A tractor has three pairs of ground wheels: front and rear steerable pairs which cooperate to steer the tractor, and a central pair. The central pair of wheels each are connected to the frame through a hydraulic cylinder and piston assembly which can be controlled to raise those wheels above the ground or to lower the wheels to engage the ground. The central wheels can be the same as the other wheels or traction caged wheels of hollow beams wherein a hub is connected to outer fellies with spokes. Supports interconnect the fellies at the inner or outer sides. All of the wheels can be driven independently by an engine and the central wheels are each detachable from a driven axle. The hub of the central wheels includes an outer cylindrical sleeve to which and end plate and the spokes are affixed. Each wheel is mounted on a hydraulic motor which is mounted on the tractor's frame, the forward and rear motors being turnable with the wheels mounted thereon. Hydraulically actuated three-point lift devices are provided on the tractor frame to extend forward between the front two wheels and rearwardly between the two rear wheels. Front and rear power take-off shafts are also provided. Power is provided by an engine located between the axes of rotation of the front and central wheels which energizes a hydraulic pump that in turn, separately powers each of the hydraulic motors and the other hydraulic actuated mechanisms.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 4,877 filed Jan. 19, 1979, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,203, Jan. 19, 1982, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 816,254 filed July 15, 1977, now abandoned, which is a division of application Ser. No. 588,156 filed June 19, 1975, now abandoned.
A self propelled sprinkler is disclosed. The sprinkler has a support body with a drive unit which drives two rear wheels. The drive unit is powered by water pressure supplied through a hose which is coupled to the drive unit via a hose coupler. The drive unit has a cylindrical drive chamber with circular impeller in fluid communication with the hose coupler. The impeller is rotated by the water pressure and is mechanically connected to a lateral shaft. The shaft is connected to the rear wheels. Reduction gearing from the impeller to the shaft governs the speed of the sprinkler. The reduction gearing is achieved through a series of sun gears, carrier disks and planet gears. The drive unit also has an outlet which has a socket which allows the exit of the pressurized water. The socket allows the insertion of any variety of sprinkler heads. Thus, the sprinkler allows a variety of water distribution patterns. The sprinkler is propelled by water pressure rotating the impeller and eventually the rear wheels.
