Material moving apparatus for a bale wagon

Claim 1

Apparatus for moving material from a first location on a support surface to a second location thereon comprising: an elongate rack affixed to said support surface and extending substantially from a first position to a second position thereon, said rack being reciprocable along a line between said first and second positions and having a plurality of catch means thereon generally equally spaced along the length thereof; means affixed to said rack for reciprocating same; a ratchet mechanism including a main body portion with first and second opposing ends slidably engaged with said rack, a first ratchet plate pivotally mounted on said first end of said main body portion for movement between an operative position wherein it may serially engage said catch means on said rack and an inoperative position remote therefrom, a second ratchet plate pivotally mounted on said second end of said main body portion for movement between an operative position wherein it may serially engage said catch means on said rack and an inoperative position remote therefrom, an over-center device having means thereon to selectively simultaneously pivot said first and second ratchet plates between said operative and inoperative positions so that only one is in said operative position at a time; means on said main body portion to engage material; and means mounted on said support surface to engage said over-centered device to actuate same to reverse the positions of said first and second ratchet plates whereby said main body portion will be moved along the length of said rack until actuation of said over-center device, upon which the direction of movement of said main body portion is reversed.