Backfilling apparatus with adjustable filling augers

A backfiller adapted to be mounted on a vehicle comprising:

• a frame having an upper frame portion and two downwardly extending spaced apart side frame members;
• means for mounting said frame to said vehicle;
• an elongated torque member extending between said side frame members and having its opposite ends rotatably journaled in said side frame members,
• first and second tube members mounted over said elongated torque member for longitudinal sliding movement along the longitudinal axis of said torque member;
• helical flighting means mounted around said first and second tube members, the flighting means on said first tube member being oriented in a direction opposite from the flighting means on said second tube member;
• securing means for detachably securing said first and second tube members to said torque member in a plurality of positions along the length of said torque member to permit selective adjustment of the relative positions of said first and second tube members with respect to one another;
• power means connected to said torque member for imparting rotation to said torque member and said first and second tube member;
• said first and second tube members each having an outer end adjacent one of said side frame members and an inner end, said inner ends of said first and second tube members being spaced apart a predetermined distance determined by the longitudinal positions of said first and second tube members on said torque member;
• said securing means comprising at least one diametric hole in each of said first and second tube members, a plurality of diametric holes spaced longitudinally along the length of said torque member, and first and second bolt means extending through the diametric holes of said first and second tube members, respectively, said first and second bolt means also each extending through one of the diametric holes of said torque member.