Improvements in Horse Hoes or Cultivators Applicable also for Cutting Turf.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 9th Apr.,
1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Horse Hoes or Cultivators Applicable also for
Cutting Turf.
We, JAMES HAROLD HOWARD, of the Britannia Ironworks, Bedford, in the County
of Bedford, Engineer, and HENRY WILLIAM GIBBS, of the same address, Works
Superintendent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained.
in and by the following statement :-
In the work of cleaning land by animal power, between rows of growing plants,
and for the removal of couch grass, weeds, runners of strawberry plants, paring turf
for relaying or for preparing compost for gardeners, and the like, some difficulty has
been experienced in using tilling implements, as commonly constructed, from the
tendency of the runners, roots, and weeds, to collect on the stems of the hoes, and
thereby preventing effective working.
In order to obviate such difficulty, we use, in combination with the ordinary
horizontal hoes, two or more revolving steel discs, which form the leading cutters.
These discs are dished, and are supported on standards fitted with stud axles, on
which the discs rotate by friction of contact with the ground.
We provide for the lateral adjustment, and also the vertical adjustment, of these
discs, and, in some cases, the diagonal adjustment, to suit the work in hand. The
use of these dises is not only to cut into the weeds and separate the runners, but also
to open the soil in lines parallel to the growing plants, and leave behind them
furrows, for the purpose of allowing the stems of the horizontal or inclined cutting
hoes which follow in the furrows, to pass along without being blocked or obstructed
by the weeds or runners.
The stems of these hoes are sometimes bowed or cranked outwards from their
cutting blades, to allow the loosened weeds to pass between them without obstructing
the progress of the implement.
In the accompanying drawings, three well-known forms of implement are shewn, to
illustrate the application of our invention, to suit various kinds of work.
Fig. 1 shews, in plan view, an arrangement of the implement in which a single
forked standard is employed to carry a pair of dished rotating cutters, and cranked
hoe stems are used.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; and
'
Fig. 3 represents a rotating cutter and a hoe detached from the implement, and
as working in the ground.
This implement, it will be seen, is fitted with a fore carriage, as usual, and the
main body of the implement consists of a beam A, to the rear end of which the
handles B are attached.
The stems of the hoes C C are cranked, as shewn best at Fig. 3, for the purpose of
putting them out of line with the runners and weeds, or turf, cut up and displaced
by the action of the rotary cutters. These cranked stems are carried by a pair of
arms D D, hinged to a block E attached to the beam A.

page_text: These arins are pierced with two holes each, to receive the stem of one of the
hoes, as shown, and also to receive other forms of hoes or grubbers.
The rear ends of the arms D terminate each in a slotted segment D¹, which
segments lie one over the other, and are made fast to the beam A, when properly
adjusted, by means of a screw d. This arrangement provides for the diagonal
adjustment of the hoes, as may be desired.
In the beam A is a socket in advance of the block E, which receives the forked
standard F carrying the rotating cutters. The prongs of this standard carry stud
axles which receive the rotary cutters G, which may be termed dish-shaped discs.
The stud axles of these cutters are so set as to give an inclination inwards, as
shown, or outwards, if preferred, to the cutters at their rear, or at an angle of
some 20° to the line of progress of the implement, and thereby, as the implement
advances, to leave a furrow in the ground, as indicated at Fig. 3.
To provide for the lateral adjustment of these rotary cutters, to suit the various
widths between the rows, loose collars are provided, which may be applied to the
stud axles on either side of the cutters G. Supposing these rotary cutters G to be
adjusted to the proper depth of cut, and the hoes to be similarly adjusted, and set to
their proper position laterally, the progress of the implement will ensure the clearing
of the ground between the rows of growing plants, the runners being severed, and
the weeds displaced and left behind, the implement passing away clear of any
incumbrance.
Fig. 4 shews in plan view, and Fig. 5 in side elevation, another form of implement
showing a modification of the invention, the object being to provide for the setting
of the rotary cutters at any desired angle to the line of progress.
For this purpose, instead of mounting the rotary cutters G G as above described,
that is, on a forked standard, we mount them on independent standards F F¹, which
are carried by a bar E¹ passed transversely through the beam A, and held fast therein
by a set screw or other suitable means.
These standards, which are round, are held to the bar E¹ by clips, which, when
slackened, will provide for an axial, a lateral, and a vertical adjustment of the
standards, and consequently provide for the setting of the rotary cutters at any
desired angle with the work.
The stems of the hoes C are fitted to transverse bars C¹ made fast to the beam A,
and they are capable of vertical and lateral adjustment, as in the first described
arrangement.
When it is desired that the earth moved by the rotating cutters should be moved
towards the growing plants, instead of from them, the rotary cutters are reversed on
their stud axles, and their front inclination towards the rows of plants is reversed, as
shewn at Fig. 6, by turning their standards in their clips, and securing them by the
clamping screws, when properly adjusted.
Fig. 7 shews in plan view, and
Fig. 8 in side elevation, our invention as arranged for working between several
rows of plants simultaneously, the drawing shewing three pairs of rotary disc cutters,
and a corresponding number of hoes.
In this arrangement, H is the travelling wheel axle, which is capable of rocking
in its frame A by means of a hand lever H'. This wheel axle H serves to carry the
hoes C, the stems of which are hinged to block C¹. These blocks are strung upon the
axle, and are capable of adjustment thereon, to suit the work in hand.
:
The hoe stems are of curved form, and attached to the stems, by means of suitable
clips, are adjustable standards F¹, which standards, like those in the last described.
arrangement, carry the circular cutters G.
By thus connecting the hoes and circular cutters together, the vertical and lateral
adjustment of both is effected, by shifting the hoe stems in the blocks, and the
block on the axle H, to which they are connected.
Suitable grubbers or shares for stirring the soil may be substituted for the
hoes C C, according to the condition of the soil and the growth of the weeds to be
eradicated.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
Combining, in tillage implements, dished rotary cutters, and horizontal or inclined
hoes in rear of the same, in the manner and for the purpose above described, the
hoes being adjustable laterally and vertically, and the rotary cutters being set at an
angle to the line of progress of the implement.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.