Earth preparing apparatus

Claim 1

Earth treating apparatus including: a rigid frame having a pair of side rails extending generally horizontally, said frame and said side rails having a front end adapted to be coupled to a power source, a generally M-shaped hood secured to said side rails near said front end and having first and second generally semicylindrical portions coupled together along their adjacent edges with their long axes parallel, said first portion having a free edge ahead of said adjacent edges and said second hood having a free edge behind and remote from said adjacent edges, a tiller for digging up the earth to a considerable depth disposed beneath said first semicylindrical portion and secured to said frame, a generally rectangular screen secured to approximately the juncture of said adjacent edges of said first and second portions of said hood and extending along the length of said hood, said screen extending downwardly toward what would be the ground when said apparatus is in position to perform work, said screen being slanted so that it extends away from said tiller and it faces said tiller at such an angle that it receives quantities of earth dug up thereby, a solid rear wall secured to said free edge of said second hood portion Remote from said screen and extending therefrom toward the ground at such an angle that it is generally parallel to said screen, said second hood portion and said rear wall providing a large, earth-receiving chamber behind said screen which permits substantially all fine material dug up by said tiller to pass through said screen into said chamber and onto the ground beneath it, said rear wall having a lower end, a vertically adjustable blade secured to said rear wall at its lower end, said earth-receiving chamber formed by said second hood portion being adapted to carry along excess fine material, said blade serving to grade fine material as said apparatus moves along the ground, and a roller secured to said frame side rails behind said second hood portion, said roller determining the height of the grade formed by said blade and compacting the fine soil material.