Tine for rotary spader

Claim 1

A tine for use with a rotary spader having a horizontal drive shaft with means for mounting a plurality of tines axially spaced thereon comprisng, in combination, a flat body having an axial opening, a tubular hub having an external diameter fitted into the opening and secured therein and an internal diameter dimensioned to telescope over the drive shaft, the hub having means for keying to the drive shaft, four blades integral with the flat body, each blade being formed in a dog-leg shape and defined by substantially parallel side edges to form a swasticalike profile, each blade having a base portion in the region of the hub smoothly merging with a curved intermediate portion in the plane of the body defining a backwardly swept leading edge terminating in a straight and flat tip portion, the curve of the intermediate portion being such that the tip portion prior to bending bears a retreat angle of substantially 52* with respect to a radius which is centered with respect to the base portion, the straight tip portion of each blade being bent out of the plane of the body along a bend line by an angle of substantially 60*, the tips of adjacent blades being bent symmetrically in opposite directions, each tip portion being sharpened along its leading edge but with the adjacent intermediate portion being left unsharpened along substantially its entire length, the line of bending bearing an angle on the order of 40* with respect to a perpendicular drawn to a radial line extending from the axis to the region of the extreme tip of the blade thereby to define a relatively open face at the tip portion of each blade.