Flotation for Agricultural Implements

Abstract

An agricultural implement has front flotation wheels with a significantly increased diameter, increasing flotation and improving rolling characteristics, especially in soft soil conditions. The implement has a frame supported on front and rear wheels. Front flotation wheels are pivotally mounted to the frame about vertical axes. A hitch tongue is pivotally attached to the frame about a vertical hitch pivot axis. A wheel control mechanism connects the front flotation wheels to the hitch tongue, and is configured such that when the hitch tongue is in a neutral position the front flotation wheels roll in the operating direction, and pivoting the hitch tongue causes the front flotation wheels to pivot in the same direction.

Description

PRIORITY[0001]This application claims priority to Canadian Application Ser. No. 2,772, 865, filed Mar. 30, 2012, incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]This disclosure relates to the field of agricultural implements and in particular such implements with increased flotation and resistance to sinking into soft soil.[0003]A common problem that farmers can experience at seeding time is the inability to seed their crops because excessive soil moisture makes the fields unable to support the seeding equipment, typically due to excessive or untimely rainfall. Sometimes as well heavy snow cover produces a lot of moisture which must either run off the fields, be absorbed by the soil or evaporate. A late, cool spring can slow the soil drying process considerably. Unfortunately, for maximizing crop yields and crop quality and also minimizing the chances of crop damage or complete crop losses for spring seeded crops, it is necessary for farmers to seed their crops with...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0029]The devices and methods disclosed herein thus addresses the problem of mounting large diameter flotation wheels on the front of the implement by providing a control mechanism for the rolling orientation of at least the center front wheels located on either side of the hitch. These large diameter wheels can thus be mounted about as close to the hitch as the prior art castering front wheels, such that road travel and contour following characteristics are not adversely affected. In addition to allowing for larger tires, the control apparatus improves performance on turns in the field, reducing soil disturbance as compared to freely castering wheels when in the field, and improves maneuverability when in transport. In another embodiment, a pivot restraint mechanism can also be operative to selectively secure the hitch tongue in the neutral position to reduce skewing tendencies when in field operation.

[0030]Additionally, the large diameter of the tire allows the tire to roll over soil that is often loosened and piled up by the spinning action of tractor tires. The situation that is created by the spinning action of the tractor tires can cause smaller diameter tires to stop turning, begin skidding and begin piling up soil ahead of the tire, which greatly increases the force required to tow the drill. This in turn increases the spinning action of the tractor tires as they attempt to apply more force to overcome the increasing resistance, and eventually the seeding implement can become stuck. The spinning action of the tractor tires also typically causes the tires on the air seeder that follow the tractor tires to drop relative to the nominal soil surface. When the depth of the seeding opener is partially controlled by the front wheel on the drill frame, the seeding depth is also adversely affected and the draft required to tow the seeding implement is increased thereby increasing the spinning action of the tires which further drops the depth of the seeding openers until the seeding unit become stuck. At times, the combination of the caster wheels skidding and piling up wet soil and the seeding openers dropping causes the seeding implement and tractor to become stuck.

Problems solved by technology

The pivoting range of the front wheels could be limited to something less than 360 degrees by providing stops to restrict the rolling orientation of the castering wheels to a lesser angle, such as that required to turn a corner, however it would not then be possible to move the implement in reverse.

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