Residue management system for an agricultural row unit assembly

A residue management system for a row unit assembly, the system comprising:

• a coulter disc rotationally mounted on a spring-tensioned swing arm, the swing arm resiliently urged by a spring into a default position where the coulter disc is closely adjacent a corresponding opener blade, the swing arm pivotally mounted to a frame of the row unit assembly, the opener blade comprising a leading edge and a residue guide, the residue guide extending upwardly from an upper end of the leading edge, the leading edge and the residue guide together forming an upwards curved edge, the curved edge being substantially concentric with and closely adjacent to the coulter disc when the swing arm is in the default position;
• wherein, when the row unit assembly is travelling in a forward direction with the opener blade and coulter disc engaging a ground, the swing arm maintains the coulter disc in the default position at a default distance between an outer diameter of the coulter disc and the curved edge;
• and
• wherein, as the coulter disc rotates, debris including mulched residue on the ground is opened by the coulter disc in line with the trailing opener blade, with debris carried by teeth of the coulter disc upwardly along the curved edge, the debris then falling away from the residue guide;
• and wherein, when the debris includes a large object having a dimension exceeding the default distance and the large object enters between the coulter disc and the leading edge of the opener blade, the swing arm swings the coulter disc away from the opener blade against the return biasing force of the spring until the large object has cleared from between the coulter disc and opener blade, after which the spring urges the swing arm to return the coulter disc to the default position adjacent the curved edge.