Help figuring out what kind of implement this is... no pictures, sorry...

wyndsurfr · Apr 23, 2014

My father has been talking about this thing he used as a young man for years now, I thought he was referring to a rotary plow on a gravely so I finally got one and showed him today, nope... anyhow his description is something similar to a rotary plow, only it is horizontal and more like an auger or a screw.... He said it nearly killed him and sent a "wave of dirt" when it got away from him...

anyhow, wondering if any of you folks might have a clue what he is referring to??? He's in his late 60's so this could have been anytime from the late 50's till the 80's when he used this thing, he can't remember...

I've been scouring the interwebs all day, but without a name to call this thing, I'm having trouble...

Thanks in advance!

bcp · Apr 23, 2014

Trencher?
Gravely Powered Trencher - YouTube

Cultivator?
Gravely 5260 tilling the garden! - YouTube

LD1 · Apr 23, 2014

Sound like a backfill attachment on A trencher. That's the only horizontal screw-like attachment I can think of.

wyndsurfr · Apr 23, 2014

The way he was describing it, sounds alot like the backfill attachment of a trencher, but he knows what a trencher is, so it wouldn't have been that... He is pretty certain this was an actual tillage tool.

Certainly not a cultivator or regular tiller, he was a country boy so he would have known what that was for sure. It's got me stumped!

JRobyn · Apr 23, 2014

I know what he is talking about and have seen pics, but can't find any. It is a horizontal tiller/cultivator; the main shaft is vertical and has IIRC 4 heavy blades. Looks kinda like a 4-blade propellor. About 12-14" in diameter. If I can find a pic I'll post it. I think I may have a drawing from an old Gravely catalog or sales flyer. Maybe from Richard's Gravely parts?

- Jay

(edit) Gravely calls it a "Rotary Plow". I have some poor photos in an old Gravely Owner's Manual (pdf). Also sometimes referred to as a "Twin Tool" it seems.

(edit II) Google "Gravely Rotary Plow" and you can see it. Here's some photos.
https://www.google.com/search?q=gra...AGQ-YCICg&sqi=2&ved=0CE8QsAQ&biw=1230&bih=576

Ha! You can actually see a "wave of dirt" flying in some of those "action shots"! I bet they are a HANDFUL if the depth wheels and everything else are not set just right!

wyndsurfr · Apr 23, 2014

nope, I've got one of those, I would call this rotary plow veritcal, after he saw that he said it was horizontal.... Of course, it is quite possible the years have fogged his memory a bit as well...