Patent ID: 6820358
Filing Date: 2004-11-23
Classification: A01K,E02F

Abstract:
A vehicle for driving straight down the center of the longitudinal track of an elongated windrow of compost material and providing composting service along the way, said vehicle comprising:a front-end auger-system, arranged on a shaft system oriented generally horizontal or parallel to the ground or drive surface, having left and right lateral extremes and, between which extremes, comprising a transfer section and an auger section for cooperatively attacking into and digging up the windrow material that said vehicle drives said front-end system into, wherein the auger section additionally laterally motivates material to the transfer section; a conveyor having a material-carrying run extending between an intake end situated to receive material from the transfer section of the auger-system and a discharge end situated to back-deposit the material on the ground or drive surface behind the vehicle in a windrow formation generally centered on the longitudinal track that the vehicle drives down; a wheelbase defined by and comprising at least three ride wheels including at least one of which comprises a drive wheel, said wheelbase being sized and arranged laterally narrower than the lateral extremes of the front-end auger system and longitudinally shorter than a span between the front-end auger system and where the material discharged from the discharge end is back-deposited on the ground or drive surface; a frame for supporting the front-end auger-system, conveyor and wheels; a source supplying drive power to the drive wheel, conveyor and auger-system; and forwardly flaring-out left and right wings to append to the left and right extremes respectively of the front-end auger-system for protecting devices outboard of the front-end auger-system's left and right extremes including shaft bearings and devices incorporated in the supply of drive power to the front-end auger-system.