Adjustable crop thinner

A crop thinning device configured for mounting on an elongate frame for pulling behind a vehicle in a field of crops oriented in rows, said frame being oriented transverse to the direction of motion of said vehicle, and having a forward portion, a rearward portion, support wheels for supporting said frame upon the ground, and a hitch disposed on said forward portion for connecting to said vehicle, said crop thinning device comprising:

• a rotating hub configured to rotate in a generally upright plane;
• pivot connector for connecting said hub to said frame, such that the orientation of said hub may be angularly adjusted about a substantially vertical axis, so as to allow selective orientation of the plane of rotation of said hub relative to the motion of said frame;
• a plurality of elongate sweeps, each sweep having an elongate axis extending radially from the perimeter of said hub and a substantially planar end blade that is angularly adjustable about said elongate axis, said sweeps configured to contact the ground with said blades such that said hub will be caused to rotate as said frame is pulled across the ground;
• a slip plate connected to said hub and each of said plurality of elongate sweeps, whereby rotation of said slip plate relative to said hub causes uniform axial rotation of each of said plurality of elongate sweeps;
• angular indicator means for indicating the angle of orientation of said end blades;
• and
• fixation means for fixing the rotational location of said slip plate so as to fix the axial orientation of each of said sweeps, whereby said blades may be caused to pass transversely through a row of crops as said hub rotates due to the motion of said frame, to thereby thin said crop.

A method of thinning crops, comprising the steps of:

• (a) positioning a crop thinning device having a rotatable hub and a plurality of sweeps extending radially therefrom, said sweeps having elongate axes and substantially planar end blades, in alignment with a row of crops to be thinned;
• (b) orienting said hub and attached sweeps in a generally upright plane of rotation and about a generally inclined axis such that the end blades of said sweeps contact the ground approximately at the location of said row;
• (c) adjusting the angular orientation of the plane of rotation of said hub relative to the row of crops to allow adjustment of the degree of thinning;
• (d) rotationally adjusting each of said plurality of sweeps about their elongate axes, so as to change the aspect ratio of the end blades of the sweeps relative to the crop row, to thereby adjust the magnitude of thinning;
• and
• (e) pulling said crop thinning device forwardly through said row of crops in line with said row such that the hub will rotate as a result of contact with the ground, causing the end blades of said sweeps to pass transversely through the row of crops, to thereby thin the crop.