New Holland North America, Inc.

David L Knight

Robert D Kurtz, Jr

Joseph C Hurlburt

Russell William Strong

David J Templeton

Donald J Hager

Combined compact tractor operator platform, hood and fuel tank

A rear hinged pivotable hood for enclosing a tractor engine is disclosed wherein a hinge member pivotally mounts the hood to the tractor chassis for movement about a generally horizontal, transverse hinge access between a closed position in which the engine is inaccessibly covered and an opened position in which the engine is accessible. The engine hood includes a primary hood member that is pivotally movable about the hinge axis and a fixed portion that includes a pair of laterally spaced daily access doors pivotally mounted for outward movement to gain access to preselected frequently accessed service components of the engine. The lateral width of the primary hood member is substantially greater that the lateral spacing of the daily access doors so that the operator may have greater visibility of the position where said front tires engage the ground.

Split engine hood for tractors

A pivotally mounted hood for a tractor is disclosed wherein a gas spring, provided to offset the weight of the hood to facilitate the movement of the hood between opened and closed positions, is mounted to the chassis via a multi-position bracket having more than one hole therein for the selective connection of the gas spring. The bracket holes are arranged in a configuration defining a progressively increasing distance from the pivot connecting the hood to the chassis, thereby providing alternative mounting positions for the gas spring which have different moment arms for the application of the force exerted by the gas spring about the hood pivot. The gas spring can be remounted to a hole providing a larger moment arm relative to the hood pivot as the gas spring weakens over time due to the loss of gas therefrom, which enables the effective spring force offsetting at least a portion of the weight of the hood to remain substantially constant even though the gas spring weakens.

Adjustable tractor hood lift mechanism

Growing community of inventors

Lititz, PA, United States of America

David L Knight