Planter apparatus and method for planting

An agricultural implement for planting seeds comprising:

• a frame;
• a pair of opposed furrow-forming disks rotatably supported on said frame on intersecting axes so that the disks diverge upwardly and rearwardly from adjacent edges forward of their axes;
• vertically adjustable gauge wheels carried on and supporting the frame, said wheels being outwardly of the disks and being rotatably supported on axes spaced rearwardly of the disk axes, said wheels cooperating with said disks to firm the furrow walls and the ground adjacent to the disks as the disks leave the ground;
• a seed dispensing means including a seed hopper, a seed selecting mechanism and a seed delivery tube carried by the frame, the tube having its discharge end near the furrow bottom;
• an arm pivotally supported behind the gauge wheels for vertical swinging movement;
• a furrow closing means carried on the arm including a pair of spaced and upwardly diverging closing wheels carried on the arm and in ground-engaging contact with the respective ground surfaces firmed by the gauge wheels;
• and biasing means between the frame and arm exerting a downward force thereon sufficient to cause said closing wheels to collapse the furrow and provide a substantially uncompacted covering for said seeds.

An agricultural implement for planting seeds comprising:

• a frame;
• a pair of opposed furrow-forming disks rotatably supported by the frame on intersecting axes so that the disks diverge upwardly and rearwardly from adjacent edges forward of their axes;
• pivot structures carried by the frame rearwardly of the disk axes and being vertically adjustable on the frame;
• a pair of gauge wheels mounted on the pivot structures outside of and closely adjacent to the respective disks and adapted to cooperate with the disks to compact the furrow walls and contact and firm strips of ground surfaces extending outwardly of and on opposite sides of the furrow;
• a seed dispensing means including a seed hopper, a seed selecting mechanism, and a seed delivery tube carried by said frame, said tube having its discharge end near the furrow bottom;
• a pair of upright laterally spaced and upwardly diverging furrow closing wheels;
• and a downwardly biased arm pivotally supported by the frame for vertical movement and carrying said closing wheels so as to engage and exert on said strips a measured force sufficient to collapse the upper portions of the furrow walls inwardly over the seed to provide a substantially uncompacted covering therefor.

An agricultural implement for planting seeds comprising:

• a frame having means thereon for securing said frame to a mobile power source;
• a furrow-forming unit carried by said frame and including a pair of furrow-forming disks having means rotatably supporting said disks on intersecting axes so that the disks diverge upwardly and rearwardly from adjacent edges forward of their axes;
• means on the frame for regulating the furrow depth and for compacting the furrow walls and the strips of ground extending outwardly of and bordering each wall, said means including pivot structures carried by the frame and rotatably supporting gauge wheels on axes spaced rearwardly of the disk axes, said structures being vertically adjustable with respect to the frame and positioning the gauge wheels closely adjacent the furrow where the disks leave the ground and said gauge wheels having a diameter greater than the disk diameter and adapted to contact and firm the strips of ground outwardly of the disks bordering the furrow;
• a seed dispensing means including a seed hopper, a seed selecting mechanism and a rearwardly slopingly seed delivery tube carried by the frame, said tube having its discharge end near the furrow bottom;
• and a furrow closing means rearwardly of the seed delivery tube including a pair of upright laterally spaced and upwardly diverging closing wheels rotatably supported by the frame, said wheels downwardly biased to exert on said strips at points remote from the furrow walls a measured force sufficient to collapse upper portions of the furrow walls over the seed to provide a uniform and uncompacted ground covering therefor.

An agricultural implement for planting seeds comprising:

• a mobile frame;
• a pair of upright furrow-forming disks rotatably supported on the frame about inersecting axes so that said disks diverge upwardly and rearwardly from adjacent edges forward of their axes;
• a pair of smooth surface gauge wheels supporting the frame and thereby regulating the operating depth of the furrow-forming disks, said wheels rotatably mounted rearwardly of the disk axes and outside of and in close proximity to the outer surfaces of the disks and cooperative with the latter so as to firm the furrow walls and contact and pack the ground closely adjacent the furrow and form smooth surfaces on opposite sides of the furrow;
• a seed delivery tube disposed between the disks for delivering seed to the furrow;
• and a pair of opposed downwardly converging furrow closing wheels supported rearwardly of and in tracking relation respectively to the gauge wheels and engaging the ground spacedly outwardly of the furrow and in the respective smooth surfaces formed by the gauge wheels, said furrow-closing wheels being biased downwardly so as to collapse the upper portions of the furrow walls so as to provide substantially uncompacted soil over the seed.

An agricultural implement for planting seeds comprising:

• a mobile frame;
• a pair of upright furrow-forming disks rotatably supported on the frame about intersecting axes so that said disks diverge upwardly and rearwardly from adjacent edges forward of their axes;
• a pair of smooth surface gauge wheels supporting the frame and regulating the operating depth of the furrow-forming disks, said wheels mounted rearwardly of the disk axes for rotation outside of and in close proximity to the outer surfaces of the disks and in contact with the ground closely adjacent the furrow and cooperative with said disks to compact the furrow walls and form continuous smooth surfaces on opposite sides of the furrow;
• a seed delivery means for delivering seed to the furrow;
• a furrow closing device supported rearwardly of and in tracking relation respectively to the gauge wheels and engaging the ground on opposite sides of and outwardly of the furrow and in the respective smooth surfaces formed by the gauge wheels, said furrow closing device directing forces downwardly and inwardly with respect to the furrow so as to collapse the furrow walls above the seed and to move substantially uncompacted soil over the seed.

An agricultural implement for planting seeds comprising:

• a mobile frame;
• a pair of upright furrow-forming disks rotatably carried by the frame about intersecting axes so that said disks diverge upwardly and rearwardly from adjacent edges forward of their axes;
• a pair of smooth surface gauge wheels supporting the frame and thereby regulating the operating depth of the furrow-forming disks, said wheels being outside of and in close proximity to the outer surfaces of the disks and being rotatably supported on axes spaced rearwardly of the disk axes and cooperative with said disks so as to firm the furrow walls and compactly form continuous smooth surfaces on opposite sides of the furrow;
• a seed dispensing tube extending downwardly between the disks to a lower end adjacent the lower edges of the disks for delivering seed between the disks and into the furrow;
• and a furrow closing means including at least one wheel supported rearwardly of and riding on at least one of the smooth surfaces formed by the gauge wheels, and means applying a downward force on the furrow closing wheel sufficient to cause the furrow wall portion at the seed level in the furrow to be firmly closed about the seed and the furrow wall portions above the seed to be collapsed over the seed and thereby provide a comparatively uncompacted cover for the seed.

In a seed planting implement of the type having a frame securable to a mobile power source and a plurality of seed planting units connected thereto, the improvement comprising:

• a subframe for each planting unit;
• a pair of upwardly and rearwardly diverging furrow-forming disks rotatably supported on each subframe about intersecting axes;
• means on the subframes for regulating furrow depths, for maintaining the furrow walls and forming packed strips of ground extending outwardly from said furrows, said means including vertically adjustable gauge wheels rotatably supported on axes spaced rearwardly of the disk axes, said wheels adapted to contact the ground closely adjacent to the furrow and where the disks leave the ground so as to firmly form the furrow walls and form packed strips of ground outwardly of the disks and bordering the furrow;
• a plurality of seed dispensing means supported on the subframes, each including a seed hopper having a seed selecting mechanism and a seed delivery tube depending therefrom and having its discharge end near its respective furrow bottom;
• and a plurality of furrow closing means on the subframes rearwardly of the seed dispensing means adapted to contact said packed strips of ground and exert thereon measured forces sufficient to collapse the upper portions of the furrow walls so as to loosely cover the dispensed seeds.

An implement for planting seeds comprising:

• a mobile frame;
• a pair of upright furrow-forming disks rotatably supported by the frame so as to diverge rearwardly from adjacent edges forward of their axes of rotation;
• a pair of gauge wheels outside of and in close proximity to the outer surfaces of the disks;
• pivot structures vertically adjustable with respect to the frame and rotatably supporting the gauge wheels on axes spaced rearwardly of the disk axes and for positioning the gauge wheels so that their lower surfaces engage the ground adjacent the points of exits where the disks leave the ground to thereby firm the walls of the furrow and form continuous smooth surfaces on opposite sides of the furrow;
• a seed delivery means having a delivery end carried between and closely adjacent but vertically above the lower edges of the disks for delivering seed to the furrow;
• and a furrow closing device supported rearwardly of the gauge wheels and composed of opposed and upwardly diverging wheels having their lower sides engaging the ground on opposite sides of and spacedly outwardly of the furrow, but within the confines of the respective smooth surfaces formed by the gauge wheels, said diverging wheels directing forces from opposite sides of the furrow downwardly and inwardly with respect to the furrow and for collapsing the furrow walls and moving uncompacted soil over the seed.