Picking unit and machine for picking fiber plants

A fiber plant picking apparatus configured to be mounted on a vehicle chassis of a vehicle to pick fiber plants, the fiber plant picking apparatus comprising:

• one or more picking elements, each of the one or more picking elements comprising:
• a frame part,
• a mounting system configured to mount the frame part releasably on the vehicle chassis, and
• a fiber plant picking and transport installation arranged on the frame part, the fiber plant picking and transport installation comprising:
• a plurality of pulleys,
• at least one pair of endless conveyor belts trained over the plurality of pulleys and configured to grip the fiber plants therebetween and to pick and then transport the fiber plants in a gripped state, at least one of the pulleys corresponding with one of the conveyor belts being a drive pulley, a throughflow space through which the fiber plants are transported being defined between the at least one pair of conveyor belts, and
• a plurality of drive devices, each of the drive devices having only one drive motor configured to drive only one or only two drive pulleys of one or more corresponding ones of the endless conveyor belts, each of the drive devices being positioned adjacent to the respective throughflow space.