Apparatus for planting seedlings

Planting apparatus comprising:

• a mobile frame suitable for forward travel over the ground;
• a planting arm swingably mounted to the frame and extending rearwardly from a mounting location;
• the planting arm including a dibble remote from the mounting location and adapted to cut into the ground when the dibble is urged toward it during forward travel of the frame;
• planter means carried by the planting arm and adapted to support a seedling for planting in the cut made by the dibble, the planter means including upright spaced side walls at the rear of the dibble and a bottom ledge which together form a pair of side walls and the bottom of a pocket for receiving and holding a seedling in an upright position prior to planting, an elongated ejector tongue extending downwardly into said pocket to a point adjacent the bottom ledge and forming a frontal wall for the pocket in its forward position, a cover means mounted for movement between a closed position where it forms the rear wall of said pocket and an open position permitting escape of the seedling from the pocket, an ejector mechanism operatively connected to said ejector tongue for moving same rearwardly of the pocket to eject a seedling therefrom into the cut formed by the dibble, and mechanism connected to said cover means for moving same to the open position upon rearward movement of the ejector tongue.

Tree planting apparatus comprising:

• a mobile frame suitable for forward travel over the ground;
• a planting arm pivotally mounted to the frame and extending rearwardly from a mounting location;
• means for effecting pivotal motion of the planting arm;
• the planting arm including a dibble remote from the mounting location and adapted to cut into the ground when the dibble is urged toward it by said least mentioned means during forward travel of the frame;
• planter means carried by the planting arm and adapted to support a containerized seedling for planting in the cut made by the dibble, the planter means including upright spaced side walls at the rear of the dibble and a bottom ledge which together form a pair of side walls and the bottom of a pocket for receiving and holding a containerized seedling in an upright position prior to planting, an elongated ejector tongue extending downwardly into said pocket toward the bottom ledge and forming at least a partial frontal wall for the pocket in its forward position, a cover means mounted for movement between a closed position where it forms the rear wall of said pocket and an open position permitting escape of the seedling from the pocket, an ejector mechanism operatively connected to said ejector tongue for moving said rearwardly of the pocket to eject a seedling from the pocket into the cut formed by the dibble while maintaining the containerized seedling in an upright position, and mechanism connected to said cover means for moving same to the open position upon rearward movement of the ejector tongue to permit escape of the containerized seedling from said pocket into the cut in the ground.

Planting apparatus comprising:

• a mobile frame suitable for forward travel over the ground;
• a planting arm movably mounted to the frame and extending from a mounting location;
• the planting arm including a dibble remote from the mounting location and adapted to cut into the ground when the dibble moves toward it during forward travel of the frame;
• planter means carried by the planting arm and adapted to support a seedling for planting in the cut made by the dibble, the planter means including:
• upright spaced side walls at the rear of the dibble and a ledge which together form a pair of side walls and the bottom of a pocket for receiving and containing a seedling prior to planting, an elongated ejector tongue extending downwardly into said pocket to a point adjacent the ledge and forming a frontal wall for the pocket in its forward position, and an ejector mechanism operatively connected to said ejector tongue for moving same rearwardly of the pocket to eject a seedling therefrom into the cut formed by the dibble, said ejector mechanism including motor means on said planting arm for moving the ejector tongue rearwardly and forwardly of said pocket and resilient means interposed between said motor means and said ejector tongue and capable of yielding under the influence of abnormal forces which might otherwise cause damage to said apparatus, the ejector mechanism further including a housing fixed to the planting arm and through which said resilient means slidably extends, said resilient means including a tubular casing slidable relative to said housing and having spring means therein compressible in the direction of movement of said motor means, one end of said tubular casing being secured to said ejector tongue, and said spring means being operably connected to said motor means, the spring means being sufficiently stiff that under normal conditions the motion of the motor means is transmitted by the spring means to the tubular housing with the spring means yielding under abnormal forces to allow relative motion between the motor means and the tubular casing.