US2632986A - Basin-forming attachment for disk plows - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1953 A. G. MUIRHEAD 3 BASIN-FORMING ATTACHMENT FOR DISK FLOWS Filed 001;. 27. 1947 HQ 4 MS armeusra Patented Mar. 31, 1953 BASIN -FORMING ATTACHIWENT FOR DISK PLOWS Alan G. Muirhead, Pittsworth, Queensland,

Australia Application October 27, 1947, Serial No. 782,417

a In Australia June 19, 1945 Sectionl, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires June 19, 1965 2 Claims. (Cl. 55-30) The object of this invention is to provide means whereby the soil, loosened by a multl-disc'cultivator plow, upon a hill-side, or sloping piece of ground, may be simultaneously formed' into basins or pockets, for the purpose of holding rainwater and preventing a downpour of rain from running away and being lost, thus conserving moisture in the soil. Another object is to provide-means whereby the soil may be formed so that the rain will remain Where it falls and pro-- vent erosion on hilly or sloping land.

" The'nature of the invention will be fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings v Figure 1 is a plan of apparatus embodying the invention, said apparatus being shown in relation to the relevant parts of a well known twindisc plow; i

Figure 2 is a detail view of a modified disc;

V Figure 3 is a detail View of the means for looking two sliding tubular members of a stay together; and Y l Figures 4 and 5 are detail views of fastening means. i

The invention may be applied to standard multi-disc plows preferably having the series of discs in pairs, and according to the inventiona square shaft has upon it a series of modified discs or cutters ll held at the correct distance apart thereon by spacers such as short lengths of piping. These modified discs ll may be secured to said shaft ll! by the usual discbearing bosses l2 which are distancedby the spacers. The square shaft I0 is rounded and threaded at the left hand end and is provided with a retaining pin at the opposite end. Two lock nuts, when tightened up, clamp the modified discs ll,bear-' ing bosses I2, spacers 42 and bearing dust exclu-ders 41 together, so giving added strength and rigidity to the assem-bly. As an example, it has been found that a fourteen disc plow would require four modified discs I I, and a ten disc plow would require three modified discs H. The said square shaft I0 is therefore of a length to accommodate the required number'of modified discs I! and is held in end bearings l3 and M. The right hand bearing 93 is carried at the end of a bar 15 of angle, channel, tubular or other suitable section, the: other end of said bar I being secured to the column E6 of the front wheel-axle of the blow. This bar 15 is fitted at its. rear endto bracket 26, attached to right hand bearing 13. The left hand end of the said square shaft I0 is ahead of the right hand end thereof, and

whereas the latter is approximately at the rear of the right 'handtwin-disc, the former is approximately behind the twin-disc second from angle the larger are the basins formed and vice versa. The left hand end of the modified disc shaft I 0 is not rigidly connected to the plow framework II, but by chain [8 and rod l9 or the like, and is not carried by wheels but by the modified discs II. One chain or rod I9 extends from the rear of the plow framework, to the end of the left hand end of shaft l0, and takes the side'drau'ght of theshaft '10, the otherchain l8 extending from a bracket 18a equipped with a ramshorn or spiral hook on the framework l1 above and between the third and fourth pairs of twin-discs to a point at the front of the boss 12 of the'said disc I] and takes the forward draught of the left hand end of the shaft l0. 'The said discs or cutters Il may be modified in several ways, one being touse only half a disc, another to use opposed sectors (see Figured) each being approximately one quarter of the disc ll. Thesemodlfied discs aremountedupon their square shaft 10 so that the sectors are alternately at right angles'to one another; or ifsemi-circles are used,; they are mounted alternately at to one another. h L As sho wn in the drawings'the rod t5 consists of two tubes or round section rods whose ends overlap and are held in parallel by 'sleeves'20. Each tube 15 hasone of the'sleeves'20 rigidly held by a bolt or rivet 2| near its end. This prevents the sleeves 20 from moving and 'jambing slidingthern through the sleeves 20. Right angled levers 22 have one of their ends threaded and pointed 'and adapted to pass through threaded bosses 23 so that the points 24 will wedge themselves betwee'ntubes l5 and hold the tubes l5 securely in said sleeves 20, By these means the distance between the right hand end of shaft l0 and the post t6 may be made variable. It will be understood that'the draught of the tubes l5 while they are beingadjuste-d by the right hand end of square shaft I0 tends to lengthen rods l5 and slide them through sleeves 20. Should this occur, aclockwise rolling motion is imparted to the tapered pins '24 by the rods l5, so automatically screwing tapered 'points 24 of right angled lever 22 further through threaded boss 23, and jambing pipes I5 tighter in sleeves thev soil to one side.

20. In other cases where both tension and compression loads may occur, sleeves may be arranged so that one will tend to tighten from the tension loads and: the. other from the compression loads; This is achieved by arranging sleeves 20 so that their right angled levers 24 are on opposite sides of the pipes 15 to each other. The forward end of this composite rod I5 is secured to said post l6 by an U-bolt and plate, which with a D-shackle forms an universal joint, or-other like fastening 25. The rear end, of the said composite rod I5 is secured to the bearing I3 at the end of shaft I0 by an angular bracket 25 and a spring loaded pin 2'! (see Figure 4). The bracket 26 (see Figure 1) is secured to said bearing I3 by bolts 28 and the free end is flattened and provided with a hole.

Each said pin 21 at its upper end has a handle 29, and the pin 21 passes through a hole in a right angled bracket 36 upon a base 3| which is bifurcated at 32 to accommodate the flattened end of bracket 25. A compression. spring 33 around. pin- 2!- is held between bracket and base 3|. In connecting the end of rod IE to shaft [0-, the flattened end of bracket 26 is placedin the bifurcated end of base 3|, whilst the pin 21 is in an. upward position. When allowed to descend; the pin 2! passes down through. the holes in the bifurcated end of the base 3| and the hole in the flattened end of bracket 26. As shownin Figure- 1; abase 3| is attached to the end of rod [5, and a base 31 is attached to rod [9, the pin 21' passing through a hole in the yoke 34.

A suitable quick acting safety hook forconnecting the chain It to the yoke 3t is shownv in detail in. Figure 5/ and consists of a bar 35 of J-shape with a bar 36 pivotally connected at 31 towards its-outer end to the bent end 38 so that when the chain I8 (which is attached in hole 39 of bar 36) is taut, the said bar as will. be. ap-

proximately in line with the shorter section of the J-bar 3:5 with their ends closely adjacent. This is achieved by bar 36 being bent between pivot hole 31' and draught chain hole 39', in the opposite direction to the, hook on the J-piece.

Thus: when the draught chain I8 is taut, the right angled stop- 4!}: on the bar 36 is forced hard against the J-piece 35. The pivot at 31: may consist of' a bolt with ,a spring washer under its head at onev side, and lock nuts, or a castle nut and cotter pin on the other side. The hinge may thus be adjusted so that it is just possibleto open the hook' with the. hands. This feature prevents possible unhooking if the draught chain should slacken.

In use the multi-disc plow is drawn along and cultivates the soil in the usual manner. The modified discs H- (sometimes known as basin lister attachments) are rotated in unison by their square shaft It. Whilst the rearmost modified disc H and every second one from it is in the ground they are forming a depression and lifting Simultaneously the alternate modified discs H are being carried above thesoil' and-allowing a hill to remain. With each half rotation of the shaft i0 semi-circular attachments would be forming one depression and one hill in line across, so that When the shaft H! has revolved. many times there will be a depression. between four hills and vice versa; in other words the field will be checkered with hills and, depressions, in which depressions the rain is: held and prevented from running or flowing downhill. This rain is enabled to soak the soil and subsoil and much moisture is thereby conserved; in addition to which erosion is prevented. Soil fallowed in this manner is greatly improved and better growth is subsequently promoted.

When two sectors of adisc H are used there will be four lines ahead formed with each rotation of the disc I I; and it will be understood that other modifications of the discs II or cutters may be used whilst accomplishing the purposes of' the. invention. For example, it will be found that satisfactory results will be obtained with twin-modified-discs. The spacing of the modified discs I l or cutters should be such that there will not be channels or gaps between the depressions, and the modified discs l l or cutters should be so disposed as to throw the soil in an opposite direction to the soil thrown by the discs upon the plow. Thus the side draught set up by the modified discs H assists the plow in its work by countering the side draught of the plow.

There are two convenient methods of transporting this basinlister attachment in conjunction, with its plow. The first and easiest for transporting from one field t another, over comparatively smooth land, is by means of adjusting the length of the tubes !5, so that the square shaft [0 is at a right angle. to the line of advance of the plow. This permits the modified discs to assume the purpose of. wheels and roll over the ground without cutting into it. The side draught rod. I9 then serves a dual purpose in preventing the square shaft ID from creeping to either side, thus ensuring that it runs straight behind the plow. The attachment cannot run up on to the plow when descending hills because it is held back on the right hand side by tubular rods 15, and if the left hand side tends to run up, the square shaft iii tendsto resume its working position and the modified discs H cut into the soil and are arrested.

In the second transporting method for longer journeys over rougher ground, the two spring loaded plungers 2'! and hook 35 are released. Rods l5 and 19 are hinged up on t the frame of the plow, and chain it also stowed on the plow frame. Square shaft 10, complete with modified discs H, is then lifted and laid along on top of the line of plow discs and parallel with this line. Two short chains 43 then secure the assembly to the frame of the plow. These chains 4.3 are permanentlyattached to the frame of the plow for this purpose.

I claim:

1. Improved means for cultivating sloping ground, comprising a shaft for rotatable attachment by draught .means to the rear of a multidisc plow, a series of. modified discs fixed to and spaced: along said shaft, so that alternate modified discs alternately-form hills and those between forrn valleys upon rotation of the shaft behindv the moving plow, said shaft being set at an. angle to the furrows formed by said plow such. that the side draught set up by the modified discs will counteract the side draught of the plow, a multi-part sectional draught rod connecting one endof the plow with one end of the shaft, adjustable means connecting the sections of said draught rod to increase or decrease the length thereof to adjust the angle of the shaft with respect to the plow, a laterally extending means fixed to the opposite end of the plow adjacent the respective opposite end of the shaft, a plurality of. draught means connecting said opposite end. of the shaft to the plow, one of said draught means being rigid and fastened at one end to said laterally extending means, another of said draught lines being flexible and fastened at one end to an intermediate point between the opposite ends of said plow, and common means for connecting the opposite ends of said plurality of draught means to the adjacent end of the shaft. 2. The improved means for cultivating sloping ground as set forth in claim 1, in which the ends of the plurality of draught means are adjustably connected to the common attaching means.

ALAN G. MUIRHEAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number 15 20,2'70/ 10 Date Name Wilberg May 23, 1905 Standley July 26, 1938 Benjamin Nov. 15, 1938 Miller et al Mar. 19, 1939 Benjamin Dec. 17, 1940 Krause -1--- Jan. 28, 1941 Lindgren Aug. 12, 1941 Benjamin Oct. 21, 1941 Silver May 25, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Sept. 23, 1911

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