Implement leveling system

Claim 1

In a vehicle supported mower provided with a housing having a deck to which a plurality of cutter spindles are secured with a cutter on each spindle and with all cutters mounted for rotation in a common cutter plane, and attachment means including a power operated lift mechanism connecting the mower to the vehicle for movement between a lowEred mowing position and a raised transport position, the improvement which comprises; a plurality of longitudinally and transversely spaced leveling pads on the deck of said mower housing and having their upper surfaces lying in a common reference plane disposed parallel to said cutter plane, said leveling pads being adapted to removably receive and support a spirit level selectively placed on different ones of said pads for determining when the reference plane is longitudinally and transversely level, leveling means for pivoting the mower about longitudinal and transverse axes unitl longitudinally and transversely level as indicated by the spirit level, said attachment means including means defining a pair of transversely spaced parallelogram linkages each having a pair of parallel arms and wherein said leveling means includes a pair of transversely spaced leveling devices attached to associated ones of said linkages and arranged when adjusted to pivot one arm of each of said parallelogram linkages slightly out of parallelism with its other arm thereby causing the mower to pivot about at least one axis relative to the vehicle until the reference plane is determined to be level, longitudinally extending mounting straps rigidly secured to the mower housing, each leveling device being adjustably secured between an arm of said associated parallelogram linkage and an associated strap for longitudinal sliding movement relative to said associated strap, an adjusting screw connected between said straps and said leveling devices for adjusting said devices, and means for locking said devices in adjusted position.