IMPROVEMENTS ON WHEEL-HOES
Year: 1885

page_text: I, SOLOMON FULLER, of Danvers in the County of Essex and State¨‍ of
Massachusetts, United States of America, Farmer, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS ON WHEEL-HOES, and in what mannor the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:
This invention has for its object to provide a machine for cultivating vegetables
and plants, in which a pair of weeders or hoes are under control of the operator,
and can be independently or simultaneously adjusted in a direction at right angles
to the line of travel while the machine' is traversing the ground. In combination
with such adjustable weeders, I employ a pair of stationary ones secured to the
frame or other stationary part of the machine, the cutting-blades of which are made
to project outside of the adjustable weeders in a manner and for the purpose as
hereinafter will be more fully described; reference being had to the accompanying
drawings where Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the improved wheel-hoe;
Fig. 2 represents a cross section over the stationary weeders; and Fig. 3 represents
à section on the line A-B shown on Fig. 2.
Similar letters refer to similar parts wherever they occur on the different parts
of the drawings.
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The invention consists of a pair of bars a, a, that constitute the frame of the
machine, such bars being provided with a cross bar or stay a¹ in their upper ends,
one or more stays or braces a₁, between said bars a, a, and with an arched brace as
near their lower ends, to permit the apparatus to straddle the plants while in use.
To the front ends of the bars a a are the wheels b, b, journalled in the usual
manner of making wheel-hoes.
The bars a, a, have each attached to them suitable bearings c', c¹, c' in which are
located the respective rods c, c, in such a manner that they may be rocked on their
respective axes in said bearings. To the upper end of each rod c is attached a
suitable handle c¹ by means of which the machine can be guided as well as the
rods c rocked in their bearings.
To a place on each rod c near its lower end is secured by means of suitable set
screws du, or equivalent means, the weeder bar d that has secured to or made in
one piece with its lower end, a bent or curved or otherwise shaped weeder das
shown in the drawings..
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page_text: The weeders d, d may be adjusted up and down on the rods c c to suit the size
of the operator, and-after being so adjusted the said weeders are firmly secured to
rods c, c by means of set screws 1 d as shown.
In practice, I prefer to mark on the bars a, a, a suitable scale X as shown in
Fig. 1 to equalize the position of the weeders while being adjusted.
By taking hold of the handles c¹¹, c, it will. be seen that the operator has a
positive control of the lateral adjustment of the weeders d, d' as the machine is
pushed forward, and consequently he can instantly bring said weeders closer
together or further apart, according to the size of the plants that are being weeded,
or according to the presence of hard lumps, stones or other obstructions that may
lie in close proximity to the plants; and as each weeder is positively adjustable
laterally and independently of its fellow, it will be seen that the weeders are at all
times under a positive control of the operator when the machine is pushed forward,
with a wheel b on each side of the row of plants, and this is a great advantage over
wheel-hoes having stationary weeders, or weeders made yielding by means of
springs, as the operator has no control of said weeders in a lateral direction, and
is consequently not able to weed as close as may be required, and has to leave a
part of the weeding to be done by hand, entailing a great loss of valuable time.
My invention is very simple and durable in its construction, easy of operation, and
by its use the proper weeding of the plants is at all times under a positive control
of the operator as above described.
...I wish to state that I do not claim any particular shape or construction of the
frame a, a its wheels b, b, braces a, a, as, or handles c₁₁, as these may be varied
and shaped in different ways to suit farmers and the trade. But it. is also
important that the whole space between each successive row of plants should be
thoroughly weeded out, and for this purpose I use in addition to the adjustable
weeders d, d¹ a pair of stationary weeders e, e, the lower ends e¹, e¹, of which are
bent, curved or otherwise shaped to perform the work properly; such stationary
weeders e, e¹ may be secured to the bars a, a, or other stationary part, by means of
screws, rivets, bolts, or in any other well known or equivalent manner, and I prefer
to secure them back of the movable weeders d, d, as shown, although if so desired
they may be arranged in front or at the side of the movable weeders without.
departing from the essence of my invention.
In practice, I prefer to so locate the stationary weeders e, e¹ in such a manner
relative to the adjustable weeders d, d that the inside cutting edges of the
stationary weeders e, e¹, shall project a little inside of the outer cutting edges of
the movable weeders d, when the latter are in or near their closest positions as
shown in Fig. 3; so as not to leave any unweeded surface between the said
respective movable and stationary weeders, but I do not wish to confine myself to
any such precise arrangement as it may be varied to suit requirements.
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The stationary weeders e, e¹ may be made to extend outwardly a suitable
distance according to the width between the rows of plants or vegetables that are
to be needed.
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And if such width should vary considerably for different kinds of vegetables,
may so modify my present invention as to make the stationary weeders laterally
adjustable and secure them firmly in place when the machine is to be used.
By this arrangement I am able, at one operation to weed half the space, or more
on each side of the vegetables, and by weeding successive rows, it will be seen that
the whole space between the vegetables becomes thoroughly weeded without the
need of any subsequent weeding by hand or by means of other machinery.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
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E 1. The combination of the wheeled frame, the independent rocking rods mounted
in bearings on the frame, and the weeders or hoes secured to the rods, said ŕods

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having means whereby they can be independently or simultaneously rocked in
their bearings to adjust the hoes laterally while traversing the ground, substantially
as described,
2. The combination of the wheeled frame, the independent rocking rods mounted
in bearings on the frame and provided with handles at their ends, and the weeders'
or hoes secured to the rods, said handles serving to propel the wheeled frame and
to independently or simultaneously rock the rods to adjust the weeders or hoes
laterally while traversing the ground substantially as described.
3. In a wheel hoe, the wheeled frame and its laterally adjustable and movable
weeders d, d adapted to be moved to and from each other while the hoe is being
propelled, in combination with the stationary weeders e, e' as and for the purpose
set forth and described.