Earth working and planting apparatus and method

Claim 2

An earth working and planting apparatus comprising: a. a mobile frame movable over a ground surface; b. means on said mobile frame for digging longitudinally spaced pits in laterally spaced rows; 1. said pit digging means comprises at least one elongated shaft rotatably mounted on said mobile frame and having a plurality of spaced cutters secured thereon for rotation therewith; 2. each of said cutters are dished members having a concave face and at least one cutting portion and one clearance portion alternately positioned on the periphery thereof; 3. said elongated shaft and said dished members mounted thereon are positioned to progressively move laterally a mass of material displaced from each pit as said pit digging means moves along the ground surface; c. means on said mobile framE and spaced from said pit digging means for opening at least one seed furrow between adjacent rows of pits; and d. means on said mobile frame and spaced from said seed furrow opening means for dispensing seeds in the seed furrows and for closing same over the seeds.

Claim 3

each of said cutters are dished members having a concave face and at least one cutting portion and one clearance portion alternately positioned on the periphery thereof;

Claim 4

each of said cutters are dished members having a concave face and at least one cutting portion and one clearance portion alternately positioned on the periphery thereof;

Claim 5

An earth working and planting apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including means mounted on said frame and spaced from said pit digging means to collect and carry forward a major portion of the mass of material as said pit digging means displaces same during the pit digging phase for depositing said mass on the ground surface in a line during a non-digging phase of said pit digging means to thereby produce a dike extending across a gap from one pit to the next, said dikes being longitudinally aligned with the pits in each of said rows of pits.

Claim 6

progressively moving laterally the mass of material during digging said pits and positioning the mass of material between and sloping toward adjacent rows of pits;

Claim 7

progressively moving laterally the mass of material during digging said pits and positioning the mass of material between and sloping toward adjacent rows of pits;

Claim 8

collecting and carrying forward a portion of the mass of material moved laterally;

Claim 9

collecting and carrying forward a portion of the mass of material moved laterally;

Claim 10

An earth working and planting apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein: a. said dike forming means comprise a dished member adjacent and rearwardly of each of said cutters; and b. said dished members each have a concave face thereof opposing the concave face of the respective cutter disc.

Claim 11

said elongated shaft and said dished members mounted thereon are positioned to progressively move laterally a mass of material displaced from each pit as said pit digging means moves along the ground surface; c. means on said mobile framE and spaced from said pit digging means for opening at least one seed furrow between adjacent rows of pits; and d. means on said mobile frame and spaced from said seed furrow opening means for dispensing seeds in the seed furrows and for closing same over the seeds.

Claim 12

said elongated shaft and said dished members mounted thereon are positioned to progressively move laterally a mass of material displaced from each pit as said pit digging means moves along the ground surface; c. means on said mobile framE and spaced from said pit digging means for opening at least one seed furrow between adjacent rows of pits; and d. means on said mobile frame and spaced from said seed furrow opening means for dispensing seeds in the seed furrows and for closing same over the seeds.

Claim 13

An earth working and planting apparatus comprising: a. a mobile frame movable over a ground surface and having a fore and aft axis; b. a pair of generally horizontal shafts rotatably mounted on said mobile frame, said shafts being on opposite sides of the fore and aft axis of said mobile frame and each extending diagonally thereto and diverging from each other at substantially equal angles to said frame axis; c. means mounted on each of said shafts and movable therewith for digging longitudinally spaced pits in laterally spaced rows; d. a plurality of seed furrow opening devices mounted on said frame and positioned to open a plurality of laterally spaced seed furrows each substantially parallel to the fore and aft axis of said mobile frame, said seed furrow opening devices being positioned to open at least one seed furrow between adjacent rows of pits; e. seed dispensing means on said mobile frame and spaced from said seed furrow opening devices for depositing seeds in the seed furrows; f. means on said mobile frame and spaced from said seed dispensing means for closing said seed furrows after the seeds are deposited therein; g. said mobile frame has a forward portion and a rear portion; h. said rear portion is pivotally mounted on said forward portion for raising and lowering of said rear portion relative to said forward portion and said ground surface; i. said horizontal shafts and said pit digging means thereon are mounted on said forward portion of said mobile frame; j. said seed furrow opening devices and said seed dispensing means and said seed furrow closing means are mounted on said rear portion of said mobile frame; and k. said forward portion and said rear portion of said mobile frame have means operatively connected thereto for selectively moving said seed furrow opening devices and said seed dispensing means and said seed furrow closing means into and out of a working position.

Claim 14

An earth working and planting apparatus comprising: a. a mobile frame movable over a ground surface and having a fore and aft axis; b. a pair of generally horizontal shafts rotatably mounted on said mobile frame, said shafts being on opposite sides of the fore and aft axis of said mobile frame and each extending diagonally thereto and diverging from each other at substantially equal angles to said frame axis; c. means mounted on each of said shafts and movable therewith for digging longitudinally spaced pits in laterally spaced rows; d. a plurality of seed furrow opening devices mounted on said frame and positioned to open a plurality of laterally spaced seed furrows each substantially parallel to the fore and aft axis of said mobile frame, said seed furrow opening devices being positioned to open at least one seed furrow between adjacent rows of pits; e. seed dispensing means on said mobile frame and spaced from said seed furrow opening devices for depositing seeds in the seed furrows; f. means on said mobile frame and spaced from said seed dispensing means for closing said seed furrows after the seeds are deposited therein; g. said mobile frame has a forward portion and a rear portion; h. said rear portion is pivotally mounted on said forward portion for raising and lowering of said rear portion relative to said forward portion and said ground surface; i. said horizontal shafts and said pit digging means thereon are mounted on said forward portion of said mobile frame; j. said seed furrow opening devices and said seed dispensing means and said seed furrow closing means are mounted on said rear portion of said mobile frame; and k. said forward portion and said rear portion of said mobile frame have means operatively connected thereto for selectively moving said seed furrow opening devices and said seed dispensing means and said seed furrow closing means into and out of a working position.

Claim 15

depositing the collected portion of the mass of material on the ground surface to be planted in a line to form a dike extending across each gap from one pit to the next whereby said pits and dikes in each row are longitudinally aligned; b. opening at least one seed furrow between adjacent rows of pits; c. depositing seeds in the seed furrows; and d. closing the seed furrows over seed therein.

Claim 16

depositing the collected portion of the mass of material on the ground surface to be planted in a line to form a dike extending across each gap from one pit to the next whereby said pits and dikes in each row are longitudinally aligned; b. opening at least one seed furrow between adjacent rows of pits; c. depositing seeds in the seed furrows; and d. closing the seed furrows over seed therein.

Claim 17

An earth working and planting apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including: a. means mounted on said front portion of the frame for containing a supply of planting water; b. means communicating with said water containing means and extending to the rear portion of the frame to adjacent the seed dispensing means and selectively operable for ejecting water into said seed furrows during dispensing of said seeds in said seed furrows; c. means mounted on said front portion of the frame for containing a supply of pre-emergence weed spray; and d. means communicating with said weed spray containing means and extending to the rear portion of the frame behind the furrow closing means and selectively operable for spraying pre-emergence weed spray on the ground surface rearwardly of said furrow closing means.

Claim 20

A method of earth working and planting as set forth in claim 6 wherein a pair of laterally spaced seed furrows are opened between adjacent rows of pits after said dikes are formed.

Claim 21

A method of earth working and planting as set forth in claim 7 and including: a. ejecting planting water into the seed furrows during depositing of said seeds in the seed furrows; b. spraying pre-emergence weed spray on the ground surface after the seed furrows are closed.