Earth scraper attachment for a tractor or the like

An earth scraper attachment adapted to be drawn by a farm tractor or other vehicle having a vertically adjustable three point hitch has an elongated frame with a front tongue portion connectable to the hitch with a specially designed hitch connection member. A rear end portion of the frame is supported on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the frame by a pair of wheels whose heights relative to the frame may be selectively and independently adjusted. Depending from a longitudinally central portion of the frame is an earth scraping blade which is supported on the frame for pivotal motion about a generally vertically extending axis, and may be locked in a selected pivotally adjusted position. A laterally spaced series of downwardly extending earth ripping teeth are supported beneath the frame forwardly of the scraping blade and are used to rip and loosen the earth prior to operation thereon by the scraping blade. The independent height adjustment of the rear support wheels, together with the tongue height adjustment provided by the three point hitch, allows various positional adjustments to be made to the frame including uniformly raising or lowering the overall frame, altering its front-to-rear tilt angle and altering its side-to-side tilt angle about the longitudinal frame axis. These frame positional adjustments, coupled with the pivotal adjustment capability of the scraping blade, permit the blade and its associated ripping teeth to be variously positioned to perform most of the sophisticated earth-scraping and grading functions of heavy duty commercial apparatus, such as motor graders, at a fraction of the cost thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to earth working apparatus, and 
more particularly provides a uniquely adjustable earth scraper attachment 
connectable to the three point hitch of a farm tractor or the like to 
perform various earth scraping and grading functions when pulled behind 
the tractor. 
Large scale earth scraping and grading operations, such as those used in 
the construction of a road or highway, are typically performed by 
utilizing a very large and very expensive device commonly known as a 
"motor grader". Commercial motor graders typically include an 
operator-controlled motor driven vehicle which has secured thereto a 
large, wheel-supported, fixed position frame. Supported beneath the frame 
is an earth scraping blade which is adapted to engage, scrape and grade 
the surface of the earth as the vehicle and its frame are slowly moved 
along the ground. The vertical position, and a variety of angular 
orientations, of the scraping blade relative to the fixed position frame 
are selectively adjustable by a rather sophisticated hydraulic control 
system by which the blade may be selectively moved relative to the fixed 
frame. In this manner the scraping depth of the blade, the side-to-side 
angle of its scraping pattern, and its front-to-rear earth scraping attack 
angle may be selectively and independently adjusted. 
While such conventional motor graders are well suited to highway 
construction grading and other heavy duty earth leveling applications, 
their great bulk and high cost in many instances preclude their use in 
smaller scale domestic earth working applications such as, for example, 
the grading and recontouring of farm land soil. 
At the other end of the motorized earth-scraping and grading spectrum are 
small earth scraping attachments which are connectable to farm tractors 
and the like. These conventional earth scraping attachments, which are 
connectable at a forward end portion to the tractor's three point hitch, 
typically comprise a wheel-supported frame to which is rigidly connected 
an earth scraping blade. The fixed position blade may be raised or lowered 
by raising or lowering the three point hitch. 
While this conventional tractor attachment is suitable for a variety of 
relatively simple earth scraping operations, it has nowhere near the 
operational flexibility provided by the much larger and more expensive 
motor grader. Specifically, the scraping blade of the conventional 
tractor-drawn grading attachment can only be raised or lowered. It cannot 
be pivoted to vary the attack angle of the scraping blade, and it cannot 
be tilted to provide an angled earth scraping pattern. In short, such 
conventional tractor-drawn earth scraping attachments fall far short of 
the sophistication and operational usefulness of commercial motor graders. 
It can accordingly be seen that a need exists for a relatively inexpensive 
earth scraping apparatus which can more closely approximate the various 
earth scraping and grading functions, for smaller scale domestic 
operations, of the commercial motor grader. It is thus an object of the 
present invention to provide such apparatus. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In carrying out principles of the present invention, in accordance with a 
preferred embodiment thereof, a substantially improved tractor-drawn earth 
scraper attachment is provided which may be fabricated for a very small 
fraction of the cost of a conventional commercial motor grader. Despite 
the low fabrication cost of the earth scraper attachment of the present 
invention, the positional adjustment capability of its earth scraping 
blade portion at least closely approximates that of a commercial motor 
grader. Importantly, however, the blade adjustment capability of such 
attachment, which permits the blade to be lowered, raised tilted and 
pivoted relative to the earth, is uniquely achieved without the necessity 
of providing the complex and costly hydraulic blade positioning control 
system associated with motor graders. 
In a preferred embodiment thereof, the earth scraper attachment of the 
present invention includes an elongated frame which has front and rear end 
portions spaced apart along the longitudinal axis of the frame, a pair of 
side portions positioned on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis, and a 
pair of support wheels connected to the rear end of the frame on opposite 
sides of the longitudinal axis. 
An elongated earth scraping blade is operatively supported beneath a 
longitudinally intermediate portion of the frame by means of a frame 
support structure which is connected to the frame for pivotal motion 
relative thereto about a generally vertically extending axis. The frame 
support structure may either be mechanically or manually pivoted about 
such vertically extending axis, and suitable locking means are provided 
for locking the scraping blade in a selected pivotally adjusted position. 
This simple pivotally adjustable connection of the scraping blade to the 
frame permits the scraping attack angle of the blade to be easily and 
quickly adjusted. 
An elongated, laterally extending support member is secured to the frame 
forwardly of the cutting blade and has removably secured thereto a spaced 
series of downwardly extending ripping teeth. As the scraper attachment is 
forwardly pulled along the ground by the tractor, these ripping teeth 
function to break up and loosen the earth to facilitate the scraping 
function of the scraping blade which follows the ripping teeth. 
The front end of the attachment frame is connected to the tractor's three 
point hitch by a specially designed hitch connection member which has a 
generally triangular configuration. The outer ends of the three pivot arms 
of the tractor hitch are each pivotally connected to one of the three 
corners of the hitch connection member. A horizontally extending base 
portion of the hitch connection member has secured thereto a hitch ball 
which is insertable into a corresponding socket fitting secured to the 
front end of the attachment frame. By raising or lowering the three point 
hitch, the attachment frame is caused to pivot about its rear support 
wheels to vertically adjust the front end of the frame and correspondingly 
raise or lower the earth scraping blade and its associated ripping teeth 
positioned forwardly thereof. 
The rear frame support wheels are connected to the outer ends of a pair of 
wheel support arms which are pivoted at their inner ends to opposite rear 
corner portions of the frame. A pair of hydraulically operated pistons and 
associated actuating rods are interconnected between the frame and these 
wheel support arms and are powered by the tractor's auxiliary hydraulic 
drive system via suitable hydraulic supply and return line interconnected 
between such drive system and the hydraulic cylinders. The hydraulic 
cylinders may be suitably driven to pivot the wheel support arms to 
thereby cause the selective and independent raising or lowering of each of 
the support wheels relative to the frame. This independent wheel height 
adjustment capability permits selective raising or lowering of the rear 
end of the frame and/or selective tilting of the frame in a side-to-side 
fashion about its longitudinal axis. The wheel height adjustment, and the 
front frame end adjustment provided by the tractor's three point hitch, 
permit the orientation of the frame relative to the earth to be 
selectively adjusted in a variety of manners including uniformly raising 
or lowering of the overall frame, adjusting the forward-to-rear tilt angle 
of the frame, and adjusting the side-to-side tilt angle of the frame about 
its longitudinal axis. 
These independent frame adjustment capabilities, coupled with the simple 
pivotal adjustment of the scraping blade relative to the frame, provide 
the blade (and, to a lesser extent, its associated ripping teeth) with 
essentially all of the adjustment capabilities of the scraping blade 
carried by a commercial motor grader. 
Specifically, raising or lowering the frame simultaneously adjusts the 
cutting depths of the ripping teeth and the scraping blade as the 
attachment is being pulled along by the tractor. Forward or rearward 
tilting of the frame can be used to selectively adjust the relative 
cutting depths of the teeth and the blade. Side-to-side tilting of the 
frame about its longitudinal axis correspondingly tilts the scraping blade 
and the ripping teeth to provide an angled scraping and grading pattern on 
the earth. Finally, by simply pivotally adjusting the scraping blade 
relative to the frame, the scraping attack angle of the blade may be 
easily and selectively varied. 
From the foregoing it can be seen that the earth scraper attachment of the 
present invention is uniquely and simply adjustable to provide its earth 
working components with positional flexibility closely comparable to those 
found in commercial motor graders. Specifically, the scraping blade of the 
attachment, and the associated ripping teeth, may be raised, lowered, or 
tilted from side to side. Additionally, the earth scraping attack angle of 
the scraping blade may be selectively adjusted simply by pivoting the 
mechanical blade support structure relative to the frame. Importantly, 
these various positional adjustments to the scraping components of the 
tractor-drawn attachment (with the exception of the adjustment in scraping 
blade attack angle) are achieved simply by reorienting the attachment 
frame relative to the earth instead of utilizing a more complicated and 
costly hydraulic control system to raise, lower, pivot and tilt the earth 
working components of the attachment relative to the frame. 
Accordingly, the relatively low cost of the attachment permits it to be 
economically used to perform most motor grader earth working functions in 
a variety of domestic and agricultural applications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an earth scraping attachment 10 which is 
connected in a manner subsequently described to a conventional, vertically 
adjustable three point hitch 12 disposed at the rear end of an ordinary 
farm tractor 14 or other suitable vehicle adapted to pull the attachment 
10 along the surface of the earth 16. As will be seen, the attachment 10 
is uniquely adjustable in a variety of manners such that it is provided, 
in many regards, with the earth working usefulness and flexibility of a 
considerably more complex and expensive and commercial motor grader. The 
attachment 10 is, however, considerably more maneuverable than the 
conventional motor grader and is better suited to grading and scraping 
operations in confined areas such as along fencerows or the like. 
Additionally, when a particular earth scraping operation is completed, the 
attachment 10 may be easily and quickly disconnected from the tractor 14 
to free the tractor for other conventional uses thereof. 
The attachment 10 basically includes an elongated frame 18 which extends 
longitudinally along a generally horizontally disposed central axis 20, 
and a pair of frame support wheels 22 and 24 positioned on opposite sides 
of the axis 20 and operatively connected to a rear end portion 26 of the 
frame. An elongated earth scraping blade 28 is positioned beneath a 
longitudinally intermediate portion of the frame and is supported thereon 
for adjustable pivotal motion about a generally vertically extending axis 
30 by an elongated blade support structure 32. A spaced series of 
downwardly extending earth ripping teeth 34 are removably connected to an 
elongated, transversely extending tooth support member 36 secured to the 
underside of the frame forwardly of the blade 28. 
As the attachment 10, in one of its many operative "down" positions, is 
forwardly pulled along the earth 16 by the tractor 14, the teeth 34 rip 
furrows in the earth to loosen it, and the following scraping blade 28 is 
drawn through the loosened earth to scrape and grade it. In a simple and 
quite inexpensive manner subsequently described, the height of the frame 
18 relative to the earth, its forward-to-rear angular orientation, and its 
side-to-side pivotal orientation relative to the axis 20 may be 
selectively and independently adjusted to uniquely provide the pivotally 
mounted blade 28, and the ripping teeth 34, with a wide variety of 
operating orientations relative to the earth. Importantly, this positional 
flexibility as to the scraping blade and the ripping teeth is achieved 
without the conventional expense and mechanical complexity involved in 
providing a system for raising and lowering the blade and teeth relative 
to the frame. Except for the pivotal mounting of the blade to the frame, 
the positions of the scraping blade and the ripping teeth are otherwise 
fixed relative to the frame. 
With particular reference now to FIG. 2, the frame 18 is formed from 
several hollow metal members of rectangular cross-section which are welded 
or otherwise intersecured to define the overall frame. Such members 
include an elongated central frame member 38 which extends along the axis 
20 and is flanked on opposite sides of the axis by a pair of elongated 
side frame members 40. The rear ends of the frame members 38 and 40 are 
intersecured by a transversely extending rear cross member 42, while 
longitudinally intermediate portions of the frame members 38 and 40 are 
intersecured by a pair of transversely extending central cross members 44. 
Forward end portions 40.sub.a of the side frame members 40 are bent at 
points 46 toward the central frame member 38 and are secured at their 
forward ends to the frame member 38 at points 48. A forward end or tongue 
portion 50 of the central frame member 38 projects forwardly beyond the 
connection points 48 and has a suitable depending socket fitting 52 
positioned beneath its outer end. 
As is best illustrated in FIGS. 1, 7, 7A and 7B, the three point hitch 12, 
which is of conventional construction, comprises a laterally spaced pair 
of rearwardly projecting lower support arms 54 which are pivotally 
connected at their inner ends to a suitable portion of the tractor 
structure such as its transmission housing 56. These lower support arms 54 
are rotatable about their inner end pivot points by a pair of 
hydraulically driven actuating arms 58 interconnected between the support 
arms 54 and a suitable drive mechanism (not illustrated). Hitch 12 also 
includes an upper central support arm 60 which is positioned above and 
laterally between the lower support arms 54. The inner end of the upper 
support arm 60 is pivotally connected to the transmission housing 56. 
To removably connect the tongue portion 50 of the frame 18 to the three 
point hitch 12, a specially designed hitch connection member 62 is 
provided. The connection member 62 has a generally triangular 
configuration defined by a horizontally extending base member 64 and a 
pair of upwardly and inwardly sloping side members 66 which are secured at 
their lower ends to the outer ends of the base member 64. The outer ends 
of the lower hitch support arms 54 are pivotally connected to lower corner 
portions of the hitch connection member 62. Formed at the upper corner of 
the triangular hitch connection member 62 is a clevis 68 which receives 
the outer end of the upper hitch support arm 60 and is pivotally connected 
thereto by a retaining pin 70. A hitch ball 72 is secured to a central 
portion of the base member 64 and is received within the frame tongue 
socket 52. 
It can be seen that by appropriately moving the actuating arms 58 of the 
hitch 12 to cause corresponding pivoting of the hitch support arms 54 and 
60, the hitch connection member 62 may be selectively raised or lowered. 
Such raising or lowering of the hitch connection member correspondingly 
raises or lowers the frame tongue portion 50 to cause the frame 18 to 
pivot about its rear support wheels 22 and 24. As will be subsequently 
discussed in greater detail, this in turn provides a first mode of raising 
or lowering the scraper blade 28 and the ripper teeth 34 relative to the 
earth 16. 
The elongated tooth support member 36 (FIGS. 1 and 2) has a vertically 
elongated rectangular cross-section, and extends transversely across and 
is welded to the underside of the frame 18 adjacent the bend points 46 of 
the side frame members 40. Extending upwardly through the underside of the 
tooth support member 36 are a longitudinally spaced series of socket 
openings 74 which receive the elongated upper ends of the ripper teeth 34. 
These upper end portions of the teeth 34 are removably retained within the 
sockets 74 by means of locking pins 76. The downwardly extending ripper 
teeth 34 function to engage and rip the earth 16 as the attachment 10 is 
pulled forwardly by the tractor to facilitate the scraping operation of 
the blade 28 which is subsequently drawn across and through the ripped 
earth section. 
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 5, the blade support structure 32 comprises an 
elongated upper support arm member 80 which rests upon the upper surface 
of the frame 18, and a somewhat longer lower support arm member 82 which 
extends along the underside of the frame. At the outer ends of the upper 
support arm member 80 are downturned tab portions 84which are welded to 
the lower support arm member 82 so that the intersecured support arm 
members 80, 82 vertically straddle the frame 18 as best illustrated in 
FIG. 5. The scraper blade 28 is secured to and depends from the underside 
of the lower support arm member 82, and has opposite end portions which 
project laterally outwardly of the side frame members 40. With the frame 
18 in a horizontal orientation, the lower ends of the teeth 34 are 
generally level with the lower edge of the scraping blade 28. 
The support structure 32, and the scraper blade 28 which it carries, are 
connected to the frame 18 for pivotal movement relative thereto about the 
generally vertically extending axis 30 by means of a pivot pin 86 which 
projects upwardly from the central frame member 38 at its juncture with 
the central cross members 44 and is received in a corresponding circular 
hole formed through a longitudinally central portion of the upper support 
arm member 80. This permits the support structure 32 and the scraper blade 
28 to be rotated about the axis 30 to a multiplicity of pivotally adjusted 
positions representatively illustrated in FIG. 2 by the dotted line 
positions of the support structure 32 and the blade 28 and the double 
ended arrows 88. It can be seen that during pivotal motion of the support 
structure 32 relative to the frame 18, outer end portions of the upper 
support arm member 80 slide along the upper surfaces of the side frame 
members 40. To distribute over a greater surface area the weight load of 
the blade and blade support structure borne by the upper surfaces of the 
members 40, metal bearing pads 90 are welded to the opposite end portions 
of the upper support arm member 80 for engagement with the upper surfaces 
of the side frame members 40. 
The support frame structure 32 may be automatically pivoted to a desired 
position relative to the frame 18, and locked in the pivotally adjusted 
position, by means of a pair of hydraulic cylinders 92 (FIGS. 1 and 2) 
pivotally connected at ends thereof to the rear frame cross member 42 on 
opposite sides of the central frame member 38. Each of the cylinders 92 
has an extendable and retractable actuating rod 94 which is pivotally 
connected at its outer end to the upper support arm member 80 as 
illustrated. 
As is conventional, the tractor 14 is provided with an hydraulic drive 
system which has two or more auxiliary supply outlets and an hydraulic 
return reservoir. To operate the cylinders 92, hydraulic lines 96 are 
appropriately interconnected between the cylinders 92 and the auxiliary 
drive portion 95 (FIG. 1) of this hydraulic system. It can be seen in FIG. 
2 that by appropriately extending one of the actuating rods 94, and 
retracting the other one, the support structure 32 can be pivoted a 
predetermined degree in a selected direction about the axis 30 and 
hydraulically locked in a pivotally adjusted position relative to the 
frame 18. Hydraulic lines 96 may be conveniently supported on suitable 
support members 98 mounted on the control frame member 38. 
Instead of hydraulically adjusting the pivotal orientation of the scraper 
blade 28 in this manner, the blade may also be manually pivoted about the 
vertical axis 30 and manually locked in a pivotally adjusted position. A 
representative method of manually locking the support structure 36 and the 
scraper blade 28 in a pivotally adjusted position is illustrated in FIG. 
3. A chain 100 is extended along the upper surface of one of the side 
frame members 40 and is passed over the upper support arm member 80 and 
one of its associated bearing pads 90. The opposite ends of the chain 100 
are connected to hook members 102 secured to the illustrated side frame 
member 40 so that the upper support arm member 80 may be moved beneath the 
chain. When the support structure 36 is pivoted to a desired position, an 
upwardly projecting pin member 104 secured to the upper support arm member 
80 is inserted into one of the chain links directly above it, the inserted 
pin 104 functioning to prevent pivoting in either direction of the support 
structure 36. 
Referring now to FIGS. 4, 4A and 6, according to an important aspect of the 
present invention, the rear frame support wheels 22 and 24 are selectively 
and independently adjustable to vary their heights relative to the frame 
18. As will be seen, by adjusting the wheels so that one is higher than 
the other relative to the frame, the scraper blade 28 may be caused to 
tilt from end to end to thereby scrape the earth at a horizontally 
inclined angle. 
To connect the wheels 22, 24 to the frame 18, the inner ends of a pair of 
elongated wheel support arms 106 are pivotally connected to opposite rear 
corner portions of the frame 18 by means of pivot pins 108, while the 
outer ends of the arms 106 are rotatably connected to short axle members 
110 secured to the support wheels 22 and 24. Welded to the opposite rear 
corners of the frame 18 are a pair of upwardly projecting mounting members 
112 having upper ends to which the inner ends of a pair of hydraulic 
cylinders 114 are pivotally connected. The cylinders 114 are provided with 
extendable and retractable actuating rods 116 whose outer ends are 
pivotally connected to a pair of upwardly projecting connecting members 
118 secured to longitudinally intermediate portions of the wheel support 
arms 106. The cylinders 114 are operatively connected to the previously 
mentioned auxiliary hydraulic drive system 95 of the tractor 14 by 
suitable hydraulic supply and return lines 120 carried by the support 
members 98. 
With reference to FIGS. 4 and 4A, which schematically illustrate the 
support wheel 22 and its associated hydraulic cylinder 114 and wheel 
support arm 106, it can be seen that by extending the actuating rod 116 
the wheel support arm 106 is caused to pivot in a clockwise direction (as 
in FIG. 4A) about its pivot pin 108 to thereby cause a lowering of the 
wheel 22 relative to the frame 18, and a raising of the left rear corner 
of the frame. Correspondingly, a retraction of the actuating arm 116 (FIG. 
4) causes a counterclockwise pivoting of the support arm 106 about the 
pivot pin 108 to raise the wheel 22 relative to the frame, and lower the 
left rear corner of the frame. This selective wheel raising and lowering 
process may, of course, may be independently carried out in conjunction 
with the opposite support wheel 24. 
This ability to individually control the height of each of the wheels 22, 
24 relative to the frame 18 permits the wheels to be adjusted to mutually 
different heights relative to the frame to thereby tilt the frame in a 
side-to-side manner about its central longitudinal axis 20 to 
concomitantly cause an end-to-end tilting of the scraper blade 28 as 
depicted in FIG. 6A. As the tilted blade 28 is drawn along the earth 16 it 
produces a correspondingly angled scraping pattern along the earth. 
Additionally, of course, the wheels 22, 24 may be raised or lowered to the 
same height relative to the frame to raise or lower the rear end portion 
of the frame relative to its tongue portion. This correspondingly raises 
or lowers the scraper blade and the ripper teeth while maintaining the 
blade and teeth in an essentially horizontally disposed orientation as 
depicted in FIG. 6. It can be seen that the wheel adjustment mechanism of 
the present invention provides two additional frame adjustment modes which 
are independent of the first mode (vertically adjusting the frame 
tongue)--namely, a vertical adjustment of the rear end of the frame and a 
pivotal adjustment of the frame about its central axis 20. 
Referring now to FIGS. 7, 7A and 7B, the independent wheel height 
adjustment mechanism described above may be utilized independently of or 
in conjunction with the vertical adjustment capabilities of the three 
point hitch 12 to selectively alter the height of the frame 18 and/or its 
forward-to-rear inclination angle. For example, as depicted in FIG. 7, the 
entire frame 18 may be selectively raised or lowered while being kept in 
an essentially horizontal orientation to thereby selectively vary the 
cutting depths of the blade 28 and the teeth 34 and generally equalize 
such cutting depths. Or, by raising the frame 18 sufficiently, both the 
ripping teeth and the scraping blade can be lifted above the earth when 
the attachment 10 is being moved to or away from a work site. 
By lowering the frame tongue 50 relative to the rear end 26 of the frame 18 
the cutting depth of the ripping teeth 34 may be increased relative to the 
cutting depth of the scraping blade 28 as depicted in FIG. 7A. Also, if 
desired, by further raising the forwardly tilted frame 18 depicted in FIG. 
7A the scraping blade 28 maybe raised above the earth 16 so that only the 
cutting teeth 34 are operative. 
In a similar manner, a downward tilting of the rear end 26 of the frame 18 
can be used to increase the scraping depth of the blade 28 relative to the 
ripping depth of the teeth 34, or to raise the teeth 34 above the earth so 
that only the scraping blade 28 is operative. 
All of the various combinations of frame height adjustments illustrated in 
FIGS. 7, 7A and 7B may, of course, be effected with the frame in a 
side-to-side level position as illustrated in FIG. 6, or with the frame in 
a side-to-side tilted orientation as depicted in FIG. 6A. 
It can be seen from the foregoing that the earth scraper attachment 10 of 
the present invention can be utilized to perform most of the earth 
scraping and grading functions of considerably more expensive and 
complicated commercial grading and scraping apparatus such as the typical 
motor grader. The substantial reduction in cost and complexity 
incorporated in the attachment 10 permits it to be used in a wide variety 
of farm and other domestic applications in which the use of a commercial 
motor grader would simply not be feasible due to cost considerations and 
space limitations. 
The attachment 10, as previously mentioned, is easily and quickly 
connectable to the three point hitch of a conventional farm tractor by 
means of the specially designed hitch connection member 62. Prior to the 
connection of the attachment 10 to the tractor's hitch, the ripping teeth 
and/or scraping blade portions of the attachment rest upon the ground to 
support the tongue 50 in an elevated position Accordingly, the tractor can 
be simply backed toward the attachment frame tongue until the hitch ball 
72 is positioned directly beneath the tongue socket 52. The hitch may then 
be raised to insert the ball into the socket and raise the tongue 
sufficiently to move the ripping teeth and the scraping blade to their 
"off-road" positions for transport of the attachment. Similarly, when the 
particular grading and scraping operation is completed, the hitch may be 
simply lowered to disconnect the hitch ball from the tongue socket. There 
is simply no need to manually lift the frame tongue onto or off of the 
hitch ball. 
The foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as given by 
way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of the present 
invention being limited solely by the appended claims.