In the CIS countries, the majority of forestplanting seedlings of various trees by hand on an industrial scale in territories where there is no possibility to use machinery, use LPL-5,5. The abbreviation stands for a planting shovel weighing 5.5 kg. But this name is rare, the "sword of Kolesov" is much more common. Currently, the use of a forest shovel is the most convenient and fast manual way of planting the forest.
The forest shovel was invented in 1883Alexander Andreevich Kolesov. He was the director of the Kharkiv Agricultural College. At the school a forest nursery was founded, and for the convenience of planting it with young trees Kolesov invented LPL-5,5. His attempts to find a simple and convenient tool for planting pine trees have often failed. The first shovel (Kolesov's sword) weighed only about 2 kg, the size was twice less than the LPL-5.5, and its service life lasted only a year.
As mentioned above, Kolesov's sword was createdfor the convenience of forest planting. Therefore, looking at the shape of the shovel, it is perfectly possible to say that the narrow bayonet (from 3 to 7 cm) and the bayonet (up to 38 cm) widened upwards (up to 38 cm) is necessary for better dissection of the soil. To this plate is attached a rod about 60 cm in height with an increasing diameter of 2.5 to 13 cm. Also, the thickness of the bayonet grows from the bottom up, and the thickness of the cross section of the blade is 2.5 cm. The lower edge of the bayonet blade is shifted forward relative to the part where fastened metal rod. The main distinguishing feature is the bayonet, which is a wedge-shaped plate about 40 cm long. At the top of the rod, the clutch is hollow, into which a transverse handle 35-40 cm long is placed.
Consider the technology of the process. Landing under the sword of Kolesov seedlings must necessarily be made with the participation of two people.
The one who manages with a shovel, calledswordsman (comes from the name of the shovel), but the one who directly drops the seedlings of trees into the hole - the planter. Most often, the sword is a man, since the planting shovel is quite heavy, and the process of making a hole is not easy, but a woman becomes a plower, respectively.
So, the work begins with the fact that the swordsmandrove the shovel into the ground to the full height of the bayonet. Then he swings the sword back and forth, thus forming a well for the seedlings, and very carefully removes the shovel from the ground, so as not to damage the prepared pit. The next stage of planting is the plowing of the root of the finished seedling in the hole. The planter must ensure that the root is not twisted in any way, is not entangled or bent in the pit. Seedling should be located so that the neck of the root was at the top of the hole. The planter, placing the tree, throws several handfuls of soil in the hole and then holds the seedling. Meanwhile, the sweeper at a distance of 10 cm from the hole again plunges Kolesov's sword into the ground and, pulling the handle of the shovel slightly toward himself, compacts the bottom of the hole, thus fixing the lower part of the root. And to fix the upper part - pushes the handle away from itself.
The first thing that workers need to know is landingseedlings produced only in pairs. Before the beginning of work each of participants should familiarize with a technological card. The distance between the links (pairs of workers) must be at least 2.5 m. The feet of the worker who holds the Kolesov's sword should not be in the path of the shovel movement. If there is an obstacle in the form of a stone or a root in the path of the forest shovel, the landing site must be moved. The main rule of occupational safety is careful study of the process.
To date, the planting shovel LPL-5,5can be purchased at any hardware store or online store with this specialization. But prices, of course, may not be available to everyone. For needleworkers to make a sword Kolesova own hands will not be a big problem. The dimensions of the shovel are in many books, but here we show in the drawing its device.
