Disclosed are straw chopper assemblies for a harvesting combine of the type having a rotor and cage threshing assembly. The straw chopper assemblies are located on each side of the rotor discharge for accepting material exiting the rotor. Each straw chopper assembly is formed from a curvilinear cage having and interior opening to accept the rotor discharged material, and an opening to distribute chopper straw outside of the harvesting combine. A rotating knife assembly is housed within each curvilinear cage. A stationary knife assembly is movable for the rotating knives to pass between adjacent pairs of stationary knives. Outlets are provided in material communication with the curvilinear cage openings for discharging chopped straw onto the ground adjacent to the harvesting combine. Hoods are located over each of the outlets to directing the discharged chopped straw onto the ground.

A cutter bar has a cutter body with a substantially rectangular cross section formed by an upper face, two side faces and a lower face. The upper face together with at least one side face defines a cutting edge, which is formed by one or more hard metal profile strips fastened in a groove in the cutter body. The wall of the groove which adjoins the upper face of the cutter body encloses with the upper face of the cutter body an angle less than 90, preferably 89 to 15, particularly preferably 80 to 40. The wall of the groove which adjoins the lateral face of the cutter body encloses with the lateral face of the cutter body an angle less than 90, preferably 89 to 15, particularly preferably 80 to 40. The hard metal profile strip or hard metal profile strips is or are positively inserted in the groove.

A cutter bar has a cutter body with a substantially rectangular cross section formed by an upper face, two side faces and a lower face. The upper face together with at least one side face defines a cutting edge, which is formed by one or more hard metal profile strips fastened in a groove in the cutter body. The wall of the groove which adjoins the upper face of the cutter body encloses with the upper face of the cutter body an angle less than 90, preferably 89 to 15, particularly preferably 80 to 40. The wall of the groove which adjoins the lateral face of the cutter body encloses with the lateral face of the cutter body an angle less than 90, preferably 89 to 15, particularly preferably 80 to 40. The hard metal profile strip or hard metal profile strips is or are positively inserted in the groove.

An apparatus for roughage processing includes a first platform for placing of a first type of roughage, a first cutting mechanism for processing the first type of roughage, a first chain for cutting the first type of roughage from the first platform to the first cutting mechanism; and a second platform, a second cutting mechanism, and a second chain for performing similar tasks with a second type of roughage. The first chain and the second chain are driven at a different speed to provide concurrent cutting of the first and second types of roughages at different cut sizes. The apparatus further includes a conveyor for concurrently collecting the first type of roughage and the second type of roughage after respective processing by the first cutting mechanism and the second cutting mechanism for effective blending of the two types of roughages, each of which has been cut differently to obtain its optimum particle size for ruminant consumption.

An apparatus for roughage processing includes a first platform for placing of a first type of roughage, a first cutting mechanism for processing the first type of roughage, a first chain for cutting the first type of roughage from the first platform to the first cutting mechanism; and a second platform, a second cutting mechanism, and a second chain for performing similar tasks with a second type of roughage. The first chain and the second chain are driven at a different speed to provide concurrent cutting of the first and second types of roughages at different cut sizes. The apparatus further includes a conveyor for concurrently collecting the first type of roughage and the second type of roughage after respective processing by the first cutting mechanism and the second cutting mechanism for effective blending of the two types of roughages, each of which has been cut differently to obtain its optimum particle size for ruminant consumption.

A crop processing and/or conveying element for a forage chopper has a body that can be mounted on a carrier that can be set in rotation and is furnished with a hard material layer that comes into contact with crop during operation. The hard material layer is connected in a form-fitting manner to the body.

A crop processing and/or conveying element for a forage chopper has a body that can be mounted on a carrier that can be set in rotation and is furnished with a hard material layer that comes into contact with crop during operation. The hard material layer is connected in a form-fitting manner to the body.

A tool for mounting a chopping knife to a chopping drum. The tool includes a clamping mechanism for releasably fixing the tool in an auxiliary bore of the chopping drum, a frame, an adjusting element, and a positioning element. The clamping mechanism is reversibly adjustable from a basic state, in which the clamping mechanism is unclamped, to a clamping state, in which the clamping mechanism is clamped. The adjusting element is reversibly displaceable relative to the clamping mechanism and/or the frame in a displacement direction along a displacement axis. The adjusting element reversibly adjusts the clamping mechanism from the basic state to the tensioned state. The positioning device positions the chopping knife on the chopping drum.

A system for determining knife usage. The system includes an infeed cutter including a cutter rotor, a knife drawer, and a plurality of knives extending through the knife drawer. The cutter rotor is mounted above the knife drawer such that a cutting zone for crop material is defined. The system further includes a measuring device configured to measure a quantity which is representative for the couple exerted by the cutter rotor on crop material going through the cutting zone of the infeed cutter, a controller configured to control the measuring device for measuring values for the quantity at consecutive moments in time, and a knife usage determining module configured to determine knife usage based on the measured values.

A system for determining knife usage. The system includes an infeed cutter including a cutter rotor, a knife drawer, and a plurality of knives extending through the knife drawer. The cutter rotor is mounted above the knife drawer such that a cutting zone for crop material is defined. The system further includes a measuring device configured to measure a quantity which is representative for the couple exerted by the cutter rotor on crop material going through the cutting zone of the infeed cutter, a controller configured to control the measuring device for measuring values for the quantity at consecutive moments in time, and a knife usage determining module configured to determine knife usage based on the measured values.