FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a subsoil tool and method for using the tool for establishing and managing cultivated ground. More particularly, some embodiments of the present invention concern a tool that can be engaged with a tractor having one or more ripper assemblies for soil ripping, each ripper assembly having a shank and one or more oscillating wings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Soil working and site preparation is important for the establishment and survival of cultivated crops. In the absence of adequate soil preparation, crops may struggle because of poor physical soil condition, in particular soil compaction. Compacted soils are not easily penetrated by plant root, which may struggle to assimilate the water and nutrients needed for growth and production. In turn, this leads to a general undesirable loss of plant vigor, and less than optimal performance. The condition of the soil is therefore a limiting factor on the production capacity of the area.

In general, soil ripping is conducted to improve soil condition and create a friable soil that roots of plants are able to penetrate and establish. The roots of any plant need to be encouraged so that they anchor the seedling and grow deep to access water and nutrients. However, current equipment used is not site specific. By contrast, the present invention allows for variability in the type of soil amelioration during use of the tool by reference to soil type and by reference to a soil map database.

Mounding is conducted in conjunction with or following ripping. In effect a raised, friable soil bed is created. This technique improves the benefits of ripping by enhancing water retention, greater soil depth and uniformity of crop.

Single pass tillage implements are known and have been used to perform both shallow and deeper tillage in a single pass. Single pass equipment provides considerable time efficiencies compared with conducting separate operations in multiple passes.

However, in any one area in which cultivation is to be established the soil condition and soil characteristics may vary considerably. Time taken to complete a task is frequently critical in the establishment of a cultivated area and it is hard for a land manager to make more than a relatively crude assessment of the variability of an area of land and of the varying requirement that the soil may have for treatment. The difficulty of this task is exacerbated by the fact that equipment used to perform these vital tasks is of a specialized nature.

In most cases the capital cost of equipment is considerable. This is particularly the case when the equipment is used on only a seasonal basis, or perhaps only as a once off in initial establishment of a cultivated area. Furthermore, the skills required to operate and maintain such equipment are typically beyond the available resources of most landholders. Accordingly, land cultivation is frequently carried out on a contract basis.

Tools and cultivation methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,626,401, incorporated herein by reference, issued to the same inventor of the present improvement (the '401 patent). The conventional tool of the '401 patent, and as shown inFIG. 1of the present application, includes two shanks mounted to a frame which can be towed by a tractor with two following rollers behind the shanks. Pivotally attached to the shank is a wing member directly engaged with a rod of a ram for rotating the wing.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventor has identified improvements on the tool of the '401 patent which, among other things, could be practiced with the methods disclosed therein. In particular, the improved tool of the present invention includes improvements to the wing mechanism and drive thereof as well as improvements to features for protecting the device from the stresses of operation. Some of such improvements include, but are not limited to: different wear plates and guards can be provided and tailored to soil structure; ability to change amplitude and frequency of oscillation of the wings based on soil structure; ability to change wing shape and size relative to soil structure and depth of penetration into the soil; addition of multiple wings achievable of varying angles for purpose of site specific blending of prescribed amendments and fertilizers throughout the soil profile; vertical hydraulic adjustment of shank depth into the soil to allow variable depth ripping in conjunction with prescribed GPS mapping; armored plated shanks with protective iron wear plates to extend life thereof; the use of a hydraulic ram engaged with a “boomerang”-shaped power link increases force applied as well as rate of oscillation resulting in greater soil decompaction efficiency.

Embodiments of the present invention may include one or more ripper assemblies which are attached to the toolbar portion of a tractor. The positioning of the toolbar can be adjusted by one or more hydraulic toolbar cylinders. In some embodiments, a ripper assembly may include a shank, a front wear plate, a wear guard, forward wing links, a wing rod, a power link, and a drive box. In certain embodiments, additional implements, such as a roller, may be attached to a ripper assembly and/or toolbar.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the shape of a shank may be generally parabolic. However, it is to be appreciated that a shank could be a plurality of shapes, which may be contemplated in accordance with the type of soil to be ripped. Furthermore, a shank may have one or more vertical adjustment holes to adjust the position of the shank relative to the toolbar. A shank may be secured by inserting a bolt or other fastener through a vertical adjustment hole and through a mounting hole in the toolbar.

In certain embodiments, a shank may have a pointed front portion terminating in a lower tip which engages the soil. To prevent wear, the lower terminating point of a shank may include a foot having a pointed tooth, which may be removably attached to the shank, so it can be replaced when worn. To prevent wear to the sides of a shank, in some embodiments, one or more armored plates may be welded, or otherwise attached, to one or both sides of a shank.

An additional wear point may exist on the front edge of a shank. As a result, some embodiments of the present invention may include a front wear plate, which may be removably engaged with a shank, so it can be replaced when worn. In certain embodiments, a front wear plate may extend along the front curved portion of a shank. A front wear plate may also have a shape generally the same as the front curved portion of a shank. It is to be appreciated, however, that other shapes are contemplated in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments, a front wear plate may be engaged to a shank via a tab and bolt (or other fastening means). A shank may have a recess where a tab, engaging a front wear plate to a shank, may be positioned. In certain embodiments, a tab may be partially below portions of a shank covered by a foot or front wear plate that is engaged with a shank. Some embodiments of the present invention may have a front wear plate which may include a main section having a width about equal to that of a shank or that of the combined width of a shank and its armored plate(s). Furthermore, a front wear plate may, in certain embodiments, have a protrusion which can be rectangular, triangular, or any other regular or irregular shape.

Other embodiments of the present invention may include a wear guard at the top straight portion of a shank. A wear guard may be positioned between a gap between a front wear plate and a shank. In some embodiments, a wear guard may include band portions on both sides of a shank. To protect against shearing stresses, a shield may be provided on a wear guard. It is to be appreciated that a plurality of wear guard sizes may be provided depending on, among other things, which vertical adjustment holes are used to attach a shank to a toolbar.

Embodiments of the present invention may include a ripper assembly having a plurality of moveable wings to aid in soil amelioration. One or more forward wing links may be attached to a lower portion of a shank by a pivot. In certain embodiments, one or more forward wing links may include a wing member that may be integrally formed with, or removably attached to, the wing link(s). One or more shields may also be provided on one or more wing links to prevent shearing forces.

A ripper assembly may also include a wing rod, which may be engaged with one or more forward wing links at a forward wing pivot to allow pivotal movement therebetween. In some embodiments, a wing rod may include one or more following wings on either or both sides of the wing rod. A wing rod may also include a plurality of wing adjustment holes for insertion of one or more bolts to engage one or more following wings. In certain embodiments, a shield may be provided on one or more following wings to reduce bolt shearing stresses. It is to be appreciated that, in some embodiments, following wings can be engaged at a plurality of positions. It is further to be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention may include a plurality of wing shapes, designs, and constructions.

Motion of wing links and wing rods may be controlled by one or more hydraulic cylinders directly or indirectly engaged with a toolbar of a tractor, which interact with a power link that is engaged with a wing rod at one or more wing rod pivots, causing movement about a bushing. In some embodiments, a drive box may be directly or indirectly mounted to a toolbar, for example and without limitation, by securing bolts through one or more holes of a bracket of a drive box housing into holes in the toolbar. In preferred embodiments, a hydraulic drive box cylinder may be positioned inside the drive box housing. The drive box cylinder may be indirectly engaged with a wing rod via a power link, in some embodiments, by a rod of the drive box cylinder engaged with a first end of the power link and the wing rod engaged with a second end of the power link. The power link may be rotatably engaged to the drive box cylinder at a medial point. A drive box cylinder may also include one or more ports through which hydraulic fluid may flow.

In some embodiments of the present invention, a ripper assembly may include an improved power link particularly adapted for use in connection with the improved tractor mounting assembly disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/629,716 (the “'716 application”). The improved power link may have a generally triangular shape which, at its apexes, may be engaged with a drive cylinder, a toolbar of a tractor, and the wing rod of a ripper assembly. In some embodiments, the improved power link may engage a toolbar of a tractor indirectly, for example, by means of a drive box.

Advantageously, the presently improved tool may be used in accordance with those methods described in the '401 patent. Generally, the improved tool may utilize established soil profiles over an area of land to optimize soil amelioration. Soil profiles may be used to develop a cultivation plan, which can be provided to a computerized controller for configuring the improved tool. As a tractor, equipped with the improved tool, is driven through the land, the computerized controller can receive tractor position information and operate hydraulic pumps associated with the toolbar cylinders and drive box cylinders, so that each move in accordance with the cultivation plan.

