Row crop harvester with adjustable picking heads

A row crop harvester having a pair of picking heads for simultaneously harvesting two rows of plants of the type having flexible foliage incapable of transversely shifting the picking heads including a mobile vehicle having a chassis and support wheels, means for steering said vehicle, said pair of picking heads having forward and rear ends, means for mounting the rear end portion of each picking head on said chassis for pivotal movement about vertical and horizontal axes, skid means for supporting the forward end of each head on the ground for following the contour of the ground, means included in each picking head for gripping the plants in the associated row and for advancing the plants to a transfer point, severing means supported by said chassis for receiving the plants at said transfer point from each picking head and for thereafter severing each plant into two pieces, means on said vehicle for collecting one of the several pieces of each plant;

• the improvement which comprises means for selectively locking the forward end of one of said heads from transverse movement relative to said vehicle in a preselected position determined by the average spacing of the rows being harvested, said one head being maintained in alignment with its associated row by steering the vehicle, and operator controlled means for selectively laterally shifting the forward end of the other head transversely along a fixed path with respect to said one head during the harvesting operation to maintain said forward end of said other head in alignment with the associated row of plants even though the spacing between the rows varies.

A harvester for row crops comprising:

• a wheel supported frame including a pair of laterally spaced front wheels;
• means defining an operator's station adjacent the inside of one of said wheels;
• a pair of laterally spaced picking heads supported between said front wheels for simultaneously harvesting two rows of plants, said operator's station being located between said adjacent wheel and the nearest of said picking heads;
• means mounting the picking head which is remote from the operator's station on said frame for lateral shifting movement of its forward end along a fixed path toward and away from said nearest picking head;
• control means at said operator's station operatively connected to said remote picking head for enabling the operator to readily change the lateral position of its leading end relative to said frame and to said nearest picking head before and during the harvesting operation, means mounting said nearest picking head so as to be held from lateral movement relative to said frame, and means for steering the frame for maintaining said nearest head in alignment with a row of plants during the harvesting operation.