Ridge tillage attachment for planters

A ridge tillage unit for attachment to farming equipment comprising:

• a mounting section having a mounting part for mounting said ridge tillage unit to said farming equipment;
• a linkage portion attached to said mounting section;
• a tool portion attached to said linkage portion, said tool portion including a longitudinally extending tool beam having mounted thereon a support assembly including ground-engaging wheel means and ridge clearing means, said tool beam including a first tool beam portion affixed to said linkage and a second tool beam portion on which said support assembly and said ridge clearing means are mounted, said second tool beam portion being detachably mounted on said first tool beam portion;
• said linkage portion including support means above said tool beam and pivot links for accommodating upward and downward movement of said tool beam relative to said support means;
• and
• pressure means confined between said support means and said tool beam above said ridge clearing means for applying down pressure to said tool portion.

A ridge tillage unit adapted to be attached to a row-crop planter, comprising a linkage portion including means for mounting said unit on a planter, a detachable tool portion including a support assembly including ground-engaging wheel means and means for clearing debris from said ridge, said linkage portion and said tool portion including cooperative means for removably mounting said tool portion on said linkage portion, said cooperative means comprising a first tool beam portion attached to said linkage portion and a second tool beam portion of said tool portion detachably fixed to said first tool beam portion whereby said tool portion may be attached to and detached from said linkage portion by attaching and detaching said tool beam portions while said linkage portion is attached to such a planter, said first and second tool beam portions defining a longitudinally extending tool beam, said linkage portion including a transverse support having two ends, a pair of parallelogram linkage units With a front link and pivot links, each parallelogram linkage unit mounted to opposite ends of said transverse support such that the parallelogram linkage units are substantially parallel, and a stop bar mounted on said pivot links and adjacent said front link such that said stop bar contacts said front link to limit the drop in said pair of linkage units when said tool portion is removed from said linkage portion or said tillage unit is raised from the ground by raising said front links.

A planter having a plurality of row-planter units and a plurality of detachable ridge tillage units for guiding said planter along ridges and clearing said ridges for planting thereon by said planter units, each ridge tillage unit comprising

• a linkage system;
• a tool portion attached to said linkage system, including a longitudinally extending tool beam having mounted thereon a ridge engaging guide means for guiding said attachment along a ridge a ridge clearing means for clearing said ridge of debris, said tool beam including a first tool beam portion affixed to said linkage and a second tool beam portion on which said guide means and said ridge clearing means are mounted, said second tool beam portion being detachably mounted on said first tool beam portion;
• and
• pressure means mounted to said linkage system for applying down pressure to said tool portion.

A ridge tillage unit for attachment to farming equipment comprising:

• a mounting section having a mounting part for mounting said ridge tillage unit to said farming equipment;
• a linkage portion attached to said mounting section;
• a tool portion attached to said linkage system, said tool portion including a longitudinally extending tool beam having mounted thereon ridge engaging guide means and ridge cutting and clearing means, said tool beam including a first tool beam portion affixed to said linkage and a second tool beam portion on which said guide means and said ridge clearing means are mounted, said second tool beam portion being detachably mounted on said first tool beam portion;
• and
• pressure means cooperating with said linkage system and acting substantially directly above said ridge cutting and clearing means for applying down pressure to said tool portion.

A ridge tillage unit for attachment to farming equipment comprising:

• a mounting section having a mounting part for mounting said ridge tillage unit to said farming equipment;
• a linkage portion attached to said mounting section;
• a tool portion attached to said linkage portion, said tool portion including a tool beam having mounted thereon a support assembly including a ground-engaging wheel means and ridge clearing means, wherein said tool portion and said linkage portion have mating portions designed for slidably and detachably mating the tool portion and linkage portion, one of said mating portions having a dimension slightly less than a corresponding dimension of the other of said mating portions such that the tool portion can be slidably mounted to said linkage portion;
• said linkage portion including support means above said tool beam and pivot links for accommodating upward and downward movement of said tool beam relative to said support means;
• and
• pressure means for applying down pressure to said tool portion.

A ridge tillage unit for attachment to farming equipment comprising:

• a mounting section having a mounting part for mounting said ridge tillage unit to said farming equipment;
• a linkage portion attached to said mounting section;
• a tool portion attached to said linkage portion, said tool portion including a tool beam having mounted thereon a support assembly including ground-engaging wheel means and ridge clearing means;
• said linkage portion including a support means comprising a transverse abutment bar above said tool beam and pivot links for accommodating upward and downward movement of said tool beam relative to said support means;
• and
• pressure means confined between said support means and said tool beam above said ridge clearing means for applying down pressure to said tool portion and including a compression spring with a rod fit therethrough, said rod having two ends wherein one end is attached to said tool beam and a second end is movably mounted to said transverse abutment bar and said compression spring is disposed between said tool beam and said transverse abutment bar for applying down pressure to said tool beam.

A ridge tillage unit for attachment to farming equipment comprising:

• a mounting section having a mounting part for mounting said ridge tillage unit to said farming equipment;
• a linkage portion attached to said mounting section;
• a tool portion attached to said linkage portion, said tool portion including a tool beam having mounted thereon a support assembly including ground-engaging wheel means and ridge clearing means, said clearing means including cutting means mounted to the bottom side of said tool beam;
• said linkage portion including support means above said tool beam and pivot links for accommodating upward and downward movement of said tool beam relative to said support means;
• and
• pressure means confined between said support means and said tool beam above said ridge clearing means for applying down pressure to said tool portion, said pressure means being adjustable for varying down pressure on said ridge clearing means, said support means including a transverse abutment bar, and said pressure means including a rod pivotally mounted at one end to said tool beam substantially directly above said cutting means and removably mounted at its other end to said transverse abutment bar, a compression spring on said rod between said tool beam and said transverse abutment bar, and spring adjustment means attached to said rod between said compression spring and said tool beam for altering the pessure applied to said clearing means.