Soil conditioning implement

The invention is directed generally to agricultural implements for conditioning soil. More particularly, the present invention relates to implements having packer tools intended to achieve a uniform packing of a bed of soil for subsequent planting or to achieve uniform packing of a bed of soil after it has been planted. A seed bed packer including a frame, a plurality of wheels connected to the frame, and a soil packing element. The packer also includes a spring shank for transferring weight from the frame to the soil packing element. The spring shank includes a first leg connected to the frame and a second leg connected to the soil packing element. When weight is transferred through the spring shank to the packing element, the first and second legs flex toward one another. The spring shanks are capable of distributing the weight of the frame between the wheels and the packing element, while concurrently providing sufficient flexibility to allow the packing element generally uniformly pack the soil, even over rough terrain.