A crop feeding apparatus having a roller through which the fingers are extended and retracted, has fingers that are formed with tubular finger bodies extending between an inner end configured to be mounted on a finger drive arrangement of the crop feeding apparatus and an outer end of the finger body configured to protrude from the outer peripheral wall of the roller. A breakaway region is formed in the finger body by diametrically opposed slots which are circumferentially elongated to define a shear plane perpendicular to the long axis of the finger body. A slot axis extending between opposing ends of each slot is parallel to the axis of the crop feeding apparatus. The finger body is also hardened by heat treating, and by applying a wear resistant coating over the heat treated body.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an apparatus and method for efficiently separating dirt and biomass (leaves, stems, etc.) from more desirable aspects of plant material, with minimal damage to those desirable aspects.

A harvester head may include a roller having a groove and supporting a draper belt. The draper belt may include a web and an elastomeric belt guide projecting from web, wherein the belt guide has outer side surfaces extending at an angle of no greater than 100 relative to the second surface when the belt guide wrapping about the roller within the groove. The groove may have outer side surfaces, each outer side surface extending at angle of no greater than hundred degrees relative to an outer surface of the roller.

A draper belt assembly may include a roller and a web. The roller may include a first groove having a first interior side surface facing in a first direction and a second groove having a second interior side surface facing in the first direction. The draper belt may include a web, and first and second elastomeric belt guides received within the first groove and the second groove, respectively. The first belt guide may have a first exterior side surface facing in a second direction opposite the first direction and axially spaced from the first interior side surface by first distance. The second belt guide may have a second exterior side surface facing in the second direction, axially spaced from the second interior side surface by second distance greater than the first distance in absence of axial loads to the draper belt.

A sugar cane harvester including a chassis for power directional movement across a field with a row dividing assembly feeding a base cutter that severs sugar cane stalks for delivery to a feed system. A rotor assembly is provided between the base cutter and the feed assembly with the rotor assembly being powered for rotation about an axis at right angles to the flow of sugar cane stalks through the harvester. The rotor assembly includes a pair of cylinders powered by a hydraulic motor with the cylinders having axially extending ribs and radially extending fingers for moving sugar cane in a downstream direction. The rotor assembly is connected to the harvester chassis by a linkage and supported by an actuator which is controlled by a hydraulic system to maintain a uniform and preselected downward pressure on sugar cane stalks as they move in a downstream direction through the harvester.

The present invention relates to a device (2) for harvesting stalk-like stem crops, having a number of picking units (10) which are arranged alongside one another on the frame of the device (2) and each have at least one picking rotor (12), picking plates laterally delimiting a picking gap, and conveying units which are assigned thereto and are configured as continuous conveyors (14) that are driven in circulation, a series gearbox (26) that drives the members of each picking unit (4), longitudinal beams (22), in arranged between the picking gaps, for supporting members of the picking units (10), a transverse beam (8) to which the picking units (10) are fastened, and a transverse conveying device (24) arranged downstream of the conveying units. In order to design the known devices such that they can be operated with a shallower setting angle of the picking units without pushing residual harvested material into heaps with their undersides, it is proposed that the picking units (10) be connected to the transverse beam (8) at their rear sides via the series gearbox (26) and/or via a longitudinal beam (22) and that the transverse beam (8) be arranged in a horizontal plane in which the series gearbox (26) of the picking units (10) is also arranged

A draper belt assembly may include a roller and a web. The roller may include a first groove having a first interior side surface facing in a first direction and a second groove having a second interior side surface facing in the first direction. The draper belt may include a web, and first and second elastomeric belt guides received within the first groove and the second groove, respectively. The first belt guide may have a first exterior side surface facing in a second direction opposite the first direction and axially spaced from the first interior side surface by first distance. The second belt guide may have a second exterior side surface facing in the second direction, axially spaced from the second interior side surface by second distance greater than the first distance in absence of axial loads to the draper belt.

A harvester head may include a roller having a groove and supporting a draper belt. The draper belt may include a web and an elastomeric belt guide projecting from web, wherein the belt guide has outer side surfaces extending at an angle of no greater than 100 relative to the second surface when the belt guide wrapping about the roller within the groove. The groove may have outer side surfaces, each outer side surface extending at angle of no greater than hundred degrees relative to an outer surface of the roller.

A draper belt for a head of a harvester that is to extend about a roller having an outer groove encircling the roller and may include a web and an elastomeric belt guide. The web may have a first surface to carry crop material and a second surface to face the roller. The elastomeric belt guide may extend from the second surface and may include downwardly projecting teeth.

A draper belt system is provided that includes first and second draper belt assemblies. The first draper belt assembly includes first and second rollers, and a draper belt looped around the first and second rollers. The first roller defines a first roller diameter, a first central longitudinal axis, and a first plane extending through the first central longitudinal axis. The second draper belt assembly includes third and fourth rollers, and a draper belt looped around the third and fourth rollers. The third roller defines a third roller diameter dimensioned smaller than the first roller diameter, a second central longitudinal axis, and a second plane extending through the second central longitudinal axis. The third roller of the second draper belt assembly is disposed adjacent to the first roller with the first central longitudinal axis extending parallel to the second central longitudinal axis, and the second plane offset from the first plane.