IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1885

page_text: We ALEXANDER SIMPSON, Blacksmith WILLIAM LAW and DAVID ARNOT
Ironmongers all of 112 High Street Elgin North Britain do hereby declare the
nature of invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS" to be as follows:--
This Invention relates to improvements in ploughs.
In this plough the form of the ordinary plough has as far as possible been
preserved The beam and handles are firmly bolted together the whole frame
being thus made perfectly rigid-The breast is so constructed that a broad or
Darrow share can be used with equa facility, thus rendering the plough capable
of turning over a broad or narrow furrow, as the different operations in preparing
the land for the different kinds of crops may render necessary; as far as we are
aware this is a novelty in ploughs-The ordinary plough cannot be used with a
broad share, nor can the chilled plough as now made be used with a narrow share.
It is very advantageous that a plough should admit of this change in the breadth
of share being easily accomplished as the various styles of work often require it.
Ploughs as at present made whether of the ordinary style or chilled are each of
a fixed form that is to say, the shape of the working parts cannot be easily changed
and such a plough has to be used in the same form whatever may be the kind of
work to be done-Now the different varieties of soils and the various modes of
preparing the land for the different crops require that parts of the plough shall be
readily and easily interchangeable for parts formed for any special work.
This object is attained as follows:-A part of the mould board will be so
constructed that it can be removed by simply loosening a bolt when another
corresponding part of suitable form can be easily attached the bolt also acts as a
pivot by which the mould board can be raised or lowered-A screwed rod working
in a slide is used for fixing it in position-the means allowing the mould board to
be raised or lowered are of great service as the mouldboard can thereby be made
to bear on the proper part of the furrow at any depth. These small mould boards
will all be of a new and special form-The width and depth of furrow can be
regulated as in the ordinary plough.

page_text: We ALEXANDER SIMPSON, WILLIAM LAW, DAVID ARNOT of Elgin North
Britain 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in ploughs.
In this plough the form of the ordinary plough has as far as possible been
preserved The beam and handles are firmly bolted together the whole frame
being thus made perfectly rigid. The breast is so constructed that a broad or
narrow share can be used with equal facility thus rendering the plough capable
of turning over a broad or narrow furrow as the different operations in preparing
the land for the different kinds of crops may render necessary; as far as I am
aware this is a novelty in ploughs. The ordinary plough cannot be used with
a broad share nor can the chilled plough as now made be used with a narrow
share. It is very advantageous that a plough should admit of this change in the
breadth of share being easily accomplished as the various styles of work often
*require it.
Ploughs as at present made whether of the ordinary style or chilled are each of
a fixed form that is to say the shape of the working parts cannot be easily changed
and such a plough has to be used in the same form whatever may be the kind of
work to be done. Now the different varieties of soils and the various modes of
preparing the land for the different crops require that parts of the plough shall be
readily and easily interchangeable for parts formed for any special work. This
object is attained as follows:-
A part of the mould board will be so constructed that it can be removed by simply
loosening a bolt when another corresponding part of suitable form can be easily
attached, the bolt also acts as a pivot by which the mould board can be raised or
lowered. A screwed rod working in a slide is used for fixing it in position-the
means allowing the mould board to be raised or lowered are of great service as the
mould board can thereby be made to bear on the proper part of the furrow at any
depth. These small mould boards will all be of a new and special form. The
width and depth of furrow can be regulated as in the ordinary plough.
The mould board A which is on the hollow principle is so arranged that it can
be raised or lowered, the bolt A' acting as a pivot and the bolt B moving in a
slide C which is attached to the frame of the plough. By this means the mould
board can be set properly. to any depth of work the furrows can likewise be turned
over loosely or pressed firmly together by this arrangement for when the mould
board is low it will, press the lower part of the furrow together but when raised it
will pass lightly over the subsoil loosened by the share and turn over the upper
part of the furrow leaving the soil loose and open for winter frost.
The tail D attached to the mould board can by the connecting rod D¹ and
slide. D² be .adjusted in a horizontal direction the joint D³ allowing it to move
independently of the mould board A so as to bear heavily or lightly on the upper
part of the furrow when turned over, this tail is very useful for pulverizing the
surface of the ploughed land but when made so as to be in one fixed position only
it may have too much breaking power for one kind of soil and too little for another

page_text: this holds specially true when ploughing lea or clean land for grain after turnips
hitherto a tail on similar lines has been fitted to Anglo American ploughs but not
with this horizontal adjustment.
The mould board and breast are adapted to work equally well with shares of
different widths as the width of furrow it is desired to turn over requires. A broad
share is not suitable for a narrow furrow for the following reasons.
When a
furrow is completely separated by a broad share from the under soil the mould
board in stiff hard soil may not twist the furrow over but merely press it aside
unturned but when the share is one or two inches narrower than the width of
furrow the tendency to press the furrow aside unturned is prevented because the
unseparated edge of the furrow slice partially maintains its connection with the
under soil until the opposite side of the slice is raised to a point nearly perpen-
dicular to the unseparated edge. The turning of the furrow thus far is the most
difficult part of the operation. When the furrow is narrow and the soil hard and
stiff but when to this point it is successful the remainder of the operation is easy
and certain. For broad deep ploughing in stubble & a broad share is necessary to
turn over the width of furrow required in this style of work.
The vertical position of the sole plate E can be adjusted as seen in Figure 1 by
the slide E and bolt E the leading end of E being pivoted at F upon the
"landside" G; this is designed to give the share the necessary inclination into the
earth so much required in hard sub soils, this inclination gradually wears off as
the sole plate and share wear and this adjusting slide is a novel and simple way of
remedying the defect.
The skim-coulter H can be fitted and adjusted on the blade I of an ordinary
coulter by the buckle K and pinching screws L as shown in Figure 3; by this
means the skim coulter and common coulter can be used together or separately as
each part can be simply and perfectly adjusted.
Although we have stated that the beam and handles are similar to the ordinary
plough we can adapt these improvements to other forms of beam and handles either
of wood or iron and likewise can modify where practicable the beam and handles
of ploughs at present in use so as to be fitted with these new parts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is: -
1. In a plough an adjustable mould board such as A pivotted at its leading end
and adapted to be raised or lowered substantially as specified.
2. In a plough the combination with the mould board of a tail piece such as D
capable of horizontal adjustment substantially as specified.
3. The method of adapting a plough to the width of the furrow by so
constructing it that shares of different widths may be used with it substantially
as specified.
4. In a plough an adjustable sole plate such as E pivotted at its leading end and
adapted to be raised or lowered substantially as specified.
5. In a plough the method of fixing and adjusting the skim coulter substantially
as specified.