IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DOUBLE-FURROW PLOUGHS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Sellar, of Huntly, in the County of
Aberdeen, North Britain, Agricultural Implement Maker, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DOUBLE-FURROW
PLOUGHS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Sellar at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th July 1870.
I, ROBERT SELLAR, of Huntly, in the County of Aberdeen, North
Britain, Agricultural Implement Maker, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DOUBLE-
FURROW PLOUGHS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improved arrangements in the con-
struction of double-furrow ploughs whereby greater accuracy in steering
or guiding the implement is secured, with diminution of labour to the

page_text: attendant both while the plough is in the act of cutting and turning the
furrows and also in the necessary turning of the plough. Instead of
guiding the plough by a lever attached to the fore wheel only the
left hand or "land" wheel is also connected with the steering lever,
thereby giving greater power in turning the plough and guiding it
in a straight line; the fore wheel is connected by a moveable cross bar
with a lever placed longitudinally, and which lever also forms the beam,
or fore part of the plough; under the last-mentioned lever is placed a
bar connected therewith at the fore end by corresponding pieces or
transverse levers which act in the same way as the bars of a parallel
ruler, the other end of such bar being provided with a screw thread and
passing through an eye attached to or formed on the lever; beyond
this eye is a handle constructed with a female screw which fits the screw
thread on the end of the bar the whole resting on a stud which projects
from the frame of the plough. By turning the screwed handle the
lever and bar are separated or connected as may be desired by the action
of the transverse levers pressing the bar against the before-mentioned
stud, and thereby the front of the lever to which the fore wheel is
attached is raised or depressed, and the depth at which it is desired the
plough shall work is regulated without stopping the plough. The land
wheel is regulated by means of similar arrangements. The fore and
trail wheels are bevil wheels and are placed in an inclined position.
The fore and land wheels are mounted on the same principles as those
upon which ordinary castors are arranged, and are connected by crank
axles with jointed connecting rods. The working position of the land
wheel is on the surface of the land, and that of the fore and trail wheels
in the bottoms of the furrows, but when the plough is to be brought
out at the end of the furrows the land wheel is depressed by the use of
the lever to which it is attached to the same level as the others, such
action being permitted by the connecting rods being jointed and by a
loose joint in the crank, of the land wheel. The steering lever is con-
structed with an oblong opening therein through which a stud forming
part of the beforce-mentioned longitudinal lever passes. This stud has a
.collar on which the steering lever partly rests, and to which it is loosely
secured by a screw nut or otherwise. The fore end of the steering lever
has a prong-like joint which takes hold on each side of the connecting
rods and whereby the wheels can be made to turn the plough or guide
it straight as may be desired. In order to keep the wheels steady a

page_text: notched segment is attached to the first mentioned longitudinal lever
with a corresponding feather-edged piece on the under side of the
steering lever. When it is desired to disconnect the lever from the
wheels all that is required is simply to pull it back, the oblong opening
and the prong-like joint enabling this to be done.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Sellar in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th January 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SELLAR, of Huntly, in the County of Aberdeen, North Britain,
Agricultural Implement Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Sellar, Her special licence that I,
the said Robert Sellar, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as,
I, the said Robert Sellar, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION
OF DOUBLE-FURROW PLOUGHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Robert Sellar, 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.

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:
-
My said Invention consists in certain improved arrangements in the
construction of double-furrow ploughs whereby greater accuracy in
steering or guiding the implement is secured with diminution of labour
to the attendant both while the plough is in the act of cutting and
turning the furrows and also in the necessary turning of the plough.
Instead of guiding the plough by a lever attached to the fore wheel only
the left hand or "land" wheel is also connected with the steering lever
thereby giving greater power in turning the plough and guiding it in a
straight line. Instead of the steering lever being attached to the land
and fore wheels it may be connected directly with the trail wheel as
shewn in the Drawings; the fore wheel may if desired be connected
by a moveable cross bar with a lever placed longitudinally, and which
lever also forms the beam or fore part of the plough; under the last-
mentioned lever is placed a bar connected therewith at the fore end by
corresponding pieces or transverse levers which act in the same way
as the bars of a parallel ruler, the other end of such bar being provided
with a screw thread, and passing through an eye attached to or formed
on the lever; beyond this eye is a handle constructed with a female
screw which fits the screw thread on the end of the bar, the whole
resting on a stud which projects from the frame of the plough. By
turning the screwed handle the lever and bar are separated or connected
as may be desired by the action of the transverse levers pressing the bar
against the before-mentioned stud, and thereby the front of the lever to
which the fore wheel is attached is raised or depressed, and the depth at
which it is desired the plough shall work is regulated without stopping
the plough. The land wheel is regulated by means of similar
arrangements. The fore and trail wheels are bevil wheels, and are placed
in an inclined. position. The fore and land wheels are mounted on the
same principles as those upon which ordinary castors are arranged, and
are connected by crank axles with jointed connecting rods. Instead of
the fore and land wheels being connected it is sometimes preferable to
form the connection between the fore and trail wheels. This modifi-
cation is shewn in the Drawings. The working position of the land
wheel is on the surface of the land, and that of the fore and trail wheels

page_text: in the bottoms of the furrows, but when the plough is to be brought
out at the end of the furrows the land wheel is depressed by the use of
the lever, to which it is attached, to the same level as the others, such
action being permitted by the connecting rods being jointed and by a loose
joint in the crank of the land wheel. The steering lever is constructed
with an oblong opening therein through which a stud forming part of
the before-mentioned longitudinal lever passes; this stud has a collar
on which the steering lever partly rests and to which it is loosely secured
by a screw nut or otherwise. The fore end of the steering lever has a
prong-like joint which takes hold on each side of the connecting rods,
and whereby the wheels can be made to turn the plough or guide it
straight as may be desired. In order to keep the wheels steady a notched
segment is attached to the first-mentioned longitudinal lever with a
corresponding feather-edged piece on the under side of the steering
lever. When it is desired to disconnect the lever from the wheels all
that is required is simply to pull it back, the oblong opening and the
prong-like joint enabling this to be done. Sometimes it is preferred to
use the following method of disconnecting the steering lever :- Instead
of simply drawing back the steering lever in order to disconnect it from
the wheels the handle of the lever is connected with a screwed rod
which passes underneath the lever. By simply giving the handle a
turn the point of the rod presses against the upright part of the trail
wheel axle which prevents the feather-edge piece of the lever from
getting into the notched segment. By this arrangement the wheels
having nothing to hold them, and the fore wheel being mounted on the
same principle as an ordinary castor will follow round after the horses
in turning, and from its connections with the trail wheel the latter will
also take a corresponding direction, and having the steering wheel con-
nccted with the fore and trail wheels allows the plough to turn in a
space equal to its own length, whereas by the method first described
the plough requires a much larger space for the purpose of turning.
I will now proceed to refer to the accompanying Drawings from
which the nature of my said Invention will be more clearly
understood.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the plough; Figure 2 is a plan, and
Figures 3 and 4 represent detached parts.
A, A, is the frame and beam by which the plough is drawn, having a

page_text: square stud projecting from each side, and also a cross bar midway
between these studs; B, B, represent what are called the skifes or bodies
which fit on to these studs and cross bar and are securely fastened by
cotter pins. To the skifes are attached the shares, coulters, and mould
boards of the plough; the skife with its attachments which is placed
behind the other one can be shifted so as to allow of its coulter cutting
any required breadth of furrow. The lever: C with its fore wheel is
connected by a moveable cross bar to the frame, so that it can be moved
to the right or left to admit of the required breadth of furrow being cut
by the first coulter, the distance to the right which the fore wheel is
from the coulter being the breadth of furrow which will be cut by
this coulter in working the plough. Underneath the lever C is a bar
connected therewith, the fore end thereof being of an angular shape,
and the other end being provided with a screw thread and passing
through an eye formed in the lever. Beyond this eye is a handle con-
structed with a female screw which fits the screw thread on the end of
the bar, the whole resting on a stud formed on the end of the moveable
cross bar above referred to.
By turning the screwed handle the bar
with its angular shaped end is drawn backward or forward as may be
required, and thereby the point of the lever to which the fore wheel is
attached is raised or depressed, and the depth of the furrow regulated
without stopping the plough. The action of the lever with its parallel
ruler-like bars to which the land wheel is attached is of a similar
character, and when the plough requires to be taken and kept out of the
ground, as is the case when turning at the ends of fields preparatory to
being taken on fresh furrows, the lever is raised, and at the same time
the bar under it is pulled back by the short handle j until the snatches
catch hold of each other as shewn in Figure 3, these are again by a
slight upward movement disconnected, when the wheel will rise, thus
allowing the plough to sink until the lever is checked by the screwed
handle coming against the eye at the end of the lever. Fitted on the
upright part of the axle of each of the fore and trail wheels is a sort of
double quadrant-shaped chain pulley with connected rods, these rods
having screws for lengthening and shortening and also for bringing
both wheels to run in the same direction. On the same axle and above
the quadrant of the trail wheel (or it may be on the axle of the fore
wheel) is attached the steering lever which is jointed to admit of some
vertical movement of the handle, but so that any horizontal movement

page_text: will turn the wheels along with it; the bar starting from the back of the
skife is turned at right angles a little beyond where the bar passing from
the mould, board is joined to it. The upright part of the axle of the
trail wheel passes through a bush, which bush is secured to that part
of the bar which is turned at right angles by what may be called a screw
hasp or buckle which clasps both bush and bar. Springing from the
bush is the notched segment on which the feather-edged piece on the
under side of the steering levers rests. If the steering lever is connected
to the axle of the fore wheel it will rest on a notched segment fixed on
the lever C. The bush may be moved a little in any direction required
for bringing the trail wheel into a position suitable for working in any
variety or condition of soil.
Having thus declared and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I would observe in
conclusion that what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim
as constituting the Invention secured to me by the said herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent is, the construction of double-furrow
ploughs substantially as herein-before set forth and described, or any
merc modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, tlie said Robert Sellar, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.