Sod harvesters
AssigneeTre Bro Holding, Inc
InventorDaniel Sammut
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sod harvester and a method for maintaining the integrity of a sod roll during sod roll transfer with the sod harvester having a first power assist rotatable sod roll cradle containing a set of spokes with opposed faces that laterally engage and dynamically cradle a sod roll as the sod roll falls from an upper conveyor to a lower conveyor so that a further set of opposed faces on the rotatable spokes laterally engage a further sod roll on an upper conveyor through a torque applied to the sod cradle by a low power hydraulic motor as the sod roll falls from the upper conveyor to the lower conveyor with the cycle repeated with each sod roll that is discharged from the upper conveyor to thereby maintain the integrity of the sod rolls within the sod harvester.
Claims17
A sod harvester for maintaining sod roll integrity during transfer of a sod roll between stations in a sod harvester comprising:
- a sod elevator for elevating and forming sod slabs into sod rolls;
- an accumulating conveyor located proximate a discharge end of the sod elevator;
- a power assist hydraulic motor comprising a low power hydraulic motor generating sufficient torque on a shaft supporting the sod cradle to maintain the sod cradle in pressure contact with the sod roll to prevent unwinding of the sod roll but insufficient torque to damage the sod roll;
- a resiliently mounted rotateable sod cradle having at least two sod wheels each having at least two sets of intersecting faces with said power assist hydraulic motor rotationally urging one of the at least two sets of intersecting faces into a cradling engagement of a sod roll on the sod elevator and maintaining the cradling engagement of the at least one of the at least two sets of intersecting faces with the sod roll as the sod roll falls onto the accumulating conveyor.
A method of maintaining the integrity of a sod roll as the sod roll is transferred between stations comprising:
- cradling a sod roll by engaging a peripheral portion of the sod roll between opposed faces on a set of sod wheel spokes;
- and
- maintaining a cradling engagement between the opposed faces on the set of sod wheel spokes with the sod roll as the sod roll is transferred from a first station to a second station by maintaining the opposed faces on the set of sod wheel spokes in pressure contact with the sod roll with sufficient torque to prevent unwinding of the sod roll but insufficient torque to damage the sod roll.
A sod harvester comprising:
- a first sod station comprising an elevator for dispensing a sod roll;
- a second sod station for receiving the sod roll;
- and
- a sod cradle cradling the sod roll to maintain the integrity of the sod roll as the sod roll is transferred from the first sod station to the second sod station said sod cradle including a spoke sod wheel having a set of sod engaging faces thereon for sequentially engaging a further sod roll to maintain the integrity of the further sod roll as the further sod roll is sequentially transferred from the first sod station to the second sod station with a torque limiter preventing damage to the sod roll or the further sod roll as the sod roll and the further sod roll are transferred within the sod harvester where the torque limiter comprises a hydraulic motor generating a torque that is sufficient to urge or maintain the spoke sod wheel in contact with the sod roll without damaging the sod roll as the sod roll falls from the first sod station to a second sod station.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.