IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING GUTTERS FOR IRRIGATING LAND, AND FOR CUTTING OTHER SURFACE DRAINS OR GUTTERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bickford, of Crediton, in the County of Devon,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING GUTTERS
FOR IRRIGATING LAND, AND FOR CUTTING OTHER SURFACE DRAINS OR
GUTTERS."
Sealed the 8th December 1857, and dated the 9th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bickford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
June 1857.
I, JOHN BICKFORD, of Crediton, in the County of Devon, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING GUTTERS FOR IRRIGATING LAND, AND FOR CUTTING OTHER SURFACE
DRAINS OR GUTTERS," to be as follows:-
The machinery herein-after described is constructed for the purpose of
cutting gutters for irrigating land, or for cutting surface drains, or for cutting
off the first line of turf for draining operations. The principal features of the
machine are two parallel bars, one fixed to cross pieces at both ends, and the
other sliding in grooves in the said cross pieces, so as to admit of the distances
between the two bars being increased or diminished; a rack, pinion, and winch,
serve to adjust this arrangement and preserve the parallelism. The machine
is supported in front by two wheels, and is worked behind by means of handles
similar to a plough. From the frames or bars, above described, depend two

page_text: vertical knives for cutting the sides, and two plates for cutting the bottoms of
the gutters. The knives are abreast, and are adjusted by means of four
The plates follow the knives, and make a horizontal cut at the depth
required below the surface. The point of draught is made in a central
position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bickford in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BICKFORD, of Crediton, in the County of Devon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Bickford, Her special licence that I, the said John Bickford, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Bickford, 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 MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
'GUTTERS FOR IRRIGATING LAND, AND FOR CUTTING OTHER SURFACE DRAINS OR
GUTTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Bickford,
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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Bickford, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement.
The machinery herein-after described is constructed for the purpose of
cutting the watering gutters used in my system of irrigation, viz., the
arrangement of little gutters 5 inches in width by 2 inches in depth, and the

page_text: tapering-shaped gutters (gradually diminishing in width from 12 inches, more
or less, at one end to about 4 in' at the other, adjusting the size to the
quantity of water required to be used,) by which the former are supplied: (see
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xiii., part 1); and.
also for the purpose of cutting gutters for irrigating land, or for cutting surface
drains, or for cutting off the first line of turf for draining operations. The
principal features of the machine are two parallel bars, one fixed to cross-
pieces at both ends, and the other sliding in grooves in the said cross pieces,
so as to admit of the distances between the bars being increased or diminished.
A rack, pinion, and winch, serve to adjust the arrangement and preserve the
parallelism. The machine is supported in front by two wheels, and is worked
behind by means of handles similar to a plough. From the bars, above
described, depend two vertical knives for cutting the sides, and two shares for
cutting the bottom of the gutters. The knives are abreast, and are adjusted
by means of screws. The shares follow the knives, and make a horizontal cut
at the depth required below the surface. The point of draught is made in a
central position.
The plough is represented by the annexed Drawing. Fig. 1 is a side-
elevation; and Fig. 2 is a plan; Figs. 3 & 4 shew the shares; Fig. 5 shews
the knives; Fig. 6 shews the racks & pinions, with the pinion fixed and the
rack moveable; Fig. 7 shews the racks and pinions, with the racks fixed and
the pinions moveable. Figs. 6 & 7 are drawn to a scale of 3 in. to one foot, the-
rest of the Figures are 2 in. to one foot.
The machine consists of two parallel bars H, H', Figs. 1 & 2, one of them.
being fixed to the cross pieces a, a, Fig. 2, and the other bar El¹ sliding
laterally in two grooves, provided one in each of the said cross pieces, so as to
admit of the distance in width between the bars being increased or diminished
at pleasure, but at the same time keeping the parallel position both vertical
and horizontal.
In order to perform this, a rack is provided in (or attached to or near) the
cross pieces a, a, Fig. 2, and a small cog wheel works each of the racks; that
is to say, the placing two cog wheels, one for each rack, on the same rod, and..
attached to the sliding bar H', effects an exactly similar movement at each
end of the frame, and preserves a parallelism. In this case the racks are
stationary, and the pinion travels with the bar. This arrangement is shewn
in Fig. 7, which is a view of the head cross piece. a, b, & c, d, are raised
edges to form the grooves, shewn at A, Fig. 7, which is section of either
end; e, f, is another groove within the former, to give a bearing to the end
of the rid carrying the wheel, as shewn at B, Fig. 7, which is a section with

page_text: the wheel in it; 1, 2, 3, 4, are merely the beadings. The cross piece which
takes the handles is converse to the above, (that is, facing it,) but e, f, is cut
quite through, to allow the rod to pass through to take the winch, which is
a sliding rod C, Fig. 7, to admit of working close to the right handle. One of
the modes of construction which I adopt for this purpose is represented by
Fig. 6. a is a rack; b, c, is a groove into which the rack exactly fits; d is a
bed in the cross piece to receive the pinion. The parts are put together as
shewn by A, Fig. 6; the rack travels in the groove carrying the bar H, Fig. 1,
and the pinion is stationary. These two cog wheels or pinions are connected by
a rod b, Fig. 2, which is carried through the hind cross piece a, Fig. 2, and
terminates in the form of a crank, and thus may be worked by the hand of the
driver. The movement of the bars (to and from each other) is horizontal,
which is the position of the frame. The fore end of the frame is supported at
any required height from the ground by two wheels I, I, one at each end of
the front cross piece, standing parallel with each other, but the end of the
sliding bar C is carried beyond the groove e, f, Fig. 6, in the cross piece far
enough for the wheel I', Fig. 2, on that side to be fixed to it, and not to the
cross piece itself, so that the width between the wheels shall be more or less,
as the frame is expanded, or the contrary. The other end of this frame has
handles K, K, provided to it, similar to those of a plough.
The use of the frame is to hold two vertical knives M, M', Figs. 1 & 2,
for cutting the sides, and two shares or spades, Fig. 3, C, and Figs. 1 & 4, N,
for cutting the bottom of the gutters; one knife and one share or spade are
fixed to each "bar" of the frame. The knives M, M, Figs. 1 & 2, are
attached to the bars, one to each, abreast of each other, by means similar to
that used for attaching a plough coulter, except that the knives M, M', Figs.
1 & 2, from their shape require to be inclined backward in the line of motion;
and as a very nice adjustment of the edge is necessary, it is set by means of
four screws for each knife, as shewn, pr. drawing; the points of the screws
coming through the bar, and bearing against the stem of the knife M', which
is kept against the points of these screws by another screw i, Fig. 2, pressing
on the other side of the stem.
Following the knife is the share or spade for making the horizontal cut at
the depth required below the surface; the right-hand one C, Figure 3, has its
stem attached to the right-hand side of its share or spade, and the left-hand
one N has its stem attached to the left side, thus holding the horizontal plates
by their sides to admit of the soil and turf passing between them. The plates
are so matched that when the machine is drawn in, the shares slip one over
the other. The machine can be used either with one share or plate or both,

page_text: at pleasure, and there is a mould plate A, B, to turn out the turf, which
can be used or not, as circumstances may require.
As gutters for irrigation are of necessity much curved or crooked, it is not
desirable to have the machine too much controlled by the horse; the point of
draught in my plough is therefore thrown back just over the cutting by means
of two rods k, k, Fig. 2, (one fastened by a clasp and hinge to each bar,)
meeting at the point of draught by a rather long angle, and there taking hold
of another rod 1 (forming a joint), and which, passing over the front cross
piece and under a bar to keep it in place, forms the tug to attach the horse.
The point of draught is thus preserved in a central position whatever the
expansion may be, and the workman (having the power of doing so) regulates
the width of it to his mind, and having the power of deviating right or left in
his own hand, he can cut the gutter with the nicest precision to the figure or
position required.
The scale or size of the machine will vary according to the kind of work
required; that for irrigation is about the weight of an ordinary plough, and
cuts from about four inches to about one foot in width, depth in proportion.
Larger gutters will require a larger scale.
The share or spade N, Figures 1 & 4, is 4 inches wide (or about), and as
it is sometimes desirable to add to the width of it, because when the knives
M, M', Figures 1 & 2, are expanded 3 inches more than this width, (that is
to say, seven inches wide,) the spade doos not clear its work so nicely as could
be wished, then in this case add the piece m, Figure 4, which can be pulled
out from under the spade to the width required, pushed back, or taken off at
pleasure.
I construct this gutter or drain plough in three different ways. In the
first form, a knife and share in the left-hand bar and a knife and share.
(converse to the others) in the right-hand bar. At the ends are racks and
pinions for widening or narrowing the space between the cutters; at D,
Figure 2, is a tightening screw, to prevent the racks shifting from any
width they are required to stand; (securing one end holds both of them).
E, F, Figure 2, are the clasps of the draught rods, which are united at
an angle and by a joint to a single rod to preserve a central draught
at any width, a pin being inserted in the rods to form a joint, and to
allow the rod to work sideways horizontally to the right and left, to give
the ploughman power of declining to the right or left from the horse track.
This plough cuts gutters of any width within the compass of the plough,
the share C, Figure 3, sliding under the other share in very narrow
gutters, and in very wide ones the uncut space between the shares divides of

page_text: itself from the bottom of the gutter by the lifting of the turf, caused by the
passing of the shares on each side. The turf is then taken out by a workman.
If not wide enough, the plough can be set for another slice, to be taken off
from either side. If not deep enough, the plough will do the digging or
bottoming. This is found very useful. It cuts the tapering-shaped gutters of
my system of irrigation, making the size correct, which cannot be done by
hand with the precision desired. In this form the turf is not taken out by the
plough.
In the second form, I take out C from off the clasp in Figure 2 and put on
A, B, Figures 1 & 2, as before. A and B shew a mould plate.
This form cuts gutters smaller than the former and throws out the turf on
the side. The size is not confined to the width of the share. The knives may
be widened an inch or two, and the adhesion will cause the whole piece to
come out. In case greater width is required than is cut clean by the share,
under the share is a small plate m, Fig. 4, with a "slop mortice" o, Fig. 4,
which can be pulled out so as to widen the mouth of the share as much as is
required to cut the work clean.
In the third form, I take off the rod from the clasp E, Figure 2, and put it
upon the rod of the clasp F, Figure 2, by putting the bolt down through both
rods, thus in effect making one rod with a joint in it. I then take ont the
screw D, Figure 2, and remove the right-hand bar altogether, taking out the
racks by withdrawing the screws h, h, Fig. 2; take the knife G, Fig. 5, and
attach it to the knife M, Figures 2 & 5, of the left-hand bar by a screw or
screws, Fig. 5, 9, 9, thus forming two blades to the one stem fixed at a distance
to cut 5 inches wide.
A clasp is provided to take the support of the mould plate A, which can
be attached by the same tightening screw D, and slide as before to any
required width in the same groove, and a clasp of any form which must secure
the right-hand wheel to the cross piece in its former place.
The use of this is to cut the small gutters of my system of irrigation and
turn out the turf of one uniform size only. The double knife of the third form
cuts very well as far as it goes, but will not make more than one size. This
form would be lighter for doing that sort of work than the whole plough, and
would be cheaper in cost of purchase.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I do not confine
myself to the precise details of the machinery, so long as the peculiar character
of either part of my Invention be retained, and I make no claim to any of the
mechanical parts taken separately; but I claim the combination of machinery,

page_text: substantially as herein-before described, and shewn by the Drawings, for the
purpose of cutting gutters or drains, or any mere modification of such
combination.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bickford, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
JN° BICKFORD (L.S.)