Row crop debris clearing apparatus

Apparatus for clearing debris from a path during a farming operation in a field during forward movement thereof, said apparatus being adapted to be attached to a farming implement such as a planter, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame structure adapted to be mounted ahead of the farming implement and having a support carrying a pair of clearing disks and a mounting means for attaching said apparatus to the farm implement;
• first and second rotatable clearing disks, each said clearing disk having an inward and outward side, the inward side of each of said clearing disks being attached to a respective one of said disk mounts, each disk having a generally circular outer shape, a generally concave outward side surface and a plurality of backswept notches in its outer periphery, the forward reach of said first clearing disk being spaced apart from the forward reach of said second clearing disk in a clearing direction within the range of about 3 and about 10 inches to minimize the possibility of said first and second disks both contacting a particular item of debris at the same time;
• and
• means attached to said frame structure for journaling said pair of clearing disks for rotation, said journaling means being oriented to position said disks at an angle relative to the direction of forward movement so that the forward reaches of said disks are closer to one another than the rearward reaches, thereby generally defining a generally V-shape symmetrically centered about the direction of forward movement, said clearing disks contacting the field and debris and moving the debris outwardly relative to said disks to thereby clear said path near said clearing disks during forward movement of said apparatus.

Apparatus for clearing debris from a path during a farming operation in a field during forward movement thereof, said apparatus being adapted to be attached to a farming implement, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame structure adapted to be mounted ahead of the farming implement and having a support carrying a pair of clearing disks and a mounting means for attaching said apparatus to the farm implement;
• a pair of rotatable clearing disks, each having an inward and outward side, the inward side of each of which is attached to one of said disk mounts, each disk having a generally circular outer shape, a generally concave outward side surface and a plurality of backswept notches in its outer periphery, each said backswept notch comprising a forward edge and a rearward edge, said forward edge contacting the ground before said rearward edge as said clearing disk rotates during forward movement of the farming implement, said forward edge extending from the outermost peripheral portion of said disk generally radially inwardly to a predetermined depth and the rearward edge extending from the forward edge to the outermost peripheral portion of said disk, said rearward edge being generally vertical as said notch moves up from the ground during rotation of said disk so that debris tends to separate from said disk during continued rotation thereof, the forward reach of said first clearing disk being spaced a predetermined distance apart from the forward reach of said second clearing disk in a clearing direction to minimize the possibility of said first and second disks both contacting a particular item of debris at the same time, said predetermined distance being within the range of about 3 and about 10 inches;
• and
• means attached to said frame structure for journaling said pair of clearing disks for rotation, said journaling means being oriented to position said disks at an angle relative to the direction of forward movement so that the forward reaches of said disks are closer to one another than the rearward reaches, thereby generally defining a V-shape symmetrical about the direction of forward movement, said clearing disks contacting the field and debris and moving the debris outwardly relative to said disks to thereby clear said path near said clearing disks during forward movement of said apparatus.