1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to agricultural implements and particularly to a soil working wheel of the rotary hoe type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Current rotary hoes consist of a plurality of laterally spaced rotary hoe wheels mounted on a tool bar by alternating long and short and pivotally mounted support arms to form two longitudinally spaced rows. Each arm is individually biased toward the soil for the wheel to follow the ground contour. Two rows are used to primarily prevent the carrying of trash along with the hoe. Each wheel has a plurality of radially extending rearwardly curved teeth which are designed to enter the soil, essentially vertically for quick penetration and to break the crust, and move the soil rearwardly along with uprooted weeds. Each wheel is free to rotate independently of the other. The hoeing operation can be accomplished at high speed with large spans being covered of various type crops.
Most commonly each hoe wheel is entirely made of steel with a central hub and the individual teeth radiating from the hub with a circular flange fixed to each tooth on both lateral sides thereof and midway between the tooth end that works the soil and the hub. Other wheels dispense with the flanges and rivet adjacent teeth to each other in this area for wider soil coverage. The tooth end that works the soil may be spoon shaped with the concave portion facing rearwardly or merely with an edge transverse to the line of travel if of cast construction.
The fabricated steel hoe wheel requires considerable elements all of which are usually riveted together which makes fabrication expensive. Also the spoon shaped tooth end is not necessarily the most efficient configuration for tooth entry into the soil, movement through the soil, and the resulting soil flow. Cast wheels require fewer parts but the normally transverse hoeing surface also does not produce an efficient soil flow. Thus the design of this widely used, but simple implement with its plurality of identical soil working elements, can be improved.