Planting implement with end segments rearwardly pivotal to form quadrilateral structure

A planting implement which includes an elongated support beam for carrying a plurality of spaced planting units thereon. The support beam also includes a plurality of rearwardly pivotable segments arranged so that a closed framework structure may be constructed by pivoting and interconnecting the rearwardly pivotal segments. The closed framework structure includes a forward side containing a portion of the planting units and a generally parallel, rearward side containing the remaining planting units. The spacing of the rearward side planting units is offset from that of the forward side units, approximately one-half of the distance of the planting units. This results in equally spaced rows of approximately one-half the distance between the planting units.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a dual purpose agricultural planting implement 
and in particular to an implement for planting both conventionally spaced 
corn rows and narrow soybean rows of about one-half the corn row spacing. 
Soybeans are typically planted by implements also used to plant corn. It 
has been found, however, that planting soybeans in narrower rows than 
conventional corn row spacing, provides an effective method of increasing 
soybean production. On-farm and university testing throughout the cornbelt 
region of the United States have evidenced significant yield gains with 
narrow rows. An initial significant move reduced soybean rows from a 40" 
spacing to a 30" spacing resulting in a 10-25% increase in yield. This was 
usually accomplished by modifying the spacing of planting units on a 
planter implement so that corn would also be planted in 30" rows. No 
change in corn yield resulted from this spacing reduction. However, more 
recently, studies have shown that still narrower soybeans rows will 
further increase yields. It now appears that the optimum row spacing for 
soybeans is in the range of 10-20". 15" rows have been found to give 
approximately a 15% yield over 30" rows except in some southern states 
where rows less than 15" provided even better yields. 
A variety of methods of planting narrow rows of soybeans have been tried. 
Solid-seeding produces good yield increases but the technique has several 
drawbacks. For instance, weed control is a problem. Cultivation is not 
possible and a good weed management program is needed. This in turn 
requires heavy use of chemicals and a good past weed history on the field. 
Additionally, grain drills which are used for solid seeding have not 
produced very satisfactory depth control, seed placement or good seed/soil 
contact. A still further drawback occurs with some soils which need a 
cultivation which break the crust and allow areation of the soil. This is 
not possible with solid seeding. 
There are several types of narrow-row soybean planters presently in use. 
The most prevalent manner of either solid seeding (6-7" rows) or very 
narrow row seeding (10-12") has been to plug metering holes in grain 
drills. A few home-made rigs have been made by farmers around the country, 
usually using older type planters. Commercially, there are now available 
specialty planters to plant just narrow row soybeans. Conventional 
wide-row "convertible" planters have also become available commercially to 
which additional planting units can be added to obtain narrow rows. 
Soybeans require good planting management expecially in drier areas where 
spring-time moisture, specifically in the upper soil layer, is short. 
There must be consistent depth control, accurate seed placement and good 
soil/seed contact. As already pointed out, conventional grain drills are 
not very accurate or reliable in any of these areas. Additionally, most 
soybeans are grown in the cornbelt region of the United States where many 
farmers do not own a grain drill and cannot afford to purchase one just 
merely to experiment with a new soybean planting technique. Finally, the 
use of a drill for seeding either solid or very narrow rows, eliminates 
the option of cultivating and thus, puts the heavy burden of weed control 
upon the use of chemicals whose control depends on weather, proper timing, 
proper use and longevity of controls and prior field conditions. Without 
the option of cultivation, many producers would be forced to use expensive 
and sometimes ineffectual weed control. 
Commercial planting units work well but are often too expensive for most 
farmers to afford. This is especially true for the speciality type 
planters which can only be used for soybeans and therefore, require the 
purchase of two different row planters for the typical farmer who plants 
both corn and soybeans. The convertible type of commercial planter, to 
which the extra units required can be added when needed, or left off when 
not needed, eliminates the requirement for purchasing two planters but can 
still be very expensive. The most basic planter row units, without 
herbicide or insecticide capability presently cost around $1000-$1200 per 
row. Such convertible units therefore still require a very large 
investment, especially for the producer who wishes to experiment for a few 
years with narrow-row planting to see how it suits his operation and to 
develop his technique. Convertible planters also require time to switch 
back and forth which can be very expensive during the prime planting time 
and cause inconvenience when filling or working on the main unit. 
Typical conventional corn/soybean planters have a capability for adding 
herbicides during planting. However, neither the commercially available 
specialty narrow row soybean planters nor the existing units on commercial 
convertible type planters provide such herbicide capability. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a dual purpose planting implement which permits 
the use of conventional wide-row planting of corn and narrow-row soybean 
planting with the same basic unit and with only a relatively minimal 
additional production cost over that of conventional wide-row planters. 
The implement is especially attractive to producers who may wish to 
experiment with narrow row soybeans without committing large sums of money 
to the experiment. The inventive design allows the use of various types of 
planting units according to the individual farmer's preference and local 
planting conditions. 
As with conventional planting implements, the inventive structure includes 
an elongated support beam means for carrying a plurality of spaced 
planting units thereon. However, the support beam means of the present 
invention includes a plurality of rearwardly pivotable segments arranged 
so that a closed framework structure may be constructed by pivoting and 
interconnecting the rearwardly pivotal segments. The closed framework 
structure includes a forward side containing a portion of the planting 
units and a generally parallel, rearward side containing the remaining 
planting units. The spacing of the rearward side planting units is offset 
from that of the forward side units, approximately one-half of the 
distance of the planting units. This results in equally spaced rows of 
approximately one-half the distance between the planting units. 
In the preferred embodiments, the two ends of the main support beam means 
fold back to form a rectangle, with the rearwardly pivotable segments 
connecting at the center of the rearward side so that planting units from 
each end of the main support member are included on the rear side of the 
folded back, narrow-row planter. 
As with conventional planters, the elongated support member or beam means 
is supported by a plurality of wheels and includes a forwardly extending 
tongue by means of which an implement may be connected to a motive means 
such as a tractor. In the inventive structure, the tongue is attached to 
the portion of the support beam means which does not fold back. 
Additionally, at least one wheel is included on each segment which forms 
the side of the narrow row planter. In the preferred embodiment, a lift 
jack is included on each side, so that the ends of the implement may be 
raised off the ground to facilitate the folding back or forward of the 
support beam segments. With the lift jacks, the time for switching from 
the conventional wide-row to the narrow row planter is minimal, probably 
no more than a few minutes. This is especially beneficial in those 
planting seasons when weather and soil conditions necessitate the 
switching back and forth more than once. Since the actual planting units 
attached to the support structure are not changed, herbicides or 
insecticides can be used even during narrow-row planting, if such 
capability is included on the original planting units. 
Although the effective planting width is reduced by one-half, when the 
narrow-row structure is used, this disadvantage is offset by the fact that 
a producer can usually plant 11/2 to 12/3 more acres per hour when 
planting soybeans over corn. This is partly because of faster planting 
speeds and of the reduced amounts of insecticide, herbicide and fertilizer 
that must be handled. Additionally, soybean seed is usually loaded through 
the use of some type of auger and wagon box, instead of by bag. 
One of the benefits of narrow-row soybean is that soybean plants tend to 
shade over the ground and crowd out any weeds within the first three to 
four weeks. Therefore, under normal conditions, cultivation should not be 
necessary, or should only have to be done once, compared to the two or 
even three times many farmers cultivate in conventional rows. This gives a 
substantial reduction in fuel and time needed in cultivation. 
The inventive structure provides a secondary benefit in that the foldback 
feature provides a simple and fast way of transporting the planter without 
unhooking and using a trailer or towing from the end. This would be an 
efficient mode of transport, even when the planter is intended to be used 
in the field for conventional wide rows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIG. 1, the implement of the present invention in the wide-row 
mode has a configuration nearly identical to conventional single purpose 
planters. The implement has an elongated main support beam means, 
generally designated by the numeral 10, which is in turn, supported by a 
plurality of wheels 12 journaled thereto. Support beam means 10 carries a 
plurality of planting units 14 which may optionally include capacity for 
delivery of herbicide and/or pesticide during the planting operation. 
Support beam 10 is connected to a tongue member 16, best shown in FIGS. 
4-6, which provides means for connecting the implement to motive means 
such as a tractor. 
The support beam means of the present invention differs from a conventional 
planter, however, in that it comprises a plurality of pivotal segments 
which permit a portion of the beam to be folded back to form a closed 
rectangular frame which carries offset planting units on both the front 
and rear sides of the rectangle. This novel beam structure is best shown 
in FIGS. 4-6. The support beam means preferably comprises a longitudinal 
pair of segmented square tool bars, one above the other. The upper tool 
bar carries the planting units 14 and wheels 12. 
Beam 10 includes a central segment 20 and two end segments 22 and 24. Each 
end segment includes two separately pivoted portions 28, 30 and 32, 34 
respectively which are formed by the upper and lower tool bars. The upper 
end portions 28 and 32 are pivotably attached to the lower portions 30 and 
34 at the ends thereof by pins 35 so that each may be swung rearwardly as 
shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, perpendicular to the main beam 10. The lower 
sections 30 and 34 are pivotably attached to the central segment 20 by 
pins 37 so that the lower sections may also be swung rearwardly, 
perpendicular to segment 20, to form a rectangular narrow-row structure as 
shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. Wheels 12 may be made pivotable to facilitate easy 
backward movement of the end segments. 
To accomplish the folding and unfolding operations on the inventive 
planting implement, it is necessary to jack up first one end of the 
implement and then the other so that the wheels and planting implements 
are off the ground. Lift jacks 38 located on the central beam segment 20, 
permit the sequential jacking and folding or unfolding operations. 
In the preferred rectangular embodiment, the support beam means extends 
beyond the last planter on one end segment as shown in segment 28. This is 
necessary to offset the planting units in the narrow-row configuration so 
that the rear units are offset one-half the spacing between the planting 
units. Since this results in segments 28 and 32 being of different length, 
and since the two lower end segment portions 30 and 34 must produce equal 
length sides for the rectangular configuration, the shorter portion 34 is 
divided into two subsegments, 34a and 34b with an internal telescoping 
tool bar segment 40 which permits equalization of the lengths of the two 
rectangle sides formed by portions 30 and 34. This telescoping side 
feature is not necessary if an odd number of planting units is utilized 
and a trapezoidal configuration, with the extra planter unit in the rear 
and equal length sides, is used. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, segments 28 and 32 should each include at least 
one wheel 12 so that the rear side is properly supported in the narrow row 
configuration. 
As is also shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, brace members 42 are preferably inserted 
between segments 28 and 30 and segments 32 and 34 when the narrow row 
configuration is to be used to stabilize the structure and maintain the 
proper angles. Brace members 42 may be adapted to fold against one segment 
ssection when not in use. 
To stabilize the rear side support formed by beam portions 28 and 32, a 
square tool bar section 48 carried in beam portion 28 may be utilized. As 
shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, when the rectangular narrow-row configuration is 
used stabilizing bar 48 is slid between beam portions 28 and 32 to 
maintain rigidity of the rear sides formed thereby. 
Any conventional means may be used to lock the beam segments together in 
the wide or narrow-row configurations and these means form no part of the 
present invention. 
Whereas, the present invention has been described in detail with reference 
to the upper embodiment, it should be understood that many variations may 
be made without departing from the essential features of the invention 
which are set forth in the following claims.