Abstract: A riding type mower includes: a vehicle body, a driver's seat mounted on the vehicle body; an operation part arranged around the driver's seat; a mower unit provided on the vehicle body; a shutter for closing a discharge port; a shutter moving mechanism for moving the shutter between a close position closing the discharge port and an open position opening the discharge port; and a lock mechanism for locking the shutter at the close position. The mower unit includes: a mower deck; a cutting blade installed inside the mower deck; the discharge port formed in the mower deck, through which mown grass cut by the blade is discharge from the mower unit to outside. A shutter operating tool for remotely operating the shutter moving mechanism to open and close the shutter is provided in the operation part. The lock mechanism is remotely operable from the operation part.

Abstract: A harvester (1) comprises an engine and machinery housing (2), a discharge chute (6) which is movably mounted on the engine and machinery mounting (2) and which carries a first outfeed point (7) and a second outfeed point (12) for harvested crop, and at least one deflector for switching a flow of harvested crop from one of the outfeed points (7, 12) to the other.

Abstract: An agricultural harvesting machine includes a feeder housing and a cutting platform attached to the feeder housing. The cutting platform includes at least one platform section, with each platform section having a frame, a cutterbar assembly at a leading edge of the platform section, and an excessive localized deflection indicator associated with the cutterbar assembly. One or more pairs of reel support arms are provided, with each pair associated with a corresponding reel. Each pair of reel support arms is movable toward and away from the cutterbar assembly, dependent upon a state of the excessive localized deflection indicator.

Abstract: A control system for a cutting reel unit includes a height-of-cut adjusting system and a reel-to-bedknife clearance adjusting system. The reel mower cutting unit may be manual or self-adjusting. In the manual mode, adjustments can be made by engaging and turning an adjustment actuator on the side of the cutting reel with a hand tool such as a socket wrench. In the self-adjustment mode, adjustments can be made by engaging and turning adjustment actuators with an output shaft of an electric motor. The same adjustment actuators are used in both adjustment modes, and the reel cutting unit may be converted between modes by fastening or unfastening electric motor assembly from the unit.

Abstract: A picker spindle bar includes spindles oriented on the bar to offset the spindle picking ends relative to each other. In an exemplary embodiment, adjacent spindle axes are rotated six degrees relative to each other about the upright spindle drive shaft axis so that the picking ends of adjacent spindles are offset and enter the doffing zone at different times to reduce peak loads on the harvester row unit. The angled spindle configurations also space picking ends fore-and-aft in the picking zone and improve harvesting efficiency, especially where green bolls are present. The staggered spindle ends reduces cotton pinching in the picking, doffing and spindle wiping areas to thereby reduce row unit plugging.

Abstract: In a method for transferring crop material from a harvesting machine to a hauling vehicle, with which the crop material is accelerated and ejected through a conveyor chute of a transfer device to a target point on the transport vehicle, the acceleration of the crop material to be transferred is controlled as a function of at least one parameter that represents a transfer distance. A corresponding control unit for a harvesting machine and a harvesting machine with a control unit of this type is also provided.

Abstract: A gang-type lawn mower system comprises a main frame or frame structure and a plurality of mower decks secured to the main frame. Mounted on the main frame is a power source such as an internal combustion engine. A drive train is interconnected between the power source and each of the mower decks. Thus, each mower deck is driven by the single power source. Further, the frame structure includes a tongue that is adapted to be connected to a tractor. Therefore, in cutting grass, the frame structure is pulled over the ground and each of the mower decks, driven by the power source, cuts grass or other vegetation that passes under the mower decks. Additionally, each mower deck is pivotally connected to the frame structure about at least one pivot axis.

Abstract: A corn stalk roll, a corn stalk head, and a corn stalk machine suitable for harvesting cobs and separating the stalk or stem of the cob plant is described. The machine requires low cutting power and is not susceptible to jamming.

Abstract: A sliding pulley drive mechanism in cutting platform of lawn mower is disclosed. The drive mechanism includes an engine for the fixed to a chassis; a cutting platform connected to, and capable of moving up and down in relation to the chassis; cutting platform drive belts fitted over the output shaft of the engine, an external spline shaft is fixed to the output shaft of the engine, and a belt pulley with an internal spline is mounted on an external spline shaft. Through a spline mechanism, the belt pulley on the engine can slide up or down on the output shaft of the engine as the elevation of the cutting platform is adjusted, so that the cutting platform drive belts are kept in the same plane, and therefore the belt service lifespan is elongated.

Abstract: An agricultural tillage sweep providing good soil action without ridges in the soil surface at both high and low speed operation in different soil conditions. Wings extending outwardly and rearwardly from a leading nose portion include non-flat soil contacting surfaces defining opposed outwardly and upwardly directed surfaces converging in the forward direction. The surfaces, which can be concave upwardly and outwardly, define soil throwing action that progressively increase in the rearward direction. A shallow sweep leading area provides greater upward soil lift and lesser outward soil throw compared to trailing areas. At high speeds, the leading area provides vertical lift and substantial outward throw of soil, and at lower speeds the progressive action surfaces provide additional outward throw of soil to facilitate necessary soil mixing action.

Abstract: An apparatus for analyzing crop composition of crops moving in a grain elevator, the elevator including paddles moving up on an up-going side of the elevator and down on a down-going side of the elevator, the apparatus including a crop entrance for entry of crops from the up-going paddles to the analyzing apparatus and a housing for containing a portion of crops to be analyzed. The crop entrance is located in a plane parallel to the elevator's outer wall at the up-going side of the elevator. The apparatus further includes a sloped gutter portion for bringing crops from the crop entrance towards the housing.

Abstract: Robotic harvesting of agricultural crops. Robot moves through a field first to “map” the field to determine plant locations, number and size of fruit on plants and approximate positions of fruit on each plant. Once the map of the fruit is complete, the robot can plan and implement an efficient picking plan for itself or another robot. A scout robot or harvest robot determines a picking plan in advance of picking a tree. This may be done if the map is finished hours, days or weeks before a robot is scheduled to harvest, or if the picking plan algorithm selected requires significant computational time and cannot be implemented in “real time” by the harvesting robot as it is picking the field. The system harvests according to the selected picking plan. The picking plan may be generated in the scout robot, harvest robot or on a server.

Abstract: A latch mechanism is disclosed that retains a grass catcher on a reel mower cutting unit. The latch mechanism includes a latch plate releasably holding a rod end of the grass catcher in a slot on the reel mower cutting unit. The latch plate pivots on a horizontal axis. A clip is fastened to the horizontal axis to lock the latch plate in either a locked position retaining the grass catcher or an unlocked position allowing removal of the grass catcher.

Abstract: A carousel merger is provided that is designed to replace existing belt conveyor devices. The carousel merger device has a crop receiving passageway which extends through a top surface of the carousel merger device toward a bottom surface of the carousel merger device. The crop receiving passageway has a plurality of crop receiving regions and a crop flow region. The crop receiving regions have arcuate sidewalls, support plates rotatably mounted to the bottom surface and blades mounted to the support plates. The crop flow region is provided adjacent the crop receiving regions with a portion of the crop flow region extending through the crop receiving regions. The crop flow region has a back wall opposite from the arcuate sidewalls of the crop receiving regions. A discharge is in communication with the crop flow region.

Abstract: The invention relates generally to harvesters and, more particularly, to a combine for harvesting row crops, which has been modified, to collect and measure grain continuously from a plurality of strip test plots.

Abstract: A wear assembly includes an adapter with a nose, a wear member with a socket to receive the nose, and a lock to secure the wear member to the adapter. The nose and socket include complementary rails and grooves that vertically diverge as they extend from the front of the nose. The lock can have a tapered construction.

Abstract: A mower blade assembly (10) includes an elongated blade bar (11) having two oppositely disposed cutting ends (13). A pair of removable bottom blades (22) and a pair of removable top blades (23) are removably mounted to the blade bar. The bottom blade has two oppositely disposed serrated cutting edges (27) so that either of the two cutting edges may be utilized for cutting purposes. Each top blade has a forward portion (31) which includes a series of blade segments (32) with serrated cutting edges (33) and a series of mulching blades (34) with serrated cutting edges (35). The top blade also has an elongated rear portion (37) that is oriented at an angle with respect to the cutting blades and blade bar. The angle of the rear portion creates or defines an airfoil deflector which increases the vacuum effect of the rotating blades.

Abstract: A transverse fan assembly that includes a fan rotatably disposed in an air plenum for drawing air through an inlet opening and drivingly forcing air from an outlet opening defined by the air plenum, the inlet opening having an elongate, bladed, inlet rotor oriented on a rotational axis parallel to the fan, extending the length of the fan, and positioned proximate to the fan periphery to increase air flow from the outlet of the air plenum along the length of the fan while generating less noise.

Abstract: An epicyclical drive having a generally flat, disk shaped flywheel, a flywheel to pinion carrier in the form of an inner hub of the flywheel, and a flywheel support bearing and structure incorporated into the flywheel itself, all of which are concentric about a rotational axis of the flywheel so as to be axially compact, and so as to be particularly well adapted for being located beneath, or incorporated into, the floor of a grain header of an agricultural harvesting machine, for reciprocatingly driving knife knives of a sickle thereof. In particular, the flywheel support bearing is located in an annular space between the inner hub and an outer flange which is rotated by a belt or other drive for rotating the flywheel.

Abstract: A mower deck lift mechanism for a lawn mower includes a mower deck, a linkage mechanism for movably mounting the mower deck to the frame for raising and lowering movement relative to the frame, and an electro-hydraulic actuator assembly connected to the linkage mechanism for raising and lowering the mower deck relative to the frame. The actuator assembly is an integrated unit including a hydraulic piston-cylinder assembly connected to the linkage mechanism, a pump for supplying pressurized fluid to the piston-cylinder assembly, and an electric motor for driving the pump.