A crop handling apparatus comprises a mobile chassis. The chassis is mounted on ground-engaging wheels. A tow-bar is provided at a front of the chassis for releasable attachment to a towing vehicle such as a tractor. A crop conditioning rotor is mounted on the chassis and has a plurality of outwardly projecting radial tines. Drive for the crop conditioning rotor can be by way of a drive transmission on the chassis which connects via a drive input with a PTO shaft on a tractor behind which the crop handling apparatus is drawn in use. A crop gathering conveyor is mounted on the chassis in front of the crop conditioning rotor. The crop gathering conveyor has a discharge end located in front of an inlet of the crop conditioning rotor to feed crop material to the inlet of the crop conditioning rotor in use.

A crop handling apparatus comprises a mobile chassis. The chassis is mounted on ground-engaging wheels. A tow-bar is provided at a front of the chassis for releasable attachment to a towing vehicle such as a tractor. A crop conditioning rotor is mounted on the chassis and has a plurality of outwardly projecting radial tines. Drive for the crop conditioning rotor can be by way of a drive transmission on the chassis which connects via a drive input with a PTO shaft on a tractor behind which the crop handling apparatus is drawn in use. A crop gathering conveyor is mounted on the chassis in front of the crop conditioning rotor. The crop gathering conveyor has a discharge end located in front of an inlet of the crop conditioning rotor to feed crop material to the inlet of the crop conditioning rotor in use.

A rake apparatus is disclosed. The rake apparatus includes a plurality of material gathering members connected to a continuous conveyor member such as a chain or a belt. A drive sprocket supports the conveyor member at a discharge end of the rake apparatus. An idler sprocket supports the conveyor member at a distal end of the rake apparatus. The material gathering members contact a bottom stripper guard and a top stripper guard as they travel about the raking device to remove crop material from the material gathering members. The rake apparatus may be part of a harvesting machine in which the processing chamber of the harvesting machine has a width that is the same width as the pickup device of the harvesting machine.

A rake apparatus is disclosed. The rake apparatus includes a plurality of material gathering members connected to a continuous conveyor member such as a chain or a belt. A drive sprocket supports the conveyor member at a discharge end of the rake apparatus. An idler sprocket supports the conveyor member at a distal end of the rake apparatus. The material gathering members contact a bottom stripper guard and a top stripper guard as they travel about the raking device to remove crop material from the material gathering members. The rake apparatus may be part of a harvesting machine in which the processing chamber of the harvesting machine has a width that is the same width as the pickup device of the harvesting machine.

A crop handling apparatus comprises a mobile chassis. The chassis is mounted on ground-engaging wheels. A tow-bar is provided at a front of the chassis for releasable attachment to a towing vehicle such as a tractor. A crop conditioning rotor is mounted on the chassis and has a plurality of outwardly projecting radial tines. Drive for the crop conditioning rotor can be by way of a drive transmission on the chassis which connects via a drive input with a PTO shaft on a tractor behind which the crop handling apparatus is drawn in use. A crop gathering conveyor is mounted on the chassis in front of the crop conditioning rotor. The crop gathering conveyor has a discharge end located in front of an inlet of the crop conditioning rotor to feed crop material to the inlet of the crop conditioning rotor in use.

A crop handling apparatus comprises a mobile chassis. The chassis is mounted on ground-engaging wheels. A tow-bar is provided at a front of the chassis for releasable attachment to a towing vehicle such as a tractor. A crop conditioning rotor is mounted on the chassis and has a plurality of outwardly projecting radial tines. Drive for the crop conditioning rotor can be by way of a drive transmission on the chassis which connects via a drive input with a PTO shaft on a tractor behind which the crop handling apparatus is drawn in use. A crop gathering conveyor is mounted on the chassis in front of the crop conditioning rotor. The crop gathering conveyor has a discharge end located in front of an inlet of the crop conditioning rotor to feed crop material to the inlet of the crop conditioning rotor in use.

The embodiments herein provide a double windrow converter assembly. The double windrow converter assembly is removably attachable behind a towing vehicle or a swather. The converter enables creation of a double windrow of freshly cut hay (with high moisture content). The converter picks up the freshly cut hay windrow using a pickup head which is then diverted to a trough. The hay collected in the trough is discharged on one side of the field to create a first half of the double swath. The swather and the double windrow converter assembly are then operated in opposite direction to generate second half of double swath. Thus, use of the double windrow converter assembly along with swather helps in accomplishing two tasks/operations in a single pass. The assembly also eliminates need for using a rake to pick up dried hay from the field on waiting for a few days after swathing.