Patent ID: 7021584

Claim:
An apparatus for rolling a sod strip into a sod roll comprising: a transport conveyor for displacing the sod strip; a first sensor configured to sense movement of the transport conveyor; a starter for initiating the rolling of the sod strip in proximity to a leading portion of the sod strip being displaced by the transport conveyor; a tray for at least partially retarding displacement of an upper portion of the sod roll as it passes to assist rolling the sod strip; an edge detector for detecting a trailing edge of the sod strip as the sod strip is displaced on the transport conveyor; a roll-up conveyor for further rolling up the sod strip, the roll-up conveyor operating in a direction opposite the transport conveyor; and a holding conveyor, the holding conveyor maintaining the sod roll on the transport conveyor; a second sensor operating in cooperation with the edge detector, wherein the second sensor is activated when the edge detector has detected the trailing edge portion of the sod strip; a controller, the controller receiving inputs from the first and second sensors, the controller deactivating operation of the holding conveyor after a predetermined amount of movement of the transport conveyor sensed by the first sensor and after activation of the second sensor to position the sod roll in a predetermined orientation.