Sod stacking machine

A sod harvesting and stacking machine comprising

• a vehicle frame having ground wheels for movement across ground to be harvested of sod;
• a sod cutting element mounted on the vehicle frame for movement therewith and arranged to cut from the ground only a single width of sod of substantially continuous length;
• sod transporting means for moving the single width of sod upwardly with respect to the ground and rearwardly of the vehicle frame;
• cutting means for cutting the sod width transversely at spaced positions longitudinally of the harvested sod length into a plurality of sod pieces arranged end to end;
• turning means for turning one end of each sod piece back over onto a part of the same sod piece to form a so piece having at lest two superposed portions;
• a pallet support for supporting a pallet for receiving the sod pieces stacked thereon in a plurality of layers each layer being placed on top of a preceding layer;
• means for forming the sod pieces into a layer for transfer to the pallet including conveyor means having a horizontal portion for transporting sod pieces in a single row from the turning means in a first direction to form a first horizontal row including at least one sod piece, translating means for moving said at least one sod piece in the first row in a second horizontal direction at right angles to the first direction to a position to allow a second row to be moved by said conveyor means into a position alongside so at least one sod piece of the first row so as to form said layer having a plurality of said rows arranged side by side with each row having the same number of sod pieces therein and support means for supporting the layer;
• and lifting means for lifting the sod pieces of the rows of the layer from the support means simultaneously, for translating the sod pieces from the support means laterally and for depositing the sod pieces in the layer onto the pallet;
• wherein said translating means comprises a plurality of chains each formed as an endless loop wrapped around a pair of sprockets for movement of an upper run of each chain in said second direction so that each sod piece is carried upon the chain for movement therewith, and means for lifting each chain so that the upper run of each chain is movable from a lower retracted position to an upper engaging position for engaging and moving the sod pieces.

A sod harvesting and stacking machine comprising

• a vehicle frame having ground wheels for movement across ground to be harvested of sod;
• a sod cutting element mounted on the vehicle frame for movement therewith and arranged to cut from the ground only a single width of sod of substantially continuous length;
• sod transporting means for moving the single width of sod upwardly with respect to the ground and rearwardly of the vehicle frame;
• cutting means for cutting the sod width transversely at spaced positions longitudinally of the harvested sod length into a plurality of sod pieces arranged end to end;
• turning means for turning one end of each sod piece back over onto a part of the same sod piece to form a sod piece having at least two superposed portions;
• a pallet support for supporting a pallet for receiving the sod pieces stacked thereon in a plurality of layers each layer being placed on top of a preceding layer;
• means for forming the sod pieces into a layer for transfer to the pallet including conveyor means having a horizontal portion for transporting sod pieces in a single row from the turning means in a first direction to form a first horizontal row including at least on sod piece, translating means for moving said at least one sod piece i the first row in a second horizontal direction at right angles to the first direction to a position to allow a second row to be moved by said conveyor means into a position alongside said at least one sod piece of the first row so as to form said layer having a plurality of said rows arranged side by side with each row having the same number of sod pieces therein and support means for supporting the layer;
• and lifting means for lifting the sod pieces of the rows of the layer from the support means simultaneously, for translating the sod pieces from the support means laterally and for depositing the sod pieces in the layer onto the pallet;
• wherein the conveyor means comprises a plurality of first conveyor belt elements arranged end to end, each spaced from a next adjacent first conveyor belt element such that the sod pieces are carried from each element to the next adjacent element so as to lie across the elements transversely to the direction of movement of the first conveyor belt elements and wherein the translating means comprises a plurality of second conveyor elements each arranged between one of the first conveyor belt elements and a next adjacent one of the first conveyor belt elements and arranged to move at right angles to the direction of movement of the first conveyor belt elements so as to carry the sod piece in said second direction.

A sod harvesting and stacking machine comprising

• a vehicle frame having ground wheels for movement across ground to be harvested of sod;
• a sod cutting element mounted on the vehicle frame for movement therewith and arranged to cut from the ground only a single width of sod of substantially continuous length;
• sod transporting means for moving the single width of sod upwardly with respect to the ground and rearwardly of the vehicle frame;
• cutting means for cutting the sod width transversely at spaced positions longitudinally of the harvested sod length into a plurality of sod pieces arranged end to end;
• turning means for turning one end of each sod pieced back over onto a part of the same sod piece to form a sod piece having at least two superposed portions;
• a pallet support for supporting a pallet for receiving the sod pieces stacked thereon in a plurality of layers each layer being placed on top of a preceding layer;
• means for forming the sod pieces into a layer for transfer to the pallet including conveyor means having a horizontal portion for transporting sod pieces in a single row from the turning means in a first direction to form a first horizontal row including at least one sod piece, translating means for moving said at least one sod piece in the first row in a second horizontal direction at right angles to the first direction to a position to allow a second row to be moved by said conveyor means into a position alongside said at least one sod piece of the first row so as to form said layer having a plurality of said rows arranged side by side with each row having the same number of sod pieces therein and support means for supporting the layer;
• and lifting means for lifting the sod pieces of the rows of the layer from the support means simultaneously, for translating the sod pieces from the support means laterally and for depositing the sod pieces in the layer onto the pallet;
• wherein said conveyor means comprises a plurality of first receptacles each for receiving a rolled sod piece, each receptacle having a part cylindrical wall with a longitudinal axis of the part cylindrical wall lying transverse to said first direction, the receptacles being arranged side by side with the axes thereof being parallel to each other.