A collapsible mulch dispenser has a collapsible hopper, a blower assembly, and a motor. The collapsible hopper is a freestanding receptacle that has a collapsible frame, a container, an outlet and a declined surface. The container is a bag that is mounted within the collapsible frame so that mulch can be poured into the container to be dispensed through the outlet. The declined surface is mounted within the container and forms a slope that directs the contents of the container to pass through the outlet. The blower assembly is a system used to deposit the mulch onto a desired surface. Accordingly, the motor and the blower assembly are coupled to the out so that mulch can flow out of the container and through the blower assembly.

A tarp roller for rolling a tarp or other ground cover has a frame adapted for mounting to a tow vehicle. The frame has a first support arm and a second support arm extending therefrom in spaced part relation. A primary rotatable spindle is powered and removably connected between the first support arm and the second support arm. A retainer to retain the tarp against the primary rotatable spindle comprises an elongate member mounted in removable spaced apart, coaligned relation with the primary rotatable spindle to move with the primary rotatable spindle as it rotates. The tarp roller further comprises further a secondary guide roller rotatably attached to the frame at a position above and forward of the primary rotatable spindle. A method of rolling a tarp is provided.

The present invention provides a ground engaging film roller 30.2 having a generally horizontal axis of rotation and an outer circumference for engaging ground, the roller having opposed outer ends 30.21 of a larger circumference than the circumference of portions 30.22 located between the opposed ends.

The present invention also provides a film deployment system having a ground engaging film roller as described above, which is rotationally mounted to a frame 30.1, the ground engaging film roller 30.2 receiving film from above and to a front location of the roller, and passing between a film locating roller 30.3 and the ground engaging roller 30.2, the ground engaging roller 30.2 shaping the ground it engages by forming a channel in ground at the opposed ends 30.21 of the roller 30.2 for the film to be located as it leaves engagement with the ground engaging roller 30.2.

The present invention also provides an agricultural or horticultural implement 10, 30 for performing an agricultural or horticultural process, the implement 10,30 including whipper arrangement 50 at a location forward of where the process will be performed.

The agricultural or horticultural implement 10, 30 can be such that to the rear of where the process is performed there can located film deployment system 30 as described above.

A mulching machine comprising a machine body that includes a tilling unit performing tilling, a ridge forming unit forming a ridge with the tilled soil, a mulch film laying unit drawing a mulch film from a film roll and laying it over the ridge, and ground wheels supporting the machine body. The tilling unit and the ridge forming unit are arranged in this order from the front in the traveling direction of the mulching machine, and the film roll is positioned such that its center of gravity does not overlap the ground wheels and is located forward of the ground wheels in the traveling direction.

A covering soil mulching apparatus according to an embodiment includes a soil scattering part at the rear end of the agricultural machine and including a scattering part frame and a scattering unit provided on a lower end side of the scattering part frame and scattering soil on a floor, a mulching film laying part including a laying part frame connected to a rear end side of the soil scattering part and a mulching film holding part having a mulching film wound around the mulching film holding part and spreading the mulching film on the floor, an oscillating plate above the mulching film holding part and guiding the scattered soil to be transported to a rear side and laid on an upper surface of the mulching film, and a soil oscillating part including oscillator for oscillating the oscillating plate to prevent formation of a soil wall on the oscillating plate.

Methods, systems and apparatuses for applying a sheet of film material to the ground by utilizing first and second double disk openers to create first and second grooves in the ground and inserting the sheet into the grooves by use of a pair of press wheels which travel behind the disk openers and force the sheet into the grooves. Use of the disk openers accommodates a method of applying the sheet to planted seeds in non-tilled, frozen and/or near frozen soil conditions for increased crop yields.

The mulch spreader is a piece of lawn maintenance equipment that comprises a rotating mulch dispensing chute and a compressed air mulch loosening feature. The mulch spreader is wheeled and has a hopper that is suspended above the ground on wheel supports. A rotating dispenser chute is situated below the hopper and the rotating action of the chute spreads mulch over a wider area than a simply drop chute would cover. The motor that causes the chute rotation is powered by a rechargeable battery contained within the mulch spreader. The same rechargeable battery also powers an air compressor. Air from the air compressor may be used to loosen mulch in the hopper and to expel mulch from the hopper via an optional external hose.

A mobile plastic mulch processing apparatus recovers plastic mulch by first cutting away any vegetation growing above the plastic mulch with a mower head which depends from the frame of the apparatus. The plastic mulch is caught up by a plastic mulch lifting apparatus which pulls the plastic mulch upward from the field and disposes the plastic mulch with a plastic mulch receiving bin. The apparatus may have additional systems which clean the top surface of the plastic mulch before lifting and for shredding the plastic mulch for disposal.

A tarp roller for rolling a tarp or other ground cover has a frame adapted for mounting to a tow vehicle. The frame has a first support arm and a second support arm extending therefrom in spaced part relation. A primary rotatable spindle is powered and removably connected between the first support arm and the second support arm. A retainer to retain the tarp against the primary rotatable spindle comprises an elongate member mounted in removable spaced apart, coaligned relation with the primary rotatable spindle to move with the primary rotatable spindle as it rotates. The tarp roller further comprises further a secondary guide roller rotatably attached to the frame at a position above and forward of the primary rotatable spindle. A method of rolling a tarp is provided.

An accessory configured to be connected to a self-propelled landscaping device. The accessory includes a frame that is releasably connectable to the device. The accessory includes a hopper supported on the frame and configured to hold bulk material in an interior area thereof. The hopper includes an upper opening for receiving bulk material and a lower opening for discharging the material. A conveyor extends below the hopper. The conveyor is selectively operative to move bulk material discharged from the lower opening in a first direction toward a conveyor first end or in a second direction toward a conveyor second end. A spreader is configured to engage and propel bulk material that is discharged at the conveyor first end. A conveyor extension is movably mounted on the frame and that includes an outward end that is selectively positionable outward in the second direction. Material delivered from the conveyor second end is movable on the conveyor extension and discharged at the outward end.