Machine for agricultural irrigation

A hose-drum irrigation machine of the kind including a chassis, a hose-drum carried by the chassis for rotation about an axis extending longitudinally through said drum, a hose wound on the hose-drum and to be connected at the end adjacent said hose-drum to water-supply means, an irrigation water-discharge device connected to the end of the hose remote from said hose-drum, and means to turn said drum about said longitudinal axis in the hose-rewinding sense and thereby to pull said irrigation water-discharge device toward said hose-drum, the irrigation machine also including two sets of drum-supporting wheels supported for rotation by said chassis to provide a cradle on which said drum is mounted and is rotatable about said longitudinal axis without the provision of a central supporting shaft co-axial with the drum, said drum having a pair of laterally-spaced peripheral rolling tracks arranged to engage said supporting wheels, two sets of drum-locating wheels mounted for rotation about axes spaced from the axes of rotation of said drum-supporting wheels to engage radially inner surfaces of said peripheral rolling tracks to maintain said drum to engagement with said drum-supporting wheels and to restrain said drum from end-wise movement on said drum-supporting wheels, at least one of said drum-supporting wheels arranged to be driven by said driving means to effect rotation of said drum in the hose-rewinding sense.