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Gravely Patents

B.F. Gravely Patents

Benjamin Franklin Gravely was a prolific tinkerer and inventor before, during, and after his involvement with The Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company, and is said to have been awarded fourty to sixty patents, depending on which source you choose to believe. Many were for photographic equipment, but those on this page are for Gravely tractors and other agricultural equipment.

U.S. Patent 1,775,454 Carburetor 420 KB (posted 06/24/06)
• Application filed March 24, 1928 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded September 9, 1930

U.S. Patent 1,782,848 Carburetor 348 KB (posted 05/20/06)
• Application filed January 18, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded November 25, 1930

U.S. Patent 1,822,211 Hillside Agricultural Machine 248 KB (posted 06/24/06)
• Application filed July 24, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded September 8, 1931

U.S. Patent 1,876,220 Cutter Guard 188 KB (posted 06/24/06)
• Application filed May 30, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded September 6, 1932.

U.S. Patent 1,876,662 Mowing Machine 356 KB (posted 05/20/06)
• Application filed April 22, 1929 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded September 13, 1932.
• The power unit shown is clearly a Gravely Model D, but the sickle bar mower attachment is completely unlike the model that went into production in 1930 and remained virtually unchanged for 50 years.

U.S. Patent 1,881,505 Tractor 404 KB (posted 06/26/06)
• Application filed August 13, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Application renewed May 7, 1932.
• Patent awarded October 11, 1932

U.S. Patent 1,889,830 Lawn Mower Device 208 KB (posted 06/26/06)
• Application filed February 6, 1932 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded December 6, 1932.
• This is the patent on which the first reel mower for the Model D was based.

U.S. Patent 1,901,293 Mowing Device 240 KB (posted 06/24/06)
• Application filed August 8, 1931 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded March 14, 1933.
• This appears to be the sickle bar mower and chain-driven front PTO used on the Model D.

U.S. Patent 1,944,789 Gearing 409 KB (posted 06/16/06)
- Application filed January 13, 1932 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded January 23, 1934.
• This appears to be planetary gearing along the lines of that later used in the Model L transmission, but designed for a Model D-like single-wheel tractor. Could this be the basis for the Gravely Imperial produced in England during the 1950s?

U.S. Patent 2,051,443 Rotary Plow 556 KB (posted 05/20/06)
• Application filed March 9, 1935 by Benjamin Franklin Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded August 18, 1936.
• Definitely not the Gravely Rotary Plow as we know it!

U.S. Patent 2,070,830 Rotary Plow 452 KB (posted 06/10/06)
• Application filed June 29, 1933 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Application renewed July 13, 1936.
• Patent awarded February 16, 1937.
• Still not the Rotary Plow as we know it, which if I'm not mistaken was already in production by the time this patent was finally awarded.

U.S. Patent 2,514,343 Power Operated Sickle Mower 448 KB (posted 05/20/06)
• Patent applied for June 21, 1943 by Benjamin F. Gravely, Nitro, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded July 18, 1950 and assigned to B.F. Gravely & Sons Manufacturing Company, Nitro, West Virginia.

U.S. Patent 2,712,301 Fluid Motor Construction 464 KB (posted 05/20/05)
• Application filed October 18, 1950 by Benjamin F. Gravely and Charles B. Gravely, Nitro, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded July 5, 1955, after B.F. Gravely's death in January 1953.

Other Patents Of Interest

U.S. Patent 1,455,046 Tractor Cultivator 568 KB (posted 06/24/06)
• Application filed July 17, 1922 by Charles Edwin Downie and George D. Gravely, Pomeroy, Ohio.
• Patent awarded May 15, 1923.
• This is a single-wheel motorized cultivator similar in concept to the Gravely Model D, but not a B.F. Gravely design (Gravely patented the design that eventually became the Model D on December 5, 1916). B.F. Gravely's wife was Elizabeth Susan Downie, from Pomeroy, Ohio. Was Charles Edwin Downie related to Elizabeth? Was George D. Gravely one of B.F. and Elizabeth's five children?

U.S. Patent 2,258,517 Sickle Mower Attachment 908 KB (posted 07/08/06)
• Application filed May 2, 1941 by Eustace L. Rose, Charleston, West Virginia.
• Assigned to Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded October 7, 1941.
• A sickle bar mower drive design very different from the production model.

U.S. Patent 2,532,424 Rotary Plow 736 KB (postd 07/08/06)
• Application filed April 30, 1945 by Eustace Loring Rose, Charleston, West Virginia.
• Assigned to the Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded December 5, 1950.
• This is the Gravely Rotary Plow. It isn't clear why the patent wasn't applied for until long after the Rotary Plow went into production.

U.S. Patent 2,533,693 Rotary Plow 192 KB (posted 07/08/06)
• Original application filed April 30, 1945 by Eustace Loring Rose, Charleston, West Virginia as part of patent application for Rotary Plow (see U.S. Patent 2,532,424 above).
• Divided from that application and reapplied for February 9, 1948.
• Assigned to the Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded December 12, 1950.
• This patent is for what early Gravely parts lists showed as the Rotor Spider Hub and Rotor Spade Cutters (plow points) for the Rotary plow.

U.S. Patent 2,538,708 Transmission For Hand Tractors 784 KB (posted 07/08/06)
• Application filed July 19, 1945 by Eustace Loring Rose, Charleston, West Virginia.
• Assigned to Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent granted January 16, 1951.
• Based generally on the Model L transmission desgn, but has a multi-disc motorcycle-type clutch, a single planetary, and the engine is an overhead valve vee twin with a generator and electric starter.

U.S. Patent 2,660,447 Riding Sulky For Power-Operated Mowing Units 160 KB (posted 05/02/11)
• Application filed April 8, 1950 by Robert Bear, Wellington, Ohio.
• Patent granted November 24, 1953.
• This is the patent on which a steering sulky made and sold in the early 1950s by Gravely Ohio Company was based. It is known variously as the "Gravely Ohio Company Riding Sulky", the "GOC Riding Sulky" or the "Bearco Riding Sulky" (Gravely Ohio Company was owned by the Bear family). The production model of the GOC Riding Sulky differed in several respects from the one shown in the patent drawings. Gravely purchased rights to the design from Robert Bear and began producing its own steering sulky, as announced to Gravely dealers in Gravely Bulletin 573, dated May 20, 1955. The Bear family received royalties for every Gravely Steering Sulky sold. Note that the GOC Sulky is steered by foot pedals, while the Gravely Steering Sulky uses a steering wheel.

U.S. Patent 2,835,242 Valve In Head For Internal Combustion Engine 232 KB (posted 01/26/08)
• Application filed July 3, 1956 by Harold L. Jenkins, Charleston, West Virgina.
• Patent granted May 20, 1958.
• This is the Jenkins Overhead Valve Cylinder Head that was sold as an aftermarket accessory for the Gravely Model L engine.

U.S. Patent 2,855,060 Tractor And Sulky Attachment Therefor 608 KB (posted 06/26/06)
• Application filed February 9, 1956 by Richard R. Colburn, Kansas City, Missouri.
• Patent awarded October 7, 1958.
• Not the Gravely steering sulky, but clearly based on a Gravely Model L.

U.S. Patent 3,204,724 Fork Lift Attachment For Small Tractors 275 KB (posted 08/06/11)
• Application filed February 21, 1964 by John H. Sagarian, Worcester, Massachusetts.
• Patent awarded September 7, 1965.
• The tractor shown in the patent drawings is clearly a Gravely Model L. Note that two versions of the attachment are shown, one depending on a Steering Sulky for steering the rig, the other having its own built-in steering mechanism.

U.S. Patent 3,777,837 Tractor 776 KB (posted 07/08/06)
• Application filed March 2, 1971 by Murry D. Harper, Dunbar, West Virginia.
• Patent awarded December 11, 1973.
• In the mid 1930s Murry Dean Harper worked with B.F. Gravely, Clarence Robb, and Eustace Rose on the design of the new Model L tractor. Robb and Harper left in 1937 after B.F. Gravely lost control of the company to D. Ray Hall. Dean Harper built the prototype "Harper Tractor" in 1969, then sold the design to D. Ray Hall (some accounts say to Clarence Robb), who renamed it the "Mountaineer Tractor" and manufactured them in the 1970's and 1980's at United Farm Tools in Charleston, West Virginia. This Harper patent appears to be the design on which the Mountaineer transmission was based. The Mountaineer is notable for attaining more speed ranges with a transmission that is simpler than the Gravely's, and for the fact that powered attachments for the Mountaineer and Gravely are interchangeable.

U.S. Patent 3,779,605 Roofing Removal Apparatus 155 KB (posted 03/12/11)
• Application filed July 28, 1972 by John J. Nieman, New Prague, Minnesota.
• Patent awarded December 18, 1973.
• This is the Nieman Power Roof Remover attachment for use on Gravely Roofer Tractors.

U.S. Patent 4,132,255 Tractor Mounted Log Splitting Apparatus 818 KB (posted 05/20/06)
• Application filed May 12, 1977 by Russell H. Thackery, Columbus, Ohio.
• Patent awarded January 2, 1979.
• This is what we know as the "Unicorn" Log Splitter for use with the Gravely Rotary Plow gearbox.

U.S. Patent 4,192,525 Steering Sulky For Two-Wheel Tractors 604 KB (posted 06/26/06)
• Application filed September 22, 1978 by John D. Clark, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• Assigned to Clarke-Gravely Corporation, Clemmons, North Carolina.
• Patent awarded March 11, 1980.
• Another variation on the steering sulky concept.

U.S. Patent 5,058,543 Electronic Ignition Module 220 KB (posted 05/04/08)
• Application filed October, 23, 1990 by Gary Eck, Orwell, Indiana.
• Assigned to Sten's Lawnmower Parts Inc, Jasper, Indiana.
• Patent awarded October 22, 1991.
• This is the patent on which the Stens MegaFire electronic ignition module was based. It replaces the points and condenser in small engine magneto ignition systems, and works well in the WICO and Fairbanks-Morse magnetos used on the Gravely Model L. Unfortunately it is no longer in production, and the current MegaFire II module does not work in Model L magnetos.