SOIL LOOSENER ARRANGEMENT FOR A PLOUGH
This invention relates to a soil loosener arrangement for mounting on a plough body and which is operative to carry out a soil loosening operation at a greater depth than the plough body in order to improve the ploughing operation.
The ever increasing power made available by modern designs of agricultural tractor enables more powerful operation of agricultural tools coupled to the tractor. For example, in the case of a ploughing operation, powerful tractors are able to pull through the ground increasing numbers of plough bodies, and this reduces the overall time taken to plough a field, with resulting reduced labour costs and possible fuel economies.
However, an inevitable consequence of using powerful tractors is that the mass increases and therefore ground pressure also, with resulting risk of soil compaction which makes efficient ploughing difficult. Obviously, heavily compacted soil is difficult to break-up and turn over, and this inhibits formation of desired seedbeds. In addition, heavily compacted soil creates substantial problems in the subsequent growth of plants sewn in the soil. In the most compacted areas of a field, the crop yield can be reduced significantly. In a field over which a tractor has passed, it is particularly easy to see the areas where the tractor has moved over the most, which is at the edges of the field, and where the tractor enters the field. Growth is reduced, both because the compacted or harder layer of soil hinders the penetration of roots through the soil, but also because this reduces the penetration of water through the soil.
When a tractor passes over the surface of the ground, the compaction of the soil starts at the surface, and reaches down to a certain depth after the first passage of the tractor over the surface, and this compaction then penetrates deeper and deeper for each subsequent run of the tractor over the same surface. If this compaction continues, it reaches a certain depth, depending on the weight of the tractor and the contact area between the tractor and the soil (contact pressure) and depending also on the soil type.
A desired soil loosening operation, referred to as "grubbing" or "sub-soiling" operation should, when performed, be done as deep as the compacted layer, which can be down to a depth of half a meter or so.
It has therefore been proposed to provide an additional soil-working element, mounted on a plough body (and working at a lower depth than the plough body), in order to loosen deeply compacted soil. The loosening action on the deeply compacted soil assist the ploughing operation carried out by the plough body and enables an improved seedbed to be formed subsequently.
Two examples of additional soil loosener arrangement are shown in DE 3718381 (Eberhardt Pfluge GmbH) and DE 19650649 (Wilcke), and which take the form of an angled plate, namely an L-shaped plate having a vertical leg secured to the landside, and a horizontal leg projecting in a direction towards the mouldboard. The horizontal leg is located at a lower level than the forward end of the mouldboard, and moves through the ground so as to loosen compacted soil, and this action is intended to assist the ploughing action by the plough body which is moving through the ground at a higher level.
The present invention is concerned with a generally similar type of soil loosener arrangement to the known solutions, but seeks to provide improved combined working action of the plough body and the soil loosener arrangement so as to obtain a better ploughing operation and therefore improved subsequent seedbed production.
According to the invention there is provided a soil loosener arrangement as defined in claim 1.
Preferred aspects of the soil loosener arrangement are set out in the dependent claims.
A preferred embodiment of soil loosener arrangement according to the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, showing the soil loosener arrangement mounted on a saddle and a landside of the plough body, and in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a soil loosener arrangement according to the invention and mounted on the saddle and the landside, but with a usual mouldboard of the plough body omitted for clarity;
Figure 2 is a perspective view from one side of the arrangement shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a side view illustration of the soil loosener arrangement mounted on a landside of a plough body, but with the remainder of the plough body omitted for clarity;
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2, and illustrating how the soil is worked on by the soil loosener arrangement; and,
Figure 5 is a rear perspective view of the soil loosener arrangement mounted on a reversible plough body assembly.
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a preferred embodiment of soil loosener arrangement according to the invention, which is designated generally by reference 10, and which is intended to be mounted on a forward part of a plough body, designated generally by reference 11, and which will comprise a usual saddle 12, a landside 13 and a mouldboard (not shown) coupled therewith to form the plough body assembly. The soil loosener arrangement 10 is operative to carry out a soil loosening action at a greater depth than the plough body in order to improve the ploughing operation, and the soil loosener arrangement moves through the ground at a greater depth below the surface than the mouldboard, to co-operate therewith, and thereby to improve the ploughing operation of the mouldboard.
The soil loosener arrangement 10 is primarily designed to improve the breaking- up of compacted soil.
The loosener arrangement 10 comprises an angled plate 14 which is securable to a mounting part on the plough body, and conveniently via the saddle 12 of the plough body, as shown in Figure 1. The angled plate 14 is generally L-shaped, as viewed in the direction of travel shown by the arrow in Figure 1.
The L-shaped plate has a first upwardly extending portion 15 which lies in an upright plane which extends substantially parallel to the direction of travel, and this first portion 15 is securable to the mounting part (saddle) on the plough body.
The L-shaped plate also has a second transversely extending portion 16 which, in use, extends below and substantially parallel to the surface of the ground being worked, this second portion extending in a direction transversely away from the landside 13 and towards the opposite side of the plough body.
In order to facilitate the soil-loosening action carried out by the angled plate 14 in use, at least one, and preferably both of the first and second portions 15 and 16 has a digging tooth mounted thereon. In the illustrated embodiment, two digger teeth 17 are mounted on the upper surface of the second transversely extending portion 16 of the angle
plate 14, and a single digger tooth 18 is mounted on the side of the first portion 15 which is opposite to the side of the first portion from which the second transversely extending portion 16 extends.
In order to improve the soil loosening action of the angled plate 14, the leading edge of each of the portions 15 and 16 has a bevelled edge, as shown more clearly by reference 19 in Figure 3.
As can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, the soil loosener arrangement 10 is indirectly mounted on the landside 13, via its mounting on a wing of the saddle 12 of the plough body. Figure 3 shows the soil loosener arrangement mounted on the landside 13, via mounting bolts 20, and with the remainder of the plough body omitted for clarity. The illustrated arrangement of landside 13 is a reversible landside.
It should also be noted that each digger tooth 17, 18 is a reversible tooth, having a cutting edge at each end, so that, in the event of undue wear of the leading end of the tooth, it can be reversed so as to replace the worn end with the unused and unworn end. Conveniently, the teeth 17, 18 may comprise reversible "points" of a plough body.
Furthermore, not only do the digger teeth assist the soil loosening action, but by mounting the digger teeth 17 on the upper surface of the transverse portion 16, they can assist the soil loosening action carried out by the transverse portion 16, and also can tend to apply an upwardly directed force to the loosened soil, which further promotes the loosening action on the soil, and which is particularly advantageous when ploughing through compacted soil.
The soil loosener arrangement shown in the drawings is therefore able to exert a favourable soil loosening operation even on compacted soil at a substantial depth, and this may be sufficiently effected that sub-soiling operations only need to be carried out less frequently than once per year e.g. every second or third year, in order to maintain the compacting process under control. When the compacted soil has been controlled, in future any compacted layers formed by subsequent passage of a tractor over the surface will then never go deeper than the depth of the loosener, which can be about 0.3 meters in depth.
A further advantage, by employing a soil loosener arrangement according to the invention in combination with a plough body, is that it is then not necessary to plough with the plough body as deep as normal (in the absence of the loosener). Any extra pulling
force required to draw the loosener arrangement can therefore be compensated by reduced requirement for ploughing force on the plough body.
Referring now to Figure 4, this is a schematic illustration of the soil loosener arrangement, generally similar to Figure 2, but illustrating how soil below the surface e.g. a compacted layer, is worked on by the angled plate, and then rearwardly discharged in a broken-up form. It has been found that the angle of the plate portion 16 to the horizontal (or to the surface level) can have a significant influence on the soil loosening action, and a preferred angle can be determined by experience, depending on the type of soil, and other factors.
As can be seen in Figure 4, the plate portion 16 is downwardly inclined to the direction of forward motion, and therefore this means that the compacted soil layer engaged by the plate portion 16 is dug into, and then has to move upwardly and rearwardly over the surface of the plate portion 16, before being discharged rearwardly and downwardly under gravity to return to its original level, and this additional working action has been found to have a favourable influence on the soil loosening operation.
Finally, referring to Figure 5, this shows a rear perspective view of the soil loosener arrangement 10 mounted on a reversible plough body assembly. A depth control wheel 19 runs on the ground, and sets the depth of the plough body assembly, and also determines the depth of the sub-soil operation carried out by the loosener arrangement 10. Typically, the arrangement 10 can work about 10cm deeper than the plough body, and is able to loosen the soil, but substantially without mixing the soil layers. This has the advantage that the layer of soil which is provided with fertiliser can be of lesser depth, to be effective, and would be necessary in the case of an arrangement which mixes the soil layers.
The soil loosener arrangement 10 can be mounted on one or more of the reversible plough bodies of a reversible plough arrangement. Furthermore, the soil loosener arrangement 10 can be retro-fitted to the plough bodies of existing customers.