PLOUGH

Abstract: A plough suitable for inverting only the top layer of soil, for example to bury stalks of plants left after harvesting, comprises a pair of diverged support beams (4 and 5) carrying a plurality of plough blades (6), the blades (6) all being arranged to turn earth inwardly of the beams. Preferably, a pair of spinners (7) at the front of the beams spread soil outwardly into the path of the plough blades (6). Scraper blades or other tools may be attached to the rear of the plough for final levelling, permitting a "one-pass" cultivation of the soil ready for further sowing or planting.

Description: PLOUGH This invention relates to a plough suitable for inverting only a top layer of soil, for example to bury stalks of plants left after harvesting. A crop which is increasingly grown in the early 5 part of the year in Europe is oil seed rape, and after the early harvest of this crop, the ground may be re¬ used for a second crop of another type. Harvesting of oil seed rape leaves thick stalks containing a high degree of sap which prevents their being burnt. It is ] _ 0 therefore desirable to turn the earth so as to bury these stalks. However, full depth ploughing of the soil is too time-consuming and costly a process to be attractive to farmers, especially since full ploughing will have taken place before the rape was sown. Add- τ_5 itionally, the harvesting of cereals leaves stubble which is desirably buried rather than burnt, since the practice of straw-burning is becoming increasingly ob¬ jected to. This is difficult to achieve with con¬ ventional cultivators or ploughs. Q The present invention provides a plough which may enable such soil turning to be undertaken more easily. According to the invention, there is provided a plough having at least one pair of generally diverging support beams, each beam carrying a plurality of plough blades, the blades on one beam being arranged to turn earth in the opposite direction to the blades on the other beam of the pair. Preferably, the support beams diverge in a di¬ rection away from the front of the plough. The blades 0 are preferably arranged to turn earth inwardly of the pair of beams, and are advantageously staggered along the pair of beams so that earth is turned from one blade into an opposing blade on the opposite beam of the pair and then back towards the next blade on the 5 OMPI first beam of the pair. It is preferred to mount a pair of spinners or other rotary tools at the narrower forward end of, and between, the divergent beams, to propel outwardly from the centre of the plough into the path of the blades of each support beam. In a preferred embodiment, scraping blades disc harrows, or any other surface-acting cultivating tools may be attached to the rear of the plough so that such tools follow between the pairs of beams to redistribute displaced earth so as to leave a generally flat sur¬ face. Preferably the tools are arranged to push earth back into the furrows formed by the two outermost (and rearmost) blades. The plough of the invention enables a large area to be cultivated in one pass of the plough without cre¬ ating difficulties of balance which may be experienced with a conventional reversible plough of great length. The plough achieves complete inversion of the top layer of the earth, for example to a depth of 125 mm, with, consequently, a much lower power requirement than a conventional deep plough. Reference is made to the drawings, which show a plough in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, and in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view; and Figure 2 is a top plan view. The plough comprises a generally horizontal wheeled frame 1 carrying a conventional draw bar arrangement 2. Extending obliquely across the main frame 1 are two support beams 4 and 5, which diverge away from the draw bar. Each beam 4 and 5 carries three conventional plough blades 6 arranged to turn earth and to move it inwardly of the frame towards the other beam of the pair. It will be appreciated that the frame 1 may readily be made larger so as to accom- modate a larger number of blades on each support beam. A pair of rotating spinners 7 are mounted on the front of the frame 1 between the beams 4 and 5. The spinners 7 are driven from a gear-box 8, in turn powered by a power take-off shaft of the towing tractor, and each has a plurality of rods extending from its periphery so as to define a generally frusto- conical shape, with the rods intermeshing as they enter the soil. One spinner can be mounted ahead of the other by a small degree for greatest efficiency of op¬ eration. The axes of rotation of the spinners pref¬ erably make an angle of approximately 45 therebetween. The spinners are rotated in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows A in Figure 2, so as to propel earth outwardly into the path of the plough 6 on each side. It will be appreciated that any rotary member cap¬ able of propelling earth outwardly across the paths of the plough blades may be used in place of the spinners. Additionally, the gear-box 8 may be adaptable to give different drive ratios to ensure full and even distri¬ bution of soil of different types. It has been found that a plough of the type des¬ cribed with reference to the drawings gives a very thorough inversion of the top layer of the earth, suf¬ ficient to bury completely any stalks left after har¬ vesting, e.g. of oil sead rape, with on a single pass, but a ridged surface may be left at the outer extrem¬ ities of the frame, and it is therefore preferred to attach to the rear ends of the frame a series of scraper blades (not shown) to urge earth back into the trenches or furrows left at the outer edges of the plough. Many different cultivating tools are available which could be used in place of the scraper blades to divert soil from the ridges into the trenches or O PI furrows. No further working of the soil is then re¬ quired before further sowing or planting takes place.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A plough, having at least one pair of generally diverging support beams, each beam carrying a plurality of plough blades, the blades on one beam being arranged to turn earth in the opposite direction to the blades 5 on the other beam of the pair. 2. A plough according to Claim 1, wherein the support beams diverge in a direction away from the front of the plough, 3. A plough according to Claim 2, wherein the blades ° are arranged to turn earth inwardly of the pair of beams. 4. A plough according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein a pair of rotary members are provided to propel earth outwardly from the centre of the plough and into the 5 path of the blades on each support beam. 5. A plough according to any preceding claim, having at least one levelling tool provided at the rear there¬ of. 6. A plough according to Claim 5, wherein the or each levelling tool is a scraper blade. 7. A plough according to Claim 5, wherein the or each levelling tool is a disc harrow attachment. 8. A plough according to any preceding claim, wherein cultivator tines are provided in front of the plough blades. 9. A plough according to any preceding claim, wherein the support beams are mounted within a frame having a towing coupling at one end thereof whereby the plough may be coupled to a tractor. 10. A plough according to any preceding claim, wherein the plough blades on one beam of the or each pair of beams are staggered longitudinally relative to the plough blade on the other beam of the pair.

Inventors: JONES FRED ALAN, JONES, FRED, ALAN
Applicants: JONES FRED ALAN, JONES JEAN, JONES, FRED, ALAN, JONES, JEAN
Application year: 1984
Main classification: A01B3
IPC codes: A01B3, A01B17