A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR UPROOTING OR DEFORESTING TREES, ROOTS, AND OTHER MATTERS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Griffiths, of West Firle, in the County of
Sussex, Land Agent, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METHOD OR METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR UPROOTING OR DEFORESTING
TREES, ROOTS, AND OTHER MATTERS."
Sealed the 2nd March 1869, and dated the 3rd September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Griffiths at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd September 1868.
I, JOHN GRIFFITHS, of West Firle, in the County of Sussex, Land
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR UPROOTING OR DEFORESTING
TREES, ROOTS, AND OTHER MATTERS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the method or methods hereafter described
of applying tackle for uprooting trees, roots, and other matters to which
motion is given by a winch driven by .steam, horse, or hand power, or
where the power is applied directly without the use of a winch, and this

page_text: in combination with a roller or rollers placed at or near the stock or root
of the tree, root, or other matter to be raised.
According to one arrangement I secure a rope or chain to the tree or
root to be uprooted, and if the upper part of the tree is standing I prefer
to place the rope there. This rope is connected to double or single blocks
through which a tackle is rove, secured at one end to an anchor (the
stump of a tree for example) and the other to a winch. Upon communi-
cating motion to the winch a strong lever power is produced, and the
roller at the foot of the tree acting as a sort of fulcrum materially assists
in uprooting it.
For stumps of trees, roots, or underwood I pass the chains or wire
ropes connected to the roots over the rollers, the power being applied by
a winch as in the other arrangement, or by horses or bullocks and tackle
only. Several roots can by this plan be removed at one and the same
timc.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Griffiths in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GRIFFITHS, of West Firle, in the County of Sussex, Land Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Griffiths, Her special licence that
I, the said John Griffiths, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Griffiths, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF
AND APPARATUS FOR UPROOTING OR DEFORESTING TREES, ROOTS, AND OTHER
MATIERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John

page_text: Griffiths, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Griffiths, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to
say :-
My Invention consists in the method or methods hereafter described
of applying tackle for uprooting trees, roots, and other matters to which
motion is given by a winch driven by steam, horse, or hand power, or
where the power is applied directly without the use of a winch, and this
in combination with a roller or rollers placed at or near the stock or root
of the tree, root, or other matter to be raised.
According to one arrangement I secure a rope or chain to the tree or
root to be uprooted, and if the upper part of the tree is standing I prefer
to place the rope there. This rope is connected to double or single blocks
through which a tackle is rove, secured at one end to an anchor (the
stump of a tree for example) and the other to a winch. Upon communi-
cating motion to the winch a strong lever power is produced, and the
roller at the foot of the tree acting as a sort of fulcrum materially assists
in uprooting it.
For stumps of trees, roots, or underwood I pass the chains or wire ropes
connected to the roots over the rollers, the power being applied by a
winch as in the other arrangement, or by horses or bullocks and tackle
only. Several roots can by this plan be removed at one and the same
time.
The accompanying Drawings will serve to illustrate the manner in
which I prefer to carry my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a view of the apparatus as arranged to remove a singlo
tree. a is a chain passed round and secured to the upper part of the tree
at one end and to blocks b, b, at the other end; c is another block con-
nected to an anchor, or as shown in the Drawing to the stump of a

page_text: tree d; e is a tackle rove through the blocks b, b, and c, and led back to a
winch f, which is also secured to some fixed point, as, for example, to a
tree, as shown in the Drawing; g is a roller placed at the foot of the
tree to be uprooted. On motion being communicated to the winch, and
the rope e wound thereon, pressure is immediately put upon the upper
part of the tree to be uprooted. As the winch is turned and the rope
wound up the tree gradually yields. The roller g acts as a fulcrum, the
tree being the lever, and the purchase being continued by the rotation
of the winch the tree itself gradually falls and is left in the position
shown in Figure 1. By these means trees are removed without leaving
stumps in the ground, and the direction in which they fall may be
regulated to a very great nicety, which sometimes is a great advantage.
Figure 2 shows an arrangement whereby several stumps of trees or
trees themselves can be uprooted at one and the same time by one
operation. a, a, a, are chains, each of which is connected to a stump
to be uprooted, and for each stump there is a roller g over which each
chain passes, as shown. e is the tackle rove through the blocks b and c,
and led to horses, as shown in the Drawing, or to other animals, or the
power may be applied by a winch as before. As the horses apply the
purchase a great leverage power is produced and the stumps are quickly
uprooted.
Figure 3 shows how the apparatus before described may be used with
steam power, f being the winch and a portable steam engine with
these appliances. The work can be carried on much more expeditiously
and effectively than when manual or horse power is only employed.
I do not limit myself to the employment of the exact description of
machinery or apparatus herein-before described, for it will be obvious
that the arrangement of the chains, blocks, and tackles must be regulated
according to the description of work to be performed and the power
required to do it, the Drawings being only given in order to illustrate
several convenient methods of carrying my Invention into effect, and
which in practise I have found to answer exceedingly well.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the
employment of tackle in combination with rollers placed at the foot or
base of the trees, stumps, or other matters to be raised, the power being
applied by horses or other animals, hand machines, manual, steam, or
other motive power for uprooting or deforesting trees, roots, and other

page_text: matters, all substantially in manner herein-before described and partially
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Griffiths, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JNO. GRIFFITHS. (L.S.)