The cutter bar of a header including two sickle bars is driven by a center drive system including a rotary input drive member driven by a motor, first and second rotary members each driven by the drive member about a generally upstanding first rotational axis. Each of the rotary members has an eccentric drive system for driving a respective sickle bar. A flywheel is driven by the rotary input drive member for common rotation therewith and the first and second rotary members are driven by a common drive sprocket to rotate in the same direction about the first and second rotary axes.

A sickle cutting apparatus having a plurality of knife guards and a sickle bar having a plurality of sickle knife blades driven for reciprocating movement relative to the knife guards. The length of the cutting edge of each knife blade from a transverse rearmost cutting line at which a cutting action occurs is increased to a length greater than 2.2 inches; the width at the rear of the ledger surface of each guard is increased to greater than 1.2 inches; and the front edge of the blade is formed with an apex to shed crop material to one or other side of the apex.

A sickle cutting apparatus having a plurality of knife guards and a sickle bar having a plurality of sickle knife blades driven for reciprocating movement relative to the knife guards. The length of the cutting edge of each knife blade from a transverse rearmost cutting line at which a cutting action occurs is increased to a length greater than 2.2 inches; the width at the rear of the ledger surface of each guard is increased to greater than 1.2 inches; and the front edge of the blade is formed with an apex to shed crop material to one or other side of the apex.

An improved knife assembly for use with a header of an agricultural harvester. The assembly includes a knife head, a knife back and a plurality of sickle sections fastened to the knife head and knife back. The sickle sections include first and second portions where a second portion of one knife section overlaps a first portion of an another sickle section when the knife sections are arranged in adjacent relationship. The overlapping areas of the adjacent knife sections include aligned though holes which shared fasteners. The resultant construction reduces the overall knife assembly mass thereby leading to increased cutting speeds and corresponding harvester ground speeds. Additionally, the time and labor associated with manufacture and maintenance is reduced while the assembly strength and force distribution capability is enhanced.

An improved knife assembly for use with a header of an agricultural harvester. The assembly includes a knife head, a knife back and a plurality of sickle sections fastened to the knife head and knife back. The sickle sections include first and second portions where a second portion of one knife section overlaps a first portion of an another sickle section when the knife sections are arranged in adjacent relationship. The overlapping areas of the adjacent knife sections include aligned though holes which shared fasteners. The resultant construction reduces the overall knife assembly mass thereby leading to increased cutting speeds and corresponding harvester ground speeds. Additionally, the time and labor associated with manufacture and maintenance is reduced while the assembly strength and force distribution capability is enhanced.

A harvesting head for an agricultural combine includes a frame and a support arm coupled to the frame. The support arm is configured to move between an unlocked state in which the support arm is moveable relative to the frame and a locked state in which the support arm is fixed relative to the frame. The harvesting head includes cutting teeth supported by the support arm relative to the frame. The cutting teeth are configured to move relative to the support arm in a reciprocating motion along a longitudinal axis of the frame. The harvesting head includes a gauge member coupled to the frame. The gauge member is configured to sense a height of the frame relative to a surface. The harvesting head includes a control assembly configured to move the support arm into the locked state based on the height of the frame relative to the surface.

A harvesting machine includes a chassis; an engine to propel the harvesting machine; a header mounted on a front of the chassis; a cutter bar arranged on the header to cut crops during operation of the harvesting machine; a plurality of implements on the chassis configured to facilitate processing the crops cut by the cutter bar; at least one cutter bar load sensor arranged on the header and configured to collect cutter bar load data representing a load on the cutter bar resulting from cutting the crops; and a controller operatively coupled to the at least one cutter bar sensor. The controller is configured to receive the cutter bar load data, determine a cutter bar load value based on the cutter bar load data, and generate an adjustment command for an operational parameter associated with at least one of the implements based on the cutter bar load value.

An agricultural header including a belt that wraps around rollers. A cutter bar assembly that cuts a crop and delivers the crop to the belt. The cutter bar assembly includes a cutter bar, a stationary blade assembly that couples to the cutter bar, a moving blade assembly that couples to the cutter bar. The moving blade assembly moves relative to the stationary blade assembly to cut the crop. A skid couples to the cutter bar and maintains a distance between the ground and the stationary blade assembly and the moving blade assembly. The cutter bar defines a recess that receives debris from the belt and directs the debris to the skid.

An agricultural header including a belt that wraps around rollers. A cutter bar assembly that cuts a crop and delivers the crop to the belt. The cutter bar assembly includes a cutter bar, a stationary blade assembly that couples to the cutter bar, a moving blade assembly that couples to the cutter bar. The moving blade assembly moves relative to the stationary blade assembly to cut the crop. A skid couples to the cutter bar and maintains a distance between the ground and the stationary blade assembly and the moving blade assembly. The cutter bar defines a recess that receives debris from the belt and directs the debris to the skid.

A draper header includes a draper frame and a reel arm. The reel arm is coupled to a reel and pivotally coupled to the draper frame. The draper header further includes a cutterbar pivotally coupled to the draper frame. The reel arm and the cutterbar are configured to pivot about the draper frame to adjust a side profile aspect ratio of the draper header from a first aspect ratio to a second aspect ratio. A height of the first aspect ratio is less than a height of the second aspect ratio, and a width of the first aspect ratio is greater than a width of the second aspect ratio.