Abstract: A mower-conditioner platform or header is suspended from the main frame of the mower-conditioner by a pair of transversely spaced lower links and a single upper link or lift arm. A hydraulic lift cylinder is connected directly to the lift arm. The lift arm is mounted between the main and platform frames in a manner for permitting the lift arm to undergo a given amount of side-to-side movement about its connection with the main frame in response to relative vertical movement between the opposite ends of the platform as the platform travels over uneven ground contour during cutting operation, and for limiting the side-to-side movement of the upper link to an amount considerably less than said given amount when the platform is raised to its transport position. Three different connection points are provided at the forward end of the lift arm for connection to the platform frame and by selecting different ones of these points different platform cutting angles may be obtained.

Abstract: In a forage harvester, a pan-like shield wraps the underside of the lower forward feed roll of a feed roll assembly having opposed upper and lower pairs of feed rolls. The pan is disposed so that particles of material, such as corn or sorghum kernels, which may become separated from a mat of material being fed through the rolls and pass downwards in front of the forward lower feed roll or between the front and rear lower rolls are intercepted by the pan and recirculated by the forward roll between the roll and the pan and re-presented to the inlet side of the feed roll assembly so that those particles have another opportunity to be fed through with the mat of crop material to the cutterhead.

Abstract: Harvested crop material is fed to the cylindrical cutter-head of a forage harvester by a feeding assembly consisting of opposed pairs of upper and lower feed rolls. The articulated upper roll assembly floats to accommodate variations in the flow of crop material. The downstream upper feed roll is carried on a pair of opposite radius arms which are rigidly coupled by a transverse leveler shaft, providing a stable frame and minimizing cocking or twisting of the roll. A second pair of feed roll arms is pivotally connected to the radius arms and extends forward to support the upstream feed roll which is journaled on a shaft rigidly connected between the feed roll arms. A stop and biasing arrangement provides that each upper roll may float independently, the articulation of the feed roll assembly being such that upward movement of either roll or the rolls together is subject to the restoring force of a tension spring.

Abstract: A forage harvester has a rotary cylinder type cutterhead mounted in a housing with opposite side walls, crop material being fed into the cutterhead in a generally radial direction over a shear bar adjacent the cutterhead periphery. The shear bar is mounted for fore and aft adjustment toward and away from the cutterhead periphery to maintain the optimum clearance between the cutterhead and the shear bar by means of a mechanism that includes a pair of bell cranks respectively pivotally mounted to support members on the opposite walls, with one end of each bell crank being connected to the shear bar through a fore and aft link while the other end of the bell crank threadably receives the threaded portions of a vertically elongated rod that is rotatably supported adjacent the housing side wall and has an easily accessible head adjacent the top of the housing, whereby rotation of the rod causes the bell crank to rock on its pivot to cause linear fore and aft adjustment of the shear bar.

Abstract: A forage harvester has a cutterhead housing with a rotary reel type cutterhead mounted therein, the cutterhead having a plurality of knives parallel to the cutterhead axis at the cutterhead periphery, the knife edges generating a cylinder as the cutterhead rotates. The cutterhead reduces crop material that is fed into the housing and discharges the reduced material through a discharge opening to a conveying system that conveys the crop material to a crop-receiving vehicle. Removably mounted over the discharge opening is a recutter screen that has an arcuate shape generally concentric with and adjacent to the cutterhead periphery and a plurality of elongated apertures, each aperture having parallel longitudinal edges that extend diagonally relative to the knife cutting edges.