Land roller

#The present invention relates to an agricultural implement for leveling and compacting a field or other site commonly called a land roller and more particularly to mechanisms to transform a land roller between an operating position and a transport position.

#Land rollers are pulled behind a tractor or other vehicle to compact soil, smaller rocks and stones and flatten a field. While they can be used in construction to compact and flatten the ground at a build site or for road construction, they are often used in agriculture in a field to form a relatively level ground surface and increase soil density before or after a crop is planted in the field.

#These land rollers are typically of a substantial size and use a number of “rollers” to roll over and flatten the ground. Because they need to flatten the ground surface, these rollers are usually quite heavy. The use of a number of rollers is so that a relatively wide swath of ground can be covered by the land roller in each pass with the multiple rollers being spread out roughly in a line behind the tractor or other tow vehicle and with each roller positioned substantially perpendicular to the travel direction of the land roller.

#A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a land roller hitched behind a tow vehicle;

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the land roller of FIG. 1;

#FIGS. 1 and 2 show a land roller 10 having a center section 20 with a center roller 22, a first wing section 40 with a first wing roller 42 and a second wing section 60 with a second wing roller 62. The land roller 10 can be hitched to a tow vehicle 2, such as a tractor, and towed in a travel direction T of the land roller 10. When the land roller 10 is in use in a field or other site, the land roller 10 can be placed in an operating position with the first wing section 40 and the second wing section 60 folded forward to be positioned substantially perpendicular to the travel direction T of the land roller 10 as shown in FIG. 3. This allows the center roller 22, the first wing roller 42 and the second wing roller 62 to cover as wide a section of the field as possible. When the land roller 10 is to be transported to another location, such as over public roads, the land roller 10 can be placed into a transport position with the first wing section 40 and the second wing section 60 folded backward extending along their length behind the center section 20 with the first wing section 40 and the second wing section 60 positional substantially parallel to the travel direction T of the land roller 10 as shown in FIG. 4.

#Referring to FIG. 5, the center section 20 of the land roller 10 can have a center frame 24 for supporting the center roller 22 extending downwards from the center frame 24 and an A-frame hitch member 30 can be operatively connected to a front member 26 of the center frame 24 to allow the land roller 10 to be connected to the tow vehicle 2. Hitch connection members 32 can extend downwards from the front member 26 and the hitch member 30 can be pivotally connected to the hitch connection members 32 below the front member 26 of the center frame 24. In this manner, the center section 20 can pivot around an axis A defined where the hitch member 30 pivotally connects to the hitch connection members 32.

#A center actuator 34, such as a float cylinder, can be connected between the hitch member 30 and the front member 26 of the center frame 24 so that the center actuator 34 can be used to selectively “lock” the center frame 24 relative to the hitch member 30 around the axis A or put the center actuator 34 in “float” mode allowing the center frame 24 to pivot relative to the hitch member 30. In this manner, the center actuator 34 can be used to “lock” the center frame 24 relative to the hitch member 30, such as when the land roller 10 is in the transport position, and the center actuator 34 can be placed in “float” mode to allow the center frame 24 to pivot around the hitch member 30 to allow the land roller 10 to move freely over rough terrain without being restricted by the hitch member 30.