Patent ID: 6896068

Claim:
In a tillage implement having a hitch adapted for connection to a prime mover; a cultivator section attached to said hitch, said cultivator section including a plurality of transversely spaced cultivator members, each cultivator member, when in an operative position, engaged with the soil and forming a furrow therein along a line of travel of the cultivator member; and a tine harrow assembly attached to said cultivator section in trailing relationship thereto, said harrow assembly including a plurality of transversely oriented and spaced tines, the improvement in said tillage implement comprising: said cultivator section employing the split the middle sweep shank spacing system, the split the middle sweep shank spacing system including a plurality of rows of cultivator members, the plurality of rows of cultivator members including a first row of cultivator members located forward of a second row of cultivator members, the first and second rows of cultivator members located at a rearward end of the cultivator section, the plurality of rows of cultivator members including one or more forward rows of cultivators members located forward of the first and second rows of cultivator members, each cultivator member of the one or more forward rows of cultivator members configured to till a full cut of soil and to leave a plurality of remaining strips of untilled soil therebetween, wherein the first row of cultivator members are located to till a first portion of the plurality of remaining strips of untilled soil, and wherein the second row of cultivator members are located to till a remaining portion of the plurality of remaining strips of untilled soil, wherein the second row of cultivator members includes a first cultivator member and a second cultivator member that is adjacent closest to the first cultivator member, wherein the first cultivator member generates a first furrow alone the line of travel of the first cultivator member, wherein the second cultivator member generates a second furrow along the line of travel of the second cultivator member, and wherein the first and second cultivator members generate an adjoining mound of soil between the first and second furrows; and said plurality of transversely oriented and spaced tines including a first row of tines adjacent closest to said cultivator section, said first row of tines including a first tine and a second tine that is closest adjacent to the first tine, the first and second tines generally located offset relative to said first and second cultivator members such that the first and second tines engage the adjoining mound of soil, wherein the first tine-disperses a first portion of the adjoining mound into the first furrow, and the second tine disperses a second portion of the adjoining mound in the second furrow so as to better level the soil behind the implement.