Airboat with aquatic vegetation shredding assembly

Abstract

An airboat having aquatic vegetation shredder includes an airboat having a buoyant hull and an aquatic vegetation shredding assembly supported on the hull. The airboat is driven by a propulsion assembly including a propeller that revolves in the air. These features cooperatively provide a low draft vessel that is capable of relatively higher forward speeds than other aquatic vegetation shredders and particularly effective in shallow water environments. Various alternative configurations of the shredding assembly are disclosed including upright and fore-and-aft shaft orientations for the cutting assembly and a drum and knife cutting assembly.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An aquatic vegetation shredder comprising: 
 an airboat including a buoyant hull,    said airboat being driven by a propulsion assembly including a propeller revolving in the air; and    an aquatic vegetation shredding assembly supported on the hull.    
     
     
         2 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 1 , 
 said propulsion assembly including a power source drivingly coupled to the propeller,    said propeller including a plurality of fan blades,    said propeller being configured to permit a pitch angle for each of the fan blades to be varied.    
     
     
         3 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 1 , 
 said aquatic vegetation shredding assembly including a frame, a shaft rotatably supported by the frame, and a vegetation shredding blade coupled to the shaft,    said shaft being positioned generally ahead of the bow end of the airboat and said propeller being adjacent the stem end of the airboat.    
     
     
         4 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 3 , 
 said shaft being rotatable about an upright axis.    
     
     
         5 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 4 , 
 said shaft being pivotally supported on the frame so that the orientation of the upright axis may be varied.    
     
     
         6 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 5 , 
 said frame being swingably mounted on the hull,    said shredding blade being swingably coupled to the shaft.    
     
     
         7 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 4 , 
 said aquatic vegetation shredding assembly including an additional shaft spaced laterally from the first-mentioned shaft such that the shafts are in a starboard and port relationship,    an additional vegetation shredding blade coupled to the additional shaft,    said starboard shaft and port shaft being independently and reversibly rotatable relative to each other.    
     
     
         8 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 3 , 
 said shaft being rotatable about a fore-and-aft extending axis.    
     
     
         9 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 8 , 
 said aquatic vegetation shredding assembly including an additional shaft spaced laterally from the first-mentioned shaft such that the shafts are in a starboard and port relationship,    an additional vegetation shredding blade coupled to the additional shaft,    said starboard shaft and port shaft being independently and reversibly rotatable relative to each other.    
     
     
         10 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 9 , said starboard blade and port blade being rotatable in relatively offset planes, said rotating blades presenting overlapping portions.  
     
     
         11 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 1 , 
 said aquatic vegetation shredding assembly including a frame, a drum rotatably supported by the frame, and a plurality of knives swingably mounted to the drum.    
     
     
         12 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 11 , 
 said knives being arranged in rows spaced along the length of the drum, with each of said rows including a pair of said knives mounted to the drum at diametrically opposite locations.    
     
     
         13 . An aquatic vegetation shredder comprising: 
 a watercraft; and    an aquatic vegetation shredding assembly mounted to the watercraft,    said aquatic vegetation shredding assembly including at least one cutter that comprises a hub rotatable about a generally fore-and-aft axis and a plurality of cutting blades projecting form the hub in a generally radial orientation as the hub rotates, each of said blades being deflectable out of the generally radial orientation.    
     
     
         14 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 13 , 
 each of said blades being swingably mounted to the hub.    
     
     
         15 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 13 , 
 said assembly including an additional cutter having a hub rotatable about an additional fore-and-aft axis,    said additional axis being spaced laterally from and parallel to the first-mentioned axis such that the cutters are in a starboard and port relationship.    
     
     
         16 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 15 , 
 said additional hub including an additional plurality of cutting blades projecting therefrom,    said starboard hub and port hub being independently and reversibly rotatable relative to each other.    
     
     
         17 . An aquatic vegetation shredder as claimed in  claim 16 , 
 said starboard blades and port blades being rotatable in relatively offset planes,    said rotating blades presenting overlapping portions.