Ripper for attachment to tractor

Claim 1

Means for supporting shanked ripper means from a tractor, so as to rip with remotely-adjustable pitch and depth actuation, said means comprising: mounting clevis means and towers for attachment to the rear of the tractor; a shank holding, horizontal tool beam spaced rearwardly from said mounting clevis means and tower and having at least a central shank holder, and provided at the front thereof with inner clevis means integral with the central shank holder of the tool beam, which clevis means includes a pivot spaced just forwardly of said tool beam, said tool beam also being provided with vertically disposed, outer beam brackets, said brackets each having an upper pivot outwardly and upwardly offset from said beam-shank-holder clevis means and a lower pivot outwardly offset from, and together with, said pivot of said beam-shank-holder clevis means mutually defining a coaxis, said coaxis being spaced just forwardly of said tool beam; said mounting clevis means being in spaced alignment with the beam-shank-holder clevis means forwardly of the tool beam; means for operatively directly connecting the tool beam to the rear of the tractor comprising hydraulic depth actuator means in direct alignment with the tool beam in the space in which said mounting and beam-shank-holder clevis means are in alignment and connected in said space at one end thereof to said beam-shank-holder clevis means at said coaxis and at the other end thereof to said mounting clevis means and effective for both foreshortenable and extensible motion, and immobility at fixed lengths corresponding to fixed ripping depths; said coaxis defining the pitch axis of the tool beam whereat the connected-on depth actuator means with its aforesaid motion introduces depth load in direct line into the tool beam; said mounting towers having upper pivots outwardly and upwardly offset from said mounting clevis means and in spaced alignment with the beam bracket upper pivots, and having lower pivots in spaced alignment with the beam bracket lower pivots, and spaced apart in directions from said mounting clevis means rendering said mounting clevis means medially offset and also offset upwardly from said tower lower pivots at a height at least a major part of the vertical distance from the height of the tower lower pivots to the height of the tower upper pivots; a pair of hydraulic pitch actuators between the upper pivots of the respective mounting towers and beam brackets effectively connected for foreshortenable and extensible movement conjointly, and immobility at fixed lengths corresponding to fixed ripping pitches; and fixed-predetermined-length link means operatively directly connecting the tool beam to the rear of the tractor comprising a pair of draft links between the lower pivots of the respective mounting towers and beam brackets.