IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DISTRIBUTING OVER THE SURFACE OF LAND STABLE AND FARMYARD MANURE AND OTHER COMPOSTS
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Braby at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
August 1875.
I, JAMES BRABY, of Maybanks, in the Parish of Ewhurst, in the
County of Surrey, one of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR DISTRIBUTING OVER THE SURFACE OF LAND STABLE AND FARMYARD MANURE
AND OTHER COMPOSTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improved machinery for distributing over the
surface of land stable and farmyard manure and other composts,
relates to a novel arrangement of parts whereby the intended object
may be effected by simply drawing or propelling the machine (when
attached to a loaded cart or waggon) over the surface of the ground
intended to be manured.
The distributing apparatus consists principally of a series of spikes or
prongs or analogous instruments arranged (by preference excentrically)
round a shaft which is temporarily mounted in bearings attached to the
hinder part of a cart or waggon in which the manure is placed.

page_text: Motion is communicated to the spiked shaft by a chain or band, or
other analogous device, working over a pulley on the axle of a pair of
travelling wheels of a frame on which the attendant sits. This travelling
frame is attached to the hinder part of the cart or waggon in any
convenient manner, but in preference by means of an eye passed over a
central pin or perch bolt. On the cart or waggon being drawn forward
the running wheels will of course be set in motion, and the axle on
which they are mounted will of course revolve and will actuate the
chain or band which passes over the pulley on the axle and over a
similar pulley on the central part of the spiked shaft. This causes the
spikes to rotate, and the manure or dung being placed in contact with
the spikes it will be dragged or forked out from the cart or waggon and
thrown over and be distributed over the surface of the land as the dung
cart or waggon is drawn forward.
A seat can be fixed on the framing of the apparatus for the operator
to sit upon in such a position that he can use a long fork or other
implement to drag the manure towards the rotating spikes when
necessary, or the manure can be forced against the spikes by the operator
from inside the cart or waggon. By the framing of the machine being
attached to the hinder part of the dung cart or waggon by a centre pin
or perch bolt it will allow it to turn at an angle while at work if
desired.
The spikes of the distributing shaft being arranged excentrically
round the shaft they will have a kind of digging motion imparted to
them as they rotate. The spikes may also be made to project through a
cylinder or a series of rings mounted excentrically so that the spikes in
rotating with their shaft will be drawn in and thrust out alternately,
by which means the spikes will be cleared of any manure that may
tend to adhere thereto; or if preferred a second rotating spiked shaft
may be used to clear the spikes of the distributor.
In order to adapt the spiked distributor with facility to the dung cart
or waggon, a pair of forked bearings are fixed on to the pommels of the
cart so that the spiked shaft can be easily dropped therein or lifted
therefrom by the attendant. By this arrangement the distributing
apparatus may be adapted to any number of dung carts in succession
with the greatest facility, it being only necessary to provide cach cart
(at the cost of a few shillings) with the forked bearings to support the

page_text: spiked shaft. If desired the spiked distributing shaft may be mounted
in bearings in the frame of the distributing apparatus so as to be
altogether detached from the cart, the framing of the apparatus being
temporarily connected to the cart by being simply hooked thereto.
When this arrangement is adapted the frame should be jointed so that
it may be allowed to turn at an angle when at work.
It will now be understood that by means of my improved manure
distributing apparatus, which is of a very simple and inexpensive
character, farmyard manure or other composts can be evenly spread over
the surface of land with great facility in less time and at less cost per
acre than it can be deposited in heaps on the land in the usual way from
the cart preparatory to spreading.