Abstract: A rotary platform is provided for the harvest of specialty crops such as grass seed. In particular the conditioning rolls are removed from the header to reduce seed shatter and converging elements are added inside the conditioner opening on both sides and to the rear of the cutterbar to feed the crop around the conditioner opening corner and to the rear of the platform. Additional converging elements are provided behind the first converging elements at a angle less then 90 DEG. to the ground so as to form the top of the windrow so that there is minimal seed loss. The converging elements may or may not be powered and the angle of the second converging element can be adjustable. The rotary knives perform the cutting function more efficiently than a sickle cutterbar, and the converging elements move the crop toward the center to form a windrow with less disturbance.

Abstract: A crop knockdown shield is provided for use with rotary platforms in harvesting specialty crops such as grass seed. The knockdown shield is mounted to the front of the platform and extends forwardly and upwardly at an angle ahead of the cutting device. The knockdown shield can comprise two panels hingedly attached to one another so as to allow one panel to be folded back in shorter crops to improve visibility and to provide an extension of the first panel in higher crops. The knockdown shield serves to gently lean the crop forward before cutting so as to minimize seed shatter due whipping of the seed head.

Abstract: A crop conditioner is equipped with an impeller including a rotor to which a plurality of conditioner tines are respectively pivotally mounted at one of their ends. The tines are contoured so that they release crop at an appropriate location for the crop to engage the forming shields and thus become part of a well-defined windrow.

Abstract: A mowing implement is equipped with a rotary cutter bar and utilizes right- and left-hand sets of converging drums to aid those cutting discs located outboard of opposite sides of a discharge zone to converge crop to the discharge zone. The inner two of each of the sets of converging drums are identical and have inverted bowl shaped lower end plates having conical surfaces which aid in lifting crop. The insides of the bowl-shaped converging drum end plates form voids, which together with flat horizontal ejector plates, mounted on respective cutter discs for sweeping beneath the inner two of each set of converging drums, keep crop from packing beneath these converging drums. Associated with each of the innermost ones of the inner pair of converging drums is a guide element defining a horizontal shelf located for guiding crop, elevated by the conical surfaces of the lower ends of the inner most converging drums, to the discharge passage.

Abstract: A mower-conditioner implement is equipped with a rotary disc cutter bar and associated with the cutter bar are a plurality of crop-lifting units that cooperate to define an upright lip that works together with transversely spaced ramp sections, of the respective lifting units, that incline downwardly to the front from transversely spaced locations along the top of the lip for lifting and directing cut crop to the conditioner. In one embodiment, the crop-lifting units are releasably coupled to the cutter bar, and, in a second embodiment, are formed integrally with the cutter bar.