Sod cutter

A tool for cutting elongated turf strips has a cutting head secured to lateral stabilizing members. The cutting head is a rectangular box-shaped member having forward peripheral cutting edges. The stabilizing members ride on the turf surface to ensure a uniform cutting depth of the cutting head. An upwardly and rearwardly directed handle is secured to the top wall of the cutting head to facilitate moving the cutting head through turf to cut a strip of sod therefrom.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The invention relates to hand tools for cutting turf strips used to repair 
lawns, golf course fairways and greens, and like turf. The tools are 
hand-operated implements that cut sod into strips that are planted to 
repair turf. 
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
Often it is necessary to cut strips of sod from a damaged area of turf for 
replacement with sod strips from a turf nursery. Turf repair is a common 
golf course maintenance procedure. Sod cutters have been used in the past 
to cut strips of sod from nursery sod for replacing damaged turf areas. 
For example, a sod cutter having a one-piece frame accommodating a 
downwardly directed adjustable cutting blade is marketed by the R. L. 
Gould & Co. This sod cutter has a roller rotatably mounted on the forward 
portion of the frame. A pair of upwardly and rearwardly directed handles 
are secured to the frame. The cutter is used to cut sod into conventional 
12-inch or 18-inch strips. Frequently, more sod is cut than is necessary 
for repair. The width of the cut is not adjustable. Further, a downward 
force cannot be applied on the cutter when a cut is being made because 
both hands of the operator are required to be used to push the tool 
forwardly through the turf. This is likely to result in cut depths being 
uneven. 
SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
The invention is a tool for cutting strips of sod used to repair damaged 
areas of turf. The turf strips are planted in an elongated trench that is 
left and a damaged sod strip is removed from an area of turf. 
The tool has a cutting head secured to lateral stabilizers and an elongated 
handle. The cutter head has forward peripheral cutting edges. The lateral 
stabilizers determine the depth of cut of the cutter head. The handle is 
attached to the cutter head to facilitate manual movement of the cutter 
head through the turf to cut a strip of sod therefrom. 
One form of the sod cutter of the invention has a cutter head for cutting 
an elongated strip of sod from turf. A handle attached to the cutter head 
is used to manually move the cutter head along the turf to cut the sod. 
The cutter head has front cutting knife edges for cutting the sides and 
bottom of the sod. The cutting edges include downwardly and rearwardly 
inclined side knife edges and a transverse bottom cutting knife edge for 
separating the sides of a sod strip and the bottom thereof during movement 
of the cutter head along the surface of the turf. The stabilizers for the 
cutter head comprise outwardly projected lateral arms secured to the 
cutter head and horizontal sleds that ride on the turf. The vertical 
location of the sleds relative to the bottom cutting knife determines the 
cutting depth of the cutter head and maintains the cut depth during 
cutting of a sod strip from the turf. 
Another form of the sod cutter of the invention has a cutter head with 
front cutting knife edges to cut the sides and bottom of a strip of sod 
from turf. A handle is pivotally connected to the cutter head to allow the 
cutter to follow the turf terrain. The depth of the cut of the cutter head 
and stability thereof is controlled with roller assemblies connected with 
arms attached to the cutter head. The arms are laterally adjustable to 
vary the location of the roller assemblies relative to opposite sides of 
the cutter head.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8, there is shown a turf repair tool or sod cutter 
indicated generally at 10 for repairing a damaged area of turf or sod 11 
of a golf course green. Cutter 10 is used to cut an elongated sod strip 12 
of sod that has been damaged. The damaged sod strip is removed, leaving an 
elongated trench 15. A replacement sod strip is placed in trench 15 to 
complete the repair of the golf course green. Sod cutter 10 is manually 
manipulated by person 13 and moved into the direction of the arrow 14 over 
sod 11 to cut an elongated sod strip 12 to remove the damaged portion of 
the turf. A replacement sod strip from nursery sod or other sod having the 
same width and length as sod strip 12 is cut with tool 10 and planted in 
trench 15. The replacement sod strip is not cut or trimmed to fit into 
trench 15 thereby reducing time and labor to repair the turf. In addition, 
the replacement sod strip remains firm which facilitates growth of the sod 
in trench 15. 
Referring to FIG. 2, sod cutter 10 has a cutter head, indicated generally 
at 16, secured to an upwardly and rearwardly directed handle 17. Handle 17 
is an elongated, linear, rigid member of metal, plastic or wood having an 
outer end attached to a cross bar 18 to facilitate manual use of tool 10. 
The forward end of handle 17 is secured to a center portion of a top wall 
19 of cutter head 16. Top wall 19 has a transverse front knife edge 21 
used to cut transverse edges in the sod at the beginning and end of sod 
strip 12. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, downwardly directed side walls 22 and 
23 are secured to opposite sides of top wall 19. Side walls 22 and 23 have 
downwardly and rearwardly inclined front knife edges 24 and 25 that extend 
to the forward edge of a bottom wall 26. Bottom wall 26 is a cutting blade 
having a front transverse knife edge 27, as seen in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7. Top 
wall 19, side walls 22 and 23, and bottom wall 26 are secured together to 
form a generally rectangular box having forward peripheral cutting edges. 
The lateral distance between side walls 22 and 23 determines the width of 
the cut sod strip. This distance can vary to provide different sizes of 
cutting heads. For example, cutter head 16 can have transverse dimensions 
of three, five, or seven inches to provide different widths of sod strips. 
Lateral stability of sod cutter 10 is achieved with the outriggers or 
stabilizers comprising a pair of oppositely extending arms 28 and 29 
secured to side walls 22 and 23. Arms 28 and 29 have downwardly directed 
outer portions secured to slides or sleds 31 and 32 respectively. Sleds 31 
and 32 are flat metal plates that extend in a generally horizontal 
direction and have slightly upwardly directed forward and rear ends to 
avoid digging into sod 11 during movement of tool 10 to cut a sod strip as 
shown in FIG. 1. Sleds 31 and 32 are located in a horizontal plane that is 
above the horizontal plane of bottom wall 26 to provide gauges or stops 
for determining the depth d of cut of bottom wall 26 of cutter 10. Depth d 
of cut can be 3/4 to 1 inch. Other cut depths can be used. Sleds 31 and 32 
slide on top of sod 11, as shown in FIG. 8, during the cutting procedure 
to maintain the cut depth d. 
As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, sleds 31 and 32 are positioned behind the 
transverse plane of the cutting edges 21, 24, 25, and 27. Rear sections of 
sheds 31 and 32 project rearwardly from the back of cutter head 16 to 
provide longitudinal stability to tool 10 during the sod strip cutting 
operation. 
Referring to FIGS. 9 to 12, there is shown a modification of the sod cutter 
of the invention, indicated generally at 100, for cutting a strip of sod 
from turf 111. Sod cutter 100 has a cutter head 116 pivotally connected to 
an upwardly and rearwardly directed handle 117. The upper end of handle 
117 has a cross bar 118 to facilitate the manual gripping of the handle. 
Cutter head 116 has a generally flat top wall 119 having a front transverse 
knife edge 121 for transversely cutting a strip of sod. Downwardly 
directed side walls 122 and 123 are joined to opposite sides of top wall 
119. Side walls 122 and 123 have downwardly and rearwardly inclined front 
knife edges 124 and 125 that terminate at a bottom wall 126. Bottom wall 
126 is a cutting blade that has a front transverse knife edge 127. Top 
wall 119, sides walls 122 and 123, and bottom wall 126 form a generally 
rectangular box structure that cuts the sides and bottom of a sod strip as 
cutter head 116 is moved forward through sod 111. 
A pair of oppositely directed transverse arms 128 and 129 are located above 
the rear portion of top wall 119 as seen in FIGS. 9, 11, and 12. A 
plurality of nut and bolt assemblies 131 project through holes 132 in arms 
128 and 129 and holes 130 in top wall 119 to secure arms 128 and 129 to 
top wall 119. Spacers 133 comprising a plurality of washers are interposed 
between the arm 128 and top wall 119 to adjust the depth of cut of bottom 
wall 126. The greater the number of spacers between arm 128 and top wall 
119, the deeper the cut into sod 111 as hereinafter described. 
Returning to FIGS. 9 and 11, a generally upwardly directed yolk 134 is 
secured with nut and bolt assemblies 131 to the midportion of overlapping 
arms 128 and 129. A transverse pivot pin 136 extends through yolk 134 and 
the lower end of handle 117 to pivotally connect the handle to the cutting 
head. The handle 117 can pivot about a generally transverse axis, allowing 
the cutter head 116 to freely float on the surface of sod 111. The pivotal 
motion of the handle 117 relative to cutter head 116 is shown by arrow 137 
in FIG. 10. 
Tandem roller assemblies indicated generally at 138 and 139 secured to 
outer ends of arms 128 and 129 by welds or the like provide lateral and 
longitudinal stability to cutter head 116 during the sod strip cutting 
operation. The first tandem wheel assembly 138 has a generally inverted 
channel or U-shaped member 141 that projects rearwardly of top wall 119. 
Channel 141 rotatably supports a pair of rollers 142 and 144. Axles 143 
and 145 rotatably mount rollers 142 and 144 on opposite end portions of 
the side walls of channel 141. A second inverted channel or U-shaped 
member 146 is secured to outer end of arm 129. A pair of rollers 147 and 
149 are rotatably mounted on opposite ends of channel 146 with transverse 
axles 148 and 150, respectively. Axles 148 and 150 extend through holes in 
downwardly directed side wall portions of channel 146. Each channel 141 
and 146 has two pairs of downwardly directed sides accommodating axles 
143, 145, 148 and 150 for rollers 142, 144, 147 and 149. 
Sod cutters 10 and 100 are used to repair damaged portions of turf, such as 
the fine turf on a golf course green. The turf could be damaged by mowing 
machinery, winter weather, vandalism, or grass disease. Sod cutters 10 and 
100 are used to cut damaged strips of sod which are removed from the turf 
and replaced with turf nursery. The front downwardly inclined knife edges 
24, 25, 124 and 125 and the transverse bottom forward knife edges 27 and 
127 cut clean the vertical and horizontal surfaces of the soil and turf at 
a selected depth. Sleds 31 and 32 serve as guides to permit a uniform 
depth of cut of the sod. The tandem roller assemblies 138 and 139 roll on 
the surface of sod 111 and determine the depth of cut of the side walls 
122 and 123 and bottom wall 126 of sod cutter 100. This cut depth can be 
adjusted by changing the number and/or length of spacers 133 between arms 
128 and 129 and top wall 119. 
The cutter head 116 can be replaced with a cutting head (not shown) having 
a transverse dimension greater than the transverse dimension of cutting 
head 116 to provide a wider sod strip. For example, cutter head 116 can 
have transverse dimensions of three, five, or seven inches to provide 
different widths of sod strips. Arms 128 and 129 can be laterally adjusted 
in opposite outward directions by changing the positions of the nut and 
bolt assemblies 131 relative to holes 132 in arms 128 and 129. 
While there has been shown and described preferred embodiments of the sod 
cutter of the invention, it is understood that changes in the structures, 
arrangements of structures, can be made by those skilled in the art 
without departing from the invention. The invention is defined in the 
following claims.