Amphibious pumping vehicle

An amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle body having an underside, a left side, a right side, a front, a rear, and a longitudinal centerline extending from the front to the rear of the vehicle body;
• four powered ground engaging wheels comprising a front left wheel, a front right wheel, a rear left wheel, and a rear right wheel;
• a liquid manure pump configured to pump liquid manure from a manure lagoon and generate a flow of liquid manure through a fluid conduit, the liquid manure pump including a pump housing and an impeller within the pump housing, the impeller is located along the underside of the vehicle body such that the impeller is immersed in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon when the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is floating in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon;
• a power source configured to provide power to each of the four powered ground engaging wheels and the liquid manure pump;
• and,
• a remote control structure configured to control the four powered ground engaging wheels and the flow of liquid manure through the fluid conduit, wherein the speed and/or direction of the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is remotely controllable by an operator remote from the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle when the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is ground engaging and when the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is floating in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon.

An amphibious manure lagoon vehicle comprising:

• a floatable vehicle body comprising an underside, a first side, a second side, a front, a rear, a first buoyant element on the first side of the floatable vehicle body and a second buoyant element on the second side of the floatable vehicle body;
• four powered ground engaging wheels comprising a first front wheel, a second front wheel, a first rear wheel, and a second rear wheel, the first front wheel and the first rear wheel are on the first side of the floatable vehicle body and the second front wheel and the second rear wheel are on the second side of the floatable vehicle body, and the first buoyant element is located in a space between the first front wheel and the first rear wheel and the second buoyant element is located in a space between the second front wheel and the second rear wheel;
• a liquid manure pump configured to recirculate liquid manure contained in a manure lagoon, the liquid manure pump including a pump housing and an impeller in the pump housing, the liquid manure pump is positioned along the underside of the floatable vehicle body such that the impeller is immersed in the liquid manure when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon;
• a power source configured to provide power to both rotationally drive the four powered ground engaging wheels when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and rotationally drive the impeller of the liquid manure pump;
• and,
• a remote control structure configured to control the four powered ground engaging wheels and the liquid manure pump, wherein the speed and/or direction of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is remotely controllable by an operator remote from the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon.

An amphibious manure lagoon vehicle comprising:

• a floatable vehicle body having a frame, a front, a rear, a middle, an underside, a longitudinal centerline, a transverse centerline, and at least two buoyant elements supported by the frame, the at least two buoyant elements including a first buoyant element that is disposed on a first side of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle and a second buoyant element that is disposed on a second side of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle;
• four ground engaging wheels that are positioned such that the first buoyant element is disposed in a space between two of the of the four ground engaging wheels on the first side of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle and the second buoyant element is disposed in a space between two of the of the four ground engaging wheels on the second side of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle;
• four variable speed hydraulic motors, one variable speed hydraulic motor per ground engaging wheel, for powering the four ground engaging wheels;
• a liquid manure pump configured to pump liquid manure through a fluid conduit, the liquid manure pump including a pump housing having a bottom fluid inlet, the pump housing located along the underside of the floatable vehicle body such that the pump housing is immersed in the liquid manure when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating;
• a linkage that is configured to adjust an angle, relative to the floatable vehicle body, at which the liquid manure is ejected from the fluid conduit;
• an internal combustion engine configured to provide power to both the four variable speed hydraulic motors and the liquid manure pump;
• each of the four ground engaging wheels, the internal combustion engine, and the liquid manure pump positioned to provide a center of gravity of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle that is located along the longitudinal centerline and substantially in the middle of the floatable vehicle body;
• and,
• a remote control structure configured to control the four variable speed hydraulic motors and the liquid manure pump, wherein the speed and/or direction of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is remotely controllable by an operator remote from the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating.

An amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle body having a front, a rear, a left side, a right side, and an underside;
• four powered ground engaging wheels including a front left wheel, a front right wheel, a rear left wheel, and a rear right wheel;
• a first buoyant element located in a space on the left side of the vehicle body between the front left wheel and the rear left wheel;
• a second buoyant element located in a space on the right side of the vehicle body between the front right wheel and the rear right wheel;
• means for circulating liquid manure in a manure lagoon when the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon;
• a power source configured to provide power to each of the four powered ground engaging wheels and the submersible means for circulating liquid manure;
• and,
• a remote control structure configured to control the four powered ground engaging wheels and the submersible means for circulating liquid manure, wherein the speed and/or direction of the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is remotely controllable by an operator remote from the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle when the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is ground engaging and when the amphibious manure lagoon agitation vehicle is floating in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon.

An amphibious manure lagoon vehicle, comprising:

• a floatable vehicle body having a front, a rear, a middle, and an underside;
• powered ground engaging wheels;
• a liquid manure pump configured to pump liquid manure in a manure lagoon, the liquid manure pump including a pump housing and an impeller located along the underside of the floatable vehicle body at a location that is rearward of the front of the floatable vehicle body and forward of the rear of the floatable vehicle body such that the impeller is immersed in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating in the manure lagoon;
• a power source configured to provide power to both rotationally drive the powered ground engaging wheels when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and rotationally drive the impeller of the liquid manure pump;
• and
• a remote control structure configured to control the powered ground engaging wheels and the liquid manure pump, wherein the speed and/or direction of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is remotely controllable by an operator remote from the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating.

An amphibious manure lagoon vehicle, comprising:

• a floatable vehicle body having a front, a rear, a middle, and an underside;
• powered ground engaging wheels;
• a liquid manure pump configured to pump liquid manure in a manure lagoon, the liquid manure pump including a pump housing, an impeller, and a substantially vertical drive shaft connected to the impeller, the pump housing having a bottom fluid inlet, the pump housing and the impeller located rearward of the front of the floatable vehicle body and forward of the rear of the floatable vehicle body and along the underside of the floatable vehicle body such that the impeller is immersed in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating in the manure lagoon, wherein the liquid manure pump has a constant angular orientation relative to the floatable vehicle body;
• a power source configured to provide power to both rotationally drive the powered ground engaging wheels when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and rotationally drive the impeller of the liquid manure pump;
• and
• a remote control structure configured to control the powered ground engaging wheels and the liquid manure pump, wherein the speed and/or direction of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is remotely controllable by an operator remote from the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating.

An amphibious manure lagoon vehicle, comprising:

• a floatable vehicle body having a front, a rear, a middle, and an underside;
• powered ground engaging wheels;
• a liquid manure pump configured to pump liquid manure in a manure lagoon, the liquid manure pump including a pump housing, an impeller, and a substantially vertical drive shaft connected to the impeller, the pump housing having a bottom fluid inlet, the pump housing and the impeller located rearward of the front of the floatable vehicle body and forward of the rear of the floatable vehicle body and along the underside of the floatable vehicle body such that the impeller is immersed in the liquid manure of the manure lagoon when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating in the manure lagoon, wherein the liquid manure pump has a constant angular orientation relative to the floatable vehicle body, wherein portions of the vehicle that have substantially the same submerged depth as the pump housing when the vehicle is floating are spaced from and positioned to each side of the pump housing and are spaced from and positioned forward of and rearward of the pump housing, wherein a longitudinal centerline of the vehicle passes through the portions of the vehicle that are spaced from and positioned forward of and rearward of the pump housing;
• a power source configured to provide power to both rotationally drive the powered ground engaging wheels when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle and rotationally drive the impeller of the liquid manure pump;
• and
• a remote control structure configured to control the powered ground engaging wheels and the liquid manure pump, wherein the speed and/or direction of the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is remotely controllable by an operator remote from the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is ground engaging and when the amphibious manure lagoon vehicle is floating.