A windrow merger includes heads having cams that control the speed of the tines. The cam is configured with a section that slows the speed of the tines while passing a lower front portion of the path of rotation to lift material from the ground at lower speeds and therefore handles the material more gently at the point of pickup. The cam is configured to accelerate the tines at the point where the lifted material is propelled rearward from the pickup assembly. The merger heads also include a widened conveyor that is configured with an upper surface extending rearward and slightly downward to further evenly distribute material across the width of the conveyor. The heads are supported on skids that have a linkage connecting the skids at each end of the head with one of the skids having a mechanism that acts as a master to control the slave of the linked opposite skid.

A control system for an agricultural harvester includes a crop inlet with infeed rollers for collecting crop from a pickup assembly connected to the harvester; and a lift assembly for moving the pickup assembly from an operational configuration, in which the pickup assembly is operable to pick up crop from the ground and to convey the picked-up crop to the crop inlet of the harvester, to a non-operational configuration. The control system includes a detector for detecting a foreign object in the collected crop; and one or more controllers configured to (i) receive a signal from the detector that is indicative of a foreign object in the collected crop while the pickup assembly is in the operational configuration; and (ii) control the lift assembly to raise the pickup assembly, away from the crop on the ground, to the non-operational condition, in dependence on the received signal.

A merger, for picking up and distributing materials from a ground surface, includes a frame that provides support to the merger, a pick-up head affixed to the frame that lifts the materials from the ground surface, a height adjustor affixed to the frame that maintains a minimum clearance between the ground surface and the pick-up head, and a conveyor affixed to the frame that receives the materials from the pick-up head. The conveyor includes a first belt and a second belt that independently distributes the materials on the ground surface from at least one of a first side of the frame and a second side of the frame.

A drive system for a harvesting header of a harvester includes a drive motor, and a drive train connected between the drive motor and one or more driven elements of the harvesting header. The drive train has a variable-displacement hydraulic pump arranged on board the harvester and a hydraulic motor connected in a closed circuit to the hydraulic pump. The hydraulic motor is mounted on the harvesting header and detachably connected by hydraulic coupling connections to the hydraulic pump.

A control system for controlling a pickup assembly attached to an agricultural harvester. The pickup assembly includes: a pickup drum with pickup tines operable to pick up crop from the ground for transport to a crop inlet of the harvester during active rotation of the pickup drum; and one or more drive systems operable to rotate the pickup drum in a pickup direction. The control system includes: a detector for detecting a foreign object in the picked-up crop; and one or more controllers configured to: receive a signal from the detector that is indicative of a foreign object in the picked-up crop; and in dependence on the received signal, control the one or more drive systems to: stop active rotation of the pickup drum; and resist rotation of the pickup drum in a direction opposing the pickup direction.

A windrow merger includes heads having cams that control the speed of the tines. The cam is configured with a section that slows the speed of the tines while passing a lower front portion of the path of rotation to lift material from the ground at lower speeds and therefore handles the material more gently at the point of pickup. The cam is configured to accelerate the tines at the point where the lifted material is propelled rearward from the pickup assembly. The merger heads also include a widened conveyor that is configured with an upper surface extending rearward and slightly downward to further evenly distribute material across the width of the conveyor. The heads are supported on skids that have a linkage connecting the skids at each end of the head with one of the skids having a mechanism that acts as a master to control the slave of the linked opposite skid.

A pick-up, an agricultural implement, and a method for ejecting a foreign object by the crop pick-up and the agricultural implement are provided. The agricultural implement comprises a crop inlet to collect picked-up crop. The crop pick-up comprises a reel with pick-up fingers to pick up the crop from the field, an auger to transport the picked-up crop to the crop inlet of the agricultural implement, and a driver. The driver rotates the reel and the auger in a pick-up direction and a collection direction for picking up and transporting the crop, and a retrieval direction for retrieving already collected crop when a foreign object is detected in the collected crop. The crop pick-up further comprises an ejector to actively rotate the reel in an ejection direction for ejecting the retrieved crop.

A belt pickup (100) with drive system (130) includes a frame (102); a pickup conveyor (106) supported on the frame (102), a transfer conveyor (108) supported on the frame (102), wherein the drive system (130) includes a motor (132) coupled to a drive roller of the transfer conveyor (108), a first pulley (134) driven by the motor (132), a first drive belt (136) driven by the first pulley (134), a second pulley (138) driven by the first drive belt (136), a third pulley (140) fixed to the second pulley (138) and driven by the second pulley (138), a second drive belt (142) driven by the third pulley (140), and a fourth pulley (144) coupled to a drive roller (112) of the pickup conveyor (106).

A system for determining the clutch status of a baler includes a crop collector and a drive assembly configured to rotationally drive the crop collector. The drive assembly includes a drive shaft and an output shaft coupled between the crop collector and the drive shaft. The drive assembly also includes a clutch coupled between the drive shaft and the output shaft and moveable between an engaged position and a disengaged position to mechanically couple and decouple the drive shaft and the output shaft from each other. The system also includes a sensor configured to generate data indicative of a rotational movement of the output shaft. Furthermore, the system includes a computing system configured to determine a rotational speed of the output shaft based on the data generated by the sensor and determine when the clutch is in the disengaged position based on the determined rotational speed of the output shaft.

An agricultural baler includes a pickup unit having a rotatable reel for introducing crop material into a baling chamber of the baler. A variable speed drive system rotates the reel. The variable speed drive system can include a hydraulic motor having an output shaft that is connected to the reel for rotation of the reel.