IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Guthrie, of Craigs, in the County
of Forfar, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PLOUGHS."
Sealed the 11th May 1869, and dated the 20th November 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Guthrie at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th November 1868.
I, ALEXANDER GUTHRIE, of Craigs, in the County of Forfar, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in the class of ploughs
which are wholly supported or carried on wheels, may be adapted for
ploughing one or more furrows at a time, according as the plough is
fitted with one or more sets of ploughing instruments. The front or
leading wheel of the plough is carried upon an adjustable crank arm,
which can be raised or lowered by the attendant by means of a lever,
and its position varied by means of a tangent screw and worm wheel
actuated by a shaft and handle extending backwards over the plough

page_text: frame. The hind wheel is carried on a bracket attached to the frame,
and whose position is adjustable. The side wheel is carried on an
adjustable lever, which can be raised or lowered and fixed in any
required position, according to the depth of furrow required, by means of
a notched quadrant and spring catch. Besides being supported on
wheels additional support may be given by sole plates, or these may be
dispensed with. The plough is guided by side plates, and it may be
actuated by steam or animal power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Guthrie in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
GUTHRIE, of Craigs, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, 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 Alexander Guthrie, Her special licence
that I, the said Alexander Guthrie, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Guthrie, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS;"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Guthrie,
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 Seal 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 Alexander Guthrie, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say)
This Invention relates to improvements in that class of ploughs in
which two or more furrows are turned simultaneously and the whole
weight of the implement is supported upon wheels.
The body of the plough consists of a rectangular frame to which the
coulters and mould boards are fastened in such a manner that they can
be readily shifted in position to form any required breadth of furrow.
The guiding and land side wheels are attached to this frame by means of
adjustable levers, which will admit of the coulters and mould boards
being raised or lowered and guided so as to form two or more furrows
simultaneously of uniform breadth and depth. These levers are under
the control of the attendant, and can be instantly shifted to suit the
varying nature of the soil without the necessity of stopping the horses.
The axle of the hind or trailing wheel is attached by a movable
bracket to the frame. This bracket is so formed that the trailing wheel
can readily be shifted to a greater or less angle so as to have more power
over the mould boards.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn my improvements as
applied to a two-furrow plough, Fig. 1 being a side elevation, and Fig. 2.
a plan of the same. Similar letters of reference are used to indicate
corresponding parts in these Figures.
The rectangular frame forming the body of the plough is composed of
two beams A, A', of malleable iron connected together by transverse
screw bolts B, B. This frame is carried by thrce round-rimmed
wheels C, D, and E. The leading or guiding wheel C has for its axle
the extremity of a cranked arm C', which is attached to a sliding boss or
clutch C. This clutch slides upon an upright spindle C³, which is
carried by the fixed bracket C on the beam A. Keyed to the top of this
spindle C³ is a toothed sector C³, which is actuated by a worm on the
shaft C. Fitted to the rear end of this shaft, which extends beyond the.
back of the frame, is a crank or hand wheel which is used for the purpose-
of guiding or turning the plough and altering or straightening the
furrow without stopping the plough. The width of the furrow is.
regulated by turning the nuts on the transverse screw bolts B, B,, which.
connect the two sides of the frame, and thus contracting or increasing

page_text: the
space between the sides. The cranked arm C₁ can also be shifted out-
wards or inwards to or from the frame to suit various widths of furrow.
The guiding or leading wheel C is raised or lowered by means of a forked
hand lever C', which is adjusted and held securely in its place by a
vertical screw C8 attached thereto by a swivel joint and turning in a
tapped bracket bearing projecting from the frame. By turning this
screw C by means of a winch handle keyed thereto the depth of the
off-side furrow will be regulated. The land-side wheel D is carried by a
hand lever D' pivotted to a projection on the beam A', to which pro-
jection is also affixed a notched quadrant D. This wheel D, when
lowered or raised, regulates the depth of the land-side furrow. The
lever D' is adjusted and held in position by means of a sliding spring
catch D³ which it carries engaging with the notched quadrant D³. The
hind or trailing wheel E is carried by an inclined spindle attached to the
movable bracket E'. This spindle is acted on by a half-round bead or
strip attached to the frame and forming a fulcrum for the bracket to
rock upon. By screwing up either of the clamping bolts of the bracket
the wheel is thereby made to take less or more of an angle to the vertical,
so as to give power to the mould boards to press up the furrow.
The mode of working the plough is as follows:-In cutting the first
set of furrows the leading wheel C will be raised to the same level as the
land wheel D, viz., the depth of the furrow above the "sock." The
width of the furrows being determined the coulters and mould boards are
set to correspond thereto by means of the nuts on the transverse screw
bolts B. The first set of furrows are now cut, at the end of which the
leading wheel C and land wheel D are depressed by means of their
respective hand levers, so as to raise the mould boards out of the ground.
On returning to cut a second set, as the leading wheel will now run in
the furrow nearest to those which are about to be cut, it is lowered to
the same level as the trailing wheel, which is the depth of the furrow,
the land wheel D being of course kept up on the unploughed land to
regulate this depth. The advantages of this plough are the simplicity
of the several parts and the diminution of friction in its action, thus
allowing, except on very heavy or stony land, of the cutting of the two
furrows being done with as much ease as with the ordinary plough
making only one furrow.
This improved plough requires very little attention on the part of the
ploughman when once adjusted, the levers only requiring to be raised or

page_text: depressed a little to suit any inequalities in the land, or when turning at
the ends into a new set of furrows.
It is to be understood that under this Invention are included ploughs
for cutting any desired number of furrows at once, which number will
be limited by the power employed. These ploughs may be worked by
steam power as well as by horses or oxen.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in Ploughs," and explained the manner in which the same may be carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The general arrangement of the plough frame, as herein-before
described and shown in the accompanying Drawing.
Second. The arrangement above described for adjusting the position
and for guiding and controlling the leading wheel, or any mere
modification thereof.
Third. The means herein-before described for adjusting the lever which
actuates the land-side wheel C, or any mere modification thereof.
Lastly. The means above described for adjusting the hind or trailing
wheel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Guthrie, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
ALEX³. GUTHRIE. (L.S.)