System for determining counter knife bank insertion position

A chopper assembly for harvesting equipment comprising:

• a rotary chopper element;
• a chopper grate assembly spaced from the rotary chopper element to form a passageway for crop residue;
• a knife bank adjustably connected to the chopper grate assembly, the knife bank being movable between a first position where the knife bank is fully inserted into the passageway and a second position where the knife bank is fully retracted from the passageway;
• at least one panel at least partially enclosing the rotary chopper element, the chopper grate assembly and the knife bank;
• an actuating mechanism to move the knife bank between the first position and the second position;
• a sensor to measure the position of the actuating mechanism and determine a position of the knife bank;
• and
• the sensor being positioned on an opposite side of the at least one panel from the rotary chopper element, the chopper grate assembly and the knife bank.