IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM CULTIVATING MACHINERY
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Howard, of Bedford, in the County of
Bedford, Agricultural Engineer, and Edward Tenney Bousfield,
of the same Place, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM CULTIVATING MACHINERY.”
Scaled the 24th March 1874, and dated the 13th January 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Howard and
Edward Tenney Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 13th January 1874.
We, JAMES HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agricul-
tural Engineer, and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, of the same Place,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN STEAM CULTIVATING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Howard and
Edward Tenney Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 13th January 1874.
We, JAMES HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agricul-
tural Engineer, and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, of the same Place,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN STEAM CULTIVATING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates,―
:-
Firstly. To improvements in the means employed in the working of
tilling implements by steam power, the object being to simplify their
construction, and to effect a reduction in the cost of the apparatus..

page_text: Secondly. To improvements in certain tilling implements, the object
being to make them self-adjusting to suit the irregularities in the surface
of the ground upon which they are intended to act, and to facilitate their
turning at the ends of the field.
In carrying out the first part of our Invention we propose to employ
either the portable or the traction engine at present in general use for
agricultural purposes.
Instead of employing the locomotive or traction ploughing engines
which carry one or two winding drums, and which render such engines
heavy and costly we mount one or more winding drums on a separate
carriage which we couple by a detachable connection to by preference
the rear of the usual portable or traction engine. We thus secure the
main advantages (in working) of engines fitted permanently with
winding drums, and by the simple disconnection of the windlass
carriage leave the engine unincumbered and ready for ordinary farm
work.
{ The winding drums we mount by preference on a horizontal axle
which may serve also for the axle of a pair of travelling wheels.
If, as with the ordinary portable engine, the windlass carriage is
moved from field to field disconnected from the engine the travelling
wheels have fixed axles. When however, as with a traction engine,
the windlass travels from place to place behind the engine it may be
fitted with swivel wheels in the rear which will allow of easy movement
sideways when turning. Under the engine we mount one or more
guide pulleys for leading off the hauling ropes in any required direction.
One of these pulleys we so arrange that when the hauling rope is led
off at a right angle or nearly so to the length of the engine the strain
will come in the best position for the weight of the engine to stand
against the pull of the hauling rope. The power of the engine is
communicated to the windlass either by a belt or by a universal jointed
shaft connecting the crank shaft with the windlass by gear.
Our improved machinery may be set down to work in the field from
a fixed point, the implement being hauled from side to side continuously
between two self-moving anchors on opposite headlands.
By another method of working the engine, with its attached windlass,
is moved on the headland as the ploughing proceeds, a self-moving

page_text: anchor being used on the opposite headland to the engine. In this
case the implement will run to and fro between the engine and the
anchor, the engine and anchor will alternately advance the width of
the bout as the implement is drawn towards them. This will be
effected by the strain on the hauling rope. The engine and windlass
in this case are kept from advancing beyond the required distance¨
by a rope anchored in the rear, or by suitable provision in front for:
regulating the traverse.
We also apply our improved machinery by using two such engines
worked at opposite sides of the field, the implement being hauled to and
fro between them. In this case the engines are alternately moved forward
the width of the bout, for which purpose a rope is anchored ahead of
each engine and carried back to a drum on the windlass. As therefore
the drum is set in action it will coil up the rope and move the engine
forward as required.
If the engines used are traction engines the forward motion on the
headland at each bout is effected by the ordinary road or propelling
gear.
The second part of our Invention consists in a novel mode of
arranging and combining two or more light implements in one frame-
work, such as drag harrows, light scarifiers, or clod crushers, which
implements on account of their width require play to adjust themselves
to the irregular surface of the ground.
We construct the framework with a strong axle or beam (preferably
square in cross section), and to it the other parts are attached. The
axle or beam we form at either end with cranked arms to receive
a pair of travelling wheels. The implements are suspended from the
framing. Fitted to the front part of the framing are the steerage
wheels, and also the brackets for hauling, suspending, and adjusting
the depth of the implements both in front and rear. When the frame:
and implements turn at the land's end the action of the draft rope
in pulling round the frame lifts the implements out of the ground;
this is effected by partially rotating backwards the cranked arms of
the travelling wheels. As soon as the carrying frame is moved forward
in the reverse direction the cranked wheel arms are also reversed, and
the implements again enter the ground.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Howard and Edward Tenney Bousfield in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agricultural Engineer,.
and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, of the same Place, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said James Howard and Edward
Tenney Bousfield, Her special licence that we, the said James Howard
and Edward Tenney Bousfield, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said James Howard and Edward Tenney Bous-
field, our 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN STEAM CULTIVATING MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said James Howard and Edward Tenney Bousfield,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
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
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said James Howard and Edward
Tenney Bousfield, do hereby declare the nature of our 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
-

page_text: tilling implements by steam power, the object being to simplify their
construction and to effect a reduction in the cost of the apparatus.
Secondly. To improvements in certain tilling implements the object
being to make them self-adjusting to suit the irregularities in the
surface of the ground upon which they are intended to act and to
facilitate their turning at the ends of the field.
In carrying out the first part of our Invention we propose to
employ either the portable or the traction engine at present in use
for agricultural purposes.
Instead of employing the locomotive or traction ploughing engines
which carry one or two winding drums and which render such engines
heavy and costly we mount one or more winding drums on a separate
carriage or frame which we couple by a detachable connection (by
preference) to the rear of the usual portable or traction engine. We thus
secure the main advantages (in working) of engines fitted permanently
with winding drums, and by the simple disconnection of the windlass
carriage leave the engine unencumbered and ready for ordinary farni
work.
In Sheets I. and II. of the accompanying Drawings we have shown
the manner of carrying out the first part of our Invention.
Fig. 1 is a side clevation of a traction engine fitted with our improved
detachable windlass and also with guide pulleys for leading the ropes to
and from the windlass; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 is
a partial front elevation of the engine.
A, A, are the windlass drums mounted loosely on the fixed axle B
which has its bearings on the windlass frame C. This frame is jointed
to the rear end of the traction engine by means of a transverse bolt C¹
which passes through lugs rivetted to the end of the engine. The rear
end of the frame C is supported by a pair of swivel wheels D, D, the
forks in which they are mounted being jointed to bracket pieces made
fast to the framing; E, E', are spur wheels made fast to the ends of
their respective drums A, A', and gearing into pinions F, F¹, loose on
the transverse shaft G which has its bearings in the standards C³ of the
framing C. These pinions are made fast to the shaft when required by
means of sliding clutches which are thrown into and out of action by an
arrangement of rock levers H, H, operated by a hand lever H¹. The

page_text: fulcrum pins on which these levers are pivotted are carried by a
transverse bar H2 bolted to the standards C². Keyed to one end of the
shaft G is an internal gear wheel I with which gears a pinion keyed
to one extremity of the shaft K which has its bearings also in the
standards C². To the opposite end of this shaft K is fitted a band
pulley L for receiving a band M from the driving pulley of the
engine.
In Fig. 2 the windlass is shown as out of action, but if it is desired
to haul in the rope 1 the attendant on the engine has merely to shift
the lever H³ to the dotted position. The pinion F will then be locked
by its clutch to the shaft G and the driving shaft K will through its
pinion in gear with the wheel I transmit rotary motion through the
shaft G, pinion F, and spur wheel E to the drum A, thereby causing it
to haul in the rope 1. The drum A' being free to turn will give out
slack rope until on the completion of the traverse of the tilling
implement the attendant shifts the hand lever H¹ and locks the
pinion F¹ to its shaft. The drum A¹ will then become the hauling drum
and wind up the rope 2, while the drum A in its turn supplies the
slack rope; N, N₁, is a pair of guide pulleys turning on stud axles
carried by bracket pieces O which are made fast to the bottom of the
fire chamber of the engine; P is a third guide pulley the stud axle of
which is carried by a bracket piece Q secured to the front of the engine.
These guide pulleys serve to lead off the hauling ropes in any required
direction.
In Fig. 2 the rope 1 is supposed to pass off directly to the tilling
implement and to be attached to the rear end thereof while the rope 2
which is led around the pulley P passes first to a travelling anchor at
the headland and is led back from the anchor pulley to the implement
to which it is attached. It will now be understood that by making
these ropes alternately hauling ropes the implement will be drawn from
headland to headland. The traverse of the engine after each bout will
be effected by the ordinary driving gear attached to the engine, and
the movement of the travelling anchor will be effected in the well-known
manner.
The above described arrangement of windlass and guide pulleys is
equally adapted to work on the stationary system, or on the double
engine direct system; in the latter case only one rope would be used
with each engine.

page_text: Instead of using a driving band as at M for communicating the power
of the engine to the windlass a shaft may be employed for connecting
the crank shaft with the windlass by the aid of bevil gearing.
In Sheet II. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a portable engine fitted
ó according to our Invention with a detachable windlass; and Fig. 5 is a
plan view of the same. In these Figures the same letters of reference
are used as in Figures 1 and 2, Sheet I., to denote the like parts. The
side bars of the frame C of the windlass are in this arrangement
elongated sufficiently to form a pair of shafts, to which a horse may be
harnessed when it is required to carry the detached windlass to or from
its work.
Instead of the sliding clutches described with reference to Fig. 2 for
throwing the drums into and out of action the windlass is supposed to
be fitted with our excentric sleeve shafts, described in the Specification
of a Patent granted to us on the Twenty-fifth February, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one, by turning which the spur wheels E or E¹
may be thrown into or out of gear with their respective pinions F, F¹,
as desired, which pinions are keyed to the shaft G, and receive motion
during the whole time that the shaft K is driven. The windlass frame
is mounted on wheels D, which run loosely on the shaft B of the
windlass. The ropes 1, 2, are led from their respective barrels to the
guide pulleys N, N¹, which are mounted on stud axles carried by a
frame Q at the front end of the engine.
When the engine is required for the ordinary work of a farm the
windlass is detached therefrom by the simple withdrawal of the coupling
bolt C¹, and the slipping off of the driving band M from the band
pulleys.
It should be remarked that this arrangement of our improved
machinery with two guide pulleys on the fore carriage of the engine is
specially adapted to work on the stationary engine system, the engine
and windlass being set down to work in the field from a fixed point, the
implement being hauled from side to side continuously between anchors
on opposite headlands.
When we desire to traverse the portable engine on the headland we
fit the engine with guide pulleys, similar to those shown on the traction
engine in Sheet I.

page_text: We also propose to use two engines with their attached windlasses set
at opposite sides of the field, the implement being hauled to and fro
between them. In this case the engines are alternately moved forward
the width of the bout, for which purpose the ropes of the idle drums are
anchored ahead of their respective engines. When therefore these drums
are set in action they will coil up their ropes and move their respective
engines forward as required.
The second part of our Invention relates to a novel mode of arranging
and combining two or more light implements in one framework, such as
drag harrows, light scarifiers, or clod crushers, which implements on
account of their width require play to adjust themselves to the irregular
surface of the ground.
In Sheet III. of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a carriage or
framing fitted with two light scarifiers, which are free to adjust them-
The
selves to their work; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.
framing consists mainly of a strong axle or beam A forming the rear
end, and a bent bar B forming the front of the framing. These parts
The
are connected together by means of bars of wrought iron C, C.
beam A is fitted with shaped socket pieces a, a, a, of cast iron (see the
detached view, Fig. 3). The vertical limb of this socket is slotted
horizontally to receive a stiffening bar A¹ that extends from end to end
of the framing. To the forward limb of the sockets a, a, a, the
bars C, C, C, are rivetted (as shewn best at Fig. 3), and the rear limb is
slotted vertically to receive hangers b, to which the scarifiers are con-
nected. The ends of the beam A are fitted with crank arms D, D',
which carry the stud axles for the travelling wheels E, E¹. The hubs of
these wheels are fitted with a ring of ratchet teeth c, and into the teeth
drop pawls & pendent from the crank arms D, D¹.
This arrangement while allowing the wheels to turn freely in response
to the direct pull of the hauling rope is intended to lock the pivot wheel
on the turning of the framing at the headland for the purpose to be
presently described.
F, F, are the scarifiers or cultivators connected by draught chains to
shackles e, e, pivotted to the bracing bars C, C, of the framing or
carriage, and suspended from front hangers f attached to the bracing
bars and from the rear hangers before-mentioned. G, G, are the
steering wheels fitted to the front of the framing, and in connection

page_text: therewith the usual steering gear is provided, which is actuated by the
attendant from his seat in the rear of the framing.
The implements it will be seen are attached to the hangers b, f, by
pins, which may be held in place by a split key or otherwise, and they
are themselves similarly connected to their respective supports. Thus
not only may the implements be readily attached and detached, but
their adjustment vertically with respect to the framing may be speedily
effected.
The hauling rope is shewn as attached to the lug g rivetted to the front
bar B. This bar is also fitted with guides h, h, for preventing the rope
from slipping off the bar, and its ends are also curved and fitted with a
guard that forms a fulcrum for the rope when hauling round the
implements on the completion of a bout.
o
The turning of the framing and implements at the land's end by the
action of the draught rope will have the effect of lifting the implements
out of the ground. This result is obtained by locking the pivot wheel,
as explained, the lateral drag therefore of the rope will cause the
cranked arms of the travelling wheels to rotate slightly backwards, and
thereby lift the framing and its attached implements a distance corre-
sponding to the chord of the arc described by the crank arms.
As soon
as the carrying frame is moved forward in the reverse direction the
cranked wheel arms are also reversed, and the implements again enter
the ground.
k, k, are stud axles fitted to the front and rear of the framing to
receive the travelling wheels E, E¹, when it is desired to transport the
carriage from place to place. This allows of the carriage moving end-
wise along roads and ways that might otherwise, from the excessive
width of the carriage, form an effectual bar to its progress.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of " Improvements
in Steam Cultivating Machinery," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent we claim,-
First. The application to traction and portable steam engines of a
detachable windlass and guide pulleys, arranged substantially in the
manner and for the purpose above explained.
Secondly. The arrangement of carriage or travelling frame as described
with reference to Sheet III. of the Drawings to be used in connection

page_text: with tilling implements, in the manner and for the purpose above set.
forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Howard and Edward
Tenney Bousfield, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the
Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight 5
hundred and seventy-four.