APPARATUS FOR CULTIVATING LAND
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Glass Balderston, of Bishopbriggs, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of
" APPARATUS FOR CULTIVATING LAND."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Glass Balderston
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th October 1857.
I, ROBERT GLASS BALDERSTON, of Bishopbriggs, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "APPARATUS FOR CULTIVATING LAND," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to improved apparatus for cultivating land by
means of steam or other suitable motive agent, and has for object the
treatment of the soil in a more effectual and economical manner than has
hitherto been attained.
According to one modification, the improved cultivating apparatus is fitted
upon the framing of a locomotive or self-propelling steain engine designed for
the purpose, but in some respects resembling a railway locomotive. The
cultivating mechanism consists of a digging blade, or a series of digging blades,
of a curved or other suitable form, attached or connected to a transverse
horizontal bar or frame, arranged to work in vertical slots in side pieces fixed
to the framing of the locomotive at or near its back end. The bar or frame
to which the digging blades are attached is made capable of turning, and it is
made to reciprocate in the vertical slots by means of a rod or rods fixed to it,

page_text: and to the end of which a horizontal combined with a vertical motion is given,
so as to turn the frame and the blades to a certain extent backwards and
forwards at the same time that they are raised or lowered. The requisite
movement may be imparted to the rod in a variety of ways. According to one
plan the steam cylinder of the locomotive is placed under the fire-box; at the
front end thereof, its piston rod working out horizontally or nearly so towards
the back end. The piston drives a transverse horizontal shaft, placed under
the boiler of the locomotive and just, in front of the fire-box; and this shaft
carries a fly wheel at one or both ends to equalise the motion. Above the
reciprocating digger bar or frame, and in the same vertical line, a second
transverse horizontal shaft is arranged, being worked from the fly-wheel shaft
by means of cranks and coupling rods. The upper ends of the rods attached
to and working the digger bar or frame are jointed upon cranks or eccentrics
on the horizontal shaft above the digger bar, and the rotation of this shaft
imparts the desired movement to the digging blades. According to another
plan, the upper ends of the rods attached to and working the digger bar
may move in guides of an elliptical or other form, which will give the desired
motion, being made to work in such guides by a connecting rod or rods jointed
to the piston rod or its crosshead.
It is preferred to mount the locomotive on three broad wheels, a single one
*below the smoke box, and two immediately in front of the fire box, the latter
wheels being connected with the fly-wheel shaft by suitable gearing, in such a
way that a slow progressive motion may be given to the machine as the digging
operation proceeds; or the progressive motion of the machine may be im-
parted to it independently of the engine working the digging details. When
the apparatus is in action, the digging blades enter the soil with their points
nearly vertical, and as they descend the turning action gradually carries the
blades round in a backward direction, in such a way that they lift the soil,
finally throwing up the subsoil behind, whilst the surface portions fall over and
are covered by the subsoil thrown up at the succeeding stroke. When the
turning action brings the blades above the surface of the soil, they rise and are
carried forward to repeat their stroke at a point in advance of the previous
stroke. The form and arrangement of the digging blades, and the manner of
working them, are susceptible of various modifications, but the essential feature
of the Invention is, the imparting a combined vertical and turning movement
to the digging blades.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed:
by the said Robert Glass Balderston in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
GLASS BALDERSTON, of Bishopbriggs, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me;
the said Robert Glass Balderston, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Glass Balderston, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Robert Glass Balderston, 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 "APPA-
RATUS FOR CULTIVATING LAND," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Robert Glass Balderston, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Robert Glass Balderston, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to improved apparatus for cultivating land by
means of steam or other suitable motive agent, and has for object the treat-
ment of the soil in a more effectual and economical manner than has hitherto
been attained.
According to one modification, the improved cultivating apparatus is fitted
upon the framing of a locomotive or self-propelling steam engine designed for
the purpose, but in some respects resembling a railway locomotive. The culti-
vating mechanism consists of a digging blade, or a series of digging blades or
forks, of a curved or other suitable form, attached or connected to a transverse

page_text: in side pieces fixed
The bar or frame
horizontal bar or frame arranged to work in vertical slots
to the framing of the locomotive at or near its back end.
to which the digging blades or forks are attached is made capable of turning,
and it is made to reciprocate in the vertical slots by means of a rod or rods
fixed to it, and to the end of which a horizontal combined with a vertical
motion is given, so as to turn the frame and the blades or forks to a certain
extent backwards and forwards at the same time that they are raised or
lowered. The requisite movement may be imparted to the rod in a variety of
ways. According to one plan, the steam cylinder of the locomotive is placed
under the smoke box, at the front end thereof, its piston rod working out
horizontally or nearly so towards the back end. The piston drives a transverse
horizontal shaft, placed under the boiler of the locomotive and just in front of
the fire box; and this shaft carries a fly wheel at one or both ends, to equalise
the motion. Above the reciprocating digger bar or frame, and in the same
vertical line, a second transverse horizontal shaft is arranged, being worked
from the fly-wheel shaft by means of cranks and coupling rods. The upper
ends of the rods attached to and working the digger bar or frame are jointed
upon cranks or eccentries on the horizontal shaft above the digger bar, and
the rotation of this shaft imparts the desreid movement to the digging blades.
According to another plan, the upper ends of the rods attached to and working
the digger bar may move in guides of an elliptical or other form, which will
give the desired motion, being made to work in such guides by a connecting
rod or rods jointed to the piston rod or its crosshead; or the upper ends. of
the rods may be made to work in the guides by means of wheels deriving
their motion from the fly-wheel shaft, and being formed with slots running in
a-radial or other suitable direction for the reception of pins on the ends of the
rods working the digger bar.
It is preferred to mount the locomotive on three broad wheels, a single one
below the smoke box, and, two. immediately in front of the fire box, the latter
wheels being connected with the fly-wheel shaft by suitable gearing in such a
way that a slow, continuous, or intermittent progressive motion may be given
. to the machine as the digging operation proceeds; or the progressive motion
of the machine may be imparted to it independently of the engine working the
digging details. When the apparatus is in action the digging blades enter the
soil with their points nearly vertical, and as they descend the turning action
gradually carries the blades round in a backward direction, in such a way that
they lift the soil, finally throwing up the subsoil behind, whilst the surface
portions fall over and are covered by the subsoil thrown up at the succeeding
stroke. When the turning action brings the blades above the surface of the

page_text: soil, they rise and are carried forward to repeat their stroke at a point in
advance of the previous stroke. The form and arrangement of the digging
blades, and the manner of working them, are susceptible of various modifica-
tions, but an essential feature of the Invention is, the imparting to the
digging blades a descending and ascending combined with a partial turning
movement.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I have
delineated upon a Sheet of Drawings hereunto attached, and shall now proceed
to particularly describe what I at present consider to be the best arrangement
for practically carrying out.my said Invention.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2 is a
back elevation, partly in section, of my improved steam cultivating engine;
Figure 3 is a partly sectioned plan of the engine with the boiler removed; and
Figure 4 is a diagram which will be herein-after referred to in explaining the
action of the digging blade; the like parts are marked with the same reference
letters in all the Figures. In this apparatus the boiler A is mounted upon a
frame consisting of two longitudinal beams B, and two transverse beams C,
and strengthened by iron corner plates. The apparatus is supported upon
three broad tyred wheels, a single one D at the front end, and a pair E under
the back end of the barrel of the boiler. The front wheel D turns loosely
upon its shaft or axle F, which is jointed upon a vertical pin carried by a
bracket G, projecting down from one of the front corner plates of the frame;
the corresponding bracket on the other side is formed with a horizontal slot
to receive the other end of the shaft or axle F, and to permit of its being
adjusted angularly to effect the turning of the engine in either direction by
means of a hand wheel and screwed rod, or other contrivance, not shown in the
Drawing. The two after wheels E are keyed on their axle H, which turns
in bearings arranged in side plates I, fixed to the after parts of the frame
pieces B; these side plates I also serving to carry a considerable portion of the
mechanism for actuating the digging instrument. In this instance a single
steam cylinder J is placed centrally beneath the front end of the frame, being
attached by flanges to the end transverse frame piece C, and to a second
transverse frame piece K. The piston rod works out through a stuffing box
in the back end of the cylinder, and by means of the connecting rod L drives
the fly-wheel shaft M, carried in bearings in the side plates I, and fitted with
a fly wheel M. Outside the side plates I, the fly-wheel shaft M carries on
each side a spur wheel O; each spur wheel O is in gear with a carrier wheel P,
mounted on a stud in the side plate I; and each carrier wheel P is in gear
with a spur wheel Q, mounted on a stud fixed in the outer piece R of a

page_text: species of adjustable frame; the two adjustable frames are connected and act
in concert, forming a kind of compound adjustable frame which carries the
digging instrument S. The inside plates T of this frame are centred upon
the studs of the carrier wheel P, and are adjustable round these studs in sucli
a way that the wheels P and Q are always in gear. The outer pieces R are
fixed to the inside plates T by means of studs U, and serve to carry the studs
upon which the wheels Q are supported and turn, these wheels having no
internal support. The digging instrument S consists in this instance of a
single curved blade, the lower edge of which is by preference serrated. The
blade S is carried by means of arms V upon a transverse horizontal bar W,
arranged to work in slots formed in downward projecting portions X of the
frame plates T. Outside the plates T, the bar W has fixed on it a pair of
levers Y, the upper ends of which rising up between the plates T and the
wheels Q, are formed or fitted with pins Z, each pin Z working in a guide
groove a, formed in the corresponding plate T, and in a radial slot in the
corresponding wheel Q. The groove a in the plate T is of an irregular form,
designed to give the desired motion to the digging blade S, whilst the wheels
Q serve to propel the ends of the levers Y along the groove a; the slots in
the wheels permitting the ends of the levers to follow the irregularities of the
groove. I have in the Diagram, Figure 4, indicated the form of groove a, by
which what at present believe to be the most suitable motion is given to
the digging blade S. In Figure 4 I have also indicated four different positions
of the levers Y and digging blade S; in the position b, b¹, (shown in red) the
edge of the blade is about to enter the soil in descending; at c, c¹, (shown in
yellow) it is at its lowest point; at p, p', (shown in green) it is at its most
backward point; and at d, d', (shown in blue) it is just above the level of the
soil in ascending and moving forward for a fresh stroke. In the Drawing
hereunto appended the connecting rod L, the crank , and the link rare
delineated in positions not according with those of the other moving details;
the correct positions of these parts are however shown by the blue lines L¹, v¹,
and . The forward motion of the machine takes place whilst the digging
instrument S is passing from the position d, d', Figure 4, to the position b, b¹,
so that at the end of the forward shift the edge of the digging instrument will
be at t instead of at 6', and a digging stroke will commence at that point in
advance of the preceding stroke. It is preferred to arrange the movement of
the digging blade S, so that a level surface would remain were the worked
soil removed; in other words, the guide groove a is by preference of such a
form as to cause the digging blade to act to a uniform depth at all points
without leaving a series of ridges undug. A pair of coulters e are fitted in

page_text: advance of the digging blade S, to the outside bearings of the axle H of the
carrying wheels E, and serve to separate the soil about to be operated upon
from that on either side. When the digging blade S is in action a slow
intermittent progressive motion is given to the machine by means of the
wheels E, their axle H having fixed on it a ratchet wheel f, which is acted
upon by a pall 9 at each revolution of the shaft M. The pall g is carried by
a pair of levers h, loose on the axle H, and connected by a link r to the strap
of the connecting rod L. When the digging blade S is not in action the
engine may be made to progress more rapidly by putting into gear a pinion
i on the shaft M, this pinion then driving a spur wheel j, fast on the axle H.
The digging blade may be adjusted.in different positions (within certain limits),
or it may be lifted quite out of range of the soil, by moving the adjustable
frame of which the plates T form part. These plates T are arranged to turn
about the studs of the wheel P, as before mentioned, and are fitted or formed
with segmental racks k, in gear with which are pinions 1, upon a transverse
horizontal spindle m, carried in bearings in the side frame plates I. The
spindle m is turned by means of handles, and and the adjustable frame raised
or lowered as may be required, and fixed in any position by catches or other
suitable contrivances. The plates T are recessed to give space to the guide
grooves a, and are arranged to work in corresponding recesses formed in the
fixed frame plates I, concentrically with the centres about which the plates T
turn. When it is desired to give the machine a progressive motion without
actuating the digging blade S, the spur wheels O are thrown out of gear by
disengaging the clutches n, the shaft M then rotating without turning the
wheels O. The fly-wheel shaft M is prolonged on one side to receive, if
desired, a pulley, indicated by dotted lines at s, on which pulley a belt may be
placed to drive other machinery..
Having now particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I must observe that
I do not restrict myself to the precise details which I have herein described
and delineated, nor do I claim to have invented each separate detail thus
described or delineated; but what I believe to be 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 or combination of machinery or apparatus
for cultivating land herein-before described and delineated.
Second, the application and use in automatic locomotive digging or cultiva-
ting machines of a blade or blades or other digging instrument or instruments
attached to a transverse bar to which a descending and ascending combined

page_text: or an angular backward
WIL partial tur
as herein-before described.
motion is imparted,
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Glass Balderston, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
R. G. BALDERSTON. (L.S.)
EDMUND HUNT, Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.