A wear plate assembly for an agricultural harvester including a support element having a number of lateral regions, each lateral region being provided with a plurality of first engagement features, one or more replaceable wear plates provided on one side with a plurality of second engagement features for engagement with the first engagement features, and a plurality of fastenings to secure each replaceable wear plate to the support through the engagement features.

A bale spreading apparatus comprising a box frame which retains a bale of material, a conveyor on which a bale rests, the conveyor being operative to urge the bale in a longitudinal direction towards a spreader head which ejects bale material from the apparatus, wherein the spreader head comprises one or more rotors, the or each rotor comprising a vertically mounted rotatable shaft and a series of blades being mounted on at least one of said shafts.

A knife holder for a knife bank of an agricultural vehicle. The knife holder includes a body having opposing legs separated by a channel, wherein the channel is sized for receiving a shaft to which the knife holder is mounted; a mount for mounting the body to a knife element; and an opening for receiving a fastener for mounting the body to the shaft such that fastening the body to the shaft causes the legs to deform and compressively contact the shaft and thereby either prevent or limit inadvertent movement of the body relative to the shaft in a direction that is normal to a longitudinal axis of the shaft.

A cutting system may have at least one cutting element having an inventive combination of features including a body having a first cutting edge, a first base surface extending from the first cutting edge with the body being elongated with a first end and a second end, the first cutting edge being linear and lying in a base plane, and the first base surface having contouring including undulations in the first base surface.

A cutting system may have at least one cutting element having an inventive combination of features including a body having a first cutting edge, a first base surface extending from the first cutting edge with the body being elongated with a first end and a second end, the first cutting edge being linear and lying in a base plane, and the first base surface having contouring including undulations in the first base surface.

An adjustment tool is provided for adjusting the chopping knives of a chopper drum of a forage harvester. A frame is provided with a pair of fixings for engaging with a bore through the chopper knife. Edge alignment pins project from the frame for engaging with non-wearing edges of a chopper knife, thereby setting a position of non-wearing edges of the chopper knife relative to the bores. The edge alignment pins are positioned for alignment of a chopper knife with a predetermined amount of wear.

An agricultural baler includes: a chassis; a pickup carried by the chassis and including a plurality of rotatable tines configured to pick up crop material; a baling chamber carried by the chassis and configured to form a bale from crop material; and a feeding assembly carried by the chassis and configured to receive picked up crop material from the pickup and supply crop material to the baling chamber. The feeding assembly includes: a rotatable rotor carrying a plurality of projections configured to feed crop material to the baling chamber as the rotor rotates; and a shear bar disposed between the pickup and the rotor and configured to cooperate with the projections carried by the rotor to condition crop material before the crop material is fed to the baling chamber by the projections.

A system and method for preparing a sample area of a bale in order to more accurately evaluate the plant material incorporated into the bale. A baler receives, compresses, shapes, and secures material into the bale. A cutter mechanism cuts a portion of the material in the bale into similarly-sized particles. A mixer mechanism mixes the particles into a homogenous aggregate. A compression mechanism compresses the homogenous aggregate into the bale. An NIR testing system receives and analyzes near-infrared radiation reflected by the homogenous aggregate, and generates evaluation data reflecting properties of the material. The cutter may include knives mounted in a compression chamber of the baler. The mixer may be a relief feature on a center rail, the compressor may be a projecting feature on the center rail, and an NIR sensor may be mounted to the center rail so as to press against the surface of the bale.

A system and method for preparing a sample area of a bale in order to more accurately evaluate the plant material incorporated into the bale. A baler receives, compresses, shapes, and secures material into the bale. A cutter mechanism cuts a portion of the material in the bale into similarly-sized particles. A mixer mechanism mixes the particles into a homogenous aggregate. A compression mechanism compresses the homogenous aggregate into the bale. An NIR testing system receives and analyzes near-infrared radiation reflected by the homogenous aggregate, and generates evaluation data reflecting properties of the material. The cutter may include knives mounted in a compression chamber of the baler. The mixer may be a relief feature on a center rail, the compressor may be a projecting feature on the center rail, and an NIR sensor may be mounted to the center rail so as to press against the surface of the bale.

A crop cutting device for an agricultural machine according to the present invention comprises a shaft and a plurality of knives pivotally mounted on the shaft between a retracted position and an extended position. The shaft comprises first engaging means and each knife comprises second engaging means, wherein the first and second engaging means are configured to engage with each other, when the shaft is rotated to force at least one knife into one of the retracted position and the extended position.