Hay rake and merger

A towed forage crop harvester adapted to be towed behind an independent prime mover comprising:

• conveyor means extending transversely of the path of travel of the harvester;
• rotary crop pick-up means extending lengthwise and immediately forwardly of said conveyor means, said pick-up means being positioned to pick up swathed crop and to deposit it on said conveyor means;
• conveyor drive means for selectively operating said conveyor means for transferring crop deposited thereon to a windrow on one side or the other of said harvester;
• rotary ground engaging means for support of said harvester during movement over the ground, said rotary crop pick-up means being disposed in a position in advance of said ground engaging means in relation to the path of travel of the harvester;
• and
• pivotal interconnecting towing means for pivotally connecting the harvester to said independent prime mover adapted to tow the harvester in laterally spaced relationship behind the prime mover, said pivotal interconnecting means including first pivot means positioned forwardly of the conveyor means for pivotal movement relative to the prime mover about a first vertical axis and second pivot means positioned relatively rearwardly of the conveyor means and being pivotally connected to the ground engaging means about a second vertical axis and steering means for selectively maintaining the harvester in a path which is laterally offset with respect to the path of the prime mover.

A mobile forage crop harvester adapted to be towed behind a prime mover in a laterally offset position relative to the path of travel of the prime mover comprising:

• elongated conveyor means extended transversely of the path of travel of said harvester;
• ground support means for maintaining said conveyor means in an elevated position with respect to the ground;
• crop pick-up means extended along one side of said conveyor means and adapted to pick-up crop and deposit it on said conveyor means;
• said conveyor means having end discharge means and means for moving crop picked up by said pick-up means to said end discharge means where it is deposited in a windrow adjacent thereto;
• the crop pick-up means being in an advance position in relation to the harvester ground support means;
• prime mover connector means including a towing boom, for pivotal connection of the harvester to the prime mover including a first vertical pivotal connection means adjacent the prime mover and a second vertical pivotal connection means adjacent the ground support means;
• steerable means for selectively maintaining the harvester in a path of travel offset from the path of travel of the prime mover wherein said steerable means comprises a steering extension on said boom adjacent said second pivotal connection means and first actuating means interconnecting the harvester and the boom for pivotally moving the boom about a vertical axis;
• means for vertically moving said crop pick-up means between a crop pick-up position and an elevated position;
• resilient means providing an upward counterbalancing biasing force substantially offsetting the weight of said crop pick-up means for maintaining said crop pick-up means in a counterbalanced crop pick-up position and second actuating means for raising said crop pick-up means to said elevated position;
• said second actuating means including a lost motion connection, said lost motion connection allowing for limited vertical movement of the crop pick-up means against the biasing force exerted by said resilient means.