Planting machine with ground-conditioning drive

Claim 1

A planting machine including a main frame, planting means mounted on said main frame, and drive means for said planting means, said machine including means for establishing a planting path, wherein the improvement comprises: hitch means adapted for connection to a powered vehicle, and link means pivotally connected to said hitch means and to said machine on parallel horizontal axes of articulation, and also including means limiting said articulation; ground-engaging wheel means mounted on said main frame ahead of said planting means with respect to said path, and adapted to support at least a portion of the weight of said machine, said wheel means having a width selected to engage and condition the ground ahead of said path over a track extending on opposite sides of a line of planting established by said planting means; a fork frame secured to said main frame and carrying said ground-engaging wheel means, wherein said limiting means includes an upwardly extending arm on said link means and flexible tension-transmitting means connecting the upper extremity of said link means arm and said hitch means at a position above said link means; and an upwardly-extending arm on said fork frame and flexible tension-transmitting means connecting the upper extremities of said fork frame arm and said link means arm.