Patent ID: 7264063

Claim:
A control system for a sod harvester having a cutting head for stripping sod from the ground, and a cut-off mechanism for cutting the sod to length, said control system comprising: a) a computer processor; b) a hydraulic actuator connected to the sod cut-off mechanism and operable to actuate said mechanism to cut the sod to length; and c) a valve operable by said processor controlling flow of hydraulic fluid to said hydraulic actuator; wherein d) said sod cut-off mechanism includes a blade having a downwardly oriented cutting edge and mounted on a moveable linkage in a plane generally transverse to a ground surface; e) said processor causes said valve to open at a selected interval to drive said cutting edge of said blade downwardly into the ground to cut the sod to length; f) said moveable linkage is a parallelogram linkage having a fixed leg connected to the harvester, a moveable support member and a pair of pivoting links connecting said moveable support member to said fixed leg; and g) said blade is connected to a lower end of said moveable support member.