKE AND TEDDER I, STEPHEN JOHN BARNES, a New Zealand citizen of 79 North Street, Palmerston North, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 27 2238 This invention relates to a dual purpose rotary hay rake and tedder.

A rotary hay rake which can be reset to operate as a tedder has been known for many years. The tedding configuration is used to scatter the green or damp windrows left by the grass mower, and later to turn or work on the spread grass, so that the crop is optimally presented for quick drying or wilting in the sun and wind.

In the raking mode the raking rotors gather the dry or nearly dry grass for hay, or in the case of silage the wilted green grass into windrows suitable to be picked up by a baler in the case of hay or a forage harvester in the case of silage or haylage.

To change the configuration of existing dual purpose rotary hay rakes and tedders, it is necessary to undertake a series of adjustments to the tyne angle and rotor tilt. Tedding with a two rotor machine requires much more aggressive tyne angle and a much greater rotor forward tilt than is required in the raking configuration. The greater the forward tilt of the rotor the higher the grass is tossed and the better the result in scattering and hence drying action. Wet heavy grass when thrown high, travels further than the dry grass and so lands last on top where it is best presented for further drying.

Forward tilt of the rotor of between 15 - 30 degrees works best, but large rotor tyne heads when tilted to this degree operate at the front of the rotor only with a substantial height clearance at the outside edge of the rotor and in the centre between the two rotors which is obviously of no use. Thus forward tilt of the tyne rotor can not be increased much from the raking position if a clean pick up is required across the rotor width.

The adjustment that can be made is to the tyne angles. Very aggressive tyne angles i.e., the tyne angles sloping forward and not trailing backwards as with raking, helps break up and spread the crop, but it is very hard on tynes causing many tyne breakages. It also requires the individual tynes to be adjusted between the tedding mode and the raking mode. 272238 It is an object of the present invention to provide a dual purpose rotary hay rake and tedder, which will overcome some or all of the problems set out above, or at least will provide a useful choice over known dual purpose tedding and raking crop harvesting equipment.

Accordingly the invention consists in a dual purpose rotary hay rake and tedder comprising a tyne rotor carrying frame, ground engaging support means to provide a stable support for said frame in use as it is trailed behind a tractor, two tyne rotors dependent from said frame and set to operate as raking tynes rotors to windrow the crop, a third tyne rotor supported on the frame trailing between and behind said raking tyne rotors and set to operate in the tedding mode as a scattering tyne rotor in the windrow formed by the raking tyne rotors, and in the raking mode adapted to have no tyne contact with the windrow formed by the raking tyne rotors, and drive means to operatively drive all tyne rotors.

The third or scattering rotor is not set to pick the grass off the ground as the raking rotors have already done this. The third or scattering rotor works on the slightly elevated and gathered crop stream ready to elevate and spread the crop. Because of this the third rotor does not need ground working type tynes, but just rigid scattering bars.

Removal of these scattering tynes or bars leaves the drive part of the third rotor well clear of the grass stream, so that the windrowing function of the raking tyne would not be impaired. As usual with rotary hay rakes, adjustable wings could be incorporated to assist in forming a well shaped windrow. Where the wings were provided they would be moved out of position when the scattering tynes are fixed and would be down when the scattering tynes are off for raking. There would be no need for any other adjustment and the optimum angles for raking and tedding or scattering are achieved with no adjustments to tyne angles as is required with existing known apparatus.

Preferably the angle of the raking tyne rotors would be set at between 2 and 4 degrees and the angles of the tedding or scattering rotor would be set at between 15 to 30 degrees. * 4 DEC 1997 REC E/Ved 272238 Preferably the tyne carrying frame comprises a chassis from which the tyne rotors are supported, a towing frame pivotally connected at or adjacent the rear edge of the chassis and extending forward to be connectable to the top linkage of a three point linkage assembly, a lifting frame connectable to the three point linkage of the tractor and lifting brace means between the lifting frame and the towing frame with a lost motion linkage in the brace means so that in use supported on the ground engaging means pivotal movement is provided between the chassis and the towing frame and for travelling the lifting frame allows elevation by the three point linkage of the tractor.

Preferably the towing frame is an A frame pivotally connected at two points at or towards the rear or trailing edge of the chassis, with the forward end incorporated in the top of the lifting frame and connectable to the top three point linkage of the tractor, with two lifting brace members incorporating the lost motion linkage extending from adjacent the lower part of the lifting frame towards the lower connection on the three point linkage assembly to each arm of the A frame.

Preferably a shock absorber or motion restricting device is fitted between the front end of the chassis and the A frame to dampen movement of the chassis when being trailed over rough ground.

Preferably the ground engaging support means comprises two spaced apart wheels supported at the lower end of the shaft about which the tyne rotors rotate with the wheels set at a height to provide correct operating clearance for the raking tynes on the raking rotor and for the scattering tynes on the scattering rotor. It is also the mounting 011 the wheels that maintains the operating inclination of the rotors as above set forth. Because of the stable support provided by the wheels and the pivotal linkage between the trailing frame and chassis.

Preferably each raking tyne rotor is pivotally mounted on a support spindle dependent from the chassis and comprises a drivable rotor head incorporating a plurality of mounting sockets and shaped tyne carrying arms removably engagable in said socket at one end and carrying raking tynes at the other end. 27 2238 Preferably the tedding or scattering rotor is mounted on a spindle and comprises a driven head having removable rigid tynes with the angle of inclination of the spindle set relative to the ground engaging wheels and with the support provided by the tandem wheels ensuring operating clearance of the scattering tynes over all terrain conditions.

Preferably the drive means is powered from the power take off of a tractor to rotate the three rotors supported from the chassis.

The preferred drive is a belt drive with the driving rotor located towards the rear of the chassis and with the belt passing over an idler pulley set at the same inclination as the third or scattering rotor with a secondary belt drive from a pulley on the shaft of the idler to the rotor head of the scattering tyne rotor.

Preferably the rotor heads of the raking tynes include a flat drum drive allowing for slippage thus providing a safety or clutch effect for the raking tyne rotors.

The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples.

One preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the 9 accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a pictorial rear view of the preferred embodiment of the dual purpose rotary hay rake and tedder according to the present invention coupled to a tractor in use in a spreading or teddering configuration, Figure 2 is a plan view of the dual purpose rotary hay rake and tedder from figure 1, Figure 3 is a rear view of figure 2, and Figure 4 is a side view of figure 3.

A dual purpose rortary hay rake and tedder 1 has a tyne carrying frame including of a chassis 2 and an A shaped towing frame 3, having at the rear end dependent arms 4 272238 pivotally connected at 5 to provide a pivotal support between the towing frame 3 and the chassis 2. The forward end 6 of the A shaped towing frame is arranged to be incorporated in a lifting frame 7 to be attached to the top link of a three point linkage of the towing tractor. The lower end of the lifting frame on each side includes a coupling 8 to be connected to the lower two points of the three point linkage assembly and lifting brace members 9 with a lost motion linkage are provided between the lifting frame and the A frame.

Two spindles 10 and 11 are dependent from the chassis 2 and connected on mounting arms 12 on the lower end of each spindle 10 and 11 are wheels 13 and 14 designed to provide a stable support for die chassis and the spindles. The wheels are arranged so that the spindles are supported at an angle to provide the desired inclination for raking rotors. Two raking rotors 15 and 16 are provided with each raking rotor having a rotary head 17 rotatably mounted on the spindle and having a plurality and preferably 8 sockets incorporated therein to allow for the mounting of tyne canying arms 19. The tyne carrying arms 19 are curved outwardly and downwardly with the upper end removably engagable in the sockets 18 and with the lower end having fitted thereto a raking tyne 20.

The drawings in figures 3 and 4 have some of the tyne canying arms 19 omitted for clarity. It will also be appreciated that in a travelling position the outer tyne arms on the rotor can be removed to significantly reduce the overall width for travelling.

Mounted to the rear of the chassis 2 on a sub support frame 21 is a spindle 22 about which a rotary drum head 23 rotates. Rigid tyne bars 24 are removably connected in to the drum head 23 and are of a length an outwardly flared configuration to operate in the windrow delivered between the raking tyne rotors 15 and 16. Once again the angle of inclination is determined with reference to the stable support provided by the ground wheels 13 and 14.

In this way the angle of inclination of the raking tyne rotors 15 and 16 can be set at angle X indicated on Figure 4 which is best at around 2 to 4 degrees and the angle of inclination of the scattering or teddering head 23 can be set at the angle indicated by Y on figure 4 which is best between 15 and 30 degrees. 272238 The drive means is preferably powered from the power take off of a tractor, and in the preferred embodiment is provided as a belt drive. The power take off connection 25 through a shaft, drives a drive pulley 26 at the rear of the chassis 2. The belt drive from the drive pulley 26 passes about the rotor 15 and the rotor 16 to return to an idler pulley 27 before returning to the drive pulley 26. The idler pulley 27 can be set at an inclination which is the same or substantially the same as the inclination of the head 23. A connecting shaft is provided from the idler pully 27 to a secondary drive puily 28 which drives through a belt 29 the rotary head 23. The gearing of the drive is arranged so lhat the tips of the scattering tynes 24 have a similar tip speed to the raking tynes 20 on the arms 19 of the raking rotors 15 and 16.

The raking rotors are also preferably mounted so that the supporting spindle has a slight inclination, shown by the angle Z on figure 3. This inclination helps the raking tynes to pick up crop at the extremes width of the raking tyne which would not otherwise be achieved because of the forward tilt shown by the angle X in figure 4. However, the angle Z is only required to be between 1 and 2 degrees.

The fact that the tynes 20 are somewhat clear of the ground where they come together at the centre is of no disadvantage, because in the scattering mode the rear rotor will pick up the crop and in the raking mode the windrow is being formed in any event.

In the drawings the traditional windrowing shield to help the shape of the windrows are fitted but these also have been omitted from the drawings for clarity.

The present invention provides a set reference base on the support wheels establishing the optimum raking angle for the raking tynes 15 and 16. In the raking configuration the scattering tyne 24 would be removed and the location of the head 23 does not interfere with the formation of a windrow which can be shaped by the windrowing shields that will have been moved into the correct place. These windrowing shields are also supported from the chassis. 27 2238 When it is desired to operate the implement for scattering or tedding, the only modification necessary is to move the windrowing shields to an inoperative position and to fit the rigid scattering tynes 24. These tynes are optimumly positioned to engage the raked crop delivered by the raking tynes for scattering. The optimum angle selected for scattering ensures that even a heavy crop of freshly cut grass can be scattered effectively. 272238

Claims (15)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS

1. A dual purpose rotary hay rake and tedder comprising a tyne rotor carrying frame, ground engaging support means to provide a stable support for said frame in use as it is trailed behind a tractor, two tyne rotors dependant from said frame and set to operate as raking tyne rotors to windrow the crop, a third tyne rotor supported on said frame trailing between and behind said raking tyne rotors and set to operate in the tedding mode as a scattering tyne rotor in the windrow formed by the raking tyne rotors, and in the raking mode adapted to have no tyne contact with the windrow formed by the raking tyne rotors, and drive means to operatively drive all tyne rotors.

2. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in claim 1 wherein each raking tyne rotor is pivotally mounted on a support spindle said spindle being dependent from the rotor carrying frame with said raking tyne rotor comprising a drivable rotor head having a plurality of tyne canying mounting sockets in the periphery thereof a plurality of downwardly curved tyne canying arms each having one end removably engaged in one of said mounting sockets and the other end arranged to carry a raking tyne and raking tynes operatively attached to each of said arms.

3. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the said two raking tyne rotors set to windrow the crop are inclined with the forward sweep in the direction of travel lower than the respective rearward sweep in the range of an angle set between 2 and 4 degrees.

4. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the said two tyne carrying rotors set to windrow the crop are inclined with the outside sweep of the rotors lower than the respective inside sweep at an angle of substantially 2 degrees.

5. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said third tyne rotor is mounted on a forwardly inclined spindle supported from the rotor carrying frame to trail centrally with reference to said raking tyne rotors, said third tyne rotor comprising a driven rotor head mounted on said forwardly inclined spindle with a plurality of outwardly inclined tyne mounting means from the lower part of said rotor head, a pluralit>]l9^(^g^i^)r0perty Office of NZ l h DEC 1997 RFCFIVFD - 10- 272238 tynes with each tyne removably engaged in said tyne mounting means and with the angle of inclination of the plane containing the tyne tips set within the range of 15-30 degrees to the horizontal and having the lowest position of the tyne tips with ground clearance but able to engage and scatter the crop windrowed by the raking tyne rotors.

6. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed as in claimed 5 wherein in the raking configuration the scattering tynes are removed from the rotor head and in the tedding mode the scattering tynes are attached to the rotor head.

7. A dual purpose hay rake as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the tyne rotor carrying frame and the ground engaging support means in an operating configuration when trailed behind a tractor function to maintain the operating inclination of at least one rotor.

8. A dual purpose hay rake as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the tyne carrying frame comprises: a chassis from which the tyne rotors are supported, a towing frame pivotally connected at or adjacent the rear edge of the chassis and extending forward to be connectable in use to the top linkage of a three point linkage assembly of a tractor, a lifting frame connectable to the three point linkage assembly of a tractor, and lifting brace means between the lifting frame and the towing frame with a lost motion linkage in said brace means so that in use supported on the ground engaging means pivotal movement is provided between the chassis and the towing frame and for travelling the lifting frame allows for elevation of the chassis by the three point linkage of the tractor.

9. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in claim 8 wherein the towing frame is an A frame pivotally connected at two points at or towards the rear or trailing edge of the chassis, with the forward end incorporated in the top of the lifting frame and connectable to the top three point linkage of the tractor in use, with two lifting brace members incorporating the lost motion linkage extending intellectual Property Office of NZ 2 4 DEC 1997 RECEIVER -11 - 272238 from adjacent the lower part of the lifting frame towards to the lower connection on the three point linkage assembly to each arm of the A frame.

10. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in claim 9 wherein a shock absorber or motion restriction device is fitted between the front end of the chassis and the A frame to dampen movement of the chassis from being trailed over rough ground.

11. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the ground engaging support means comprises: two spaced apart wheels supported at the lower end of the spindle about which the raking tyne rotors rotate with the wheels set at a height to provide correct operating clearance for the raking tynes on said raking rotors and to maintain the correct operating height for the scattering tynes on the third rotor.

12. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the drive means is adapted to be powered from the power take off of a tractor to rotate the said three tyne rotors supported from the tyne rotor carrying frame.

13. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in claim 12 wherein the drive means is a belt drive system with the driving rotor located toward the rear of the canying frame with the belt passing over an idler pulley set the same inclination as the third tyne rotor with a secondary belt drive from a pulley on the shaft of the idler to the rotor head of the scattering of the third tyne rotor.

14. A dual purpose rotary hay rake as claimed in claims 12 or claim 13 wherein the rotor heads of the raking tyne rotors include a flat drum drive allowing for slippage of the belt drive thus providing a safety or clutch effect for said raking tyne rotors.

15. A dual purpose rotary hay rake when constructed arrange an operable substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. END OF CLAIMS 2.« ore j$7 R T r *